Ezekiel 13-24: Allegory of Prophecy

Last week we explored the prophet Ezekiel's mystical encounter with God. As I noted, description of mystical encounters are not to be taken as piece-for-piece parables or allegories. Rather, we may interpret certain images within them to arrive at a sense of what the encounter signifies.

Today we encounter a different form of revelatory experience: allegories or parables given directly from God to the prophet. These have a few different functions, such as the revelation of history through a riddle to trick the reader into accepting the Lord's propositions. Others indict directly. No matter how these stories are used, however, the symbolism is understandable and direct, corresponding to true historical events. Below are five examples of this sort of meaning making.

God's Faithless Bride
One of the most compelling accounts of Israel's shameful history comes in Ezekiel 16, titled in the New Revised Standard Version, "God's Faithless Bride." Here "the Lord God of Jerusalem" recounts the history in a highly stylized, metaphorical style.

Jerusalem was born "in the land of the Canaanites," (Ezekiel 16.3) phrasing that precludes ownership. Israel is a stranger here, the child of an Amorite father and Hittite mother. These, of course, were the people that preceded the Israelites in Canaan, the promised land.

Jerusalem is born an abandoned in an open field, receiving no birth rituals; her umbilical cord even remains uncut. No one pities the bloody flailing child but God, who happens upon her and commands her to, "Live! and grow up like a plant of the field." (Ezekiel 16.6-7) Jerusalem sprouts into full womanhood, though is still naked and bloody when God encounters her a second time:

I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you became mine.
(Ezekiel 16.8)

God washes the blood from Jerusalem's body and clothes her. He adorns her in fine clothing and jewelry, and gives her the finest food. Jerusalem becomes renowned for her beauty among the nations. Rising up from an ignoble beginning, Jerusalem is at its best.

Then things go awry. Jerusalem begins to whore herself to other me - that is, she turns to other gods. (This imagery is very common in biblical literature, and Ezekiel uses the unfaithful wife motif extensively.) Jerusalem even sacrifices her children - the most tangible sign of the covenant with her husband God - to the false gods.

In succession, Jerusalem is rebuked for whoring herself to the Egyptians, the Philistines, Assyria, and Chaldea (Babylon). The list parallels the troubled history of God's people: slavery in Egypt, conflict with Philistia, and a tumultuous relationship with Assyria and Babylon that alternated between submission and trade and armed conflict.

God notes that Israel's "whoring" is unique for its subversion of the sex-marriage economy. Generally prostitutes receive payment for their services. Jerusalem, however, renders services and makes payments to her clients. We can easily see why God would be angry with her behavior. Not only is his wife unfaithful, but she is giving to her lovers the very gifts that he gave to her.

For this God promises wrath. She will be delivered into the hands of her enemies - those who were once her lovers:

Because you have not remember the days of you youth, but have enraged me with all these things; therefore, I have returned your deeds upon your head, says the Lord God.
(Ezekiel 16.43)

While it might be easy to understand the need for retribution, the line that precedes this verse seems to speak with the voice of an abusive husband when read in a modern light:

So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm, and will be angry no longer.
(Ezekiel 16.42)

God must expend all his anger before he will again accept his bride. This is not the portrait of domestic abuse popularized by Eminem - though one can see the parallels in a broken contract and a propensity to do harm.

This is on a completely different level, the breaking of a contract between God and an entire people. God offers the easy yoke to those that are faithful, but too many are reluctant to take that bear their faith entirely in God.

God returns in his excoriation to the image of family: Jerusalem as daughter of a Hittite and Amorite. The idea is expanded into a complete family of sinners. Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel, is Jerusalem's elder sister, while the notoriously sinful city of Sodom is Jerusalem's younger sibling. Not even these cities are as sinful as Jerusalem, claims the Lord, though Sodom was destroyed long ago and Samaria has already been conquered. Indeed, the sisters will be restored even as Jerusalem languishes. Thus the city will feel shame for its sins.

In classical prophetic style, however, Jerusalem is promised salvation:

Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant; yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.
(Ezekiel 16.59-60)

Though it has been noted by others that negative prophecies are most frequently correct, this one does come true in part with the ascension of King Cyrus.

