1 Samuel 17

David’s stone hits Goliah, 1 Sam 17

English Standard Version (ESV)

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. ³ And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. ⁴ And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six^[a] cubits^[b] and a span.⁵ He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels^[c] of bronze. ⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.

…

David decapitates Goliath, 1 Sam 17

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistineand took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

1. 1 Samuel 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four

2. 1 Samuel 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

3. 1 Samuel 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Elhanan kills Goliath

2 Samuel 21

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁸ After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. ¹⁹ And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.^[c] 20 And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. ²¹ And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. ²² These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Elhanan kills the brother of Goliath

1 Chronicles 20

English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. ⁵ And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. ⁶ And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. ⁷ And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, struck him down. ⁸ These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

I chose the English Standard Version of the bible because it gives a literal translation of 2 Samuel 21. Other translations, including the King James Version, admit that the translators altered the phrase “struck down Goliath” to “struck down the brother of Goliath.”   Let’s look at the New International Version:

2 Samuel 21

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair^[c] the Bethlehemite killed the brother of^[d] Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.

2 Samuel 21:19 See 1 Chron. 20:5; Hebrew does not have the brother of.

Notice that the footnote states “Hebrew does not have the brother of.  Yet, most translations, including the King James Version, add words that are not in the source texts! They add these words to prevent an obvious contradiction. If you take the original texts at face value, there is at least one contradiction, possibly 2 contradictions.

How do biblical literalists resolve these issues? First of all, some note that the giants in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles are different from the giant in 1 Samuel. In 1 Samuel, David is a young boy. He becomes king in 2 Samuel 2. So by 2 Samuel 21, much time has passed.  The giant from Gath named Goliath in 2 Samuel is a different giant named Goliath from Gath than the one in 1 Samuel. That is fine, except for the odd statement in ALL THREE PASSAGES that the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam. So to avoid contradictions, biblical literalists claim that the giant named Goliath from Gath with a spear shaft like a weaver’s beam in 1 Samuel 17 is different from the giant named Goliath from Gath with a spear shaft like weaver’s beam in 2 Samuel 21.

But even if we permit giant Goliaths from Gath with spear shafts like weaver’s beams to be two different people, we still have a disagreement between 2 Samuel 21 and 1 Chronicle 20. These two stories are obviously the same story, 2 Samuel says Elhanan killed Goliath, and 1 Chronicles says Elhanan killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath. This contradiction is only corrected by rewriting the original text. This is one example of the many kinds of liberties translators take when creating an English (or any other modern language) version of a bible. Words are often added, removed, and altered in order to preserve doctrinal beliefs and traditional views.

2 Samuel 21

http://www.bricktestament.com

New International Version (NIV)

The Gibeonites Avenged

During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”

² The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) ³ David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”

http://www.bricktestament.com

⁴ The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.

⁵ They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, ⁶ let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen one.”

So the king said, “I will give them to you.”

⁷ The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul,

http://www.bricktestament.com

because of the oath before the Lordbetween David and Jonathan son of

http://www.bricktestament.com

Saul. ⁸ But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. ⁹ He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.

http://www.bricktestament.com

¹⁰ Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. ¹¹ When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, ¹² he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) ¹³ David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.

¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

 

God tells David that Israel’s famine is due to Saul’s treatment of the Gibeonites. David asks the Gibeonites what they need to atone for Saul’s atrocities, and they ask for 7 of Saul’s male descendants to be killed. David grants their wishes, and then God ends the famine.

As a child, I was told that Christianity was a moral religion, unlike the ancient and barbaric pagan religions that demanded human sacrifice. It was primitive savages who believed their gods would grant good crops if they killed people. This passage contradicts what the idea that the Christian god is not a petty tyrant.  I can understand killing someone who does something wrong (like Hitler). I can not understand how killing innocent children makes a god happy.

