The interpretive strategy of the received text is paramount takes an entirely different approach, which attempts to encounter the word of God without any mediation. (U) Far be it from you! Genesis 16 ESV - Sarai and Hagar - Now Sarai, - Bible Gateway Narrower concepts. (X), 27Then Abraham spoke up again: Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,(Y) 28what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver thee? Ge 22:12, 18; 26:5; 2Sa 8:15; Ps 17:2; 99:4; Jer 23:5, Ex 23:7; Lev 4:3, 22, 27; Nu 16:22; Dt 27:25; 2Sa 24:17; Ps 11:4-7; 94:21; Eze 18:4; 2Pe 2:9, Jdg 11:27; Job 9:15; Ps 7:11; 94:2; Heb 12:23, Ge 20:4; Dt 32:4; 2Ch 19:7; Ezr 9:15; Ne 9:33; Job 8:3, 20; 34:10; 36:23; Ps 58:11; 75:7; 94:2; 119:137; Isa 3:10-11; Eze 18:25; Da 4:37; 9:14; Mal 2:17; Ro 3:6, NIV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Galatians, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print. 1, pp. NASB 1995 Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. ORLOV 'The Gods of My Father Terah' 35 Testament of Abraham, also deny the possibility that God has a human- like form. On its own, the sentence can be understood as conveying the opposite meaning, as a call for those involved in studying the exodus from Egypt to remove themselves from the present, to transport themselves through time and view the event the way it would have been viewed by Moses and Aaron, Datan and Abiram. Perhaps they even needed to be narrated in exactly the way the Torah itself narrates them. 15 Bible Verses about Idolatry & The Dangers of Idols - Bible Study Tools 51 And he said, I beseech thee my lord, to hear meNow fifty years back a child was born to me, and thus has he done to my gods and thus has he spoken; and now therefore, my lord and king, send for him that he may come before thee, and judge him according to the law, that we may be delivered from his evil. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of Lets imagine that Gods message is cloaked with descriptions of events that modern day historians believe cannot be accepted as factso what? My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. The only similarity that one finds here is Abraham advising his father about the futility of idol worship. What are they if not dry historical descriptions? New American Standard Bible Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddlebag, and she sat on them. The text designates Terah, Abraham's father, as a "manufacturer of idols." One day, while Terah is away from his workshop, he entrusts it to young Abraham. 18The genealogical enrollment included [k]all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, for the whole assembly, for they consecrated themselves [l]faithfully in holiness. Studying the real life of the giant among men, our founding father, Abraham the man of faith and kindness, would, in theory, give us an opportunity to uncover the God in which he places his trust. Writing, not just in these examples, is a reality substitute of great value. And Abram hastened and went from the chamber to his fathers outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him. However, see Rambams comments inThe Guide of the Perplexed(3:50) as well as chapter 5 of my book. Regarding this, seePinkasei Ha-Raayahvol. Among the many events described in the book of Genesis, there are a handful that carry with them a mitzvahrequirementthe circumcision of Abraham (Gen. 17) and the injuring of Jacobs sciatic nerve (Gen. 32:25-33), for instance. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. Hebrews 11:10 says of Abram: "He was awaiting the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which city is God.". When President Nelson shared the story of his breaking the bottles of alcohol his father owned, I kept thinking about another prophet who also broke things. // Javascript URL redirection went away on a journey, and he left Abraham in charge of the store. How can virtual classrooms help students become more independent and self-motivated learners? window.location.replace(""); If the religious value of events comes from their being included in the word of God, let us allow God to speak to us in Gods own language, and to tell us the divine story with its entire force. My suggestion avoids this problem altogether. what makes muscle tissue different from other tissues? 17Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham(B) what I am about to do? NASB, Zondervan NASB Study Bible, Red Letter Edition, NASB, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, 2nd Edition, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New American Standard Bible, NASB, Super Giant Print Reference Bible, Red Letter Edition, 1995 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Large Print, Red Letter Edition, 2020 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Red Letter Edition, 1995 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Red Letter Edition, 2020 Text, Comfort Print. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. [20] Moreover, even if the Torah had been written from one perspective only, in one clear and flowing style, that would not have proven that it came from God. Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 15 - English Standard Version Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all thou hast told me? The fervent attempt to capture some meaning in each and every word of the Torah, without making recourse to any external factors as a control, is a clear expression of this perspective. She said to [Abraham]: Here, offer this before them. [Abraham] picked up a staff and broke [the idols] and placed the staff in the hands of the largest of them. Abraham is cast into the fire and is saved by God. the literary character. My thanks to Hillel ben-Sasson for sharpening this point. 43 And Abram answered his father and said to him, And how canst thou then serve these idols in whom there is no power to do any thing? It is about humanitys religion and its faith, its moral struggles, its successes and failures, its hopes and aspirations for greatness, its dream of breaking into the world of the infinite and clinging to God. A divinely originated narrative has no need for real historical events in order to grow sinews and flesh and become something substantial. When Abrahams father learned what had happened, he of course was greatly exercised; he inquired of Abraham who had done it. Rambam, in contrast, uses this claim to explain why God commanded humans to act in certain ways and forbids them to act in others.) 