Tag: Podcast

8.10 Bachos

The tenth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (May 1, 2024). It is the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch and how he came to encounter Philip on a desert road travelling from Jerusalem to Gaza.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The episode is based on Acts 8:26-40 in the New Testament of the Bible. The episode also quotes from Deuteronomy 23:1, Isaiah 53:3-5 and Isaiah 53:7-8 which is the passage that the eunuch sounds out. Unless otherwise indicated, direct quotes are taken from the New Revised Standard Version, updated edition.

A Previous Retelling

I have previously done an episode based on this story: Episode 5.10 A Split Second in Philip’s Mind. It was entirely focused on telling the story from Philip’s point of view.

I wanted to tell the other side of the story this time, so I am pleased to present Bachos’ journey. The previous episode would, however, make a great companion piece to this one.

The Role of Eunuchs

In the popular imagination, eunuchs are often seen as fulfilling one specific role in ancient kingdoms. We imagine them as the keepers of the king’s harem.

That makes some sense. As the eunuch’s emasculated state would make it impossible for him to do anything with the king’s wives, that would mean that the king would need to have no anxiety over whether any children produced by his wives actually belonged to him.

But a Queen would hardly have needed a eunuch to care for her harem. The eunuch in this story is a reminder that there were other reasons why monarchs felt they needed them.

Eunuchs were seen as very useful servants, advisors and counsellors to rulers in many kingdoms in the ancient Near East and Africa. However, this had nothing to do with their apparent lack of potency in sexual situations.

Ancient rulers valued eunuchs because they had no part in the complicated web of obligations that permeated much of society. It was simply taken for granted in that world that every male was required to seek the interest of his own family, clan and tribe. And this meant that any ordinary man who worked for powerful rulers necessarily had divided loyalties. A eunuch – someone without family – was often the only person they could trust to truly look out for their interests.

In addition, for many people (likely including the Israelites in earlier times), the only form of immortality that people could attain was having children and descendants to carry on their name and the existence of their family. Eunuchs did not have this possibility, and so they could be trusted to channel their energy into other pursuits and find their legacy in them.

Because of these advantages, eunuchs could often rise high above the station of their birth and amass extraordinary earthly power to themselves, but only at what was considered a great cost.

Eunuchs in Ancient Israel

Despite the advantages they offered, eunuchs were rejected by the ancient Israelite society. They had no place among the people. The law was clear on this point.

No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 23:1 NRSVue

The reason why the Israelites rejected the use of eunuchs while their neighbours, especially the powerful ones, did not is not entirely clear. It may be an indication that the strong family-based tribal culture continued to persist even into monarchial times.

The prohibition may have also been seen as a certain limitation on the power of kings. So long as the king could only have servants and officials who were also expected to have loyalty to their own family and clans, his power could not be absolute and the families of Israel could check his ambitions.

Eunuchs and the Experience of Exile

When many Judahites became exiles in Babylon and later in Persia, they would have found themselves in a society in which the use of eunuchs was common. It is reasonable to assume that a number of them were castrated, either against their wishes or willingly, as they sought a way, being cut off from their normal family systems, to achieve personal advancement.

It has been speculated that Nehemiah, who says that he was the cupbearer to the King of Persia (an exalted and influential position) was likely a eunuch.

When some of the people of Judah returned to their homeland following the decree of King Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4) there would have been some eunuchs among them. Their presence would have created a crisis as the people were forced to find a way for such people to be included in society. It is likely in the uncertainly of such times that the following prophecy was spoken, affirming that they could now have an important and prominent role in society.

3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and do not let the eunuch say,
    “I am just a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 56:3-5 New Revised Standard Version

A Way to Approach Gender Identity Issues

Gender identity has become a very hot topic in recent times. While certain kinds of transgender identities have always existed, modern medical treatments have certainly opened up many new ways for people to affirm their gender identities and this may have created some new societal rifts as some people struggle with change that seems to affect every area of society.

The Bible doesn’t necessarily have too much to say that speaks directly to such fault lines, but the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch can certainly serve to remind us that, since eunuchs were created in ancient times as a gender category that could meet a societal need, gender has always been a social and cultural construction.