The Useless Vine
Ezekiel 15 offers a sophisticated riddle that is meant to reveal the truth about Jerusalem through a clever reveal. The riddle works by introducing a situation and convincing the reader of a truth about it, before revealing that actually the situation is representative of something that directly affects the reader. In this way, riddle solvers indict themselves. This particular riddle goes as follows:

O mortal, how does the wood of the vine surpass all other wood -
the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest?
Is wood taken from it to make anything?
Does one take a peg from it on which to hang any object?
(Ezekiel 15.2-3)

Well, no, the reader replies. People do not use vine wood for pegs. Vines do not surpass any wood at all - all they are good for is burning.

The vine, of course, is Jerusalem. Indeed, says the Lord, this useless city will be burned. It will be consumed and made desolate because it has not positive use for God. It does not give back to the Lord in any way, so why should he not destroy it to create the more useful fire?

The Two Eagles and the Vine
The next reference to the vine of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 17) is highly allegorical, a riddle whose question is phrased in poetry and answer revealed in  prose.

A great eagle, representing the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, removes the top of a Lebanon cedar, representing King Jehoiachin, and takes it away to a "city of merchants," representing exile. The eagle then takes a seed - the offspring of Jehoiachin, Zedekiah - who is initially loyal to the eagle and therefore prospers.

Soon another eagle appears, representing the pharaoh Psammetichus. The vine is drawn to its brilliant plumage and great wings, and its allegiance transfers. This is a fatal move, as Egypt is not able to protect Jerusalem against the angry Babylonian monarchy. There will be great struggle and destruction.

But eventually God will intervene, taking "a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar." (Ezekiel 17.22) It will be planted on the mountain height of Israel to proper. In fact, the sprig will grow to become the greatest of the nations: "Under it every kind of bird [certainly even great eagles!] will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind." (Ezekiel 17.23)

Not only will Israel be recognized, but God as well. All nations will finally bow before him:

All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
(Ezekiel 17.24)

Judah the Lion
[Fun fact: Ariel means "Lion of God" in Hebrew]

Judah is frequently identified with a lion for Jacob's blessing of the tribal patriarch in Genesis:
Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?
(Genesis 49.9)
Ezekiel picks up on this theme in chapter 19, a lamentation for fallen Judah, who was the great lioness. Here cubs were reared to be great lions, to catch prey and devour humans, but nations raise the alarm and capture them, afraid of the power that they wield. Here the lioness is the nation of Judah and the cubs it kings. Jehoahaz is deported to Egypt and both Jehoiachin and Zedekiah are exiled to Babylon. Though the lioness mother Judah attempts to raise strong offspring, here enemies are stronger than they.

The Vine Again
The lament abruptly transitions to an image of mother Judah as a vine of great mass and height in a vineyard. The vine is destroyed by various means: plucked up and cast down (armed conflict), dried by an eastern wind (siege warfare and famine), stripped of fruit (death, attrition), consumed by fire (conquered), and transplanted (exiled).

And the fire has gone out from its stem,
has consumed its branches and fruit,
so that there remains in it no strong stem,
no scepter for ruling.
(Ezekiel 19.14)

These verses have a remarkable resonance with Jacob's blessing of Judah in Genesis (mentioned above):

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes; his eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
(Genesis 49.10-12)

Oholah and Oholibah
Finally we come to Ezekiel 23, another parable of Judah's sin and God's retribution. "Born" in Egypt, the sisters Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Judah) both become brides of the Lord and bear children. For the time being, at least, God overlooks the fact that they are "damaged goods" - that in Egypt they have already been dealt with sexually.

Oholah soon whores herself to the Assyrians, and is killed - not by God - but clearly in retribution for her unfaithfulness. Oholibah also lusts after the Assyrians, but soon turns to the Babylonians, then Egypt. The last of these is portrayed as a return to an old lover:

Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your bosom and caressed your breasts.
(Ezekiel 23.21)

Jerusalem, which has not yet suffered exile (the "death" of Oholah) is therefore warned of impending fury that God will unleash, dealt through the armies of the vary nations Oholibah once loved. She will suffer the same fate as her sister. Says the Lord:

For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols the have committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.
(Ezekiel 23.37)

Judah will indeed be punished. But the beauty of God's relationship with his people is that there is always room for reconciliation.