1 Corinthians 11 (NIV)

² I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. ³ But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. ⁵ But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. ⁶ For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

⁷ A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. ⁸ For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; ⁹ neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. ¹⁰ It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. ¹¹ Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹² For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

¹³ Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴ Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵ but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. ¹⁶ If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.

1 Corinthians 14 (NIV)

²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

³⁴ Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the lawsays. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.^[g]

³⁶ Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.³⁸ But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.

³⁹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

[g] 1 Corinthians 14:35 In a few manuscripts these verses come after verse 40.

The bible is very unkind to women and has greatly contributed to gender discrimination. Yes, their are exceptions like Deborah in the Old Testament, who was a judge prior to the reign of kings in Israel. But most verses on women from Genesis to Revelation view them as inferior servants for men.

1 Cor 11 says that IF a women prays or prophecies, then she should cover her head.

1 Cor 14 says that “women should remain silent in the church…it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

How can a woman pray or prophecy if she is not permitted to speak? Apologists spin all over the place on this contradiction, but some biblical scholars have another explanation: 1 Cor 14:34-35 were inserted into the manuscripts by later scribes and were not a part of the original. There evidence is shown by footnote g above from biblegateway.com (and also in hard copies of the NIV). These verses appear in different locations in different ancient manuscripts. Also, the two verses on women in the middle of 1 Cor 14 have little to do with the rest of 1 Cor 14:26-40, which is about prophecy in the church. There is more continuity if the verses on women are removed.

It is a fact that New Testament texts were altered by scribes, often for doctrinal reasons. This is covered in “Misquoting Jesus” and “Jesus Interrupted” by bible scholar Bart Ehrman. There are over 200,000 variations of the New Testament in ancient manuscripts, which means there are more variations among manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.

My first wedding featured Southern Baptists, Holiness Pentecostals, and Mennonites. The Mennonites were very strict about women not speaking in church, keeping their heads covered, women never cutting their hair, and women not having authority over men. The Holiness Pentecostal women also did not cut their hair or have authority over men, but they could speak in church and they did not keep their heads covered. The Baptists pretty much ignored these verses, except they never let women be pastors in the churches. Baptists would say the verses do not say “women can’t get hair cuts at all”, but the Pentecostals would say otherwise, noting that Paul (the assumed author) adds “we have no other practice – nor do the Churches of God.”  That is a pretty strong statement! Yet most Christian sects permit short-haired women today. They simply ignore this verse.

What is worse is that these Christians make a huge deal out of the length of women’s hair. The Holiness Pentecostals sneer with derision at Pentecostals and other “so-called Christians” who let women cut their hair. Then they make excuses for letting women speak in church and not requiring women to cover their heads. Christians should either follow the entire bible or they should openly admit that they are doing whatever they want and then justifying the bible to fit their personal choices.

Then there is the matter of women’s relationship with men. This is a much more serious problem than the length of hair and wearing head covers. It is not be accident that the atheist Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the agnostic Susan B. Anthony were the pioneers of women’s voting rights. Anthony said, “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” Stanton said, “The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women’s emancipation.”  I can not say it any better.

Ezekiel 29

New International Version (NIV)

A Prophecy Against Egypt

Judgment on Pharaoh

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month on the twelfth day, the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. ³ Speak to him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
    you great monster lying among your streams.
You say, “The Nile belongs to me;
    I made it for myself.”
⁴ But I will put hooks in your jaws
    and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
I will pull you out from among your streams,
    with all the fish sticking to your scales.
⁵ I will leave you in the desert,
    you and all the fish of your streams.
You will fall on the open field
    and not be gathered or picked up.
I will give you as food
    to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.

⁶ Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

“‘You have been a staff of reed for the people of Israel. ⁷ When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.^[a]

⁸ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will bring a sword against you and kill both man and beast. ⁹ Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“‘Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it, ” ¹⁰ therefore I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush.^{[b] 11} The foot of neither man nor beast will pass through it; no one will live there for forty years. ¹² I will make the land of Egypt desolateamong devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.