Philip’s response to this man should inspire us to be open to rethinking many of the cultural assumptions that we bring to such discussions.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Yesteryears (DECISION) by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/244-yesteryears-decision
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Sound Effect by Zapsplat.com

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.9 Sarai, the Sexy Sexagenarian

The ninth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (April 17, 2024). It is the story Abram and Sarai and their lucrative trip down to Egypt during a famine.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The episode is based on Genesis 12:10-20 and also draws on the beginning of Abram and Sarai’s story in Genesis 11:27-12:9. Unless otherwise indicated, direct quotes are taken from the New Revised Standard Version, updated edition.

A Story Told Three Times

As I say in the episode, the basic plot of this story is told three times in the Book of Genesis.

The second time, Abraham and Sarah (the same people with new names) travel to Gerar and the same events play out with the local ruler there. That story is told in Genesis 20:1-18 and is generally thought to have come from a different source. In it, God is always referred to by the name of Elohim and not Yahweh. This story is longer and more elaborate.

The story is then told a third time with Isaac and Rebekah also travelling to Gerar in Genesis 26:1-11.

The three accounts are different enough that I would like to tell them as unique episodes in a way that accentuates the uniqueness of each one.

Wife or Sister

In the second account (in Genesis 20), one unique element is introduced to the story. As part of his justification to the ruler, Abraham tries to explain that he is not really lying about his relationship with Sarah. “Besides, she is indeed my sister,” he says, “the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.”

As I told this first story, I wondered about including that element from the second one. But I ultimately decided that that explanation is explicitly contradicted in the first story. In the extended story of Abram’s journeys, Sarai is introduced as the daughter-in-law of Terah, not his daughter. (Genesis 11:31)

That either means that Abraham is lying in the Gerar story or, more likely as far as I am concerned, the author of this story has no knowledge of the claim that is made in the second story.

And so, in this story, I decided to make a passing reference to the idea in the form of a rumour, but ultimately reject it.

I will obviously be revisiting this in a future episode.

The Art of the Deal

One thing that is inescapable in this story is just how lucrative this whole incident appears to be for Abram. He makes out like a bandit. And this is despite his protestations of weakness and being in fear for his life.

Shortly after this story, there is another story (Genesis 13) that reflects just how wealthy the whole incident is supposed to have made Abram. It is said that he and his nephew Lot are so wealthy that the land itself can no longer bear them. That odd description of his extreme wealth inspired one of my favourite previous episodes: 6.9 Herder vs Herder. Give that one a listen too!

Abraham the Haggler

And, of course, I also did another episode based on Abraham’s exceptional negotiating skills:

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Zone by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/270-the-zone
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.8 How to End Your Gospel

The eighth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (April 3, 2024). It is the story of how the writer of the Gospel of Mark came to compose the strange ending to his gospel.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The episode is based on Mark 16:1-8 and on the Gospel of Mark as a whole. The story of Jesus’ family comes from Mark 3:20-35. The Barabbas incident is recounted in Mark 15:6-15. The episode also quotes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 15:5-7. Unless otherwise indicated, direct quotes are taken from the New Revised Standard Version, updated edition.

The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the oldest of the gospels in the Bible. It is generally dated by scholars to sometime around 70 CE. This would mean that it was written in the midst of all the chaos of the Judean revolt against Rome.

The Gospel is written anonymously. It is only later tradition that decided that it was written by Mark, the disciple of Peter.

It is the shortest of the gospels and is written in very simple Greek with a relatively small vocabulary. But that does not mean that Mark was not a sophisticated writer. He uses a number of interesting literary techniques in his story that I have often admired on this podcast.

Here are some previous Mark-focus episodes that I think will increase your appreciation for this amazing writer:

An Abrupt Ending

People have long been troubled by the original ending of the Gospel of Mark. As any modern translation of the Bible will indicate either in footnotes and/or by bracketing the longer endings, all indications are that the original manuscript must have ended at verse eight.

There are two possible explanations for this — either an original longer ending was lost or the abrupt ending was intentional.

In the podcast episode, I do not dwell on the former possibility because I wanted to explore the latter in my narrative fashion. But I will note that some scholars do argue for the loss of an original ending.

