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The gospel story of Jesus’ crucifixion in Matthew and Mark includes a moment that always troubled me. Right before dying, Jesus seems to give up, to despair, to lose hope in God the Father. “Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God's Son.’” The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way. From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, […] “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” […] Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.” (Matthew 27:39-50)
Why have you forsaken me? It is an anguished cry. Does it really mean what it seems on the surface, that at the last moment, Jesus has lost his prior certainty that God will raise him up again? Has he felt the constant presence of God abandon him in the end, leaving him to face death alone, with all hope lost? The very idea of Jesus losing faith at the last moment, or of God really forsaking his anointed one, is troubling. Fortunately, that was not what was going on. That was not the real meaning of Jesus’ cry of “why have you forsaken me?” As strange as it may seem to us, Jesus was using his last moments to quote a song.
Imagine that you sadly broke up with someone you were dating. As you walked out that person’s door for the last time, you turned back and said, “You think I'd lay down and die? Oh no, not I, I will survive.” Did you truly mean that there was a real chance of your dying over the breakup? No, chances are, your “ex” would know you were just quoting a popular song by Gloria Gaynor. The words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are from a popular song of Jesus’ day, which we know as Psalm 22. By quoting it, Jesus was actually being a Rabbi, a teacher, to the end. It was common practice at the time to quote just one line of a passage from scripture, in order to bring to mind the entire passage. The dying teacher was responding to all the mocking people around him by reminding them about the entirety of Psalm 22, which begins in despair, but which ends on a very different note.
Here is the first half of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads; “Commit your cause to the LORD; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!” Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast. On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
It is easy to see why Jesus was thinking about this Psalm. His suffering was similar, and the mocking crowd surrounding him was much like the one in the Psalm. Perhaps most of all, it was because he had just seen the following thing happen: “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” (John 19:23-24) It was like the words of the Psalm coming to life. Psalm 22 is widely regarded as a kind of prophecy to be fulfilled, in which the Holy Spirit foretold Jesus’ suffering through the words of the Psalmist King David. Jesus was aware of this when he said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke 24:44)
Psalm 22 does not end on a message of despair. In quoting it, Jesus not only reminds the listeners about his suffering, but also, he rebukes them for their doubt and scorn. As the Psalm tells us, suffering is followed by salvation. Here is the second half of Psalm 22: “But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.”
That was the complete lesson Jesus the teacher was giving to those mocking him at the end of his life. They mocked his inability to save himself, and they scorned his trust in God’s deliverance. But Jesus did trust in God to the end. As we have seen, his cry of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” was not a failure of trust. It was a quote that brought to mind the whole of Psalm 22, and in the second half of that Psalm was the answer to the mockery of the crowd: “For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.” God did deliver Jesus from death, and the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel echoes the promise of the last lines of Psalm 22 (All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him). “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
Friday, November 21, 2008
Who the Heck.... was Melchizedek?
The letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament compares Jesus to a little-known biblical character named Melchizedek. It states that “he [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” The letter writer goes on to say, “About this we have much to say that is hard to explain…” (Heb 5:8-11) In fact, it is a little hard to explain. Who was this Melchizedek, and was Jesus really a high priest “according to his order”? What does that mean? To get the answers, we have to look back in time to the earlier appearances of Melchizedek in the Bible. This mystery takes us from the New Testament all the way back to the book of Psalms, and finally clear back to the beginning of the Bible, the book of Genesis. This one strange character ties together writings which spanned more than a thousand years.
Before we are ready to see what the writer of Hebrews means about Jesus, we have to look at the beginning of Psalm 110, a famous Psalm of David that Christians believe talks about the Messiah. Here is the text: “The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” […] The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:1-4) In this Psalm, King David seems to be describing what God (“The LORD”) is saying to the Messiah (“my lord”). God appoints the Messiah to be a priest forever. “According to the order of Melchizedek” is a phrase meaning, “just like Melchizedek.”
So far, so good. We’ve found the passage in Psalms that the writer of Hebrews was referring to. But we still don’t know who this Melchizedek was. For that, we have to look at Genesis 14, the story of Abram (Abraham). When an alliance of various kings attacks the city of Sodom, Abram’s nephew Lot is captured there as a prisoner of war. Genesis explains that “When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people. After his return from the defeat of [king] Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.” (Gen 14:14-20)
The passage above is the only personal appearance of Melchizedek in the entire Bible. His name means “King of Righteousness”, and he seems to be two things; one, a priest of the same God Abram worships, and two, the King of the city of Salem (“City of Peace” - probably an ancient name for Jerusalem.) Upon Abram’s victorious return from battle, Melchizedek meets Abram, blesses him, and accepts a tithe from him. At first glance, it seems to be an unimportant incident. Genesis quickly moves on to describe the much more important matter of the Covenant God makes with Abram, and the promise of descendants and a land for them to live in. Melchizedek is not mentioned again. So why is he important enough to be associated with the Messiah in Psalm 110? Why is Jesus compared to him at length in Hebrews? We’ve come all the way back to Genesis, and now that we know who Melchizedek was, it is hard to understand what was so special about him.
The answer lies in the fact that Melchizedek’s story is found in the Torah, the five books of Moses. These books were so incredibly important to later Jewish and Christian writers that even a small character in them became very important, or even larger than life. When you look at Melchizedek from the perspective of a later biblical writer like the author of Hebrews, some very strange things start to emerge. First, it appears that the man has ‘no beginning and no end.’ We’ve all seen the many genealogies in the Bible – long lists of who begat who, from father to son (or daughter) down through the ages. But the brief story of Melchizedek does not list any parents or any children for him. It does not say when he was born or when he died. It may sound very illogical to the modern person, but it was believed back then that if something was not written in the Torah, a book dictated to Moses by God himself, then it did not exist. In other words, because the death of Melchizedek is not mentioned in the Torah, he therefore never died!
Another strange thing about the man is that he blesses Abram, not the other way around. The idea is that if someone blesses you, then they are by definition greater than you, so Melchizedek must have been greater than Abram. And another thing – Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High – the same God Abram worshipped – but this was generations before God established the priesthood of the tribe of Levi, the one “after the order of Aaron,” so to speak. If the priesthood of Melchizedek came before the Levitical priesthood, well… you guessed it – the earlier priesthood must have been superior. So now we see more clearly what was special about Melchizedek. He never died, and he was part of an older priesthood that was greater than the normal one that ran the Temple sacrifices. Now perhaps we can see why the Psalmist said the Messiah would be part of Melchizedek’s priesthood and not the regular one. The Messiah was a special case, and had to be in a special category all his own.
The letter of Hebrews discusses Jesus and Melchizedek in chapters 5-8, as part of an effort to convince fellow Jews of the first century that they should accept Jesus as the Messiah. The writer compares Melchizedek to Jesus in order to argue to reluctant readers that the then-current Temple and Priest system has been replaced. There is a new High Priest, his name is Jesus, and everything that was believed and prophesized about old Melchizedek now applies to Jesus. Here are the main points the writer makes:
1. Jesus has been appointed as the new High Priest by God, and the passage in Psalm 110 is talking about Jesus specifically, therefore Jesus’ priesthood is the same kind as Melchizedek’s was. Jesus is like Melchizedek, in several ways. They are both “Kings of Righteousness”, and “Kings of Peace”. They both have neither beginning of days nor end of life. They both remain Priests forever.
2. Melchizedek, who was greater then Abraham, blessed the inferior Abraham and took tithe money from him. It follows that Abraham’s descendants, namely the Priests, the sons of Levi, are also inferior to Melchizedek. Therefore the law given under the Levite Priests is also inferior. There is a superior Priesthood, namely the Melchizedek kind, a superior law, and a superior Priest, namely Jesus. Jesus is a High Priest of the superior type, because of his resurrection and eternal life. He wasn’t born to the tribe of Levi, so he cannot be of the inferior type.
3. Like Melchizedek, whose death was not written, Jesus continues forever, the only High Priest we will ever need to make intercession for sin. Levite priests have to sacrifice over and over for sin, but Jesus only had to do it once and forever, with his death on the cross.
4. Jesus has the more excellent ministry, the better sanctuary in Heaven, and the better Covenant: “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb 8:10-12)
So now we know who Melchizedek really was, and as a character in the Bible, he will always remain vague, mysterious and controversial. Because so little is really known about him, scholars will always argue over his true nature. But one thing is very clear. The ideas and concepts which were built up around him can tell us a lot about our Messiah, Jesus, and teach us fundamental things about our Lord, as shown in the letter to the Hebrews. It is okay to let Melchizedek remain a mystery, as long as we continue to learn about Christ.
