Archive for the ‘Mattaniah’ Tag
Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING EZEKIEL, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 1:1-3
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In 597 B.C.E., Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian forces invaded Judah. King Jehoiachin‘s brief reign ended. His uncle Mattaniah came to the throne as King Zedekiah. Jehoiachin and many others–members of the Judean elite–became exiles in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The first wave of the Babylonian Exile had begun.
Ezekiel ben Buzi was one of these captives and exiles. Ezekiel, a priest in the community beside the Chebar Canal (next to the city of Nippur, southeast of the city of Babylon), received his commission as a prophet on the fifth day of Tammuz (on the Gregorian Calendar, in June), 593 B.C.E. He prophesied until 571 B.C.E.
Robert Alter describes Ezekiel as
surely the strangest of all the prophets
and as
an extreme case.
—The Hebrew Bible, Volume 2, Prophets (2019), 1049
The prophet, whose name meant, “God strengthens,” was, by modern standards, misogynistic, as in Chapters 16 and 23. He was not unique–certainly not in the company of Biblical authors. According to Alter, especially in the context of Chapter 16:
Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person. The states of disturbance exhibited in his writing led him to a series of remarkable visionary experiences, at least several of which would be deeply inscribed in the Western imagination, engendering profound experiences in later poetry and in mystical literature. At the same time, there is much in these visions that reminds us of the dangerous dark side of prophecy. To announce authoritatively that the words one speaks are the words of God is an audacious act. Inevitably, what is reported as divine speech reaches us through the refracting prism of the prophet’s sensibility and psychology, and the words and images represented as God’s urgent message may be sometimes distorted in eerie ways.
–1051-1052
Biblical scholars from a variety of times, theological orientations, and geographical origins have commented on Ezekiel’s pathological psychology. The prophet may not have been well-adjusted. “Touched by the gods” has been an expression for a long time, and for a good reason.
However much one accepts that much or most of the Book of Ezekiel comes from the prophet, a textual difficulty remains. The book includes evidence of subsequent editing after the Babylonian Exile. Any given passage, in its final form, may have more to do with Ezra or some other editor than with Ezekiel. Or that passage may be entirely from Ezeki8el. Or the editorial touch may be light.
I acknowledge these matters as I commit to my primary purpose in this Hebrew prophetic reading project: to read these passages in context and to ponder what they say to the world today. The ancient message, grounded in particular circumstances, continues to speak.
“The hand of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:3) symbolizes divine power.
The Book of Ezekiel breaks down into three sections:
- Chapters 1-24, in their original form, date to between the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). This section divides into two subsections. Chapters 1-11 contain visions of divine presence and departure. Chapters 12-24 offer a rationale for and anticipate the destruction of Jerusalem.
- Chapters 25-32 contain oracles against the nations. The arrangement of these oracles is not chronological. Such a collection of oracles is also a feature of other prophetic writings, as in Amos 1:3-2:3; Isaiah 13:1-23:19; Jeremiah 46:1-51:64.
- Chapters 33-48 contain oracles from after the Fall of Jerusalem. This section breaks down into two subsections. Chapters 33-39 offer a rationale for and anticipate the transformation of the LORD’s people. Chapters 40-48 contain visions of the LORD’s return to the Second Temple (not yet built; dedicated in 516 B.C.E.) in a transformed land.
Tova Ganzel wrote, in the introduction to the Book of Ezekiel, in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014):
Because of the central themes of the Temple, acts of leadership, sins of the people, and divine theophanies appear in both the predestruction and postdestruction oracles (1.3, 13-15, 22-24; 8.2-3; 10.11, 22-23; 40.1-2; 43.1-5), Ezekiel’s oracles merit both sequential and topical study.
–1034
I will study the Book of Ezekiel in a combination of sequential and topical organization of posts.
Major lectionaries ignore most of the Book of Ezekiel. The Roman Catholic lectionaries for weekdays, Sundays, and major feast days omit Chapters 3-8, 11, 13-15, 19-23, 25-27, 29-42, 44-46, and 48 entirely. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) lists the Book of Ezekiel only five times:
- 34:11-16, 20-24 for Christ the King Sunday, Year A;
- 36:24-27 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C;
- 37:1-14 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C; the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A; and (as an alternative reading), for the Day of Pentecost, Year B.