This is, of course, possible. Ancient books were fragile things and, if any portion of a book were to be lost, chances are that it would be from one end or the other of the scroll — either the beginning or the end of the book.

But even if possible, one of the problems with this theory is that, since there are no copies with an original longer ending, the loss must have occurred almost immediately, before any copies were made.

One of the arguments for the loss is that the gospel does not just end awkwardly from a narrative point of view, but also from a grammatical point of view. The last word is a conjunction (γάρ which means “for”) and it was unusual (but not impossible) to end a sentence (or a book) with such a word.

We know that the alternate longer endings that appear in later manuscripts are not original because these manuscripts do not agree on which ending to add. In addition, these endings are stylistically different from the original gospel and, to a certain extent, seem to have drawn their material from the other gospels which were written after the Gospel of Mark.

Mark’s Distain for Church Leadership

Modern readers sometimes fail to notice just how relentlessly critical the author is of the early church leadership. This is because we read the other gospels alongside Mark and they have done a great deal to tone down Mark’s criticisms.

But Mark has virtually nothing good to say about the disciples. He acknowledges that they chose to follow Jesus and that one of them, Simon Peter, even recognized Jesus as the Messiah, but apart from these things, he only seems to point out what they did wrong. And even Peter, after acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, immediately discredits himself by criticizing Jesus.

There are really only two followers of Jesus who seem to get things right from Mark’s point of view — the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany and the young man who ran away naked in the garden. Everyone else seems to have been a failure as far as Mark was concerned. I have done episodes on both of these unnamed followers:

An Intentionally Abrupt Ending

The more I study the Gospel of Mark, the more convinced I am that the author intentionally ended it with an invitation to go and see the risen Jesus instead of any accounts of resurrection appearances.

I don’t think this is because he was unaware of stories of resurrection appearances. The list of resurrection appearances that Paul cites in 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 was written at least a decade before Mark’s Gospel and seems to have been widely circulated.

Mark must have known about such stories. If he chose not to recount them, it must be because he was disappointed with the leaders who had received such appearances and was looking for something different. This insight is what led to my narrative in the episode.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Childhood by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/448-childhood
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.7 The Streaker in the Garden

The seventh episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today on Holy Wednesday (March 27, 2024). It is the story of the young man who was following Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and who ran away naked.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The episode is based on Mark 14:51-52, but is in a sense based on the entire Gospel of Mark.

The Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the oldest of the gospels in the Bible. It is generally dated by scholars to sometime around 70 CE. This would mean that it was written in the midst of all the chaos of the Judean revolt against Rome.

The Gospel is written anonymously. It is only later tradition that decided that it was written by Mark, the disciple of Peter.

It is the shortest of the gospels and is written in very simple Greek with a relatively small vocabulary. But that does not mean that Mark was not a sophisticated writer. He uses a number of interesting literary techniques in his story that I have often admired on this podcast.

Here are some previous Mark-focus episodes that I think will increase your appreciation for this amazing writer:

The Mysterious Follower

People have been wondering and speculating for so long about the strange runner in the garden that there is no way that I could give a full accounting of what has been written. However, two papers that I read stood out to me.

“Why the Youth Shed His Cloak and Fled Naked: The Meaning and Purpose of Mark 14:51-52”  by Howard M. Jackson offers a great summary of the various approaches that have been taken to this story.

“Mark’s Naked Disciple: The Semiotics and Comedy of Following.” by Stephen B Hatton was particularly interesting. Not only did Hatton make the somewhat amusing argument that the episode is comic relief, but he very helpfully put the focus on the focus on Mark’s use of the verb to follow.

Συνηκολούθει — He was following

Hatton notes that Mark uses the verb Συνηκολούθει in this story. This is a more intensive form of the verb than the usual ακολουθεω. Mark only uses this construction one other time in Mark 5:37, when Peter, James and John follow Jesus into the home of Jairus.

