13 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites... (NIV)
Sidon is of course a city, or a city-state, about 22 miles north of Tyre on the Mediterranean coastline. The Targum says that Canaan was the father of Bothniam (בותניאם) who built Sidon, but we will accept the record of the Bible's text over the Targum.
For many centuries, the Bible was the only document to even mention the Hittites. Some critics even used this gap of knowledge as evidence that the Bible must contain fabrications and myths. But then in 1871 and later in 1906-1907, vast amounts of Hittite evidence began to be turned up from as far east as the Euphrates and as far northwest as Boghaz-koy in Turkey. At least ten thousand documents have been unearthed, vindicating Joshua's reference to the entire fertile crescent as "the land of the Hittites" (Joshua 1:4).
The man's name in this verse is actually Heth (חת), whose family settles along the Halys River in central Turkey before 2200 BC, when they were overrun by an Indo-European (Japhethite?) group that simply took over as the Hittite ruling class and adopted the unusual Hittite dress (heavy coats, upturned shoes). Physically the Hittites were stocky with large prominent noses, retreating foreheads and are often depicted with thick lips. Later carvings from Carchemish show Hittites with long beards that are pleated or braided.
The Bible depicts the Hittites as owning fields. Abraham bought the field which contained the Cave of Macpelah from a Hittite names Ephron son of Zohar (Genesis 23:9) in order to bury his wife Sarah after her death.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
1 Chronicles 1:11-12
11 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 12 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. (NIV)
The Philistines mentioned here are really just a parenthetical aside. If we don't count them in the complete list, then the complete "Table of Nations" (1 Chronicles 1:5-23) has 70 names. 26 of them are from Shem, 30 are from Ham and 14 are from Japheth.
For the people reading Chronicles, the number 70 would have a special satisfaction and even a spiritual significance. As a multiple of 7, it presents God's hand in the providence of the world.
The Ludites are sometimes described as bowmen (Jeremiah 46:9), and are placed in both Africa (as descendants of Mizraim's Egyptians) and Asia—it is generally accepted that Lud was the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor.
The Anamites may have been a minor tribe of the Egyptians. An Assyrian text from the time of Sargon II (722-705 BC) refers to the Anami in Egypt.
The Lehabites were probably the Libyans (Nahum 3:9) or a branch of the Libyans.
The Naphtuhites have not been identified. They were probably an Egyptian tribe; perhaps located in the central Nile region.
The Pathrusites would appear to be an Egyptian people living in the upper (southern) Nile region. Pathros was a city in that part of Egypt (Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44;1,15; Ezekiel 29:14; 30:14).
The Casluhites are also difficult to identify, perhaps because, as the ancestors of the Philistines, they were displaced from Egypt. We learn from the Doctoral Thesis of Dr. John Brug that the Philistines were the product of two distinct races, one a race of giants inhabiting the southwest coast of Canaan; the other a Greek race of a more typical height. They worked and fought together and gave us such diverse individuals as Goliath and Delilah in Scripture.
The Caphtorites were the inhabitants of the island of Crete, although the island of Cyprus is sometimes mentioned as the land of Caphtor, as well. The Talmud (Chullin 60b) mentions that the Caphtories destroyed the Awites and took their land, and that the Awites were the original Philistine people in Abraham's time. This seems to support Dr. Brug's archaeological and exegetical findings.
They were all people, like us, who needed a Savior. Some of their descendants are still in the world. Reaching out to them begins with reaching out to the people right in our own communities. They gospel is the tool we use; the gospel is the only message that saves.
The Philistines mentioned here are really just a parenthetical aside. If we don't count them in the complete list, then the complete "Table of Nations" (1 Chronicles 1:5-23) has 70 names. 26 of them are from Shem, 30 are from Ham and 14 are from Japheth.
For the people reading Chronicles, the number 70 would have a special satisfaction and even a spiritual significance. As a multiple of 7, it presents God's hand in the providence of the world.
The Ludites are sometimes described as bowmen (Jeremiah 46:9), and are placed in both Africa (as descendants of Mizraim's Egyptians) and Asia—it is generally accepted that Lud was the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor.