The Boiling Pot
One final allegory comes in Ezekiel 24, a boiling pot to cook an animal. The imagery is complex, but it seems that the pot is rusted on the inside, making worthless the food cooked within. Furthermore, the blood that Jerusalem has shed is symbolically inside the pot, an image that God uses to incriminate the city. The Lord will also take a rusted pot, symbolic of Jerusalem, and heat it, so that the filth and rust within it is consumed. In this way, the pot will be cleansed. But the cleansing of Jerusalem clearly will have dire consequences for its people.

Thus concludes today's post.

As for me, this reading really brought out the feminist in me. The language of the bible is remarkable here in its portrayal of women and violence. Could it have been put another way and understood as poignantly? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Ruth

The Book of Ruth is a very short book (four chapters) located between Judges and 1 Samuel. It bridges the two stories by centering around the Judge-era character Ruth, the great grandmother of David. Just one problem: Ruth is a Moabite.

The Lord has forbidden exogmy because it leads to apostasy, and yet here we discover that a Moabite is the forebear of the great King David. How is this possible? In a culture that emphasizes the family dynamic so much, how could a story asserts Ruth, a Moabite, is the great grandmother of David?

Rarely does the biblical author name a character if he does not wish to say something about that character. In the book of Ruth we find three women mentioned by name: Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth.

The book of Ruth is a female-centric story and therefore is also a very domestic story. Its core themes are home and household. But Ruth is also a story of alienation. To Israelite society Ruth would initially seem a person of very little importance: a woman, impoverished, widowed, a Moabite. Yet it is she that ultimately is glorified for her fulfillment of the Israelite value of family. Now that there is a congregation that is settled in one place and is devoted to YHWH, it takes an outsider to display the true values that God wishes to see among his people.

The book is set during a famine in the time of the Judges. A Judean named Elimelech takes his wife Naomi and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion down to Moab, presumably because there if food there.

The first two verses of the book center around Elimelech, but by verse 3 the subject changes to Naomi; we are even told that Elimelech is "the husband of" Naomi. The structure of the sentence puts Naomi as the more powerful subject and her husband as the less powerful object. Because Elimelech is spoken of only in reference to Naomi, clearly it is Naomi, a woman, that is the focus of the story. In addition, when Elimelech dies, the biblical author says that Naomi is "left with two sons," neither of whom appears to take responsibility for the family. Naomi now leads the family.

Mahlon and Chilion both take Moabite wives; which God has warned against because exogamy is frequently linked with apostasy (marrying a foreigner will cause a man to worship his wife's gods instead of the Lord). We are not told who married whom, but we are told the names of their wives: Orpah and Ruth. After ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion die, leaving Naomi without any men in her life, just her Moabite daughters-in-law. And without men, the three of them lack the security that men provide. This is especially a problem during a time of famine. However, Naomi hears that the Lord is providing for his people, so she decides to head to Judah and urges her two daughters-in-law to return to their homes (their feminine homes, no less - each to her "mother's house"). Ruth and Orpah insist on following Naomi back to Bethlehem. Naomi's response expresses the practical view: they should not follow her because she has no sons and will never again have sons. It would be impractical for them to follow her because not one of them is possessed by the requisite male.

Orpah returns home, and Naomi tells Ruth to follow, to go back to her people and her gods. But Ruth has found the Israelites and their God to be too wonderful:

Do not press me to leave you
or turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die -
there I will be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!
(Ruth 1.16-17)

And so Ruth convinces Naomi to take her along.
When they get back to Bethlehem, Naomi tells the women of the town to call her Mara ("Bitter"), for the Lord has dealt harshly with her by taking away all her men.

Flight and return
Flight and return is a common theme in the Bible, with characters like Abraham and then Israel as a whole going down into a place like Egypt and then coming back up. The character leaves his or her homeland due to a famine, enters a foreign land, and after a time returns to the homeland changed in some way. It would be possible to see Naomi this way, having left the promised land for Moab and returning without any males. But another way to look at it is that Naomi leaves with a group of spiritually and physically weak men - Naomi's sons take Moabite wives and she outlives all the men of the family - and returns with a spiritually and physically strong woman, Ruth. The biblical author in this way undermines the traditional male dominance of Israelite life by asserting the strength of women; it is only Naomi and Ruth that return to the promised land, and Ruth is a convert at that.

This is not to say that the story is completely devoid of strong men. Indeed, the biblical author still asserts the importance of a man's presence in the character Boaz, Naomi's rich kinsman on her husband's side. Boaz is a man of the Lord from his introduction. His first words in the story, spoken to his reapers, are, "The Lord be with you." His reapers in turn bless him: "The Lord bless you."