The verb is in the imperfect tense, indicating an action that took place in the past on a continuous or ongoing basis.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Have A Dream (instrumental) by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/414-i-have-a-dream-instrumental
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.6 Teamsters of the Lost Ark

The sixth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (March 13, 2024). It is the story of Uzzah and his sudden and disturbing death as he was helping to transport the ark of the covenant.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The story of Uzzah and the ark begins in 1 Samuel 6:19-7:2, even though Uzzah is not mentioned there. The story is then picked up about twenty years later in 2 Samuel 6:1-11. Direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

The Story so far

I have spent a lot of time in the last couple of years telling the story in the ark from First and Second Samuel.

In addition, I have told some other stories that are connected to this saga:

I’m glad to finally arrive at what feels like the climax, the story of Uzzah.

Chronological Problems

As I mention in the introduction, there are chronological problems with the story. According to 1 Samuel 7:2, the ark was in the house of Abinadab for about twenty years before being removed.

But if you follow the story that has happened in the meantime, a lot more time seems to have passed. Saul has become king and reigned for 42 years. (1 Samuel 13:1). He has since died and David has become king. David rules for seven and a half years in Hebron (2 Samuel 2:11) before moving his capital to Jerusalem and coming to get the ark.

That is a whole lot longer than twenty years! The time difference is so great that I didn’t even attempt to reconcile it.

The Sons of Abinadab

I spent a fair bit of time puzzling through the question of which sons of Abinadab were there to transport the ark and I finally settled on interpreting “Ahio” as meaning, “his brother.” This is certainly not a common interpretation. Among all the modern translations I consulted, only the NRSVue even suggests that the word could be translated this way in a footnote.

But, for my usual dramatic reasons, I chose to translate it as brother and to place Uzzah’s big brother Eleazar on the scene. I will always opt for the more interesting story!

David

Despite being described as a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22), any deep study of David’s story in the Books of Samuel will demonstrate that his actions and behaviour often left a lot to be desired. He often worked closely with the Philistines, who were often Israel’s enemies in the story.

His alliance with the inhabitants of Gath, known as Gittites seems to have been strong. David’s large Gittite bodyguard is mentioned in 2 Samuel 15:18.

I have grappled with a realistic view of David in several previous episodes including 2.7 Nice Flock of Sheep you got there.

1 Chronicles Retcons the Story

It should probably be noted that the much later writing in 1 Chronicles 15 retells this story in a way that attempts to explain away any embarrassing elements in this story. 1 Chronicles states that the “bursting out” incident was provoked by the ark not being carried according to the instructions in the Torah. But there are no indications of that being the problem in 2 Samuel.

This same chapter also reimagines Obed-edom as a Levite who is counted among the singers on the day they bring the ark up to Jerusalem, with no explanation for him being a Gittite.

But out of respect for the amazing storyteller of 1 and 2 Samuel, I based my story exclusively on that account.

Historical Note

I feel it is important to note that there is so much about this story that is uncertain historically speaking.

There is little extra-biblical evidence for even the existence of King David. The existence of a dynasty named for him has been attested in the archaeological record, but there is nothing for David himself.

In addition, there is no archaeological evidence for the large united kingdom of David and Solomon that is described in the Bible.

There is, however, evidence of settlement and building projects in Jerusalem that roughly correspond to the time of King David. This suggests that there could have been an important local chieftain from whom the House of David took its name there, even if his kingdom was not as large as the Bible suggests.

Thus, when I told this story, I chose to portray David as a small chieftain who perhaps had big ambitions.

I was rather surprised to note that, in this story, David shows up at Abinadab’s house with a large contingent of soldiers. This came across to me as an aggressive move — that he is seizing the ark and not merely assembling these troops as an honour guard.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Magic Escape Room” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.5 The Priest Who Rewrote the Bible

The fifth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (February 28, 2024). It is the story of how the story that the Hebrew people told of a great flood changed and adapted as a result of their encounter with the Babylonians and their story.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The story of Noah and the flood is told in Genesis 6:1-9:17. The story of Utnapishtim and the flood is found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI. Direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

The Composition of the Pentateuch

It is generally accepted by biblical scholars that the Pentateuch (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) has a complex literary history.

First popularized by Julius Wellhausen in the late 1800’s, the Documentary Hypothesis was generally accepted throughout the twentieth century by biblical scholars as the best explanation for the composition of the first five books of the Bible

Wellhausen proposed that these five books are a compilation of four originally independent documents: the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist and Priestly sources.