Before we are ready to see what the writer of Hebrews means about Jesus, we have to look at the beginning of Psalm 110, a famous Psalm of David that Christians believe talks about the Messiah. Here is the text: “The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” […] The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:1-4) In this Psalm, King David seems to be describing what God (“The LORD”) is saying to the Messiah (“my lord”). God appoints the Messiah to be a priest forever. “According to the order of Melchizedek” is a phrase meaning, “just like Melchizedek.”
So far, so good. We’ve found the passage in Psalms that the writer of Hebrews was referring to. But we still don’t know who this Melchizedek was. For that, we have to look at Genesis 14, the story of Abram (Abraham). When an alliance of various kings attacks the city of Sodom, Abram’s nephew Lot is captured there as a prisoner of war. Genesis explains that “When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people. After his return from the defeat of [king] Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.” (Gen 14:14-20)
The passage above is the only personal appearance of Melchizedek in the entire Bible. His name means “King of Righteousness”, and he seems to be two things; one, a priest of the same God Abram worships, and two, the King of the city of Salem (“City of Peace” - probably an ancient name for Jerusalem.) Upon Abram’s victorious return from battle, Melchizedek meets Abram, blesses him, and accepts a tithe from him. At first glance, it seems to be an unimportant incident. Genesis quickly moves on to describe the much more important matter of the Covenant God makes with Abram, and the promise of descendants and a land for them to live in. Melchizedek is not mentioned again. So why is he important enough to be associated with the Messiah in Psalm 110? Why is Jesus compared to him at length in Hebrews? We’ve come all the way back to Genesis, and now that we know who Melchizedek was, it is hard to understand what was so special about him.
The answer lies in the fact that Melchizedek’s story is found in the Torah, the five books of Moses. These books were so incredibly important to later Jewish and Christian writers that even a small character in them became very important, or even larger than life. When you look at Melchizedek from the perspective of a later biblical writer like the author of Hebrews, some very strange things start to emerge. First, it appears that the man has ‘no beginning and no end.’ We’ve all seen the many genealogies in the Bible – long lists of who begat who, from father to son (or daughter) down through the ages. But the brief story of Melchizedek does not list any parents or any children for him. It does not say when he was born or when he died. It may sound very illogical to the modern person, but it was believed back then that if something was not written in the Torah, a book dictated to Moses by God himself, then it did not exist. In other words, because the death of Melchizedek is not mentioned in the Torah, he therefore never died!
Another strange thing about the man is that he blesses Abram, not the other way around. The idea is that if someone blesses you, then they are by definition greater than you, so Melchizedek must have been greater than Abram. And another thing – Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High – the same God Abram worshipped – but this was generations before God established the priesthood of the tribe of Levi, the one “after the order of Aaron,” so to speak. If the priesthood of Melchizedek came before the Levitical priesthood, well… you guessed it – the earlier priesthood must have been superior. So now we see more clearly what was special about Melchizedek. He never died, and he was part of an older priesthood that was greater than the normal one that ran the Temple sacrifices. Now perhaps we can see why the Psalmist said the Messiah would be part of Melchizedek’s priesthood and not the regular one. The Messiah was a special case, and had to be in a special category all his own.
The letter of Hebrews discusses Jesus and Melchizedek in chapters 5-8, as part of an effort to convince fellow Jews of the first century that they should accept Jesus as the Messiah. The writer compares Melchizedek to Jesus in order to argue to reluctant readers that the then-current Temple and Priest system has been replaced. There is a new High Priest, his name is Jesus, and everything that was believed and prophesized about old Melchizedek now applies to Jesus. Here are the main points the writer makes:
1. Jesus has been appointed as the new High Priest by God, and the passage in Psalm 110 is talking about Jesus specifically, therefore Jesus’ priesthood is the same kind as Melchizedek’s was. Jesus is like Melchizedek, in several ways. They are both “Kings of Righteousness”, and “Kings of Peace”. They both have neither beginning of days nor end of life. They both remain Priests forever.
2. Melchizedek, who was greater then Abraham, blessed the inferior Abraham and took tithe money from him. It follows that Abraham’s descendants, namely the Priests, the sons of Levi, are also inferior to Melchizedek. Therefore the law given under the Levite Priests is also inferior. There is a superior Priesthood, namely the Melchizedek kind, a superior law, and a superior Priest, namely Jesus. Jesus is a High Priest of the superior type, because of his resurrection and eternal life. He wasn’t born to the tribe of Levi, so he cannot be of the inferior type.
3. Like Melchizedek, whose death was not written, Jesus continues forever, the only High Priest we will ever need to make intercession for sin. Levite priests have to sacrifice over and over for sin, but Jesus only had to do it once and forever, with his death on the cross.
4. Jesus has the more excellent ministry, the better sanctuary in Heaven, and the better Covenant: “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb 8:10-12)
So now we know who Melchizedek really was, and as a character in the Bible, he will always remain vague, mysterious and controversial. Because so little is really known about him, scholars will always argue over his true nature. But one thing is very clear. The ideas and concepts which were built up around him can tell us a lot about our Messiah, Jesus, and teach us fundamental things about our Lord, as shown in the letter to the Hebrews. It is okay to let Melchizedek remain a mystery, as long as we continue to learn about Christ.
Heroes of the Apocrypha, Part Four- Judah Maccabee
Did you know that the Roman Catholic Bible contains a longer Old Testament than the one Protestants use? That’s because the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are a set of biblical books with titles like “Tobit”, “Judith”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, “Baruch”, and “Ecclesiasticus”. They appeared in the first Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and so they have been considered Holy by many Christians ever since. The Jews, however, later decided to exclude these books from their canon, leaving it to the Christians to preserve them. They were part of the Bible for all Christians until the Reformation, when Protestants decided to exclude them too. But in doing so, we miss out on a number of great stories and characters from these books. Perhaps the Apocrypha are to be considered less authoritative than the rest of scripture, but there is still much there to learn from and enjoy.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukah celebrates the victory of a warrior hero named Judah “the hammer” Maccabee over the forces of the Seleucid King Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” of Syria, and the liberation of the Temple, in the year 165 BCE. How do we know about this victory, which happened in between the Old and New Testaments, and isn’t recorded in either part of the Protestant Bible? It is, of course, part of the Apocrypha.
Judah Maccabee’s story is told in two books, 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are two versions of the events written by two different authors. The first book is mostly a historical account, and the second is much more religious in character. They both recount Antiochus’ attempt to wipe out the Jewish religion, and the rise of a hero to save it. Antiochus was ruler of a huge empire to the west of Israel. In 168 BCE, thwarted in his desire to rule Egypt, the mad Antiochus turned his wrath towards Israel. “So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city [Jerusalem] by storm. And he commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly every one they met and to slay those who went into the houses. Then there was killing of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaughter of virgins and infants. Within the total of three days eighty thousand were destroyed […] and as many were sold into slavery as were slain. Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world…” (2 Macc.5:11-15)
“Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God, and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus […] For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts […] The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. A man could neither keep the Sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.” (2 Macc. 6:1-6)
Now the basic pattern of history observed by the writer of 2 Maccabees is this: God uses enemies like Antiochus to discipline God’s people for their sins. Those of the faithful who die can still look forward to resurrection. “You accursed fiend” says one martyr, “you are depriving me of this present life, but the King of this world will raise us up to live again forever.” (2 Macc. 7:9) Eventually God has mercy and is reconciled to his people. In the end, God’s people are redeemed, while their enemies are utterly destroyed. When God’s wrath turns to mercy, he sends a man like Judah Maccabee to save his people.
In 167 BCE, an old Priest named Mattathias and his five sons defied the edicts of Antiochus and refused to worship pagan gods. They joined together with other pious Jews, and began to fight back against the Syrians. Upon the death of Mattathias, his son Judah, a warrior from his youth, became leader of the army. He was so well loved that the following words of praise were written of him: “Like a giant he put on his breastplate; he girded on his armor of war and waged battles, protecting the host by his sword. He was like a lion in his deeds, like a lion's cub roaring for prey […] and his memory is blessed for ever. He went through the cities of Judah; he destroyed the ungodly out of the land; thus he turned away wrath from Israel. He was renowned to the ends of the earth…” (1 Macc. 3:2-9)
Unable to face the Syrian armies directly at first, Judah Maccabee led his rebels to strike from the hills and use guerilla warfare. In this way, he won a string of early victories. Judah won against all odds precisely because he had faith that God would give him strength for victory. “Judah replied, “It is easy for many to be overcome by few, for in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between deliverance by many or by few; for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven. […] we fight for our lives and our laws. He [God] himself will crush them before us; so do not be afraid of them.” (1 Macc. 3:18-22) “So now let us cry to Heaven in the hope that he will favor us, remember his covenant with our fathers, and destroy this army before us today.” (1 Macc. 4:10)
Every time Judah needed a victory, he would pray to God to deliver his enemies into his hands. Every time Judah won a victory, he and his men sang songs of praise to God. New recruits flocked to his side, and soon his army was large enough to win in open battle. Eventually, the Syrians were driven to the coast. In 165 BCE, another victory opened the road to Jerusalem, and Judah marched in at the head of his forces to liberate the city. The Holy Temple was in rough shape, thoroughly defiled by the Syrians.