¹³ “‘Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. ¹⁴ I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵ It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶ Egypt will no longer be a source of confidencefor the people of Israel but will be a reminderof their sin in turning to her for help.Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes:

1. Ezekiel 29:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint and Vulgate); Hebrew and you caused their backs to stand
2. Ezekiel 29:10 That is, the upper Nile region

KING JAMES VERSION

¹⁰ Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

¹¹ No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

This passage is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, the prophecy has not come true. Egypt has never been uninhabited, especially not for 40 years. There are several ways apologists get around this. Some claim that the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. Christians making this claim do not realize that this makes any prophecy that does not include an exact date as unfalsifiable.

Others claim that it was not all of Egypt, but only a certain portion of Egypt or other countries (Elephatine, Cush, Ethiopia, etc). They use confusion about verse 10. Notice the extreme differences in the NIV and KJV about the locations listed in verse 10. The NIV says “from Migdol to Aswan, as far as the border of Cush”.  The KJV says “from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia”. There are 3 different locations in the NIV (Migdol, Aswan, and Cush) and two different locations in the KJV (Syene and Ethiopia). What is going on here?

Syene is the ancient name for Aswan. Cush and Ethiopia are essentially the same thing. But what about Migdol? Migdol is a term that can mean  tower (from its size or height), an elevated stage (a rostrum or pulpit), or a raised bed (within a river).  So is Migdol a town or a tower? Migdol has been translated both ways. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the text should read “from Magdolon [the northern frontier city of Egypt] to Syene [the southern boundary].”  So I will go with the Jewish Encyclopedia that this refers to the northern frontier to southern boundary of Egypt. Verse 2 also says that this prophecy is against all Egypt, not just part of it. But there has never been any part of Egypt that has been uninhabited by people and animals for 40 years.

Apologies for this passage are all over the place, and are evolving. The recent events in Egypt are supposedly fulfilling this prophecy now (http://twelvebooks.wordpress.com/category/ezekiel-29/page/2/,  http://prophecyupdateradio.blogspot.com/2011/02/ezekiel-predicts-40-years-of-egyptian.html,  http://www.biblecodedigest.com/page.php?PageID=767, http://www.prophecydepot.net/2011/ezekiel-predicts-40-years-of-egyptian-deportation/).

 I will make a prophecy. 100 years from now there will be Christians claiming that world events are fulfilling biblical prophecies and that the return of Jesus is imminent. I believe that my prophecy has a better chance of coming true than the prophecy in Ezekiel 29.

Judges 3

Ehud stabs Eglon. http://www.bricktestament.com/

New International Version (NIV)

¹² Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. ¹³ Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.^[Jericho]14The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

 ¹⁵ Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit ^{[18 inches]} long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. ¹⁷ He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. ¹⁸ After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. ¹⁹But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

Ehud cannot pull his sword from Eglon.

   The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

 ²⁰ Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. ²² Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. ²³ Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

Eglon's bowels discharge.

 ²⁴ After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.” ²⁵They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

 ²⁶ While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. ²⁷When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

 ²⁸“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the

Israelites kill 10,000 Moabites.

Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. ²⁹ At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. ³⁰That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Shamgar

 ³¹ After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

I do not remember hearing this story in Sunday School, probably because of the level of gore. Once again, the Israelites were bad, so Yahweh let some other country rule them for a while (Moab led by Eglon). When the Israelites call on Yahweh, he gets a man to kill the enemies and free the Israelites.

This story is unique in that Eglon is so fat that Ehud’s sword is swallowed by the fat and can not be pulled out. It also includes the wonderful image of Eglon’s bowels discharging. This is another example of Yahweh getting men to do his killing for him. Sometimes he just kills evil people (Onan and Er), but most of the time he orders men to do his killing for him. Yahweh follows the killing of Eglon with the killing of 10,000 Moabites and later 600 Philistines.

Judah having sex with daughter-in-law Tamar. www.bricktestament.com

Genesis 38 (NIV)

Judah and Tamar

 ¹ At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. ² There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; ³ she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. ⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. ⁵She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him. ⁶ Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was

 wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.

 ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill

  your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. ¹⁰What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.

 ¹¹Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

 ¹²After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

 ¹³ When Tamar was told, “Your

 

Judah wants Tamar burned to death!

father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

 ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”

   “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.

 ¹⁷“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.

   “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.

 ¹⁸He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

   “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. ¹⁹After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

 ²⁰ Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. ²¹He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”

   “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

 ²²So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”

 ²³Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

 ²⁴About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”

   Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”

 ²⁵As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”

Judah says Tamar is more righteous than he is.

 ²⁶Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

 ²⁷ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. ²⁸ As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.³⁰ Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.

There are so many moral problems with this story that I do not know where to start. I guess we should recap last week’s bible story from Genesis 38:1-10. God kills Er, son of Judah, because Er is evil. Judah orders Er’s brother Onan to impregnate Er’s wife, Tamar. Onan refuses to impregnate her, so God kills Onan.

Judah has one more son named Shelah who is not yet grown, so Tamar can not marry him yet and goes to live with her father. Notice that Judah says Shelah may die like his brothers, which means God may kill Shelah like he killed Er and Onan.

Then the story gets even stranger. A long time passes. Judah’s wife dies. Tamar is not married to Shelah so she disguises herself and waits by a temple. Judah thinks she is a temple prostitute, asks her to have sex with him, and she does in exchange for a goat, keeping his seal, cord, and staff as promise of payment.

Tamar gets pregnant. Judah learns his daughter-in-law is pregnant from prostitution and demands she be burned to death. Then he learns she is pregnant by him and declares her more righteous.

Let’s start with temple prostitution. In Hebrew there are two different words used for prostitute, kedeshah and zonah. In Genesis 38:21 and 22, the word kedeshah is used. A kedeshah is a “holy prostitute”, most often associated with the worship of Asherah or Astarte (aka Ishtar), the Syrian Venus. Asherah is known to have been a wife or consort of Yahweh based upon multiple inscriptions found on ancient relics (see Dever, William G. (2005), Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israell; also Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts).

irregardless of the nature of the shrine prostitute, Judah wants to have sex with her and does. When he finds out Tamar is guilty of prostitution, he wants to burn her to death! Talk about a double standard!

Judah and Tamar do not seem very moral in this story. However, according to Matthew 1, they are the ancestors of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.

 ² Abraham was the father of Isaac,
   Isaac the father of Jacob,
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
 ³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
   Perez the father of Hezron,

As previously noted, the genealogies of Joseph in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 are so contradictory that some Christians claim Luke’s genealogy is actually that of Mary rather than Joseph (even though the bible says Joseph and shows no evidence of Mary). Either way, the bible shows in Genesis 38 and Matthew 1 that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, is the progeny of an incestuous relationship between Tamar and the whore mongering father of one of the 12 tribes of Israel, Judah. What a wonderful example of Christian morality!

Genesis 38

God kills Er. http://www.thebricktestament.com

Onan spills his seed.

New International Version (NIV)

¹ At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. ² There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; ³ she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. ⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.⁶ Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. ¹⁰What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.

Genesis 38 is a very strange chapter with two bizarre stories. The first involves the brothers Er and Onan.  Er is said to be evil, so the LORD kills him. The bible never says what Er did that was evil. If there were a god who simply killed evil people, then the world would be a better place. Unfortunately, no such god exists, and evil is able to continue until actions are taken by men and women to stop it. This story is just another example of the Old Testament not reflecting what happens in the world. Just as we do not have a god interacting with people today, we do not have a god killing those who do evil.

After the LORD kills Er, Judah orders Onan to impregnate Er’s wife Tamar. Rather than impregnate her, Onan spills his seed on the ground. The LORD then kills Onan for not impregnating Tamar.  A Christian apology for this verse can be found at http://carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy/why-did-god-kill-man-spilling-his-seed-ground.