I understand the benefits and limitations of lectionaries. Any lectionary–even a narrow, one-year cycle with two readings and a Psalm each Sunday–is superior to ministers focusing on their favorite passages of scripture Sunday after Sunday. The orderly reading of scripture in communal worship has virtues. Lectionaries also help people to read the Bible in conversation with itself. Nevertheless, the parts of the Book of Ezekiel that even three-year cycles overlook are worth hearing and reading, in private, alone, in a study group, and in the context of worship.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 7: THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH AUGUSTUS SEISS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ALFRED RAMSEY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CHARLES COFFIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HANS ADOLF BRORSON, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN SPARROW-SIMPSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: King Zedekiah of Judah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART XVIII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 27:1-29:32
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Masoretic Text of Jeremiah 27:1 indicates that Jehoiakim was the King of Judah. Yet this is a scribal error, for the rest of the text names Zedekiah as the King of Judah. Many English translations correct the Masoretic Text and list Zedekiah as the monarch.
Zedekiah, born Mattaniah, reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. As the King of Judah, he was always a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.
God was sovereign, Jeremiah pronounced. All world leaders, even King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (r. 605-562 B.C.E.) were vassals of God. The prophet told King Zedekiah to disregard the advice of the false prophets to rebel against the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The only way to live was as a Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian vassal, Jeremiah told King Zedekiah. The King of Judah disregarded the prophet’s advice and rebelled anyway. King Zedekiah, blinded, died a prisoner in Babylon (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58).
Hananiah ben Azzur was a false prophet. He was the prophetic equivalent of happy pills. Hananiah, who had
urged disloyalty to the LORD,
died the same year he issued the false prophecy.
The first round of the Babylonian Exile started in 597 B.C.E., with the deposition of King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.), Jeremiah wrote to these exiles. They were home, Jeremiah wrote to these exiles. Jeremiah counseled them to settle permanently. In Deuteronomy 20:5-7, building houses, planting vineyards, marrying, and procreating indicated permanent settlement. The collapse of such signs of permanent settlement, as was about to happen in Judah, indicated divine judgment (Deuteronomy 28:30-32; Amos 5:11; Zephaniah 1:13). The restoration of these signs of permanent settlement played a role in prophecies of consolation (Isaiah 65:21-23; Jeremiah 29:5-6; Ezekiel 28:25-26).
Jeremiah 29:10 returns to the motif of seventy years, present in Jeremiah 25:11-14.
We read denunciations of other false prophets–Ahab ben Kolaiah and Zedekiah ben Maaseiah (29:20-23), as well as Shemaiah the Nehelamite (29:24-32). We read of their unfortunate fates. We also read again that false prophesy is urging disloyalty to God.
One of the practical difficulties in applying timeless principles is that one must apply them in circumstances. Circumstances can vary widely, according to who, when, and where one is. Therefore, a degree of relativism exists in the application of timeless principles.
Consider one timeless principle, O reader. One should never urge disloyalty to God. My circumstances are quite different from those of Jeremiah, during the reign of King Zedekiah. Yet the timeless principle applies to my set of circumstances. When and where I am, how I may confront those urging disloyalty to God looks very different than Jeremiah in Chapters 27-29.
Whenever and wherever you are, O reader, may you never urge disloyalty to God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDWIN PAXTON HOOD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID JAESCHKE, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; AND HIS GRANDSON, HENRI MARC HERMANN VOLDEMAR VOULLAIRE, MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO THE OJIBWA NATION
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Jeremiah Tells the King That Jerusalem Shall Be Taken
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART XIII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 21:1-22:30
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground,
and tell sad stories of the death of kings….
–William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act 3, Scene 2
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 21-25 consists of oracles in the last years of Jerusalem. Zedekiah (born Mattaniah) in the regnant monarch named in 21:1. The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), lists his reign as having spanned 597-586 B.C.E. Outside of the Book of Jeremiah, one can read about King Zedekiah in 2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; and 1 Esdras 1:47-58.
Passhur the priest (21:1) was a different person than Passhur the priest (20:1), just as Zephaniah the priest (21:1) was a different person than Zephaniah the prophet (Zephaniah 1-3).
The theme of divine retribution in exchange for rampant, persistent, and systemic social injustice recurs.
There was bad news all around.
- Jerusalem was fall to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C.E.
- King Zedekiah (r. 597-586 B.C.E.) would suffer an ignominious fate.
- King Jehohaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (r. 609 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38), would die in exile in Egypt.
- King Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42) either died peacefully in his palace (2 Kings 24:6), became a captive in Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:40), or died outside the walls of Jerusalem in 598 B.C.E. and received no burial (Jeremiah 22:19; 36:30-31).
- King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (r. 597 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) would become a prisoner in Babylon, too.