“Then said Judah and his brothers, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes. They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven. Then Judah detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and […] built a new altar like the former one.
“[…] Then Judah and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.” (1 Macc. 4:36-59) And so began the tradition which is now observed as Hanukah, although neither book of the Maccabees mentions the miracle of the lamp oil which burned for eight days – that story comes from another set of writings called the Talmud. Finally, in keeping with the pattern of history explained above, the human instrument used to discipline God’s people had to be completely destroyed, and so King Antiochus died just two years later. (1 Macc. 6; 2 Macc. 9)
This ends our brief meeting with the heroes of the Apocrypha. We have encountered quite a variety of heroes, but they have one thing in common – extraordinary faith in God. Daniel was an intellectual hero who used his cleverness to defend his faith while in exile in Babylon. Then there was Judith, a brave woman who used beauty and trickery to kill an evil General and save Israel. Tobias and an angel defeated a demon to save his new wife and his father, who had both lost their faith. And Judah Maccabee led the outnumbered warriors of Israel to save the Jewish faith one hundred sixty years before Jesus. Each hero embodied and expressed true faith in God. Although their stories appear in apocryphal books, they deserve to stand proudly next to all the other heroes of faith in the Bible.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukah celebrates the victory of a warrior hero named Judah “the hammer” Maccabee over the forces of the Seleucid King Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” of Syria, and the liberation of the Temple, in the year 165 BCE. How do we know about this victory, which happened in between the Old and New Testaments, and isn’t recorded in either part of the Protestant Bible? It is, of course, part of the Apocrypha.
Judah Maccabee’s story is told in two books, 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are two versions of the events written by two different authors. The first book is mostly a historical account, and the second is much more religious in character. They both recount Antiochus’ attempt to wipe out the Jewish religion, and the rise of a hero to save it. Antiochus was ruler of a huge empire to the west of Israel. In 168 BCE, thwarted in his desire to rule Egypt, the mad Antiochus turned his wrath towards Israel. “So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city [Jerusalem] by storm. And he commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly every one they met and to slay those who went into the houses. Then there was killing of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaughter of virgins and infants. Within the total of three days eighty thousand were destroyed […] and as many were sold into slavery as were slain. Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world…” (2 Macc.5:11-15)
“Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God, and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus […] For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts […] The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. A man could neither keep the Sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.” (2 Macc. 6:1-6)
Now the basic pattern of history observed by the writer of 2 Maccabees is this: God uses enemies like Antiochus to discipline God’s people for their sins. Those of the faithful who die can still look forward to resurrection. “You accursed fiend” says one martyr, “you are depriving me of this present life, but the King of this world will raise us up to live again forever.” (2 Macc. 7:9) Eventually God has mercy and is reconciled to his people. In the end, God’s people are redeemed, while their enemies are utterly destroyed. When God’s wrath turns to mercy, he sends a man like Judah Maccabee to save his people.
In 167 BCE, an old Priest named Mattathias and his five sons defied the edicts of Antiochus and refused to worship pagan gods. They joined together with other pious Jews, and began to fight back against the Syrians. Upon the death of Mattathias, his son Judah, a warrior from his youth, became leader of the army. He was so well loved that the following words of praise were written of him: “Like a giant he put on his breastplate; he girded on his armor of war and waged battles, protecting the host by his sword. He was like a lion in his deeds, like a lion's cub roaring for prey […] and his memory is blessed for ever. He went through the cities of Judah; he destroyed the ungodly out of the land; thus he turned away wrath from Israel. He was renowned to the ends of the earth…” (1 Macc. 3:2-9)
Unable to face the Syrian armies directly at first, Judah Maccabee led his rebels to strike from the hills and use guerilla warfare. In this way, he won a string of early victories. Judah won against all odds precisely because he had faith that God would give him strength for victory. “Judah replied, “It is easy for many to be overcome by few, for in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between deliverance by many or by few; for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven. […] we fight for our lives and our laws. He [God] himself will crush them before us; so do not be afraid of them.” (1 Macc. 3:18-22) “So now let us cry to Heaven in the hope that he will favor us, remember his covenant with our fathers, and destroy this army before us today.” (1 Macc. 4:10)
Every time Judah needed a victory, he would pray to God to deliver his enemies into his hands. Every time Judah won a victory, he and his men sang songs of praise to God. New recruits flocked to his side, and soon his army was large enough to win in open battle. Eventually, the Syrians were driven to the coast. In 165 BCE, another victory opened the road to Jerusalem, and Judah marched in at the head of his forces to liberate the city. The Holy Temple was in rough shape, thoroughly defiled by the Syrians.
“Then said Judah and his brothers, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes. They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven. Then Judah detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and […] built a new altar like the former one.
“[…] Then Judah and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.” (1 Macc. 4:36-59) And so began the tradition which is now observed as Hanukah, although neither book of the Maccabees mentions the miracle of the lamp oil which burned for eight days – that story comes from another set of writings called the Talmud. Finally, in keeping with the pattern of history explained above, the human instrument used to discipline God’s people had to be completely destroyed, and so King Antiochus died just two years later. (1 Macc. 6; 2 Macc. 9)
This ends our brief meeting with the heroes of the Apocrypha. We have encountered quite a variety of heroes, but they have one thing in common – extraordinary faith in God. Daniel was an intellectual hero who used his cleverness to defend his faith while in exile in Babylon. Then there was Judith, a brave woman who used beauty and trickery to kill an evil General and save Israel. Tobias and an angel defeated a demon to save his new wife and his father, who had both lost their faith. And Judah Maccabee led the outnumbered warriors of Israel to save the Jewish faith one hundred sixty years before Jesus. Each hero embodied and expressed true faith in God. Although their stories appear in apocryphal books, they deserve to stand proudly next to all the other heroes of faith in the Bible.
Heroes of the Apocrypha, Part Three- Tobias
Did you know that the Roman Catholic Bible contains a longer Old Testament than the one Protestants use? That’s because the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are a set of biblical books with titles like “First and Second Maccabees”, “Tobit”, “Judith”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, “Baruch”, and “Ecclesiasticus”. They appeared in the first Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and so they have been considered Holy by many Christians ever since. The Jews, however, later decided to exclude these books from their canon, leaving it to the Christians to preserve them. They were part of the Bible for all Christians until the Reformation, when Protestants decided to exclude them too. But in doing so, we miss out on a number of great stories and characters from these books. Perhaps the Apocrypha are to be considered less authoritative than the rest of scripture, but there is still much there to learn from and enjoy.
The book of Tobit is one of the strangest books in the Bible. To the modern reader, it seems like an ancient folk tale, a short religious novel meant to teach important truths, rather than a historical tale. Introducing a world of angels, demons, and magical cures, Tobit is a bridge between the religious ideas in the Old and New Testaments. Written around the second century BCE, Tobit tells the story of two people who suffer great misfortunes, lose hope, and ask God to let them die. The story follows the heroic adventure of a young man, Tobias, who sets out to solve both of their problems, aided by an angel in disguise and opposed by a powerful demon. The book teaches us that God answers prayers and helps the faithful.
The title character, Tobit, is an old and very pious man who lives in exile in Nineveh with his wife and son, after the Assyrians have destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. If anyone deserves not to suffer, it is Tobit with his many good works. He obeys the Jewish Law in all ways, serves God with all his heart, and is charitable and helpful to everyone in need. He frequently risks his life to give proper burials to any Israelites he finds murdered by the Assyrians. Despite all that, Tobit suffers. He gets bird droppings in his eyes, and eventually goes blind from cataracts. A few years later, we find a miserable Tobit praying to God to let him die.
Meanwhile, Sarah, the innocent daughter of Tobit’s kinsman, is also suffering over in Media, where Iran is today. Sarah has been married seven times, but before she could consummate any of the marriages, a Demon named Asmodeus killed each husband on each wedding night. The Demon loves Sarah and will let no man have her. Some people think Sarah murdered all the husbands herself, and she too prays to God to let her die. God hears the prayers of both Tobit and Sarah, and sends an angel named Raphael to help both of them.
Enter the young hero, Tobias, son of Tobit, who is to be sent on a journey by his father to reclaim some money from a kinsman in Media. When Tobias needs someone to travel with, Raphael appears, disguised as a human, and offers to accompany him. On the journey, Tobias is attacked by a large fish by the Tigris River. Raphael instructs Tobias to gut the fish and save its gall, heart and liver, organs with supposed medicinal properties. Then the angel leads Tobias to the home of Sarah, and arranges it so that the young couple can fall in love. Tobias agrees to marry his kinswoman Sarah, despite being told of the fate of all the other husbands. On their wedding night, Raphael tells them to burn the heart and liver from the fish, and to pray to God for mercy and a long and happy married life. The odor of burning organs drives away the Demon, who flees to the desert where he is bound by Raphael.