Ruth has asked her mother-in-law to glean in the field, picking up the sheaves of wheat that the reapers missed as per the Deuteronomical law granting this ability to widows, orphans, and aliens. Ruth's hard work - she has been on her feet all day without resting - and her familial relations cause Boaz to protect her, even calling her "my daughter." He advises her to glean only in his field, promises the men will not bother her, and offers her food and water. Ruth is amazed that a foreigner would be treated so well, to which Boaz responds that he knows what she has done for Naomi, and that she has left her family.

Ruth is treated very well that day. She is offered bread and sour wine at mealtime, and Boaz commands the reapers to let her glean from the standing grain and to intentionally drop bunches from the bundles for Ruth to pick up. In all Ruth gathers an ephah of barley - quite a bit.

Boaz is again blessed, this time by Naomi when she is told of all he has done for Ruth. This is the biblical author's way of letting us know that he is a righteous man; everyone is quick to bless him.

Transactions
A frequent topic of this blog has been the sex-marriage economy, in which women are treated as pieces of property in marriage and family matters. This will be discussed a little later as we come to it. Here we will examine another type of transaction that occurs in Ruth. Chapter 2 saw Ruth working to support Naomi. Chapter 3 sees Naomi work to support Ruth. In this exchange for protection, each woman looks out for the other's best interest in an exchange of services. Naomi's aid comes in playing matchmaker between Ruth and Boaz. She commands Ruth to clean herself up and put on nice clothes to go to Boaz on the threshing floor, where he is spending the night. After he has eaten and drunk, she is to "uncover his feet" and lie down, at which point he will instruct her what to do. ["Feet" in biblical parlance is a euphemism for genitals; Naomi seems to be arranging a marriage.]

Ruth does this, but waits until Boaz is asleep. Boaz wakes with a start in the night and demands to know the name of the woman lying at his "feet." Ruth answers, "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin." The symbolic spreading of a cloak over a woman signifies (for obvious reasons) acquiring her for marriage. However, marriage does not seem to be on Boaz's mind. He refers to her twice as "my daughter" and tells her that there is another man who is closer kin than he. He is willing to get married if the other man does not agree, but Boaz seems to want to follow Mosaic law precisely.

Ruth slips out in the morning before anyone could recognize she spent the night, however platonically, with Boaz. As a parting gift he gives her six measures of barley.

The sex-marriage economy
With the economic transaction of property and Ruth, the story logically shifts its focus to Boaz, a male. Boaz meets the kinsman closer to Ruth at the gate of the city, the area of commerce. He informs the kinsman that Naomi is selling a parcel of land that belonged to Abimelech. As per Deuteronomic law, the land should be redeemed by the closest kin member, who happens to be this kinsman. The next in line after him is Boaz.

The kinsman offers to redeem the property, upon which Boaz informs him that Ruth comes with the property, so that Elimelech's name may be passed down (again a piece Deuteronomic legislation. In this society a man's name is tied to his property, so if there is no brother or son to redeem it, it goes to the man's wife, who keeps the man's name associated with the property and hopefully produces a son who will carry on the family name along with the property.

Boaz's choice of delivery in describing the transaction builds tension by adding value to the deal while simultaneously complicating it. With the addition of Ruth into the equation the kinsman no longer simply considers buying property; now he must consider buying property and taking a wife that will pass on another man's name to their children. The kinsman refuses, claiming it would damage his own inheritance, and so Boaz claims all of Elimelech's property and Ruth, and promises to carry on her dead husband's name.

The witnesses accept the transaction and bless Boaz and Ruth, saying:

"May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem; and, through the children that the Lord will give you by this young woman, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
(Ruth 4.11-12)

Quite conveniently, all this occurs, as Ruth gives birth to Obed, who will be the father of Jesse, father of David. The biblical author, of course, knows that all this will happen, and uses the invocation of Rachel and Leah, matriarchs of Israel, to assert David's greatness.

And so Ruth and Naomi both receive the protection of a man. But there is still the problem that Obed's mother is a Moabite. The biblical author jury-rigs a reasonable solution: Ruth's son is taken by Naomi, who becomes his nurse, creating a literal and figurative connection between the child and Judah. The neighborhood women authorize the connection by saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." It is not her son, but it does allow Elimelech's name to be passed on. By this method the son has two "parents" that are descended from Judah: Boaz and Naomi.