Today, the consensus on the Documentary Hypothesis has largely fallen apart with various scholars expressing doubts about various sources and processes.

Nevertheless, of all of Wellhausen’s proposed sources, the Priestly source (or at least a priestly editor) is still widely accepted to be a major contributor to the so-called Books of Moses.

The Priestly source has always been seen as being added to the mix either during or, more likely, after the Babylonian exile. One of the reasons for this is that Priestly literature often seems to be aware of several issues that would have arisen during the exile.

This episode speculates on what the motivations of the Priestly editor might have been in adding the second, covenant ending to the story. (Genesis 9:1-17)

Key Source

A key source for studying the various literary sources of the Pentateuch is The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Elliott Friedman. Friedman offers the entire text with sources revealed through a colour coding system.

By the way, Friedman attributes the story where Noah takes seven of the clean animals into the ark to the “J” source, while the one where he only takes two of every animal is from the priestly source. This is because the priestly author is rather adamant that sacrifices to God (which is what the seven clean animals are there for) are not acceptable until the sacrificial system is established later in the Book of Exodus.

The Priestly Creation Story

The flood story is obviously not the only biblical story that was affected by the encounter with Babylonian myths and stories. Another excellent example, also judged to have come from the pen of the same priestly author, is the first creation story that is recounted in Genesis 1:1-2:4a. I have already told a speculative tale about how that creation story might have developed in Babylon in my episode 7.5 The Seven Day Festival.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Evacuation by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/8118-evacuation
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Sound effects by Zapsplat.com.

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.4 Losers of the Lost Ark

The fourth episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (February 14, 2024). It tells the story of a couple of foolish priests who managed to lose the famous Ark of the Covenant.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The story of the loss of the ark is told in 1 Samuel 4. Direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

Part of a Longer Tale

The saga of the ark at Shiloh is an extended story that is told in various episodes through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel.

I have already told parts of the story including

I intend to fill out the rest of the ark’s story in future episodes.

In addition, I have told some other stories that are connected to this saga:

Why Does the Ark Not Like Moving Around?

By this point, I feel like I have enough time with this story to notice some odd patterns. As various people interact with the ark, some are blessed and others seem to be cursed. But there is a pattern that seems to be meaningful:

  • When the Ark remains at the temple of Shiloh, it brings blessing to Samuel and those who consult him
  • When the brothers move the Ark for the battle with the Philistines, they are cursed and their family is wiped out.
  • When the Philistines move the Ark around in their cities, it brings plagues and curses wherever it goes
  • When the Ark returns to the Israelites at Kiriath-jearim, they are cursed with wholesale slaughter. (1 Samuel 6:19-21)
  • The Ark’s stay in the house of Abinadab seems to be without incident. (1 Samuel 7:1-2)
  • When the Ark is brought up from the house of Abinadab, the son of Abinidab, Uzzah, is cursed to death when he touches the Ark (2 Samuel 6:1-9)
  • But when it is left in the house of Obed-edom, it brings blessing. (2 Samuel 6:10-11)
  • Finally, when David takes the Ark from Obed-edom’s house to Jerusalem, he is cursed when his wife, Michal, rejects him and she is cursed with infertility. (2 Samuel 6:16-23)

So, when the Ark is left in one place, it brings blessing; when it is moved, curses quickly follow. I find it quite remarkable that this sacred object that is apparently designed to be portable certainly doesn’t seem to like being moved!

Is this just a silly observation on my part, or is the author of the story trying to tell us something in this pattern? I’m not sure I know the answer to that question, but I expect that I will have a chance to dig deeper into the question as I continue to explore this story.

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Invasion by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/206-invasion
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.3 Origins of the Lost Ark

The third episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (January 31, 2024). It tells an alternate origin story of the famous Ark of the Covenant.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The story of Samuel and the ark is told in 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1. The backstory about the corruption of Hophni and Phinehas and the complicity of Eli is found in 1 Samuel 2:11-36. Direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

The Origin of the Ark of the Covenant

The most commonly known story of the creation of the ark in the Bible is told in Exodus 37:1-9. There we are told that the community of Israel created the object while they were wandering in the wilderness with Moses.