I detect odd editing, without regard to chronology. Follow my reasoning, O reader:
- Zedekiah was the last King of Judah. Material concerning him establishes the present tense at the beginning of Chapter 21.
- The material concerning Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum would have been contemporary to the Zedekiah material.
- Yet the material concerning Jehoiakim comes from during his reign.
- Likewise, the material concerning Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah comes from during his reign.
The divine condemnations of rulers who did not try to govern righteously remain relevant, sadly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 11, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 1:1-3
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The first three verses of the Book of Jeremiah identify the prophet, his father, the prophet’s hometown, and the timeframe of his prophetic ministry.
Jeremiah (“YHWH will exalt”) ben Hilkiah hailed from Anathoth, about three and a half miles northeast of Jerusalem. The father, Hilkiah, was a priest. Hilkiah and Jeremiah were outside of the priestly establishment in Jerusalem. Therefore, this Hilkiah was not the high priest Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:3-23:37) who found the scroll of Deuteronomy in the Temple, brought that scroll to King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.), and participated in Josiah’s religious reformation.
Hailing from Anathoth was significant. Anathoth was one of the cities assigned to Levitical priests in Joshua 21:18. After the death of King David, King Solomon had exiled the priest Abiathar (1 Samuel 22:20-22; 1 Samuel 23:6, 9; 1 Samuel 30:7; 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 15:24, 27, 29, 35; 2 Samuel 17:15; 2 Samuel 19:11; 2 Samuel 20:25; 1 Kings 1:7, 19, 25, 42; 1 Kings 2:35; 1 Kings 4:4; 1 Chronicles 15:11; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 1 Chronicles 24:6; 1 Chronicles 27:34; Mark 2:26) to Anathoth for supporting Adonijah in the struggle for succession (1 Kings 2:26-27). Jeremiah, therefore, was also a member of a priestly family. He understood the ancient traditions of Israel, as well as the foundational character of the covenant in the life of Israel.
The superscription also defines the period during which Jeremiah prophesied: from the thirteenth year (627 B.C.E.) of the reign (640-609 B.C.E.) of King Josiah of Judah through “the eleventh year of King Zedekiah,” “when Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month” (586 B.C.E.). We read in Chapters 39-44 that Jeremiah prophesied after the Fall of Jerusalem, too. The list of kings names Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. That list omits Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum and Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Yet, as the germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), points out, few of the prophecies in the Book of Jeremiah date to the reign of King Josiah.
Jeremiah prophesied during a turbulent and difficult period of decline–mostly after the fall of the Assyrian Empire (612 B.C.E. and before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). In the wake of King Josiah’s death, Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh Neco II had chosen the next two Kings of Judah. Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38) had reigned for about three months before becoming a prisoner in Egypt. Then Neco II had appointed Eliakim and renamed him Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42). Jehoiakim was always a vassal while King of Judah. After being the vassal of Neco II of Egypt for about three years, he became a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 605 B.C.E. He died a prisoner in that empire.
Two more Kings of Judah reigned; both were vassals of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) reigned for about three months before going into exile in that empire. The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, born Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58). He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. The last events he saw before Chaldean soldiers blinded him were the executions of his sons.
The Book of Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the Hebrew Bible; it contains 52 chapters. The final draft is the product of augmentation and editing subsequent to the time of Jeremiah himself. In fact, Jeremiah 52 is mostly verbatim from 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. Also Jeremiah 52:4-16 occur also in Jeremiah 39:1-2, 4-10. Chronology is not the organizing principle of material in the Book of Jeremiah; jumping around the timeline is commonplace. For example, the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) occurs between Chapters 32 and 33, as well as in Chapters 39 and 52. Some ancient copies are longer than other ancient copies. None of the subsequent augmentation and editing, complete with some material being absent from certain ancient copies of the book surprises me, based on my reading about the development of certain Biblical texts. I do not pretend that divinely-inspired authors were mere secretaries for God.
Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel made a germane and wonderful point in The Prophets, Volume I (1962), viii:
The prophet is a person, not a microphone. He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that accounts for his greatness–but also with temperament, concern, character, and individuality. As there was no resisting the impact of divine inspiration, so at times there was no resisting the vortex of his own temperament. The word of God reverberated in the voice of man.
The prophet’s task is to convey a divine view, yet as a person he is a point of view. He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation. We must seek to understand not only the views he expounded but also the attitudes he embodied: his own position, feeling response–not only what he said but also what he lived; the private, the intimate dimension of the word, the subjective side of the message.
