RE: Atheist Bible Study 1: Genesis
February 5, 2019 at 3:44 pm
(This post was last modified: February 5, 2019 at 5:20 pm by Bucky Ball.)
So again, we see the place to meet a nice girl is at the well, which is seen again and again.
Abraham (in the myth) wants to make sure that in the patriarchal lineage, a strict intra-familial relationship is maintained, and the rights to Abrahams property and land, is maintained.
Interesting that the tradition of holding something in one hand (as it still is) during an oath (as it also is told when Jacob makes Joseph swear .. Genesis 47 .. not to bury him in Egypt), is there. I'll have to look up a strict translation, but ... "putting a hand under the thigh" means Abraham is asking him to hold his genitals, according to Talmudic tradition, for the oath.
The most interesting thing here for me is the camels. We know the approximate dating (fairly certainly) for the domestication of camels in the Levant. There are a few ways this dating has been done. Camels are seen earlier in some temple/architectural paintings and carvings, but only in a "royal" environment before 1000 BCE. The height of the camel trade and their common use for caravans was about 750 BCE. So this "dates" this possible version of this story rather specifically. It may contain elements from earlier versions.
At work ... I'll post more later.
Abraham (in the myth) wants to make sure that in the patriarchal lineage, a strict intra-familial relationship is maintained, and the rights to Abrahams property and land, is maintained.
Interesting that the tradition of holding something in one hand (as it still is) during an oath (as it also is told when Jacob makes Joseph swear .. Genesis 47 .. not to bury him in Egypt), is there. I'll have to look up a strict translation, but ... "putting a hand under the thigh" means Abraham is asking him to hold his genitals, according to Talmudic tradition, for the oath.
The most interesting thing here for me is the camels. We know the approximate dating (fairly certainly) for the domestication of camels in the Levant. There are a few ways this dating has been done. Camels are seen earlier in some temple/architectural paintings and carvings, but only in a "royal" environment before 1000 BCE. The height of the camel trade and their common use for caravans was about 750 BCE. So this "dates" this possible version of this story rather specifically. It may contain elements from earlier versions.
At work ... I'll post more later.
Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble. - Joseph Campbell 
Militant Atheist Commie Evolutionist
Militant Atheist Commie Evolutionist
