{"id":57134,"date":"2021-05-25T14:39:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=57134"},"modified":"2021-05-25T14:39:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:39:20","slug":"pearces-potshots-27-anachronistic-israelites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2021\/05\/pearces-potshots-27-anachronistic-israelites.html","title":{"rendered":"Pearce’s Potshots #27: Anachronistic “Israelites”?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

Atheist anti-theist polemicist Jonathan MS Pearce wrote in his screed,<\/span> \u201cDebunking the Exodus II: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims\u201d<\/a> (5-19-21):<\/p>\n

The \u201csons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them\u201d \u2013 they started to populate Egypt with \u201cIsraelites\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>[Even though that term is an anachronism since the nation did not exist yet] [red coloring in original]<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nice try. I literally refuted this in two minutes. I went right to Encyclopedia Britannica<\/em><\/span> (\u201cIsraelite\u201d<\/a>),\u00a0where we are informed:<\/span><\/p>\n

Israelite<\/strong>, descendant of the<\/span>\u00a0Hebrew<\/a>\u00a0patriarch<\/span>\u00a0Jacob<\/a>, whose name was changed to Israel after an all-night fight at Penuel near the stream of Jabbok (Genesis 32:28). In early history, Israelites were simply members of the<\/span>\u00a0Twelve Tribes of Israel<\/a>. After 930\u00a0BCE<\/span>\u00a0and the establishment of two independent Hebrew kingdoms in Palestine, the 10 northern tribes<\/span>\u00a0constituting<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0kingdom of Israel<\/a>\u00a0were known as Israelites to distinguish them from the southern kingdom of<\/span>\u00a0Judah<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is not a word there about \u201cthe [Israelite] nation<\/em>\u201d until 930 BC (right after Solomon\u2019s death) and the establishment of the northern kingdom of Israel (which disappears c. 721 BC when the entire northern kingdom was conquered and assimilated by Assyria). The gap in time is about a thousand years (Jacob having lived in about the 20th century BC). Before these times, Israelite<\/em> meant \u201cmember of the tribe descended from Jacob\u201d. It would be like when I refer to the \u201cArmstrong clan\u201d that comes, of course, from Scotland. The name \u201cJew\u201d comes from the southern kingdom of Judah, which survived the Assyrian invasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other dictionaries concur:<\/span><\/p>\n

:\u00a0<\/strong>a descendant of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

specifically<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>:\u00a0<\/strong>a native or inhabitant of the ancient northern kingdom of\u00a0Israel<\/span> (Merriam-Webster<\/em><\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

a descendant of Jacob, especially a member of the Hebrew people who inhabited the ancient kingdom of\u00a0Israel.<\/span> (Dictionary.com<\/em><\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIsraelite[s]\u201d<\/span> appears in the RSV<\/a> in Genesis 32:32; 36:31; Exodus 9:7; Leviticus 24:10-11 in the Torah, three times more before there ever was a king (Judges 6:3; 20:21; 1 Samuel 2:14), and ten more times in the 39 agreed-upon Old Testament books. Thus, out of eighteen appearances, eight (44%) are from the period before the \u201cchildren of Israel\u201d had a king.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of Israel\u201d \/ \u201cchildren of Israel\u201d, etc. appear<\/span>\u00a0many more times<\/a>, but the meaning is the same. The following passage shows this \u201ctribal\u201d \/ \u201cclan\u201d \/ \u201cdescendants\u201d meaning very clearly:<\/span><\/p>\n

Exodus 1:1-7<\/strong>\u00a0(RSV) These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:\u00a0[2] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,\u00a0[3] Is\u2019sachar, Zeb\u2019ulun, and Benjamin,\u00a0[4] Dan and Naph\u2019tali, Gad and Asher.\u00a0[5] All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.\u00a0[6] Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.\u00a0[7] But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong; so that the land was filled with them.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the basis for the<\/span> twelve tribes of Israel<\/a> (Levi was split up into Manasseh and Ephraim). These tribes are all \u201cIsraelites\u201d because they descended from Israel (the new name God gave Jacob). We see, in turn, these tribes leading to groups named after one of the twelve:<\/span> Levites<\/a>, Benjaminites<\/a>, Danites<\/a>, Asherites<\/a>, Gadites<\/a>, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

So where does Jonathan come up<\/em> with this silly claptrap that anachronism<\/em> is involved in eight Bible passages with \u201cIsraelite[s]\u201d before The ancient Jews ever became a kingdom or nation? Well, I suspect one or more of three things:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) sheer biblical and theological illiteracy;<\/span><\/p>\n

2) unwillingness to look up the definition in a dictionary, as I did;<\/span><\/p>\n

3) likely having seen \/ inherited this charge as one of the collected \u201cchestnuts\u201d of atheist anti-biblical polemics, treasured and cherished through the centuries as purveyors of \u201cgotcha\u201d moments, to be thrown at Christians whenever occasion arises.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

***<\/p>\n

Photo credit:<\/span><\/strong> [Pinterest.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Summary<\/em>:\u00a0Where does this claptrap of anachronistic \u201cIsraelites\u201d come from?: 1) biblical illiteracy, and\/or 2) inheritance of this charge as one of many collected \u201cgotcha!\u201d tidbits of atheist polemics.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atheist anti-theist polemicist Jonathan MS Pearce wrote in his screed, \u201cDebunking the Exodus II: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims\u201d (5-19-21): The \u201csons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them\u201d \u2013 they started to populate Egypt with \u201cIsraelites\u201d.\u00a0[Even though that term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":57136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,448],"tags":[4121,4129,13727,1043,258,522,1472,1473,525,524,2637,1633,1878,3141,1386,535,4068,140,3142,13724,2829,4107],"class_list":["post-57134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism-agnosticism","category-jews-judaism-old-testament","tag-a-tippling-philosopher","tag-alleged-bible-contradictions","tag-anachronistic-israelites","tag-anti-theism","tag-atheism","tag-atheist-biblical-exegesis","tag-atheists-the-bible","tag-atheists-theology","tag-bible-contradictions","tag-bible-difficulties","tag-biblical-inspiration","tag-biblical-skeptics","tag-biblical-theology","tag-hebrews","tag-hermeneutics","tag-holy-bible","tag-inerrancy","tag-infallibility","tag-israelites","tag-jacob","tag-jews","tag-jonathan-ms-pearce"],"yoast_head":"\nPearce's Potshots #27: Anachronistic "Israelites"? 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pearce's Potshots #27: Anachronistic \"Israelites\"? 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}