49 And Abram hastened and sprang from before his father, and took the hatchet from his fathers largest idol, with which Abram broke it and ran away. Deuteronomy 9:13-14, "Let me alone that I may destroy them." what are the 3 odd numbers just before 200 003? 50:2); 11 they entail the desolation of altars, the breaking of statues, the The worshipping of idols is forbidden under the word . Rabbi Amit Kulaisthe rabbi of Kibbutz Alumim as well as of Beit Midrash Daroma at Ben Gurion University. Shouldnt we expect from God a more coherent story, one that is free of the subtle and even blatant contradictions that can be found within it? Another participant argued that he still couldnt see, despite my explanation, why the Torah chose to speak to us in historical language. This is a false dichotomy. The later life of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis Chapters 1125. Is it less true than a simple chronology of events describing the beginning of the world and of humankind? The simple reader of Maimonidesand even the not so simple readerwas likely to feel that the loss of Gods body was almost equal to the loss of God. idols of any kind. [20]For more discussion on this question, see the position of R. Mordechai Breuer as he expressed it first inDeot12 (Winter 5720): pp. that there is a real God, then that God will save him. Abraham had three wives: Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah (by date when Abraham and His Father's Idols A Concordance of Abraham in The - Scribd Nimrod proclaims to Abraham that we should worship fire. Deuteronomy 9:21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount. 36 And Terah entered the room and found all the idols fallen down and broken, and the hatchet in the hand of the largest, which was not broken, and the savory meat which Abram his son had made was still before them. He was looking forward. What Does the Bible Say About Destroying Idols? - OpenBible.info Abraham did destroy his father's idols though. This story is taken from The Book of Jasher 11:21-49, Terah, in response to Abrahams question to him about who the God was that had created heaven and earth and the children of men, took him to the hall wherein stood twelve great idols and a large number of little idols, and pointing to them he said, Here are they who have made all thou seest on earth, they who have created also me and thee and all men on the earth, and he bowed down before his gods, and left the hall with his son. Enter code SPRINGSTUDY15 and have answers to your Bible questions at your fingertips. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. Delivered at Provo, Sunday Afternoon, August 28th, 1881, Reported by Geo. you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord. Are they not wood and stone? Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. Presenting the Torah as Gods narrative does not take away from its religious significance. Abraham told him that a woman came in to make an offering to the idols. Abraham mocked them, and said, Surely, the savory meat that I prepared doth not please you, or perhaps it is too little for you! What was Abraham's religion before God called him? 2 Chronicles 34:7 - Josiah Destroys Idolatry - Bible Hub These were the feelings of Abraham, and he taught his father's house, and all around him, as far as he had the privilege. 2 Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. [1] Many commentaries throughout the generations have taken up this question; see, for example, Ramban on Genesis 11:28 and Maharal of Prague inNetzah Yisrael, ch. father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. To me, the key question is whether ones approach to exploring the ahistoricity of the narrative is in order to reduce the vital importance of the Torah and its message or whether it is the opposite, to increase it, as I suggest above. A different approach (cutting edge and more realistic) assumes that reconstruction of the past, with a point-by-point accurate portrayal, is impossible. The consequence was, his father and the idolatrous priests of that day sought to take his life. This is the meaning of the phrase, In every generation a person must look upon himself as if he left Egypt.[14], This perspective is reflected in the world of halacha as well. not in the hands of heaven,) in order to say something about the God he discovered and followed. either making or worshiping idols or "other gods.". Now, therefore, hasten and fetch a kid from the flock, and make of it savory meat, that I may bring it to my fathers gods, perhaps I may thereby become acceptable to them. His mother did according to his request, but when Abraham brought the offering to the gods, he saw that they had no voice, no hearing, no motion, and not one of them stretched forth his hand to eat. In his view, such an approach implies a weakness of faith and a deviation from the authentic approach of the Jewish tradition. A similar point was made by R. Abraham Kook inEder ha-Yakkar, (Jerusalem, 5726), p. 42. Lord. In essence, we exchange a conversation about God for an encounter with God. Idols Are Destroyed 31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the memorial stones in pieces, cut down the [ a]Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until [ b]they had destroyed them all. The power of a story cannot be found purely in the ideological explication of the divine message contained within, even if the message once understood, requires a person to live up to it in his or her life. But the Lord inspired Abraham to leave there. Abraham responds that wind pushes clouds. [27] Putting this view forward before those who believed that God had a body probably caused those believers a crisis of faith. These could now be understood as virtually physical expressions of the divine message. Terah responded by saying that they are only statues and have no knowledge. 16 And Abram came to his fathers house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was kindled when he saw these images in his fathers house. why dost thou worship . The idols argued about which one should eat the offering first, then the largest idol took the stick and smashed all the other idols. Child sacrifice was one reason for the Babylonian captivity (verse 36). (Q) 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? What Does the Bible Say About Abrahams Descendants? - OpenBible.info Ezekiel 6:6 Verse Concepts Once he went on a trip and he placed Abraham in charge of the store in his place. These were the feelings of Abraham, and he taught his fathers house, and all around him, as far as he had the privilege. PDF 'The Gods of My Father Terah': Abraham the Iconoclast and the Polemics Why did God choose to limit the divine creative impulse to the (apparently) inadequate framework of narrative? 