Joshua 13-19: Dividing Canaan

Joshua 13: The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered / The Territory East of the Jordan / The Territory of Reuben / The Territory of Gad / The Territory of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh (East)
Joshua 14: The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan / Hebron Allotted to Caleb
Joshua 15: The Territory of Judah / The Towns of Judh
Joshua 16: The Territory of Ephraim
Joshua 17: The Other Half-tribe of Manasseh (West) / The Tribe of Joseph Protests
Joshua 18:The Territories of the Remaining Tribes / The Territory of Benjamin
Joshua 19:The Territory of Simeon / The Territory of Zebulun / The Territory of Issachar / The Territory of Asher / The Territory of Naphtali / The Territory of Dan / Joshua's Inheritance

Hoo boy. Joshua has to assign the Israelites their land. This could take a while.

The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered: Joshua 13.1-7
Joshua is an old man when the Lord comes to him and commands him to distribute the land to the Israelites. A lot of the territory is still unconquered, but God commands Joshua at this time only to divide the land among the remaining nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh*. The Lord will take care of driving out Israel's enemies.

*[Reuben and Gad will occupy the land East of the Jordan. Note that Manasseh is not to reside East of the Jordan in this version.]

This passage allows the biblical author to give a preview of the land still to be conquered. It is not done through narration, but using God as a mouthpiece. Let's call this characterization of God "God as Guide. In the characterization, God leads the people to do whatever they need to do by speaking it. After it is spoken, the people do it. It is a blunt sort of foreshadowing (by today's standards, at least) that allows the author to give an outline of the story to come before the story is fleshed out. God as guide has appeared many times before thus far, especially in the story of the escape from Egypt, in which the Lord commanded Moses to complete certain tasks which Moses then completed.

The Territory East of the Jordan: Joshua 13.8-14
The territory Moses gave to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh is described in detail.* The Israelites have driven out many peoples - and the bible at points says that the entire land has been conquered. However, the author here informs us that the Israelites failed to conquer the Geshurites and Maacathites. This serves an etiological purpose. An editorial note tells us that "Geshur and Maacath live within Israel to this day."

*[In this version, Manasseh will join Reuben and Gad East of the Jordan. The difference between the two versions of the story can be accounted for under the theory of multiple authorship (Documentary Hypothesis).]

A brief editorial note reminds us that the Levites receive no inheritance to the Lord: "The offerings by fire to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance" (Josh. 13.14).

What follows are three sections detailing the specific land each of the three tribes east of the Jordan was assigned by Moses.

The Territory of Reuben: Joshua 13.15-23
The territory Moses gave to the Reubenites is described in detail.

The Territory of Gad: Joshua 13.24-28
The territory Moses gave to the Gadites is described in detail.

The Territory of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh (East): Joshua 13.29-33
The territory Moses gave to the Manassites is described in detail. Again a brief editorial note reminds us that the Levites receive no inheritance to the Lord.

The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan: Joshua 14.1-5
The distribution of territory in Canaan, the promised land, is described. This land is distributed by lot by Joshua and the head priest Eleazar. Again the Levite situation is described.

Hebron Allotted to Caleb: Joshua 14.6-15
The people of Judah come before Joshua and Caleb recounts for him his tale of spying out the land and the reward of land that Moses swore to him for being an exceptionally hones man and following the Lord. Forty-five years after that incident, Caleb is now 85, his strength not diminished one bit.

Joshua blesses Caleb and gives him Hebron in fulfillment of Moses' promise.

This section is an exception to the envelope structure [or sandwich structure] rule. It ends with the phrase, "And the land had rest from war," which was the declaration that closed chapter 11. These two parallel phrases would normally indicate an enveloped story, but the text that is enveloped - a hodgepodge of archival material - is not cohesive. In this instance the intent of the author seems to be to set aside the narrative, but there is intervening material in the way. In addition, similar material follows, so the purpose of the envelope structure, if this was the author's intention at all, becomes even more confusing. I'm going to call this an exception to the envelope structure rule.

The Territory of Judah: Joshua 15.1-12
The boundaries of the land given to the descendants of Judah are given. In contrast to previous descriptions of territory, it is the boundaries of the land that are stressed, indicating this is probably from a different source.