Those paragraphs applied to all the Hebrew prophets. They applied to Jeremiah with greater poignancy than to the others, though.
I invite you, O reader, to remain with me as I blog my way through the book of the “weeping prophet.”
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 6, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 5: THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AND THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANÇON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERTZOG, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of Habakkuk
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HABAKKUK, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Habakkuk 1:1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The situation for Judah had become worse since the days of the prophet Nahum, shortly before the Fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.E.). King Josiah of Judah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 22:1-23:30; 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27; 1 Esdras 1:1-33; Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 49:1-6) had died in combat against Pharaoh Neco II (r. 610-595 B.C.E.). The Egyptian leader had sought to establish power in Syria; Judah was between Egypt and Syria. The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had terminated Neco II’s plans for Syria.
In the wake of King Josiah’s death, Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh Neco II had chosen the next two Kings of Judah. Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38) had reigned for about three months before becoming a prisoner in Egypt. Then Neco II had appointed Eliakim and renamed him Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42). Jehoiakim was always a vassal while King of Judah. After being the vassal of Neco II of Egypt for about three years, he became a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 605 B.C.E. He died a prisoner in that empire.
Two more Kings of Judah reigned; both were vassals of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) reigned for about three months before going into exile in that empire. The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, born Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58). He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. The last events he saw before Chaldean soldiers blinded him were the executions of his sons.
The Book of Habakkuk exists within the context of three years–605, 598/597, and 586 B.C.E.–and two Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian invasions of Judah. The book, in its original form, dates to closer to 605 and 598/597 B.C.E. than 586 B.C.E.
The superscription tells us almost nothing about the prophet. “Habakkuk” derives from an Arabic word meaning “dwarf.” He may have been a cultic prophet. The superscription does not even reveal the name(s) of the King(s) of Judah when Habakkuk prophesied.
The Book of Habakkuk contains fifty-six verses in three chapters. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) gives short shrift to the book, assigning only eight verses once every third years. Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 is one of two options for the Old Testament reading on Proper 26, Year C. The lectionary includes:
the righteous live by their faith
(2:4b), taken out of textual context.
I invite you, O reader, to join me as I read all of the Book of Habakkuk, in historical and textual context.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 5, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOROTHEUS OF TYRE, BISHOP OF TYRE, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 362
THE FEAST OF BLISS WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR, ARRANGER, AND HARMONIZER; AND HIS WIFE, MILDRED ARTZ WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD
THE FEAST OF MAURICE BLONDEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER AND FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
THE FEAST OF ORLANDO GIBBONS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; THE “ENGLISH PALESTRINA”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Map of the Assyrian Empire and Neighbors
Scanned from an Old Bible
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HOSEA, PART VII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 9:1-17
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am convinced that references to Egypt in the Book of Amos may date to the Judean editing of the text. History tells me that, in the days of the prophet Hosea, Aram, not Egypt, was the main rival to the Assyrian Empire. History also tells me that, when the (southern) Kingdom of Judah was waning, Egypt was the main rival to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, successor to and conqueror of the Assyrian Empire. I also recall 2 Kings 23:31f, in which the Pharaoh, having killed King Josiah of Judah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.) in battle, selected the next two Kings of Judah–Jehoahaz (a.k.a. Jeconiah and Shallum; reigned for about three months in 609 B.C.E.) and Jehoiakim (born Eliakim; reigned 608-598 B.C.E.). (See 2 Kings 23:31-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:1-8; and 1 Esdras 1:34-42.) References to returning to Egypt make sense on a literal level after the beginning of the Babylonian Exile, given the events of Jeremiah 42:1-44:31. On a metaphorical level, “returning to Egypt” stands for abandoning freedom in God and returning to captivity, thereby reversing the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 13:17-14:31).
As for eating unclean food in Assyria (9:3), just replace Assyria with Babylonia, and that statement applies to the late Judean reality, too. 2 Kings 24:1-25:30 tells of the fall of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah. That portion of scripture also tells us that the last three Kings of Judah were Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian vassals.
Editing the original version of the Book of Hosea to describe the plight of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah required little effort. For example, Hoshea (r. 732-723 B.C.E.), the last King of Israel, was a rebellious vassal of Assyria. His rebellion triggered the fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17). Likewise, King Zedekiah (born Mattaniah; reigned 597-586 B.C.E.) was a rebellious vassal of Babylonia. His rebellion triggered the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58)
A sense of divine sadness pervades Hosea 9:1-17. One can feel it as one reads God, filtered through Hosea and perhaps subsequent editors, asking:
Why did my people make such terrible, destructive choices?