Sarah and Tobias return home, while Raphael recovers Tobit’s money. Tobias applies the fish gall to his father’s eyes, and the cataracts peel away, restoring Tobit’s sight. Raphael privately reveals his true identity to the two men, and Tobit sings a song of praise to God. Tobit lives with his family for about forty more years, while Tobias and Sarah have seven sons. After burying Tobit and his wife, Tobias takes his family and leaves Nineveh to escape God’s judgment on the Assyrian city as foretold by prophecy.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this book is the world of demons and angels it reveals. As the Lord God came to be thought of as more remote, up in Heaven, attention was given to the powers between the Earth and Heaven. Non-canonical Jewish writings from this period, including Enoch and Tobit, begin to describe the names, ranks, and functions of the beings in God’s Heavenly court, and the evil beings who oppose them. Angels, like Raphael in this story, are messengers for the Lord who can fly and who wear white garments. Raphael is one of seven intercessor archangels who enter before God’s throne and serve God’s glory. Two others, named in the New Testament, are Gabriel and Michael. Four others are named in Enoch: Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jarahmeel. Their function was to present and read the record of human prayers before God. From their reports, the Lord knew that Tobit was a good servant – Tobit once left his own feast to go and pray for and bury a murdered Israelite man who was left in the street. God therefore sent the angel Raphael to do two things; first, to further put a faithful Tobit to the test, in order to make him an even better servant, and second, to provide help and healing for both Sarah and Tobit (Raphael’s name means “God has healed”).
Asmodeus the Demon (his name means “Demon of wrath”) is like the fallen angels who fell in love with human women in the Books of Enoch and Genesis. Demons are supernatural beings who were thought to live in the deserts of Egypt. Part of the lore of Demons came from Persian influences as these books were being written. Some writings gave lists of the names of Demons. Jesus certainly defeated many Demons in the New Testament, such as the one named Legion. But the Old Testament is not much concerned with such beings. Books like Tobit, then, fill in the centuries-long gap between the Testaments and show us when religious ideas like Angels and Demons began to grow.
The lesson of Tobit is that God looks after the faithful and answers prayers, and that sometimes suffering is a test. Sarah and Tobit lose hope because of their suffering. Tobit says, “Lord, command me to be delivered from such anguish…for it is better for me to die than to endure such misery in life…” (Tobit 3:6) Likewise, Sarah says, “I have already lost seven husbands; why then should I live any longer?” (Tobit 4:15) But Raphael says, “Take courage! God has healing in store for you; so take courage!” (Tobit 5:10) After Tobit’s ordeal is over, Raphael tells him, “I was sent to put you to the test.” (Tobit 12:13) The angel suggests that the proper response is to “Thank God now and forever…continue to thank him every day; praise him with song.” (Tobit 12:17-18) Tobit’s song of praise contains a message of hope for all people who are suffering, that God will first test us and then show mercy to us. It is one of the seeming contradictions of faith. As Tobit puts it, “Happy are all the men who shall grieve over you [God], over all your chastisements, for they shall rejoice in you as they behold all your joy forever.” (Tobit 13:14) This is similar to the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
The book of Tobit is one of the strangest books in the Bible. To the modern reader, it seems like an ancient folk tale, a short religious novel meant to teach important truths, rather than a historical tale. Introducing a world of angels, demons, and magical cures, Tobit is a bridge between the religious ideas in the Old and New Testaments. Written around the second century BCE, Tobit tells the story of two people who suffer great misfortunes, lose hope, and ask God to let them die. The story follows the heroic adventure of a young man, Tobias, who sets out to solve both of their problems, aided by an angel in disguise and opposed by a powerful demon. The book teaches us that God answers prayers and helps the faithful.
The title character, Tobit, is an old and very pious man who lives in exile in Nineveh with his wife and son, after the Assyrians have destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. If anyone deserves not to suffer, it is Tobit with his many good works. He obeys the Jewish Law in all ways, serves God with all his heart, and is charitable and helpful to everyone in need. He frequently risks his life to give proper burials to any Israelites he finds murdered by the Assyrians. Despite all that, Tobit suffers. He gets bird droppings in his eyes, and eventually goes blind from cataracts. A few years later, we find a miserable Tobit praying to God to let him die.
Meanwhile, Sarah, the innocent daughter of Tobit’s kinsman, is also suffering over in Media, where Iran is today. Sarah has been married seven times, but before she could consummate any of the marriages, a Demon named Asmodeus killed each husband on each wedding night. The Demon loves Sarah and will let no man have her. Some people think Sarah murdered all the husbands herself, and she too prays to God to let her die. God hears the prayers of both Tobit and Sarah, and sends an angel named Raphael to help both of them.
Enter the young hero, Tobias, son of Tobit, who is to be sent on a journey by his father to reclaim some money from a kinsman in Media. When Tobias needs someone to travel with, Raphael appears, disguised as a human, and offers to accompany him. On the journey, Tobias is attacked by a large fish by the Tigris River. Raphael instructs Tobias to gut the fish and save its gall, heart and liver, organs with supposed medicinal properties. Then the angel leads Tobias to the home of Sarah, and arranges it so that the young couple can fall in love. Tobias agrees to marry his kinswoman Sarah, despite being told of the fate of all the other husbands. On their wedding night, Raphael tells them to burn the heart and liver from the fish, and to pray to God for mercy and a long and happy married life. The odor of burning organs drives away the Demon, who flees to the desert where he is bound by Raphael.
Sarah and Tobias return home, while Raphael recovers Tobit’s money. Tobias applies the fish gall to his father’s eyes, and the cataracts peel away, restoring Tobit’s sight. Raphael privately reveals his true identity to the two men, and Tobit sings a song of praise to God. Tobit lives with his family for about forty more years, while Tobias and Sarah have seven sons. After burying Tobit and his wife, Tobias takes his family and leaves Nineveh to escape God’s judgment on the Assyrian city as foretold by prophecy.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this book is the world of demons and angels it reveals. As the Lord God came to be thought of as more remote, up in Heaven, attention was given to the powers between the Earth and Heaven. Non-canonical Jewish writings from this period, including Enoch and Tobit, begin to describe the names, ranks, and functions of the beings in God’s Heavenly court, and the evil beings who oppose them. Angels, like Raphael in this story, are messengers for the Lord who can fly and who wear white garments. Raphael is one of seven intercessor archangels who enter before God’s throne and serve God’s glory. Two others, named in the New Testament, are Gabriel and Michael. Four others are named in Enoch: Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jarahmeel. Their function was to present and read the record of human prayers before God. From their reports, the Lord knew that Tobit was a good servant – Tobit once left his own feast to go and pray for and bury a murdered Israelite man who was left in the street. God therefore sent the angel Raphael to do two things; first, to further put a faithful Tobit to the test, in order to make him an even better servant, and second, to provide help and healing for both Sarah and Tobit (Raphael’s name means “God has healed”).
Asmodeus the Demon (his name means “Demon of wrath”) is like the fallen angels who fell in love with human women in the Books of Enoch and Genesis. Demons are supernatural beings who were thought to live in the deserts of Egypt. Part of the lore of Demons came from Persian influences as these books were being written. Some writings gave lists of the names of Demons. Jesus certainly defeated many Demons in the New Testament, such as the one named Legion. But the Old Testament is not much concerned with such beings. Books like Tobit, then, fill in the centuries-long gap between the Testaments and show us when religious ideas like Angels and Demons began to grow.
The lesson of Tobit is that God looks after the faithful and answers prayers, and that sometimes suffering is a test. Sarah and Tobit lose hope because of their suffering. Tobit says, “Lord, command me to be delivered from such anguish…for it is better for me to die than to endure such misery in life…” (Tobit 3:6) Likewise, Sarah says, “I have already lost seven husbands; why then should I live any longer?” (Tobit 4:15) But Raphael says, “Take courage! God has healing in store for you; so take courage!” (Tobit 5:10) After Tobit’s ordeal is over, Raphael tells him, “I was sent to put you to the test.” (Tobit 12:13) The angel suggests that the proper response is to “Thank God now and forever…continue to thank him every day; praise him with song.” (Tobit 12:17-18) Tobit’s song of praise contains a message of hope for all people who are suffering, that God will first test us and then show mercy to us. It is one of the seeming contradictions of faith. As Tobit puts it, “Happy are all the men who shall grieve over you [God], over all your chastisements, for they shall rejoice in you as they behold all your joy forever.” (Tobit 13:14) This is similar to the words of Jesus in Matthew 5: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Heroes of the Apocrypha, Part Two- Judith
Did you know that the Roman Catholic Bible contains a longer Old Testament than the one Protestants use? That’s because the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are a set of biblical books with titles like “First and Second Maccabees”, “Tobit”, “Judith”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, “Baruch”, and “Ecclesiasticus”. They appeared in the first Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and so they have been considered Holy by many Christians ever since. The Jews, however, later decided to exclude these books from their canon, leaving it to the Christians to preserve them. They were part of the Bible for all Christians until the Reformation, when Protestants decided to exclude them too. But in doing so, we miss out on a number of great stories and characters from these books. Perhaps the Apocrypha are to be considered less authoritative than the rest of scripture, but there is still much there to learn from and enjoy.
