Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com>]

Welcome, Shelly!
Yes, listen at what Yigal says.
Remark: on August... many of us are on our annual or summer holidays. I
myself start them next Monday till...... the 28th.
But... be patient, please.
Within its deficiencies... this list is a very good one. This is, at least,
my feeling...
By the way, Shelly, what is your level of biblical Hebrew?  From 0 to 10...
where would you place yourself?  Say... in the midst?

Be heartly welcome and be trustful!  We are serious people.

Pere Porta
(Barcelona, Catalonia, Northeastern Spain)




2011/8/4 Yigal Levin <Yigal.Levin AT biu.ac.il>

> Dear Shelly,
>
> Thanks for the introduction and welcome to B-Hebrew. It looks as if you
> have
> a lot of interesting issues on your mind. However, I'm not sure that
> B-Hebrew is the appropriate place in which to address them. B-Hebrew is a
> forum for the discussion of the text of the Hebrew Bible (that is, what
> most
> Christians call the Old Testament), preferably with reference to the actual
> Hebrew text. We do recognize that in order to understand a text one must
> also understand the society that produced that text, and thus we do
> occasionally allow discussions on historical, literary, social and other
> issues, but only as these derive from the text itself. In other words,
> questions such as "what does passage so and so mean when it says such and
> such?" or, "does passage so and so mean such and such?" are legitimate for
> the list, but not the type of very general questions that you asked.
>
> Also, while trying to understand the theology of the text is part of
> understanding the text, this list is NOT about anyone's religious beliefs.
> It's great that you started off with a statement about where you stand, but
> we are NOT here to debate or to discuss out own personal faith (or lack of
> it).
>
> And finally, the list rules state that every post must be signed with your
> full (first and last) name.
>
> After all that, I look forward to interacting with you on the list!
>
>
> Yigal Levin
> Co-Moderator, B-Hebrew
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Shelly Saya
> Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 9:56 AM
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Hello. I just joined.
>
> Hi all.  I just joined.
>
> OK.  To be honest, I have always been interested in Judaism but I have
> always had problems believing in some of the doctrine, like most
> religions.
> :P
>
> I was raised Christian, like most people I have known throughout my life,
> here in Detroit, MI.  I have not believed in the Christian church's
> teachings since I was 18, such as the trinity, the divinity of Christ,
> etc.
> But I still enjoy reading my bible.  I like to read the Catholic bible
> because of the apocrypha (which means more ancient books to read :P).  I
> realize this is not a religious forum but feel this is important in my
> introduction.  The bible is not just a list of beliefs in a religion but
> also a historical book.  And you might want to know where I'm coming from
> since introductions are encouraged.
>
> When I read these books, I try to think as the author might, considering
> that culture at the time the book was written.  For example, there is a big
> difference between the book of Judges and the books of Mattew or Acts.
> Different time and slightly different thinking in people.  Well, I would
> think, anyway.  :P
>
> What I really want from all of you are your opinions on the culture at the
> time.  From what I've read in the old testament, I do think they were
> rather
> barbaric, inconsiderate and incompassionate to women and livestock alike.
> But they were very, very clean compared to neighboring civilizations.
>
> A few of my questions are: Do you think there was a correlation between the
> two, the need for them to be so clean and also their disregard for women,
> animals, neighboring nations all the way down to their infants, etc?  Do
> you
> think this was widesread among all nations at the time?  I have read it was
> a common practice that when they came upon the enemy's chariots, they were
> to cut the hamstrings of the horses.  Good Lord!  Why put the animal
> through
> such misery?  If you need to disable the horse, the least you could do is
> kill him.  This way the horse starves to death or bleeds to death.
>
> Another question.  Studying culture, I know there is a cause and affect.
> Something leads to something else.  Many civilizations worshipped the sun
> and their religious festivals corresponded with the seasons.  This is very
> understandable, since they were so dependant on the weather to survive.
> Cause and affect.  So what do you think led these people to be this way?
> How did we evolve from this into the people that we are today, where we
> have
> animal rights activists, vegans, women hold jobs, have a say in who they
> marry, etc?  Part of my logic says we are all born good and have a spark of
> the devine in us.  Looking back, considering evolution if you will, the
> less
> intelligent life on this planet, any other animal besides humans, you do
> not
> see rapings, torturing, annihilating an entire nation including the females
> and infants, the way the Hebrews had a practice of.  See 1 Samuel 15:1-3
> So
> if evolution be the case, the neanderthals were
>  more peaceful, I'm sure than these people and these Hebrews evolved into
> this.  But why?
>
> These are some of the things I have been wondering.  I am not here to cause
> arguments or offend.  I am always learning more and I realize I don't know
> everything.  I have asked this in religious groups that want to study the
> scriptures but the people usually get upset, saying I am questioning God,
> since God supposedly gave the commands for them to do these things.  While
> I
> do pray, I also have a hard time believing that they were actually
> commanded
> by God to kill an entire nation that he led into being.  I am fascinated
> with ancient cultures and ancient history.  I love studying how they lived
> by studying their literature that we have today and examining how far we
> have come as a people over the eons of time.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Shelly
>
>
> Shelly
>
>
> Fozzy "Hey Kermit! Do you know why everybody loves the mushroom?"
> Kermit "No, Fozzy. Why?"
> Fozzy "Because he's such a fungi!! Wakka wakka wakka!"
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-- 
Pere Porta