The chapter concludes on a somber note:
My God rejects them,
Because they have not obeyed Him….
–Hosea 9:17a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Cultures, societies, and individuals have the choice to obey or to disobey the moral mandates from God. Well-intentioned people who seek to obey God may debate how to do so. The situation in the Book of Hosea, however, is that the debate does not take place. The Book of Hosea describes a society in which disregard for those moral mandates was endemic. Judgment for trying and failing to fulfill these moral mandates differs from judgment for not caring enough to try.
My late beloved was mentally ill. Immediately prior to the end of her life, I told her that I accepted that I had moral obligations to her, but that I did not know in the moment what they required me to do. I was attempting, in a terminal crisis, to behave morally. Perhaps I made the wrong choice. Maybe I committed a sin of omission by avoiding the difficult and proper course of action. Perhaps she would have done differently in a counterfactual scenario. But I proceeded from a morally correct assumption, at least.
I live in a conflicted state. I tell myself that I sinned by what I did not do, not what I did. On the other hand, I tell myself that I could, at best, have delayed, not prevented her death by means other than natural causes. I tell myself, too, that I had already delayed her death by means other than natural causes for years. I tell myself that I carry survivor’s guilt, and that God has forgiven me for all sins of commission and omission vis-à-vis my late beloved. I have yet to forgive myself, though.
I wonder what exiles from Israel and Judah felt as they began their captivity and that exile dragged on. I wonder how many of them “saw the light” and repented. I know that the Ten Lost Tribes (mostly) assimilated, and that their descendants spread out across the Old World, from Afghanistan to South Africa. Knowing this adds poignancy to Hosea 9:14b:
And they shall go wandering
Among the nations.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
We human beings condemn ourselves.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 17, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS BRADBURY CHANDLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST; HIS SON-IN-LAW, JOHN HENRY HOBART, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW YORK; AND HIS GRANDSON, WILLIAM HOBART HARE, APOSTLE TO THE SIOUX AND EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF NIOBRARA THEN SOUTH DAKOTA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CATERINA VOLPICELLI, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVANTS OF THE SACRED HEART; SAINT LUDOVICO DA CASORIA, FOUNDER OF THE GRAY FRIARS OF CHARITY AND COFOUNDER OF THE GRAY SISTERS OF SAINT ELIZABETH; AND SAINT GIULIA SALZANO, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE CATECHETICAL SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART
THE FEAST OF CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON AND THURGOOD MARSHALL, ATTORNEYS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
THE FEAST OF DONALD COGGAN, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVAN ZIATYK, POLISH UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1952
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Zedekiah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING 2 KINGS 22-25, 1 ESDRAS, 2 CHRONICLES 34-36, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH
PART IX
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 Kings 24:18-25:26
2 Chronicles 36:11-21
1 Esdras 1:47-58
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept:
when we remembered the holy city.
–Psalm 137:1, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For a different yet similar perspective on this material, read Jeremiah 37-44, O reader.
The last four Kings of Judah were in impossible situations. Each one had bad choices and worse choices, not good choices. Circumstances they did not create defined the monarchs’ horizons. Geopolitics (being sandwiched between Egypt and Chaldea, to be precise) contributed to the difficulty. And all of the four kings died in exile–one in Egypt and three in Babylon. Zedekiah’s fate was the cruelest of the four fates.
Zedekiah was never his own man as King of Judah. Mattaniah (“Gift of YHWH”) became Zedekiah (“YHWH is my righteousness”) when Nebuchadezzar II appointed and renamed him. Zedekiah reigned as a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II for about 11 years (597-586 B.C.E.).
The theology in the designated readings and in Jeremiah is consistent. That theology upholds the sacredness of Zedekiah’s oath to God to be the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II. That theology also understands Nebuchadnezzar II as an instrument of God.
The assassination of governor Gedaliah and the subsequent mass exodus to Egypt (see also Jeremiah 40:13-41:18) added to the heartache of the Fall of the Jerusalem and the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah.
A common way of interpreting the conquest of a kingdom or an empire was that the gods of the victorious power had defeated the gods of the conquered power. Nebuchadnezzar II had conquered Judah, but not YHWH. The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had a date with divine judgment, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 5, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALFRED TENNYSON, ENGLISH POET
THE FEAST OF ADAM OF SAINT VICTOR, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, AND LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, RENAISSANCE ARTISTS
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT, POET AND COMPOSER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is post #2250 of BLOGA THEOLOGICA.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.