No real reason is given for the creation of the ark in that passage (other than that it is created on God’s orders). But we are told elsewhere that it was to carry the tablets of the law (Exodus 25:16), a container of manna (Exodus 16:33) and possibly the staff of Aaron (Numbers 17:10). This makes it seem as if it was primarily a container of momentos of the wilderness journey and a record of the covenant agreement between the people and their God Yahweh.

God says this to Moses about the top of the ark, which is decorated with cherubim:

There I will meet with you, and from above the cover, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will tell you all that I am commanding you for the Israelites.

Exodus 25:22

This implies that the ark was some kind of seat or throne for the invisible Yahweh. It is also referred to as God’s footstool (1 Chronicles 28:2). This seems to indicate that its importance had more to do with it being a symbol of the presence of God than a container of things.

Which is the Original Origin?

The whole story of the creation of the ark and the Tabernacle in Exodus 37-38 is generally understood by scholars to have been added to the Pentateuch by a priestly writer — part of what is often referred to as the “P” source. The general consensus among scholars these days is that the priestly texts were added to the Bible at some point after the return from exile in Babylon.

The account of the boy Samuel and his service at Shiloh and the extended story of the journeys of the ark in 1 Samuel are a part of what scholars refer to as the Deuteronomistic History. There is less consensus about when the Deuteronomistic History might have been completed, and it does show evidence of multiple layers of development. However, some scholars argue that significant parts of it are older than the priestly source.

Temple or Tabernacle?

In the Exodus account, the ark is a part of the Tabernacle, a tent structure that was used for the meeting and the worship of the people. The ark was to remain in the Tabernacle and so it is often assumed that, when the ark is at Shiloh at the beginning of this story, it is in the Tabernacle.

But it is important to note that no Tabernacle is ever mentioned in Samuel’s story. There are no indications that Eli and his sons are living in or working in a complex of tents. Instead, the sanctuary at Shiloh is referred to twice as a temple. Therefore, in telling this story, I have portrayed the installation at Shiloh as a typical ancient temple complex which would have included rooms for storage and residences for the priests.

Ark of Elohim

In the first mention of the ark in this story, it is called “ark of elohim (אֲרוֹן אֱלֹהִים).” Some features of ancient Hebrew make it possible to translate this in two ways.

Elohim is the plural form of the word el, which is a generic word for any god.

Nevertheless, the word elohim, despite being plural, is often used with singular meaning as the proper name of the God of Israel in the Bible. We know this because it often appears followed by a verb in the singular form. Thus we know that when it is followed by a singular verb form, it means “God,” but if it is followed by a plural verb form it means “gods.”

The problem comes sometimes when elohim appears without a verb, like, for example, in a possessive phrase like “ark of elohim.” In such constructions, it is generally impossible to know whether the singular God of Israel or a collection of gods are being referenced. So the phrase can either mean “ark of God” or “ark of gods.”

But there is also another wrinkle in the translation. A possessive construction like “ark of Elohim” can either be definite or indefinite (either “the ark” or “an ark”), and this is marked by adding a definite article to the second word in the pair which makes the whole phrase definite.

There is no definite article in this phrase in 1 Samuel. Therefore, if the second word, elohim, means “gods,” the phrase must be translated as “an ark of gods.”

But, since a proper name is always definite whether or not there is a definite article present, if the second word means “God,” the entire phrase must be translated as “the ark of God.”

These are the two possibilities, and there is no particular reason to prefer one over the other — at least, not unless you have been primed to think of this object in very definite terms by the stories of the ark from the priestly author that were added later to Exodus.

As you have heard in the episode, I found the story to be much more interesting when you translate it as “an ark of gods.”

Lamp of Elohim

It should also be noted that the phrase “lamp of elohim (נֵר אֱלֹהִים)” also appears in this passage. This phrase has the very same translation issues and so it can be translated either as “the lamp of God” or “a lamp of gods.” To remain consistent, therefore, I also chose the latter translation for this phrase.

Hearing the Voice of Yahweh

I continue to be fascinated by the stories of the biblical prophets who received and spoke the word of Yahweh. Clearly, these were men and women who had divine experiences.