Judith is one of the great heroines of scripture, but she is not without controversy. She beguiles and beheads a ruthless enemy General and saves her town, but she wins by using deception, seduction, and murder. Yet Judith is a culture heroine, her moment of triumph celebrated in great works of art through the centuries. She has been considered a symbol of the victory of the weak over the strong, one who achieved victory because her cause was just.
The events of the Book of Judith include several historical and geographical inaccuracies which make the book more of a historical novel than a true history. It was written long after the events it describes, and it is more concerned with telling a good story than with getting the facts right. In this sense, it is like the Books of Esther and Daniel. It tells the story of the small Judean town of Bethulia, which guards the pass to Jerusalem, and the threat of the huge “Assyrian” army of “Nebuchadnezzar”, under the command of the fearsome General Holofernes. (Here you can see one of the inaccuracies - Nebuchadnezzar was King of Babylon, not Assyria.) The King decides to punish every nearby country which refused to help him in an earlier war, including Judea. His army, 132,000 strong, sets out to slaughter and plunder, destroying country after country, and spreading terror. Holofernes takes many slaves as he goes, and destroys their temples, demanding that the vanquished people worship Nebuchadnezzar as a god. The Judeans hear about all this, and become afraid for Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord. The country prays and prepares for war. It is up to the small town of Bethulia to stop the army from entering the narrow pass into Judea.
Holofernes is enraged at this defiance. The conquered Ammonite leader Achior warns Holofernes that the God of Judea will defend his people, as long as they have not sinned. The General scoffs at this, seeing only a weak nation to be crushed. Achior is sent to Bethulia to die with the Judeans, and he warns the city about Holofernes’ plans. The vast army camps in the valley below the town, and lays siege to it, cutting off its water supply. The elders of Bethulia keep faith and call on God for help, but eventually, severe thirst breaks the spirits of the people, and they begin to call for surrender to the Assyrians. Believing that God has abandoned them, they prefer to become slaves rather than to die. The elders decide that if God does not help them in five days, they will surrender.
At this point, the heroine Judith steps forward. Her name means “Jewish woman”, and she is the essence of all that is beautiful, brave, and God-fearing. A widow for three years, Judith has mourned for her husband, maintained his estate, and worshipped God with great devotion. She tells the elders that their five-day plan is wrong. How can they put God to the test like that? She reminds them that their ancestors were given over to their enemies only when they worshipped idols. Surrender will mean slavery and the desecration of God’s sanctuary. No, it is the people who are being put to the test. They must not fail the Lord.
Judith tells the elders that she will go out of the city with her maid, and within the five days, the Lord will save the city through her actions. After praying to God, she puts away her mourning clothes. She bathes and perfumes herself, does her hair, puts on beautiful clothes and jewels, and packs wine and bread. Alone with her maid, she goes into the army camp below, now swollen to 182,000 soldiers. She tells an Assyrian patrol that she is fleeing the town to escape death. If she is taken to Holofernes, she will tell him of a way to take the city without losing a single man. Struck by her beauty, they take her to the General. Judith bows before him and he promises her safety, if she will serve Nebuchadnezzar. Judith praises and flatters Holofernes for his wisdom and his military genius. She reiterates that her people will not be defeated unless they sin, but then she reveals that they are all about to sin by eating, in their desperation, sacred food consecrated to God, which they have been forbidden to eat. When that happens, she will hear about it from God in prayer, and will tell the General that her God will then hand Bethulia over to the Assyrians. Holofernes will soon have a throne in Jerusalem.
Holofernes praises Judith for her beauty and wisdom. Over four days, she comes and goes freely in the camp, praying and pretending to wait for a sign from God. Holofernes becomes attracted to her, and decides he must have her. She drinks wine alone with the General, but he never becomes intimate with her because he drinks so much that he passes out. Taking his sword, Judith grabs his hair and strikes off his head. Her maid places the head in her bag, and they go out of the camp, supposedly to pray, and return to Bethulia. Once among the people, she shows the head, and cries out that God has destroyed their enemy by her hand. Everyone rejoices and blesses her.
In the morning, the head is placed atop the city wall. Achior sees it and converts to Judaism on the spot. Judean soldiers assemble in front of the city. In response, the Assyrians prepare for battle, but they find the General dead and his head missing. Their army suddenly loses morale, and they retreat, suffering losses all along the way. Judith is celebrated by the whole country, for the enemy has been undone by beauty and struck down by the hand of a woman. Judith lives out her days in Bethulia, never remarrying, but becoming more and more famous, until she dies at age 105, and is buried with her husband.
It is not hard to see why Judith is a heroine of the Apocrypha. She saved her people, after all. But from a religious standpoint, it is fair to ask whether she did so in a sinful way, using deceit and murdering a sleeping man. Did Judith sin in her actions? Reading the story, we do not know what God thinks about all this. God does not speak to Judith. We might assume that since the Assyrians lost, that God approved. Judith thought that God approved and acted through her. In her speech to God before dressing up in her finery, Judith lays out the reasons that God should support her plan. Let’s list them, and judge for ourselves.
1. Long ago, Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped by a local prince (Genesis 34), and her brothers killed the prince and took bloody revenge on the prince’s whole city. Judith says that everything that happens is according to God’s will. If enemies are punished, as the prince was, God must have willed it as a judgment. Judith is praying that it is God’s will that the Assyrians be punished. The “prince”, Holofernes, she hopes, deserves to die.
2. The Assyrians do not worship God. They only worship their own strength, and intend to use it to destroy God’s Temple. Judith asks God to overturn their expectations. Instead of the army, a widow will have the “strength” to win, the strength of God’s power, which does not depend on numbers.
3. God is the helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, and savior of those without hope. The Assyrians plan such cruelties, that God should protect his people. No one protects Israel but God alone. Judith asks God to do this so that all nations will see that it is true.
4. Judith plans to use deceit to win, but she asks God to make use of her lies to punish the Assyrians.
5. We cannot understand God’s thoughts. God may hear us, and help or destroy us as he chooses. We can only call on his help, and wait, and hope in the Lord. In the meantime, we must thank God, and take action as if we are being put to the test to prove what is in our hearts.
What do you think of Judith’s reasoning and prayers? Is she a heroine in your eyes? How would Jesus answer Judith? These are not easy questions. On the surface, the Book of Judith inspires us with a tale of one woman killing a powerful General. Dig deeper, and you find more questions than answers. That is why exploring the Apocrypha, or any canonical biblical book, is so worthwhile.
Judith is one of the great heroines of scripture, but she is not without controversy. She beguiles and beheads a ruthless enemy General and saves her town, but she wins by using deception, seduction, and murder. Yet Judith is a culture heroine, her moment of triumph celebrated in great works of art through the centuries. She has been considered a symbol of the victory of the weak over the strong, one who achieved victory because her cause was just.
The events of the Book of Judith include several historical and geographical inaccuracies which make the book more of a historical novel than a true history. It was written long after the events it describes, and it is more concerned with telling a good story than with getting the facts right. In this sense, it is like the Books of Esther and Daniel. It tells the story of the small Judean town of Bethulia, which guards the pass to Jerusalem, and the threat of the huge “Assyrian” army of “Nebuchadnezzar”, under the command of the fearsome General Holofernes. (Here you can see one of the inaccuracies - Nebuchadnezzar was King of Babylon, not Assyria.) The King decides to punish every nearby country which refused to help him in an earlier war, including Judea. His army, 132,000 strong, sets out to slaughter and plunder, destroying country after country, and spreading terror. Holofernes takes many slaves as he goes, and destroys their temples, demanding that the vanquished people worship Nebuchadnezzar as a god. The Judeans hear about all this, and become afraid for Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord. The country prays and prepares for war. It is up to the small town of Bethulia to stop the army from entering the narrow pass into Judea.
