Nation Lists in Exodus

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Exodus lists the nations of the land of Canaan seven times, and the lists shift through the book. The lists are: Exodus 3:8: give land of 6 nations (Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, Jebusite). Exodus 3:17: give land of 6 nations (same as in 3:8). Exodus 13:5: give land of 5 nations (Canaanite, Hittite, Amorite, Hivite, Jebusite). Exodus 23:23: angel goes before to land of 6 nations (Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Canaanite, Hivite, Jebusite). Exodus 23:28: send hornets to drive out... Read more

Priesthood of faithful

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

At the center of Lamentations, Jeremiah confesses that Yahweh is his portion (3:24). That’s said of the Levites: They have no land, so Yahweh is their portion and inheritance (Numbers 18:20). By driving Israel from the land, Yahweh makes them all Levites, all priests, who all have Yahweh as their portion. Read more

Notes on Esther

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

A couple of notes on Esther, following up on suggestions made by student papers. First, one student pointed to the chronology of Esther, which I’d never paid much attention to. The story takes place over a number of years, from the third-year feast (1:3) to the seventh-year exaltation of Esther (2:16) to the twelfth-year attack on the Jews (3:7) and victory at Purim, in the twelfth month (9:1). The fall in the third year is overcome in the Sabbatical enthronement... Read more

Do the Dead Praise God?

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Do the dead praise God? asks the Psalmist (88:10; 115:17). Yes, says the book of Jonah: As he descends to the roots of the mountains and the gates of Sheol, Jonah sings Yahweh’s praises (Jonah 2). A song of hope and triumph erupting from the grave: This is the sign of Jonah. Read more

What flesh could not do

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Genesis 17 is the great transition in the story of Abraham. Just prior, he has fathered a child with Hagar. It’s the high point of the story so far: Abram, the Big Father, finally has a son. But it’s not the son who will carry the promise. It’s the best flesh can do, but it’s still the best flesh can do. Flesh can do no better than father sons of the slave-woman. Once flesh is cut off, though, Abram can... Read more

Breaking idols

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Nebuchadnezzar “broke” ( shavar ) the bronze furnishings of the temple and carried the bronze away to Babylon. “Breaking” is just what Israel was supposed to do to the idols of the land ( shavar is used in Exodus 23:24; 24:13; Deuteronomy 7:5). It is what faithful kings did to the idols that popped up around the land (2 Kings 18:4; 23:14). Solomon’s temple had become a den of brigands, no better than the Baal temple. Like a new Joshua... Read more

Temple Plunder in Kings

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

The list of (mostly) bronze items taken from the temple into Babylonian exile in 2 Kings 25:13-17 is intricately put together. It begins and ends with references to pillars (vv. 13a, 17), and then mentions the bronze sea and the water stands (vv. 13, 16; the order is reversed the second time – stands and sea in v. 13, sea and stands in v. 16). Between are two lists in vv 14-15. The whole has an overall chiastic shape: A.... Read more

Father Abraham

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

What would Israel learn from telling and retelling the story of Abraham, the father of their nation? For one thing, they would be receiving a far different discipleship and pedagogy than nations whose fathers were phallic gods. David Leeming notes that “All Australian male ancestor gods of myth time are creative fertility father figures, indicated by the fact that their genitals are exaggerated to the point of comedy, as in the case of the Yolugu Djanggawul, who fathers elements of... Read more

Corpse defilement

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

Greeks, like Jews, believed that corpses defiled. According to Robert Parker’s classic Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion (Clarendon Paperbacks) , a dead body defiled not only the people present, but also the house, which had to be cleansed after the body was removed. Even the water of the house became defiled, and water for purification had to be fetched from a neighbor. Some texts imply that the entire clan of the dead person becomes defiled by death.... Read more

Cultivating images

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:42 pm By Peter Leithart

The cult of an ancient temple was largely cultivation of the cult image. Paul Johnson describes the activities in a typical Egyptian temple: “Except for Re, the sun-god, who was cultivated in the open, images were placed in the innermost sanctuary of the temple and the rite might even take place in pitch darkness. At dawn or soon after, the officiating priests (pharaohs on state occasions) broke the seal on the shrine containing the image, undressed it and washed it... Read more