The reason God did this is not because Onan wasted his seed on the ground, but because Onan refused to perform his familial duties of producing offspring for his brother’s. This was a great offense at the time. Now, we must realize

God kills Onan.

that the culture was very different than ours is today. In that culture, when a man died and left no children, the next of kin was sometimes obligated to “go in to” the wife and produce children. These children were then considered to be the descendents of the original late husband and would be raised as such. This way, the offspring would be able to take care of the mother, provide more people for the community, and thereby raise their own children, continuing the name of that family. Onan knew this and refused to take part in furthering the honor and name of the brother’s wife and thereby also risking provision for her in the future. To this, God was very displeased and took Onan’s life.

First of all, the Christian apologist admits to moral relativism. This is the most frequent excuse for immoral acts by god in the Old Testament. “Back then things were different.”  Then these hypocrits accuse atheists of being moral relativists in regards to things like homosexuality. This “custom” was so important to god that he killed someone who did not follow it. Yet, I know of no apologist who espouses that Christians follow this custom today.

Also, if Er is so evil that he must be killed, why should god care whether or not he has descendants? Does killing Er give him descendants? Does killing Onan give Er (or Onan) descendants?  The killings by god does not in any way provide descendants for Er, which is the supposed reason for the killings.

More than likely, this story (and others) was invented to scare (control) people into making sure that a widow with no children would be able to have children.

This is not the only bizarre story in Gen 38. The adventures of Judah and Tamar come next time.

Title Page of Galileo's Dialogue

Joshua 10 (NIV)

¹² On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
¹³So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on^[b] its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

  The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.

Ecclesiastes 1

⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.

1 Chronicles 16

³⁰ Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

Psalm 93 (KJV)

¹The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

Psalm 96

¹⁰Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

Psalm 104

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.

It is a sad fact that many people do not accept the theory of evolution because it violates their religious beliefs. The same reasons that people do not accept the theory of evolution are also still used to claim the earth does not move, either by rotating on its axis or by orbiting the sun. Due to evidence starting with Copernicus and Galileo and culminating with modern NASA scientists, we now know the earth does move. It was not always accepted. The Christian sects all were against geocentricity since it contradicted the bible. The Catholic Church condemned the teaching of heliocentricity  (model in which the earth orbits the sun) in 1616. Galileo published The Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems in 1632.  In 1633, Galileo was convicted of heresy and remained under house arrest until he died.  He was shown the instruments of torture used against previous heretics, such as Giodarno Bruno, who also promoted heliocentricity and was executed for heresy. The Catholic Church did not admit it was wrong about Galileo until 1992 and did not apologize until 2000.

Due to fundamentalist Christians attacking evolution and following a bible-only approach to knowledge, many Christians are not only convinced evolution is wrong but now also attack the idea of a rotating, orbiting earth. The verses above are just some of the 67 verses from http://www.fixedearth.com (http://www.fixedearth.com/sixty-seven%20references.htm) that show the bible supports geocentricity (the model in which the sun orbits the non-moving earth).  Recently there was a conference in Galileo Was Wrong, The Church Was Right conference held by fundamentalist Christians in South Bend, Indiana (http://www.galileowaswrong.com/galileowaswrong/).  Let’s hope that Christians do not return us to the Dark Ages.

Deuteronomy 13 (NIV)

Friends and Family - http://www.thebricktestament.com

⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷ gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), ⁸ do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. ⁹ You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰ Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

Stone Your Friends and Family

 ¹² If you hear it said about one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you to live in ¹³ that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), ¹⁴ then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, ¹⁵ you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. ¹⁶ You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, ¹⁷ and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors— ¹⁸because you obey the LORD your God by keeping all his

Kill every man, woman, child, baby and animal.

commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

Yesterday Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos lost in the playoffs to the New England Patriots 45-10. During the 2011 season, Tebow was the 28th rated quarterback in the NFL, which is pretty low considering there are 32 teams. He completed only 46.5% of his passes, although he did rush for 660 yards and it must be mentioned that his receivers were not the best. The Broncos won 8 games and lost 5. Tebow got all the credit for the wins, even though the Denver defense and special teams were more responsible for many of the victories.

