Blog

What was the legal structure of marriage in the ancient world?  Here I discuss the basic ideas about marriage, and demonstrate from several texts what we know was done.  I go into what was probably legally considered marriage in ancient Israel.

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Yoel and Jeff discuss da’at (knowledge), priesthood, holy trees and much more as we finish chapter 4 of Hosea.

Who is Malkitsedeq and what is the possible history that created the “order of Malkitsedeq”. This is an historical overview of the documents we have about this person.  This history is strongly linked to the 2nd temple and the sectarian argument.  By no means is this an attack on anyone, but I think that very little information is out there about how this concept came to be.

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YHWH presents His legal case against Israel as evidenced by a specific word used in the first verse of Hosea chapter 4.  Yoel and Jeff discuss verses 1-5,  plus a bonus introductory discussion on morality, hubris and anarchy.

Parashat Lech Lecha tells us about Avram’s calling to another land, but the end of the previous parashah tells it a little differently.

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Difficulties in the placement and translation of Hosea chapter 3 lead to interesting questions.  Is there a second wife in Hosea’s experience?  What can we learn about the price paid for the woman, and how does the exile affect obedience to Torah?

Calendars have always been a struggle for mankind.  From the earliest calendars to the modern ones, man has always tried to calculate time and create an ideal way of using it.  Here are two short discussions about calendars.

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From Hosea 2:15-25 , Yoel and Jeff discuss how the Northern Kingdom perverted their perception of YHVH to be like the Ba’alim, what the “wilderness” experience is for them, and the response of the earth to the presence of the people of Israel.

An interesting point about the Hosha-Na practice:

We must remember that the time frame I am talking about is at a time where many had already refrained from speaking the name of God, so I use the idea of hinting in this argument about The Name.  The practice of not speaking God’s name has been traced by some scholars to the 3rd and even 4th centuries.

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The discussion of Hosea continues in Chapter 2 with images of divorce, shaming and execution.  Yoel compares the language of Hosea with Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and he and Jeff discuss whether the redemption will be a sudden, big event or a gradual thing, as well as whether these judgements mean ending the covenant.