The Anamites may have been a minor tribe of the Egyptians. An Assyrian text from the time of Sargon II (722-705 BC) refers to the Anami in Egypt.
The Lehabites were probably the Libyans (Nahum 3:9) or a branch of the Libyans.
The Naphtuhites have not been identified. They were probably an Egyptian tribe; perhaps located in the central Nile region.
The Pathrusites would appear to be an Egyptian people living in the upper (southern) Nile region. Pathros was a city in that part of Egypt (Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44;1,15; Ezekiel 29:14; 30:14).
The Casluhites are also difficult to identify, perhaps because, as the ancestors of the Philistines, they were displaced from Egypt. We learn from the Doctoral Thesis of Dr. John Brug that the Philistines were the product of two distinct races, one a race of giants inhabiting the southwest coast of Canaan; the other a Greek race of a more typical height. They worked and fought together and gave us such diverse individuals as Goliath and Delilah in Scripture.
The Caphtorites were the inhabitants of the island of Crete, although the island of Cyprus is sometimes mentioned as the land of Caphtor, as well. The Talmud (Chullin 60b) mentions that the Caphtories destroyed the Awites and took their land, and that the Awites were the original Philistine people in Abraham's time. This seems to support Dr. Brug's archaeological and exegetical findings.
They were all people, like us, who needed a Savior. Some of their descendants are still in the world. Reaching out to them begins with reaching out to the people right in our own communities. They gospel is the tool we use; the gospel is the only message that saves.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
1 Chronicles 1:10
10 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty hunter on earth. (NIV)
In the parallel verses in Genesis, Nimrod is called a “mighty warrior on the earth” (Gen. 10:8) and a “mighty hunter before the LORD” (Gen. 10:9). In the years after the flood, as the world was being resettled, Nimrod’s tribe was centered in southern Mesopotamia. This was the area of Babylon, Erech, and Akkad (Gen. 10:10). Nimrod himself extended his borders north toward the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, building the huge city of Nineveh (northeast across the Tigris from Mosul), Calah (just southeast of today’s Mosul) and the unidentified cities of Rehoboth Ir and Resen.
Link to a 1902 Encyclopedia article with archaeological sketches of the area:
Although Nimrod is sometimes thought to be one and the same with Gilgamesh king of Uruk, we can’t really make that distinction from what we have about Nimrod in Scripture. As a matter of interest, Gilgamesh was the fifth king or chieftain of Uruk. A list of very early kings of the region does exist (with reigns lasting 20,000 to 40,000 years each), but it breaks off with the phrase, “Then the flood swept over.” A Kish dynasty was later replaced by the Eana dynasty, whose first king was drowned but whose second king, Emmerkar, built the city of Uruk. Emmerkar was followed by Lugulbanda the Shepherd, Dumuzi the Fisherman, and Gilgamesh.
In the parallel verses in Genesis, Nimrod is called a “mighty warrior on the earth” (Gen. 10:8) and a “mighty hunter before the LORD” (Gen. 10:9). In the years after the flood, as the world was being resettled, Nimrod’s tribe was centered in southern Mesopotamia. This was the area of Babylon, Erech, and Akkad (Gen. 10:10). Nimrod himself extended his borders north toward the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, building the huge city of Nineveh (northeast across the Tigris from Mosul), Calah (just southeast of today’s Mosul) and the unidentified cities of Rehoboth Ir and Resen.
Link to a 1902 Encyclopedia article with archaeological sketches of the area:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/N/NIN/country-round-nineveh-fig1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/N/NIN/nineveh.html&h=423&w=333&sz=52&hl=en&start=12&um=1&usg=__13U-fiKkNLRRzjTuzlYU9Ggr680=&tbnid=tokeJRr9fv_NrM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnineveh%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enUS252US253%26sa%3DN
Although Nimrod is sometimes thought to be one and the same with Gilgamesh king of Uruk, we can’t really make that distinction from what we have about Nimrod in Scripture. As a matter of interest, Gilgamesh was the fifth king or chieftain of Uruk. A list of very early kings of the region does exist (with reigns lasting 20,000 to 40,000 years each), but it breaks off with the phrase, “Then the flood swept over.” A Kish dynasty was later replaced by the Eana dynasty, whose first king was drowned but whose second king, Emmerkar, built the city of Uruk. Emmerkar was followed by Lugulbanda the Shepherd, Dumuzi the Fisherman, and Gilgamesh.