Caleb Occupies His Portion: Joshua 15.13-19
In accordance with the Lord's command to Joshua, caleb is awarded Hebron, part of the land of Judah. Ever the warrior in this story, Caleb drives out the inhabitants of that land himself. He then offers his daughter Achsah to whoever attacks and takes Kiriath-sepher. Othniel, Caleb's nephew, takes it and receives his prize.

Achsah is a strong woman character - something of a rarity in biblical literature. Her importance is immediately recognizable by the fact that she is named. She is a victim to the sex-marriage economy in the sense that she is married off in exchange for a service. However, Achsah then attempts to undermine the sex-marriage economy by telling her husband to ask for a field as the dowry. Then the narrator shows her as she dismounts from her donkey and takes the Sex-marriage economy into her own hands as she asks her father instead for a present of springs as a well. In an area dry as the Negeb, this is a shrewd business move. She receives her present, thereby usurping her husband's right to a dowry and undermining the sex-marriage economy as a whole.

The Towns of Judah: Joshua 15.20-63
The tremendous inheritance of Judah is laid out in 43 verses: eleven districts in the south of the land. But for all the glory of their land, the people of Judah are unable to drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The etiological passage reads, "So the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.

The Territory Ephraim: Joshua 16.1-10
The territory of the Ephraimites is described, with an emphasis on the boundaries.

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West): Joshua 17.1-13
Well this is strange. While the land is being distributed, Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh comes to Joshua and Eleazar to tell then that he has no sons - could they please receive his portion so that the land would stay in his name? His daughter's names are Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Does that sound familiar - because it is. This happens to be a duplicate story of Numbers 27.1-11, complete with all the same names. However, the situation has now changed somewhat. In the Joshua story, Zelophehad asks Joshua directly. In the Numbers story, Zelophehad's daughters ask on their father's behalf. The difference is all (again) in the strength of the female characters. It is remarkable that these characters are named, but in the Numbers story they are even stronger than they appear here because they speak on behalf of their father. The result is the same, however. The daughters still receive the land.

The Tribe of Joseph Protests: Joshua 17.14-18
The tribe of Joseph protests that it only received one lot, though they have many people. Joshua tells them to clear an area in the forest in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, if the hill country is not enough. The tribe then complains about the Canaanites and their chariots of iron. Joshua reassures them that they will conquer the Canaanites.

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes: Joshua 18.1-10
The congregation takes a break at Shiloh. Seven tribes have yet to receive their inheritance, so much land is yet to be settled. Joshua therefore sends out three men from every tribe to chart the remaining land and divide it into seven pieces. Joshua then casts lots for the pieces.

The Territory of Benjamin: Joshua 18.11-28
The tribe of Benjamin is granted its territory.

The Territory of Simeon: Joshua 19.1-9
The tribe of Simeon is granted its territory - some of it is in the land of Judah, as that tribe could not fill its inherited land on its own.

The Territory of Zebulun: Joshua 19.10-16
The tribe of Zebulun is granted its territory.

The Territory of Issachar: Joshua 19.17-23
The tribe of Issachar is granted its territory.

The Territory of Asher: Joshua 19.24-31
The tribe of Asher is granted its territory.

The Territory of Naphtali: Joshua 19.32-39
The tribe of Naphtali is granted its territory.

The Territory of Dan: Joshua 19.40-48
The tribe of Dan is granted its territory.

Joshua's Inheritance: Joshua 19.49-51
The land completely divided,m the Israelites give Joshua an inheritance: Timnath-serath in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilds the town and settles it.

The dividing of the land is complete.

Deuteronomy 21-22: More grab-bag regulations

Deuteronomy 21: The Right of the Firstborn / Rebellious Children
Deuteronomy 22: Miscellaneous Laws / Laws Concerning Sexual Relations

Day two of grab bag regulations, ending with some good, old-fashioned sex.

The Right of the Firstborn: Deuteronomy 21.15-17
This commandment states that the firstborn son is to receive 2/3 of his father's inheritance, even if the second-born son is loved more by the father. The reasoning is somewhat circular, but was probably convincing enough for the people reading it: the firstborn is "the first issue" of the father's "virility" and therefore the right of the firstborn is his.