Many Christians were giving Tebow all the credit because he is an evangelical Christian. 43% of all Americans believed God was helping Tebow win football games http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/01/12/poll-finds-43-percent-of-people-believe-god-helps-tebow-win/. Won wonders why God failed so miserably against the Patriots?  However, also adding inspiration to this delusion is the fact that in Tebow’s last victory over the Steelers he threw for 316 yards. Christians noted that Tebow wore John 3:16 in his black eye glare under his eyes while in college at Florida (the NFL does not permit this). Many Christians claimed that the 316 yards against Pittsburgh was a sign from God!

Yesterday Tebow only threw for 136 yards. Since 136 is just a two-digit reversal of 316, surely it is also a sign from God! Perhaps it refers to the passage starting in Deuteronomy 13:6 that I have quoted above.

In this passage, God is claimed to consist of ”fierce anger”. I do not think anything consisting of fierce anger is worthy of worship, but the worship of a god of fierce anger is a part of Judeo-Christian-Islamic heritage.

God manifests his fierce anger by ordering his followers to kill anyone who tries to get you to worship another god (or no god at all, I suppose). You are to kill them even if they are a close member of your family or your best friend. The method of killing is, of course, stoning, which is God’s favorite method of killing individual people. The fact that the bible orders killing in a particularly archaic method (stoning) is a sign that the bible was written only for the people of its time and should not in any way be considered as a book to be used as law thousands of years later.

But if you need to kill an entire town, you must use the sword. You must stab every man, woman, little boy, little girl, little baby, pregnant woman, and unborn fetus. And when you are done killing the children and pregnant women, you must kill all the animals. I guess these animals might learn how to talk and then try to convert God’s people to other gods.

Perhaps Christians might link Tebow’s yards in the playoff game to these verses and start killing people. I hope not. But since the USA is based on humanism and secular values and is not a Christian nation, we do not need to worry about this as much as we would in a theocracy ( medieval Europe or some current Islamic states). The USA Constitution is not based upon the bible, despite the claims of some Christians. The bible permits only one religion and demands death by stoning for those of other religions. The Constitution grants religious and non-religious freedom. It is a shame that so many Christians are being brainwashed by propaganda that claims our Constitution is based upon the bible.

Picture from http://www.bricktestament.com/king_david/index.html

2 Samuel 12 (NIV)
Nathan Rebukes David
1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

18 On the seventh day the child died.

I have heard this passage read in church, so technically this is not a bible verse rarely read on Sunday. However, it does show God killing an innocent baby, as well as forcing David’s wives to commit adultery in public.

I have argued with apologists on these verses, but they can not get around the evil actions of the God they worship. Killing a baby as punishment for the actions of an adult is never justified. 

There is also the fact that God will also punish David by forcing some of David’s wives into adultery. These verses do not say “some of your wives may commit adultery in public as a choice of their free will”, but rather tells what God will cause to happen in the future. The humans doing the actions have no choice – God is going to cause them to act in this way. 

I spoke with one Christian who claimed that David was the baby killer and that his wives’ future adultery would occur as a result of free will. I got her to admit that God was killing the baby after reading the verses more carefully, but she claimed that God was justified based on David’s sin, even though she thought it would be immoral for societies to do the same thing as punishment for adultery today! She also admitted that at the moment Nathan said the adultery would occur, it was inevitable that it would happen because Nathan was speaking for God. After admitting that God was behind this future adultery, she quickly decided it was time to abandon her attempts to defend this text, making generic statements like “it must be true because it’s in the bible”, etc.   

Should we punish adulterers today by killing their children or forcing their spouses to commit adultery in broad daylight?  If you think this would not be a good law to enact, then you are showing humanism, which is a good thing. Our laws are based on humanism, not on the bizarre examples of immorality in the bible. We should be thankful that our laws are based on humanism and not on the actions and examples of the evil God of the bible.