Holofernes is enraged at this defiance. The conquered Ammonite leader Achior warns Holofernes that the God of Judea will defend his people, as long as they have not sinned. The General scoffs at this, seeing only a weak nation to be crushed. Achior is sent to Bethulia to die with the Judeans, and he warns the city about Holofernes’ plans. The vast army camps in the valley below the town, and lays siege to it, cutting off its water supply. The elders of Bethulia keep faith and call on God for help, but eventually, severe thirst breaks the spirits of the people, and they begin to call for surrender to the Assyrians. Believing that God has abandoned them, they prefer to become slaves rather than to die. The elders decide that if God does not help them in five days, they will surrender.
At this point, the heroine Judith steps forward. Her name means “Jewish woman”, and she is the essence of all that is beautiful, brave, and God-fearing. A widow for three years, Judith has mourned for her husband, maintained his estate, and worshipped God with great devotion. She tells the elders that their five-day plan is wrong. How can they put God to the test like that? She reminds them that their ancestors were given over to their enemies only when they worshipped idols. Surrender will mean slavery and the desecration of God’s sanctuary. No, it is the people who are being put to the test. They must not fail the Lord.
Judith tells the elders that she will go out of the city with her maid, and within the five days, the Lord will save the city through her actions. After praying to God, she puts away her mourning clothes. She bathes and perfumes herself, does her hair, puts on beautiful clothes and jewels, and packs wine and bread. Alone with her maid, she goes into the army camp below, now swollen to 182,000 soldiers. She tells an Assyrian patrol that she is fleeing the town to escape death. If she is taken to Holofernes, she will tell him of a way to take the city without losing a single man. Struck by her beauty, they take her to the General. Judith bows before him and he promises her safety, if she will serve Nebuchadnezzar. Judith praises and flatters Holofernes for his wisdom and his military genius. She reiterates that her people will not be defeated unless they sin, but then she reveals that they are all about to sin by eating, in their desperation, sacred food consecrated to God, which they have been forbidden to eat. When that happens, she will hear about it from God in prayer, and will tell the General that her God will then hand Bethulia over to the Assyrians. Holofernes will soon have a throne in Jerusalem.
Holofernes praises Judith for her beauty and wisdom. Over four days, she comes and goes freely in the camp, praying and pretending to wait for a sign from God. Holofernes becomes attracted to her, and decides he must have her. She drinks wine alone with the General, but he never becomes intimate with her because he drinks so much that he passes out. Taking his sword, Judith grabs his hair and strikes off his head. Her maid places the head in her bag, and they go out of the camp, supposedly to pray, and return to Bethulia. Once among the people, she shows the head, and cries out that God has destroyed their enemy by her hand. Everyone rejoices and blesses her.
In the morning, the head is placed atop the city wall. Achior sees it and converts to Judaism on the spot. Judean soldiers assemble in front of the city. In response, the Assyrians prepare for battle, but they find the General dead and his head missing. Their army suddenly loses morale, and they retreat, suffering losses all along the way. Judith is celebrated by the whole country, for the enemy has been undone by beauty and struck down by the hand of a woman. Judith lives out her days in Bethulia, never remarrying, but becoming more and more famous, until she dies at age 105, and is buried with her husband.
It is not hard to see why Judith is a heroine of the Apocrypha. She saved her people, after all. But from a religious standpoint, it is fair to ask whether she did so in a sinful way, using deceit and murdering a sleeping man. Did Judith sin in her actions? Reading the story, we do not know what God thinks about all this. God does not speak to Judith. We might assume that since the Assyrians lost, that God approved. Judith thought that God approved and acted through her. In her speech to God before dressing up in her finery, Judith lays out the reasons that God should support her plan. Let’s list them, and judge for ourselves.
1. Long ago, Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped by a local prince (Genesis 34), and her brothers killed the prince and took bloody revenge on the prince’s whole city. Judith says that everything that happens is according to God’s will. If enemies are punished, as the prince was, God must have willed it as a judgment. Judith is praying that it is God’s will that the Assyrians be punished. The “prince”, Holofernes, she hopes, deserves to die.
2. The Assyrians do not worship God. They only worship their own strength, and intend to use it to destroy God’s Temple. Judith asks God to overturn their expectations. Instead of the army, a widow will have the “strength” to win, the strength of God’s power, which does not depend on numbers.
3. God is the helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, and savior of those without hope. The Assyrians plan such cruelties, that God should protect his people. No one protects Israel but God alone. Judith asks God to do this so that all nations will see that it is true.
4. Judith plans to use deceit to win, but she asks God to make use of her lies to punish the Assyrians.
5. We cannot understand God’s thoughts. God may hear us, and help or destroy us as he chooses. We can only call on his help, and wait, and hope in the Lord. In the meantime, we must thank God, and take action as if we are being put to the test to prove what is in our hearts.
What do you think of Judith’s reasoning and prayers? Is she a heroine in your eyes? How would Jesus answer Judith? These are not easy questions. On the surface, the Book of Judith inspires us with a tale of one woman killing a powerful General. Dig deeper, and you find more questions than answers. That is why exploring the Apocrypha, or any canonical biblical book, is so worthwhile.
Heroes of the Apocrypha, Part One- Daniel
Did you know that the Roman Catholic Bible contains a longer Old Testament than the one Protestants use? That’s because the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are a set of biblical books with titles like “First and Second Maccabees”, “Tobit”, “Judith”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, “Baruch”, and “Ecclesiasticus”. They appeared in the first Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and so they have been considered Holy by many Christians ever since. The Jews, however, later decided to exclude these books from their canon, leaving it to the Christians to preserve them. They were part of the Bible for all Christians until the Reformation, when Protestants decided to exclude them too. But in doing so, we miss out on a number of great stories and characters from these books. Perhaps the Apocrypha are to be considered less authoritative than the rest of scripture, but there is still much there to learn from and enjoy.
In a tour through the Apocrypha, you’ll meet such colorful heroes as Judith, Tobit, and Judah Maccabee, who will be covered in later installments. You’ll also find a hero who is already familiar – Daniel, who we know from the Old Testament. That’s because the Apocrypha contains a longer version of the Book of Daniel, with more stories about him and his exploits.
Daniel was a young nobleman from Judah who was taken into exile in Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered his country. He and his three friends were chosen to serve as advisors to the King’s court among the Chaldeans (magicians and astrologers), during the reign of several Kings. There, Daniel and his friends were faced with many challenges as they tried to hold on to their Jewish laws, customs, and identities in a pagan land. Daniel and his friends were even given new Babylonian names that honored pagan gods. Jews and Christians alike have been inspired through the ages by Daniel’s strong faith that if he kept God’s commandments, no matter what the challenge, God would save him.
The first challenge was dietary – Daniel had to avoid eating unclean pagan food at the court. He was able to prove that his kosher diet kept him healthier than the royal food, and so he avoided defiling himself. The second challenge came from a royal command to worship a golden statue of a pagan god, or else be thrown into a furnace. Daniel’s three friends refused, for only God is to be worshipped, and accordingly, God saved them from death in the furnace. The next King of Babylon brought the third challenge, which was to defend the sanctity of some of the Holy items from the looted Temple in Jerusalem. The King took the sacred vessels from the Temple and drank wine from them at a party, praising pagan gods as he did so. At this affront, God made strange writing appear on a wall. Daniel interpreted it for the King – that ruler’s days were numbered. The fourth challenge was a command from the next King to worship only him, or else be thrown to the lions. Daniel refused, continuing to worship God alone, and accordingly, God saved him from death in the lions’ den. So much we know of Daniel from the familiar version of the Book of Daniel.
The version of Daniel in the Apocrypha adds several chapters and expands on the legend of Daniel as a hero of faith by making him a hero of intelligence and wisdom as well. We get to see another side of Daniel as he becomes like a detective for God, solving crimes and exposing false gods. Call these added chapters: C.S.I. Babylon.
Daniel’s first case is called “Susanna”. Among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, a beautiful, God-fearing young woman named Susanna lives with her husband Joakim. Two elder judges see her in her garden and begin to lust after her. They hide and spy on her bathing alone, then confront her and demand she have sex with them. If she refuses, they will testify that she was cheating on her husband with another young man. Susanna’s choice is secret adultery with them, or being accused of adultery in public and being sentenced to death. Rather than sin before the Lord, Susanna cries out and people come running. The lying elders do indeed testify that they had seen her having sex with a young man, who ran away and escaped. Because they are judges, they are believed and Susanna is sentenced to die. She cries out to God for justice, and God provides young Daniel to help her. Daniel comes forth and demands that the case be brought back to court, because the evidence against Susanna was false. In court, Daniel cleverly separates the two wicked judges and asks each of them a question alone: under what kind of tree did Susanna and the alleged young man have sex? The two judges each give a different answer – they cannot keep their false stories straight. The assembly declares Susanna innocent and sentences the two judges to death for bearing false witness. Daniel earns a great reputation among his people from then on.