Although many of names in 1 Chronicles are actually regions or whole nations, Nimrod himself is certainly an actual man. The Jewish writings outside the Bible call him Nimrod “the Evil” (הרשע). To Muslims he is Nimrod “al-Jabbar,” the Thug or Compeller.
There is no direct mention of any of Nimrod’s actions in the Bible. He isn’t accused of any particular sin. But the subtle hints in his titles, “a mighty hunter/warrior on earth” tell us that not everything this man did was in line with God’s plan. Perhaps, taken by himself, he wasn't that bad of a guy. But his failure came with the legacy he left for those who came later. He established a pattern in his life that caused his people to veer away from God later on, much like Voltaire (whom even Mozart described as the “arch-scoundrel”).
The lesson we learn from Nimrod, if no other, is to take care how we instruct our children. What are we passing down to them? Is it our faith? Is it something else?
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” ( — Jesus, Luke 18:16)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
1 Chronicles 1:9
9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. (NIV)
The people of Seba are also called Sabeans, "a nation far away" (Joel 3:8). In Job, Sabean raiders carried off the patriarch's oxen and donkeys (Job 1:15). They are usually mentioned in conjunction either with Cush (Isaiah 43:3; 45:14) or Sheba (Psalm 72:10).
Havilah seems to have been in the Arabian Peninsula, perhaps extending northward with or near the land of Uz (see verse 17 in this chapter). Another Havilah was a descendant of Shem (see verse 29). It is that Havilah, not this one, to which Moses refers in his comments about the four rivers flowing from the headwater in the Garden of Eden.
Sabta was a man whose dwelling by the same name is unknown to us. Perhaps it was in southern Arabia.
Raamah became a merchant tribe, dealing with Tyre for “all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold” (Ezekiel 27:22). Raamah’s descendants, Sheba and Dedan, were influential tribes in their own right.
The people of Sheba were traders in precious stones, incense and slaves (Jeremiah 6:20; Joel 3:8). Their distant land was either in the extreme south of the Arabian peninsula or across the straight in the Horn of Africa. It was the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon 2 Chron. 9:1-12; Mathew 12:42).
Dedan's descendants were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites (Genesis 25:3). The latter were descended from Abraham by Keturah his second wife. But the Asshurites present a difficulty that may not be possible to solve. We will discuss this in the next verse.
Sabteca is not known outside this genealogy and its source in Genesis 10:7.
The Targum on this passage does not really help us since the names become even less comprehensible: Sindi (סינידאי) and Hinduqi (הנדקאי, although here we can recall that "Hindu-Cush" was a place designation at one time for northern India), Semdæi (סמדאי), Lubyæ (לובאי), the Mauritaneans (מווריאטינוס) and the Zingæ (זינגאי). The sons of the Mauritaneans: Zemargad (זמרגד) and Misag (מזג).
We can do no better than quote Jesus himself about these peoples. His words apply to us today every bit as much as they did then:
The people of Seba are also called Sabeans, "a nation far away" (Joel 3:8). In Job, Sabean raiders carried off the patriarch's oxen and donkeys (Job 1:15). They are usually mentioned in conjunction either with Cush (Isaiah 43:3; 45:14) or Sheba (Psalm 72:10).
Havilah seems to have been in the Arabian Peninsula, perhaps extending northward with or near the land of Uz (see verse 17 in this chapter). Another Havilah was a descendant of Shem (see verse 29). It is that Havilah, not this one, to which Moses refers in his comments about the four rivers flowing from the headwater in the Garden of Eden.
Sabta was a man whose dwelling by the same name is unknown to us. Perhaps it was in southern Arabia.
Raamah became a merchant tribe, dealing with Tyre for “all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold” (Ezekiel 27:22). Raamah’s descendants, Sheba and Dedan, were influential tribes in their own right.
The people of Sheba were traders in precious stones, incense and slaves (Jeremiah 6:20; Joel 3:8). Their distant land was either in the extreme south of the Arabian peninsula or across the straight in the Horn of Africa. It was the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon 2 Chron. 9:1-12; Mathew 12:42).