This in itself is hardly exceptional. People have been having experiences of God for a very long time and continue to have them to this day. Of course, since such experiences are personal and private, they do not constitute proof of the existence of God, except, perhaps, for those who are on the receiving end of the experience.

I am always interested in how people experience God. Samuel’s experience, therefore, is very interesting to me. Yahweh is said to speak to him — to literally stand there and talk to him — in this story (3:10). But the interesting thing is that it is never entirely clear whether Samuel is awake or asleep when this happens.

Did God physically appear to Samuel and audibly speak to him? Or was Samuel dreaming or having visions? We would certainly like to know, but this story doesn’t really tell us, does it?

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“Night Vigil” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

Extra: Jacob’s Wives and Family

This special episode of the podcast is posted today (January 22, 2024). In it, your storyteller, W. Scott McAndless talks with Micah Belong, the Wise Old Llama Enby, about the story of Jacob and his Wives and his children. Micah is the host of The Word in Black and Red Podcast.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

The Word in Black and Red

The Word is Black and Red is a podcast that reads through the Bible and takes an unapologetically leftist and liberationist interpretation. The discussions so far have all been interesting and informative. Follow this linktree to find episodes and more:

Thanks to TWIBAR for sharing this recording with us!

The Mandrake Machinations

If you would like to listen to the original story that I told about Rachel and Leah, it was Episode 7.18 The Mandrake Machinations. It came out on August 30, 2023. Here is a link to the show notes.

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!

8.2 How Joseph Enslaved Egypt

The second episode of the eighth season of the Retelling the Bible Podcast is posted today (January 17, 2024). It tells the story of how the patriarch, Joseph, saved the Egyptian empire from disaster in a time of economic and environmental disaster, and how he doomed the common people to eternal slavery in the process.

You can listen to the episode right now and subscribe to the podcast by following one of these links or by searching for the podcast on your favourite platform:

Show Notes about the Episode

The story of the Egyptian famine is told in two parts in Genesis 41:25-57 and Genesis 47:13-26. Direct biblical quotations in the episode are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.

The Historicity of Joseph’s Story

Whenever we are discussing the whole story of the sojourn of the people of Israel in Egypt and the subsequent exodus, we are on very uncertain historical ground.

The events that are told in Genesis — particularly the story of Joseph rising to become a powerful ruler over Egypt and fundamentally changing its entire economy — are events that would have been remembered and recorded, but there are no such records.

In addition, the Bible itself preserves alternate versions of the history of Joseph’s family. As I have discussed in my previous Episode 7.9 Sheerah, Warrior Princess of Ephraim, the Book of Chronicles tells a story of Joseph’s immediate descendants remaining in and living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh in the land of Israel from the beginning — not in Egypt as is told in Genesis.

So we really do not know if Joseph ever existed or did such things. And yet, I suspect, this description of the state of affairs in Egypt — a system where the entire population is enslaved to the ruler — is likely based on some sort of observation or experience that Israelites had of the Egyptian system.

The Flooding River

Hapi, the god of the Nile By Zetazo – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79122475

The story in Genesis does not mention anything about the flooding of the Nile River (or its failure to do so) but any ancient Egyptian would have seen an undeniable connection between the flooding of the river and the annual production and harvest. The Egyptian calendar was built around the cycles of the river. It was always a disaster when the river did not flood during the first month of the year.

Ancient Egyptians did not know that the flooding was caused by the rains in the regions of the headwaters far to the south. They attributed the cycles of the river and the plenteous harvests that followed to the god Hapi. They certainly would have made sacrifices to that god if ever the floods failed to come.

Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein’s book, The Shock Doctrine, obviously has greatly informed my reading of this portion of the Book of Genesis. The book is available wherever books are sold or lent. You can also access a digital copy here: https://archive.org/details/fp_Naomi_Klein-The_Shock_Doctrine/mode/2up

Media in this Episode

The following music was used for this media project:

“Morgana Rides ” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“AhDah” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Support Retelling the Bible

If you would like to support the work that I do creating these stories, go to patreon.com/retellingthebible and choose a level of support!