1/26/2009

Gibeonite Neighbors

Joshua 9:3-16 - However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."

The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"

"We are your servants," they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"

They answered: "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, 'Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; make a treaty with us." ' This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey."

The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them.

I wonder how the Israelites found out that the men were really Gibeonites. Did the Gibeonites purposely leak the information back to the Israelite camp? Had someone seen the men returning to Gibeon instead of heading off toward some far land?

I'm also surprised that Joshua and the elders were satisfied with the story even though they never did attach a name to the place they came from or the tribe or nation they belonged to. They must have been very convincing actors. Maybe that was their profession!

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

A Man with a Sword

Joshua 5:13 - Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"

I wonder if anyone else could see this "man" or if he only appeared to Joshua. He seems to have appeared rather suddenly and was right in front of Joshua, so maybe Joshua was the only one to see him. No one else needed to see him because his message was specifically for Joshua as leader.

I wonder how Joshua could tell that the "man" wasn't an Israelite. We know he couldn't figure out which side he was on, based on the question he asked. Neither did he immediately understand that it was God himself in human form. Was it the way the "man" was dressed? His (facial) features? His skin color?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

No Food?

Joshua 5:10-12 - On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

Why had the Israelites complained years earlier that they had no food to eat? They had (large?) flocks and herds of animals with them, didn't they?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Stones from the Jordan

Joshua 4:8-9 - So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

I wonder how big the stones were. They probably weren't pebbles, but they had to be small enough that each of the 12 men could carry his stone from the middle of the riverbed to the opposite shore. I'm guessing they weighed 40-80 pounds each -- depending on how strong each of the men were.

I wonder if they found colorful stones. Stones with some variation in hue would have made a more attractive, eye-catching pile.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

1/17/2009

Commentary

Deuteronomy 34:1-4 - Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."

I wonder if God provided Moses with any commentary about the land other than the few words given here. Or did he just show him all the land like a silent movie?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Birthdays

Deuteronomy 31:2 - I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you.

I wonder how they kept track of when they were born and/or how many years old they were back then. We refer back to a date, a year, like 1970 or 1959 or 1932. I know they used rulers' reigns as benchmarks for many things. Is that how they kept track of age too?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Writing Down the Law

Deuteronomy 29:16-21 - You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.

I wonder how much of what we consider Moses' writings (generally, Genesis through Deuteronomy) he had at hand as he spoke to the Israelites here. Was it only the laws themselves or was it the whole body of his writings from Genesis to Numbers, or somewhere in between?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

1/02/2009

Blessing and Cursing

Deuteronomy 27:12 - When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.

I wonder what blessings the 6 tribes on Mount Gerizim were to pronounce. There are some blessing mentioned shortly after this, but it's nothing to formally spelled out as the list of curses to be proclaimed from Mount Ebal.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Be Silent

Deuteronomy 27:9 - Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God.

I wonder if the crowd had become restless and noisy causing the leaders to tell them to quiet down. Or was this just a general admonition to continue to pay attention to what Moses had to tell them?

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

The Family of the Unsandaled

Deuteronomy 25:5-10 - If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me." Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

I wonder how many family lines have received this nickname.

I'm curious. Could you please tell my what brought you to this page by mentioning in it a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.