The topic of the firstborn is of great interest to the biblical authors and is a great concern to the biblical narrative as a whole. Frequently societies favor the first born in terms of inheritance and importance within the family. This section states as much. In the Torah, however, we constantly find this idea being undermined.

Rebellious Children: Deuteronomy 21.18-21
A rebellious son is to be stoned to death as a warning to all Israel [that the xth commandment shall be obeyed].
Stubbornness and rebelliousness, the marks of a rebellious son, are apparently manifested in gluttony and drinking. The parents are to tell the elders of the town, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."

Miscellaneous Laws: Deuteronomy 21.22-22.12
What follows is a list of miscellaneous laws, abbreviated for the sake of brevity.

Bodies hanged as punishment for a crime must be not remain overnight on the tree. They shall be buried the same day because the person is under God's curse, so leaving the corpse defiles the land.

If you see your neighbor's ox or sheep straying, return them to him. If you don't know who it belong to, keep it until your neighbor claims it. The same goes for anything a neighbor loses that you find. [Help in Israel is to be an active, rather than a passive, activity.]

If you see your neighbor's livestock fallen on the road, help it up; don't ignore it. [Again, you are to help your neighbor.]

Cross-dressers are abhorrent to the Lord.

If you come upon a bird's nest and see a mother with eggs or hatchlings, let the mother go but take the young, "in order that it may go well with you and you may live long." [The juxtaposition of the mother's spared life and "your" own long life is no coincidence. This law betrays a favoritism for old over young, established over new.]

Houses should have parapets along their [flat] roofs [that functioned as domestic spaces], lest someone fall off and you incur bloodguilt.

A vineyard should be sown with only one type of seed, or you the crop and the entire yield will be forfeited. [This is a law of holiness: what goes in a field must remain uniform. The introduction of a new seed would corrupt the land, much as the introduction of a new god would corrupt Israel.]

An ox and a donkey should not be yoked together for plowing. [Another regulation concerned with holiness.]

You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together. [The third consecutive holiness regulation.]

Cloaks are to have four tassels.

The Virginity Trick: Deuteronomy 22.13-21
Here a clear example is given of a plausible situation.

A man marries a woman, but after having sex decides he dislikes her. He therefore states that the woman was not a virgin, and in doing so gains cause for divorce and slanders the woman terribly. So how do you prove exactly what happened on the wedding night? The woman's father and mother can fight the case by spreading the bloody bedsheet before the elders of the town. The man will then be fined 100 shekels for slander, to be given to the woman's father. As punishment to the husband [and to the wife, though to the biblical author women are frequently of little concern] he will not be permitted to divorce his wife.

If the charge is true, however, the woman shall be brought to the entrance of her father's house (which, in classic biblical metonymy, the very one she disgraced).

Other Laws Concerning Sexual Relations: Deuteronomy 22.22-30
If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, the woman and the man who was caught lying with her shall both die.

If a man rapes a virgin woman engaged to be married while in a town, they shall both be stoned at the gate of the town, the woman because she did not cry for help and the man because he violated another man's wife-to-be.

If a man rapes an engaged virgin woman in the open country, only the man shall die. Because there was no one there to rescue the woman, she will not die.

If a man rapes a virgin that is not engaged, and they are caught in the act, the man shall give 50 shekels to the woman's father and the woman will become the man's wife. Because the man violated the woman, he may not divorce her. [The dynamic behind this one is rather chauvinistic. The sex-marriege economy ensures that the woman is only a piece of property that may be traded between father and husband. By raping the woman and paying the bride price, the man in effect buys the daughter. In this instance, the rape could conceivably be committed with intention to buy, as it were. The divorce clause is set up as a punishment, but the only person who it would punish every time would seem to be the raped woman.]

A man shall not marry his father's wife. [In the sex-marriage economy, you may not steal your father's property.]

Deuteronomy 20-21: Laws regarding warfare and murder

Deuteronomy 20: Rules of Warfare
Deuteronomy 21: Law Concerning Murder by Persons Unknown / Female Captives

Warfare and murder. Today will be a bloody interesting day.