Dedan's descendants were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites (Genesis 25:3). The latter were descended from Abraham by Keturah his second wife. But the Asshurites present a difficulty that may not be possible to solve. We will discuss this in the next verse.
Sabteca is not known outside this genealogy and its source in Genesis 10:7.
The Targum on this passage does not really help us since the names become even less comprehensible: Sindi (סינידאי) and Hinduqi (הנדקאי, although here we can recall that "Hindu-Cush" was a place designation at one time for northern India), Semdæi (סמדאי), Lubyæ (לובאי), the Mauritaneans (מווריאטינוס) and the Zingæ (זינגאי). The sons of the Mauritaneans: Zemargad (זמרגד) and Misag (מזג).
We can do no better than quote Jesus himself about these peoples. His words apply to us today every bit as much as they did then:
The Queen of the South (Sheba) will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. (— Jesus, 29 AD)
Friday, October 17, 2008
1 Chronicles 1:8
8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. (NIV)
Taking the information in Genesis 5 and 11 (the genealogies) at face values, the year the Great Flood ended was 2457 BC (1657 years after the creation). Noah's sons began to have their own families after this, and here the writer of Chronicles turns from Japheth in the north to Ham in the south.
The Canaanites were specially cursed by Noah (Genesis 9:25). The Canaanites, Noah prophesied, would become the slaves of both Shem and Japheth (Genesis 9:26-27). The land of Canaan, of course, extended from north of the Sea of Galilee to the Negev south of the Dead Sea. This is the famous region described as “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” (Exodus 3:8)
The tribe of Put (the Greek translations pronounce it Phout or Phoud, Φουδ) seems to have settled far west of the Nile; Libya has been suggested as a location. Jeremiah says they were adept with the shield (Jer. 46:9). Nahum calls the people of Put in his time "allies of Thebes" (Nahum 3:9).
Cush was south of Egypt, corresponding to the northern part of modern Sudan. A source of valuable topaz (Job 28:19), it was the farthest land to the south known to the Hebrews. They are described by Isaiah as “a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech” (Isaiah 18:2). At various times they dominated Egypt or portions of Egypt (Tirhakah, a Cushite, ruled part of Egypt in Isaiah's time; Isaiah 37:9; 2 Kings 19:9).
Mizraim is simply the Hebrew word for Egypt (מצרים). Since the date for the flood falls after the assumed dates for the earliest kings of Egypt, how can we reconcile the (fairly reliable) evidence of Egyptian archaeology with the text of the Bible? I have never advocated so-called Higher Criticism, which attempts to correct the text based on suppositions. Lower Criticism, which examines the text based on the study of Biblical manuscripts and to a lesser degree quotations of the Bible in other writings such as the early Church Fathers, has a place in our study of Scripture. But Lower Criticism doesn't play much of a role here.
A problem with Egyptian dates from archaeology is that they are educated guesswork. I respect the educated part of that guesswork. The dates become more and more reliable as we farther along in history--the dates of the Eighteenth Dynasty (the Pharaohs of Moses' time) seem to be fairly accurate. If we work backwards from there, we get to the Twelfth Dynasty during the time of Joseph (Sesotris II and Sesostris III would have been the Pharaohs of the fat and lean years). A bit earlier, in the Eleventh Dynasty, we find that Intef II (also called Wahankh) would probably have been the Pharaoh who took a fancy to Sarah in Genesis 12:14-20.
Many of the earlier "dynasties" were only a few decades long, and some of them may have overlapped. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Pharaohs of the "Old Kingdom" (the Thinnis period and the Age of the Pyramids) were simply the immediate family members of Mizraim himself, the grandson of Ham, when they took up residence on the banks of the Nile in the 25th or 24th Century BC.
When we consider that from Adam to Seth, in 130 years, the world's population went from 2 to 10,000, it is obvious that 3 couples (Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives) would produce at the very least 30,000 between 2459 (two years after the flood ended, when Shem became the father of Arphaxad, Genesis 11:10) and the 2190's (the end of the Age of Pyramids), there would have been thousands, probably tens of thousands, of people in Egypt for the building of the pyramids.