40 And the large one saw their works that they did before him, and his anger was violently kindled against them, and he went and took the hatchet that was in the house and came to them and broke them all, and behold the hatchet is yet in his hand as thou seest. An event with significant import to the wider population that is never reported will end up being known by only a handful of people who witnessed it.[12]. Writing, especially in the above examples, allows people who were not witnesses to the events to meet the reality of the event in a mediated encounter. Commentary on Parashat Lech-Lecha, . 42 Is there in these gods spirit, soul or power to do all thou hast told me? A business deal that took place before witnesses, but without documentation, can end up being a source of dispute and fraud if the witnesses disappear and never return. Save 15% for life! Said he, Father, I did not do anything to them, they quarreled among themselves and went to work fighting and knocked one another down, broke one anothers heads and knocked off one anothers arms and legs. Oh, said his father, my sons do not tell me anything of that kind, for they are made of wood and they could not move or stir from their place nor knock one another down; it has been some other agency that has done it. Why, father, said he, would you worship a being that could not stir or move, that had hands and could not handle, that had legs and could not walk, a mouth that could not speak, and a head and it was of no use? Nevertheless, the Sages statement can be seen in conjunction with other statements of theirs, which are close in spirit to the interpretation offered in this essay (for example, the statement in the Haggada of Pesach that in every generation people stand against us to destroy us.) These statements were expanded upon and intensified in Hasidic thought. [25] Freeing the Torah from its historical crutches not only frees the narrator from having to keep the narrative in line with past events, but it also neutralizes the basis for the attack against the validity of a person maintaining his or her faith. God stopped him from actually following . 50 And Terah, seeing all that Abram had done, hastened to go from his house, and he went to the king and he came before Nimrod and stood before him, and he bowed down to the king; and the king said, What dost thou want? Completely erase the names of their gods! Abram Rescues Lot. 23 And when Abram had gone from them he went to his mother and sat before her, and he said to his mother, Behold, my father has shown me those who made heaven and earth, and all the sons of men. In my book, I explore a middle position that distinguishes between cases where it is necessary to free ourselves from a historicity that strangles the spirit of the text and cases where the historicity of the story would actually make the spirit of the story that much brighter. Intuitive attachment to our inherited traditions is common to all people, regardless of education. It is precisely the struggle of thinkers like Rambam and Rav Kook that can be most helpful in answering such questions. Abraham took a stick and shattered all the idols in the store, and then he placed the stick in the hand of the largest idol. Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Abraham at last thought he would teach his father a lesson by making a clean sweep of his gods. Powered by WordPress. Although I felt able to push the first question into the sidelines, the second question seemed to me more problematic. Christian Standard Bible As our rabbis taught us, all is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven (b. Berachot 33b); even the historical Abraham would have to fit into this rubric. For an overall discussion of his approach by other scholars, see: Yosef Ofer (ed. The Torah tells the story in a certain way, and other traditions tell it in different ways. and have I not myself made them? Even for such a person, something still lingers from the dissonance required in reframing the story as ahistorical. Abraham chose to follow God alone, and he demonstrated his commitment by circumcising every male in his household. Rijksmuseum 1 The Midrashic Abraham Rabbi Chiyya said: Terah was an idol worshiper. [28] Although they believed that the great and majestic body of God was not comparable to their small and weak bodies, nevertheless, they could not let go of a God with some sort of a physical body. Rabbi Yehudah said: It applies even to unclean animals. Rabbi Yehudah said to them: But wasnt the sciatic nerve forbidden to the sons of Jacob, and they were permitted to eat unclean animals! They said to him: The law was stated at Sinai but was included in its proper place. For a summary of the issues surrounding pre-Sinaitic rules, see the entry in theEncylopedia Talmudit, One may not learn [rules] from the time before the giving of the Torah, (vol. I discuss this halacha in greater detail in the book. Abraham, Smasher of Idols, and the Question of the Torah's Historicity Furthermore, this objection often remains inchoate and not fully articulated. Commentating on this verse, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, the late Grand Mufti of Pakistan, writes, "According to Imam Qurtubi, this verse shows that to destroy the idols and other icons of paganism is Waajib (mandatory). Anyone who accepts the seven mitzvot (of the Noahides) and is careful not to violate them should be considered one of the righteous gentiles and has a share in the World to Come. [1] According to Jewish tradition, Terah was an idolater. 2 Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 48-49 [Hebrew]. 22 And Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him. Designed using Unos Premium. These events are seennot without causeas being singular and special. Recounting the Census: A Military Force of 5,500 (not 603,550) Men, Reconstructionism Reconciles Rationalism and Revelation, Rabbi Chiyya said: Terah was an idol worshiper. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. Abraham burns the idols unlike the Qur'anic account where we find Abraham smashing all but the largest idol. It is one that any person who wishes to renew his or her faithperhaps even to limit its horizons for a timeshould take to heart.
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