There is a lot of speech in the first section, which sets it apart from many other commandments. The more notable laws feature either an example or speech, rather than simply stating the commandment that is to be followed (which may or may not be followed by a reason such as "for the Lord your God brought you up out of the land of Egypt"). I call these "notable" because they are uncommon and might seem peculiar in comparison to modern legislation. In our legal system crimes are judged based on a set of laws that are shaped by past crimes. Lawyers use these past crimes to argue a case, but the laws themselves do not tell a story. Here laws do tell a story - in fact are told by a story. Let's listen in

Rules of Warfare: Deuteronomy 20
Moses, speaking on behalf of God, informs the congregation regarding warfare. The Israelites are told not to be afraid of armies larger than their own, with horses and chariots. After all, God brought them up out of Egypt against Pharaoh's forces. YHWH Sabaoth, the God fashioned for war, defends them.

Then a scene is painted for us. A priest appears before troops prepared for battle. He says,

"Hear, O Israel! Today you are drawing near to do battle against your enemies. Do not lose heart, or be afraid, or panic, or be in dread of them; for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to give you victory."
(Deut. 20.3-4)

The official will then attempt to weed out those who should not fight, asking questions of the gathered men: "Has anyone built a new house but not dedicated it? He should go back to his house, or he might die in the battle and another dedicate it." Anyone with unfinished business should return home to finish the business. It is not good to die in battle with things left to do. Similarly, men should return home who have planted a vineyard but not yet enjoyed its fruits, or have become engaged but are not yet married. Men who are afraid, the officials urge, should return home because "he might cause the heart of his comrades to melt like his own."

Heart metaphors are common throughout the bible. They may be hardened, as was Pharaoh's, or they may be softened or melted as they are here. A hardened heart does not seem to necessarily be a bad thing. Rather, a hard heart indicates assuredness and strength in one's convictions. The opposite of a melted heart is a hard one, so the Israelites will need a hardened heart in battle.

The biblical author then shifts topics.

When drawing near to fight a town, the Israelites should first offer it peace terms. Under these terms the foreign people will become slaves. If the foreign people do not accept these terms, the Israelites will conquer them, with the aid of YHWH Sabaoth. All the men shall be killed and the women, children, livestock, and spoil of the town taken as booty. This is portrayed as a gift from God, which it does seem to be.

The biblical author then amends the commandment. The peace treaty is to be offered only to towns that are "very far away" from the Israelites. The towns that the Lord is giving as an inheritance must be utterly annihilated: Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites alike. This is so that the Israelites will not pick up any bad habits from them, like worshipping foreign gods. At least, that is the reason given. The annihilation of anything that breathes keeps the promised land holy, separate to God. There will be none there that worship other gods. The regulation may indicate that worship of other gods by foreigners was okay - they only had to become slaves. The promised land, however, was holy and not to be contaminated by improper practices.

One final regulation is given regarding warfare. The Israelites may not cut down fruit-bearing trees when besieging a town: "Are trees in the field human beings that they should come under siege from you?" (Deut. 20.19). This is not animism, but rather a rhetorical question that might speak to the importance of keeping food sources in the land. Perhaps it could even be considered applied environmentalism. In any case, the reasoning behind this regulation will become clear in 2 Kings.

Law Concerning Murder by Persons Unknown: Deuteronomy 21.1-9
This law describes a ceremony akin to the scapegoat ceremony, both of which use animals as vessels that are capable of bearing human guilt.

If a dead body is found in open country, and it is unknown who killed the victim, the elders are to measure to the nearest town. [Presumably it is then assumed that this town is "guilty" in a symbolic sense, since nothing can be proved.] The elders in that town will sacrifice a heifer that has never done work by breaking its neck down in a wadi with running water. The priests shall then pronounce blessings for the victim. The elders of the town nearest the body should wash their hands over the heifer and declare, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to it. Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel" (Deut. 21.8). This absolves them of blood guilt.

The ceremony serves as a wonderful metaphor cleansing the death from the people. The transitory water of the wadi draws the blood away from the heifer and the hands of the people, just as the ceremony itself draws the guilt away from the town and the people within it.

Female Captives: Deuteronomy 21.10-14
Instructions are given regarding war brides. A woman captured in war is to be brought into the capturing man's house, where she will undergo a month-long ritual of mourning for her father and mother. She will also remove all traces of her previous life: shave her head, pare her nails, discard her clothing. Once the previous life has been symbolically removed and a moth has passed, a man may take her as his wife. If the man is not pleased with her, he should not sell her as a slave, but rather let her go free, since he has "dishonored her." The word "dishonor" carries with it a sexual connotation, probably indicating sexual coercion. All's not fair in love and war.