Daniel’s next case is called “Bel”, and takes place when Daniel is serving in the King’s court. A clay and bronze idol of the chief Babylonian god, Bel, is worshipped every day at the court, but Daniel only worships the living creator God of Israel. Every day, a large amount of flour, wine, and sheep is given to the idol as “food”, and the food always disappears as if the idol has eaten it. The King is Daniel’s friend, but he still demands to know why Daniel will not worship the idol – clearly it can eat, so it must really be a god. Daniel, God’s detective, says he can prove the idol is not a living god, that it eats nothing. The King, angry at this blasphemy against Bel, tells Daniel that if he is wrong, he will die. So Daniel is put to the test. The seventy priests of Bel and their families watch as the King himself sets food in front of the idol. If, in the morning, the food is still there, the priests will die instead of Daniel. Next, alone with the King, Daniel sprinkles ashes all over the temple floor. The King seals the doors for the night. In the morning, the priests are triumphant – the food is gone. But Daniel shows the King how it happened – the temple floor is covered with the footprints of the priests and their families in the ashes. Using a secret entrance, the priests would sneak into the temple and take Bel’s food, and eat it all every night. The angry King has been fooled, and he sentences the priests to death, and allows Daniel to destroy the idol.
Daniel’s last case is called “The Dragon”. After the Bel incident, the King directs Daniel to another object of court worship, this time a large snake. Unlike the idol, this “dragon” is surely a living god. Again, Daniel refuses to worship it. Daniel says the snake is not a god, and that he can kill it without striking it. The King puts Daniel to the test, and Daniel makes cakes out of pitch, fat, and hair. When the snake eats them it dies, and the King is forced to recognize that it was living, but no god.
Daniel was a hero to God’s people, especially during the struggle of the Jews against the Seleucid Greek armies and their ruler Antiochus, who wanted to destroy the Jewish religion (Antiochus outlawed the Jewish religion in 167 BCE). Several of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel are thought to be predictions of that very time period, when the Jews fought for their very way of life against a force that wanted to destroy their worship of God. The Book of Daniel is thought to have been put in its final form in that period, and the additional chapters found in the Apocrypha were also probably written down at that time. Stories of Daniel inspired the people to resist the pagans and hold on to their faith in God. Daniel never gave up, and God always upheld and saved Daniel. So, too, would the Jews prevail over their enemies (Antiochus died a mere four years later, in 163 BCE) and preserve their religion in the face of the Greek threat. From that preservation, Christianity would be born, and from then on, both Jews and Christians would be inspired by the faith and wisdom of Daniel, hero of the Apocrypha.
In a tour through the Apocrypha, you’ll meet such colorful heroes as Judith, Tobit, and Judah Maccabee, who will be covered in later installments. You’ll also find a hero who is already familiar – Daniel, who we know from the Old Testament. That’s because the Apocrypha contains a longer version of the Book of Daniel, with more stories about him and his exploits.
Daniel was a young nobleman from Judah who was taken into exile in Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered his country. He and his three friends were chosen to serve as advisors to the King’s court among the Chaldeans (magicians and astrologers), during the reign of several Kings. There, Daniel and his friends were faced with many challenges as they tried to hold on to their Jewish laws, customs, and identities in a pagan land. Daniel and his friends were even given new Babylonian names that honored pagan gods. Jews and Christians alike have been inspired through the ages by Daniel’s strong faith that if he kept God’s commandments, no matter what the challenge, God would save him.
The first challenge was dietary – Daniel had to avoid eating unclean pagan food at the court. He was able to prove that his kosher diet kept him healthier than the royal food, and so he avoided defiling himself. The second challenge came from a royal command to worship a golden statue of a pagan god, or else be thrown into a furnace. Daniel’s three friends refused, for only God is to be worshipped, and accordingly, God saved them from death in the furnace. The next King of Babylon brought the third challenge, which was to defend the sanctity of some of the Holy items from the looted Temple in Jerusalem. The King took the sacred vessels from the Temple and drank wine from them at a party, praising pagan gods as he did so. At this affront, God made strange writing appear on a wall. Daniel interpreted it for the King – that ruler’s days were numbered. The fourth challenge was a command from the next King to worship only him, or else be thrown to the lions. Daniel refused, continuing to worship God alone, and accordingly, God saved him from death in the lions’ den. So much we know of Daniel from the familiar version of the Book of Daniel.
The version of Daniel in the Apocrypha adds several chapters and expands on the legend of Daniel as a hero of faith by making him a hero of intelligence and wisdom as well. We get to see another side of Daniel as he becomes like a detective for God, solving crimes and exposing false gods. Call these added chapters: C.S.I. Babylon.
Daniel’s first case is called “Susanna”. Among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, a beautiful, God-fearing young woman named Susanna lives with her husband Joakim. Two elder judges see her in her garden and begin to lust after her. They hide and spy on her bathing alone, then confront her and demand she have sex with them. If she refuses, they will testify that she was cheating on her husband with another young man. Susanna’s choice is secret adultery with them, or being accused of adultery in public and being sentenced to death. Rather than sin before the Lord, Susanna cries out and people come running. The lying elders do indeed testify that they had seen her having sex with a young man, who ran away and escaped. Because they are judges, they are believed and Susanna is sentenced to die. She cries out to God for justice, and God provides young Daniel to help her. Daniel comes forth and demands that the case be brought back to court, because the evidence against Susanna was false. In court, Daniel cleverly separates the two wicked judges and asks each of them a question alone: under what kind of tree did Susanna and the alleged young man have sex? The two judges each give a different answer – they cannot keep their false stories straight. The assembly declares Susanna innocent and sentences the two judges to death for bearing false witness. Daniel earns a great reputation among his people from then on.
Daniel’s next case is called “Bel”, and takes place when Daniel is serving in the King’s court. A clay and bronze idol of the chief Babylonian god, Bel, is worshipped every day at the court, but Daniel only worships the living creator God of Israel. Every day, a large amount of flour, wine, and sheep is given to the idol as “food”, and the food always disappears as if the idol has eaten it. The King is Daniel’s friend, but he still demands to know why Daniel will not worship the idol – clearly it can eat, so it must really be a god. Daniel, God’s detective, says he can prove the idol is not a living god, that it eats nothing. The King, angry at this blasphemy against Bel, tells Daniel that if he is wrong, he will die. So Daniel is put to the test. The seventy priests of Bel and their families watch as the King himself sets food in front of the idol. If, in the morning, the food is still there, the priests will die instead of Daniel. Next, alone with the King, Daniel sprinkles ashes all over the temple floor. The King seals the doors for the night. In the morning, the priests are triumphant – the food is gone. But Daniel shows the King how it happened – the temple floor is covered with the footprints of the priests and their families in the ashes. Using a secret entrance, the priests would sneak into the temple and take Bel’s food, and eat it all every night. The angry King has been fooled, and he sentences the priests to death, and allows Daniel to destroy the idol.
Daniel’s last case is called “The Dragon”. After the Bel incident, the King directs Daniel to another object of court worship, this time a large snake. Unlike the idol, this “dragon” is surely a living god. Again, Daniel refuses to worship it. Daniel says the snake is not a god, and that he can kill it without striking it. The King puts Daniel to the test, and Daniel makes cakes out of pitch, fat, and hair. When the snake eats them it dies, and the King is forced to recognize that it was living, but no god.
Daniel was a hero to God’s people, especially during the struggle of the Jews against the Seleucid Greek armies and their ruler Antiochus, who wanted to destroy the Jewish religion (Antiochus outlawed the Jewish religion in 167 BCE). Several of the prophecies in the Book of Daniel are thought to be predictions of that very time period, when the Jews fought for their very way of life against a force that wanted to destroy their worship of God. The Book of Daniel is thought to have been put in its final form in that period, and the additional chapters found in the Apocrypha were also probably written down at that time. Stories of Daniel inspired the people to resist the pagans and hold on to their faith in God. Daniel never gave up, and God always upheld and saved Daniel. So, too, would the Jews prevail over their enemies (Antiochus died a mere four years later, in 163 BCE) and preserve their religion in the face of the Greek threat. From that preservation, Christianity would be born, and from then on, both Jews and Christians would be inspired by the faith and wisdom of Daniel, hero of the Apocrypha.
How Many Animals on the Ark?
Were the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) written only by Moses, or were they edited together from various written and oral sources over centuries? This question has been debated for many years, and may never be truly settled. Some believe Moses wrote Genesis through Deuteronomy, as dictated to him by God. Others find evidence that there were in fact several religious traditions, histories, and stories that were preserved and finally combined into the versions we have today. One place where this is evident is the story of the flood of Noah. Quick questions: how many animals of each kind were on the Ark? Was it two of each kind? Or was it fourteen of each clean animal, two of each unclean animal, and fourteen of each type of bird? And, how long did Noah stay inside the Ark? Was it for two months, or ten months? In fact, all the answers are right.