But for all of their accomplishments, the Egyptians, Cushites, Putites and Canaanites needed the gospel as much as any of the rest of us. Some heard it and rejected it. Some were kept from hearing it by sinfully obstructive leaders or parents. Others heard it and did not reject it, and the Lord put faith in their hearts.
Whatever our accomplishments, we have God to praise and thank for the greatest accomplishment of all: He sent his Son Jesus Christ to rescue us from our sins. And for this we thank, praise, serve and obey him.
Taking the information in Genesis 5 and 11 (the genealogies) at face values, the year the Great Flood ended was 2457 BC (1657 years after the creation). Noah's sons began to have their own families after this, and here the writer of Chronicles turns from Japheth in the north to Ham in the south.
The Canaanites were specially cursed by Noah (Genesis 9:25). The Canaanites, Noah prophesied, would become the slaves of both Shem and Japheth (Genesis 9:26-27). The land of Canaan, of course, extended from north of the Sea of Galilee to the Negev south of the Dead Sea. This is the famous region described as “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” (Exodus 3:8)
The tribe of Put (the Greek translations pronounce it Phout or Phoud, Φουδ) seems to have settled far west of the Nile; Libya has been suggested as a location. Jeremiah says they were adept with the shield (Jer. 46:9). Nahum calls the people of Put in his time "allies of Thebes" (Nahum 3:9).
Cush was south of Egypt, corresponding to the northern part of modern Sudan. A source of valuable topaz (Job 28:19), it was the farthest land to the south known to the Hebrews. They are described by Isaiah as “a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech” (Isaiah 18:2). At various times they dominated Egypt or portions of Egypt (Tirhakah, a Cushite, ruled part of Egypt in Isaiah's time; Isaiah 37:9; 2 Kings 19:9).
Mizraim is simply the Hebrew word for Egypt (מצרים). Since the date for the flood falls after the assumed dates for the earliest kings of Egypt, how can we reconcile the (fairly reliable) evidence of Egyptian archaeology with the text of the Bible? I have never advocated so-called Higher Criticism, which attempts to correct the text based on suppositions. Lower Criticism, which examines the text based on the study of Biblical manuscripts and to a lesser degree quotations of the Bible in other writings such as the early Church Fathers, has a place in our study of Scripture. But Lower Criticism doesn't play much of a role here.
A problem with Egyptian dates from archaeology is that they are educated guesswork. I respect the educated part of that guesswork. The dates become more and more reliable as we farther along in history--the dates of the Eighteenth Dynasty (the Pharaohs of Moses' time) seem to be fairly accurate. If we work backwards from there, we get to the Twelfth Dynasty during the time of Joseph (Sesotris II and Sesostris III would have been the Pharaohs of the fat and lean years). A bit earlier, in the Eleventh Dynasty, we find that Intef II (also called Wahankh) would probably have been the Pharaoh who took a fancy to Sarah in Genesis 12:14-20.
Many of the earlier "dynasties" were only a few decades long, and some of them may have overlapped. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Pharaohs of the "Old Kingdom" (the Thinnis period and the Age of the Pyramids) were simply the immediate family members of Mizraim himself, the grandson of Ham, when they took up residence on the banks of the Nile in the 25th or 24th Century BC.
When we consider that from Adam to Seth, in 130 years, the world's population went from 2 to 10,000, it is obvious that 3 couples (Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives) would produce at the very least 30,000 between 2459 (two years after the flood ended, when Shem became the father of Arphaxad, Genesis 11:10) and the 2190's (the end of the Age of Pyramids), there would have been thousands, probably tens of thousands, of people in Egypt for the building of the pyramids.
But for all of their accomplishments, the Egyptians, Cushites, Putites and Canaanites needed the gospel as much as any of the rest of us. Some heard it and rejected it. Some were kept from hearing it by sinfully obstructive leaders or parents. Others heard it and did not reject it, and the Lord put faith in their hearts.
Whatever our accomplishments, we have God to praise and thank for the greatest accomplishment of all: He sent his Son Jesus Christ to rescue us from our sins. And for this we thank, praise, serve and obey him.
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