It seems that two older flood story sources were edited together to make the one we now have. One older source had some details which conflicted with the other source, such as how many animals there were, but the editor chose to preserve it all rather than discard anything. It turns out we can mostly tell which verses came from which source by looking at which name for God they use. One source uses “YHWH”, and the other uses “Elohim”. These are known to scholars as the “J” source, for “Jahwist” (from around 900 BCE) and the “P” source, for “Priestly” (from around 700 BCE). There are also several other sources that scholars identify, all edited together to make the final Pentateuch (around 400-500 BCE). If the “J” and “P” versions of the flood story are separated out from one another, what do they look like by themselves?
1) The “YHWH” version (J): YHWH sees that humanity continually thinks about evil, and is saddened. YHWH decides to wipe out all living things, sorry that he made them. But YHWH tells Noah, a righteous man, to take his household into an ark. Noah is to bring seven pairs of clean animals and birds, and one pair of unclean animals. YHWH warns that starting in seven days, it will rain for forty days. During the rain, there is a flood, and everything on dry land perishes, leaving only those on the ark. After forty days, the rain stops, and the water begins to subside. Noah sends a dove out to look for dry land, once every seven days, until it returns with an olive branch on the second try. Noah finds one week later that the ground is dry (a total of about two months on the ark). He builds an altar to YHWH and sacrifices some of the clean birds and animals as burnt offerings. YHWH is pleased and privately decides never again to destroy all living things because of humankind’s evil. THE END
2) The “Elohim” version (P): Noah is a perfect, righteous, 600 year old man who walks with Elohim. He has three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Elohim sees that the earth has become corrupt and full of violence, and decides to wipe out all flesh with a flood. Elohim gives Noah detailed instructions to build an ark, including type of wood, coating, length, width, height, and number of decks. Elohim makes a covenant with Noah, and tells him and his household to enter the ark. They are to bring one pair of every living thing, including birds and cattle, plus enough food for the people and the animals. Fountains beneath the earth and windows in the heavens open, and water floods the earth. After forty days, the water level rises above the mountain tops. All people and animals die, except those on the ark. After one hundred fifty more days (a total of about seven months), Elohim sends a wind to make the water start to recede, and the underground fountains and windows of the heavens close up. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The water continues to recede, and after a total of ten months on the ark, Noah sends out a raven, which flies around until it finds dry land. Elohim tells Noah to leave the ark with his family and the animals. The animals swarm out to begin multiplying. Elohim tells Noah’s sons and their wives to be fruitful and multiply, and tells them that they can eat the flesh of any animal, but not the blood. Elohim warns them that the penalty for killing a human will be death. Then Elohim makes a covenant with the humans, their descendants, and all the animals, in which Elohim promises never again to destroy all life with a flood. The rainbow will be the sign of this everlasting covenant. THE END
You can see that the first, older version is simpler, and that the second version is much more detailed. The second version is concerned with characteristically Priestly matters such as dietary laws, covenants, and murder laws. The second version does not mention any sacrifice of clean animals because in Noah’s time there were no official Priests to make such a sacrifice.
There are other stories in the Bible which seem to be two versions edited together. For example, Genesis contains two different creation stories, one presented after the other. Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 contains the first story, and Genesis 2:4 to 2:25 contains the second. Like the Noah stories, the two versions differ in their details and seem to come from different older sources. Another example of different accounts of the same story is the history presented in the books of Kings, on the one hand, and in the books of Chronicles, on the other hand. Yet another example is the set of four Gospels, which tell the same story of Jesus but which differ in many details.
Do all of these contradictions “weaken” the Bible? Do they make the Bible less true somehow? I believe that the evidence for editing and various sources is too strong to ignore, but instead of being disturbed by it, we should appreciate it. Yes, the Bible was the product of many writers, and was edited together from sometimes conflicting older sources. But put yourself in the position of those long-ago people who edited together the older sources. They had in front of them stories which were already very old, and very holy. They contained the word of God, and even back then it would have been impossible to decide which of several versions was “correct”, which to exclude, which to keep. It was far better to preserve all the holy accounts, blending them together as well as possible, as in the Noah flood story, or presenting them side by side, as in the creation story. The ancient editors did us a great service by preserving the religious material the way they did, warts and all, leaving for us a rich and diverse legacy of divinely inspired books. People put the Bible in its present form, but within it is still the eternal Word of God.
It seems that two older flood story sources were edited together to make the one we now have. One older source had some details which conflicted with the other source, such as how many animals there were, but the editor chose to preserve it all rather than discard anything. It turns out we can mostly tell which verses came from which source by looking at which name for God they use. One source uses “YHWH”, and the other uses “Elohim”. These are known to scholars as the “J” source, for “Jahwist” (from around 900 BCE) and the “P” source, for “Priestly” (from around 700 BCE). There are also several other sources that scholars identify, all edited together to make the final Pentateuch (around 400-500 BCE). If the “J” and “P” versions of the flood story are separated out from one another, what do they look like by themselves?
1) The “YHWH” version (J): YHWH sees that humanity continually thinks about evil, and is saddened. YHWH decides to wipe out all living things, sorry that he made them. But YHWH tells Noah, a righteous man, to take his household into an ark. Noah is to bring seven pairs of clean animals and birds, and one pair of unclean animals. YHWH warns that starting in seven days, it will rain for forty days. During the rain, there is a flood, and everything on dry land perishes, leaving only those on the ark. After forty days, the rain stops, and the water begins to subside. Noah sends a dove out to look for dry land, once every seven days, until it returns with an olive branch on the second try. Noah finds one week later that the ground is dry (a total of about two months on the ark). He builds an altar to YHWH and sacrifices some of the clean birds and animals as burnt offerings. YHWH is pleased and privately decides never again to destroy all living things because of humankind’s evil. THE END
2) The “Elohim” version (P): Noah is a perfect, righteous, 600 year old man who walks with Elohim. He has three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Elohim sees that the earth has become corrupt and full of violence, and decides to wipe out all flesh with a flood. Elohim gives Noah detailed instructions to build an ark, including type of wood, coating, length, width, height, and number of decks. Elohim makes a covenant with Noah, and tells him and his household to enter the ark. They are to bring one pair of every living thing, including birds and cattle, plus enough food for the people and the animals. Fountains beneath the earth and windows in the heavens open, and water floods the earth. After forty days, the water level rises above the mountain tops. All people and animals die, except those on the ark. After one hundred fifty more days (a total of about seven months), Elohim sends a wind to make the water start to recede, and the underground fountains and windows of the heavens close up. The ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The water continues to recede, and after a total of ten months on the ark, Noah sends out a raven, which flies around until it finds dry land. Elohim tells Noah to leave the ark with his family and the animals. The animals swarm out to begin multiplying. Elohim tells Noah’s sons and their wives to be fruitful and multiply, and tells them that they can eat the flesh of any animal, but not the blood. Elohim warns them that the penalty for killing a human will be death. Then Elohim makes a covenant with the humans, their descendants, and all the animals, in which Elohim promises never again to destroy all life with a flood. The rainbow will be the sign of this everlasting covenant. THE END
You can see that the first, older version is simpler, and that the second version is much more detailed. The second version is concerned with characteristically Priestly matters such as dietary laws, covenants, and murder laws. The second version does not mention any sacrifice of clean animals because in Noah’s time there were no official Priests to make such a sacrifice.
There are other stories in the Bible which seem to be two versions edited together. For example, Genesis contains two different creation stories, one presented after the other. Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 contains the first story, and Genesis 2:4 to 2:25 contains the second. Like the Noah stories, the two versions differ in their details and seem to come from different older sources. Another example of different accounts of the same story is the history presented in the books of Kings, on the one hand, and in the books of Chronicles, on the other hand. Yet another example is the set of four Gospels, which tell the same story of Jesus but which differ in many details.
Do all of these contradictions “weaken” the Bible? Do they make the Bible less true somehow? I believe that the evidence for editing and various sources is too strong to ignore, but instead of being disturbed by it, we should appreciate it. Yes, the Bible was the product of many writers, and was edited together from sometimes conflicting older sources. But put yourself in the position of those long-ago people who edited together the older sources. They had in front of them stories which were already very old, and very holy. They contained the word of God, and even back then it would have been impossible to decide which of several versions was “correct”, which to exclude, which to keep. It was far better to preserve all the holy accounts, blending them together as well as possible, as in the Noah flood story, or presenting them side by side, as in the creation story. The ancient editors did us a great service by preserving the religious material the way they did, warts and all, leaving for us a rich and diverse legacy of divinely inspired books. People put the Bible in its present form, but within it is still the eternal Word of God.
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