Kata Markon

[Khbonnell AT aol.com]

       I submit here Part 1 of "Mark: The Backstory."  This is important to the understanding of Parts 2 and 3, "The Aftermath," which I shall send along presently.  Your comments are welcome at GMark Digest or my personal e-mail address.

Ken Bonnell

Mark: The Back Story
By Kenneth H. Bonnell

I.  The Instructions

1.  Exodus 23:31-33  – "And I [Yahveh] will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.  You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.  They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."

2.  Exodus 34:12-13, 15-16 – "Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it be a snare in the midst of you.       You shall destroy their altars, break their idols, and cut down their groves, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and go whoring after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and are called to eat of the sacrifice; and you take of their daughters for you sons, and their daughters go whoring after their gods and make your sons go whoring after their gods."

3.  Numbers 33:55 – "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of whom you let remain shall be as picks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell."


II.  What happened

1.  Joshua 9:3-27 – 3. "But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4. they on their part acted with cunning, and went to make ready provisions, and took worn-out sacks upon their asses, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, 5. with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy.  6. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a far country; so now make a covenant with us.' [ .7 . ]. 8. And Joshua said to them, ‘Who are you? And where do you come from?' 9. And they said to him, ‘From a very far country you servants have come, because of the name of Yahveh your god, for we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt;  10.  And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth.  11.  And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants and have come, come now, make a covenant with us." 12..  Here is our bread; it was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey, on the day we set forth to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and moldy; 13. These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold they are burst; and these garments and shoes of ours are worn out from the very long journey.'  14. So the men [of Israel] partook of their provisions and did not ask instructions from Yahveh.  15.  And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16.  At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them. [Omitted: 17, 18, 19, 20, and  21.]  22.  Joshua summoned them and he said to them, ‘Why did you deceive us, saying "We are very far from you," when you dwell among us?   23. Now you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water; for the house of my god.'  24.  They answered Joshua, ‘Because it was told to your servants for a certainly that Yahveh you god had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; so we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.  25.  And now, behold, we are in your hand; do as it seems good and right in your sight to do to us.'  26. So he did to them and delivered them out of the hand of the people of Israel; and they did not kill them.  27. But Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahveh, to continue to this day in the place which he should choose."

2   Joshua 16:10 – "And they drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, so the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites untill this day, and serve under tribute."

3.  Joshua 17:12-13 – "Yet the sons of Manesseh could not take possession o those cities [named in previous verses]; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in the land.  But when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor and did not utterly drive them out."
4.  Judges 1:27 – same as Joshua:12-13.

III.  The Temple Sinecure of Canaanites of Gibeon

Ezra 2:1 "Now there were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity and those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia, and the returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.
Ezra 2:44-54, Nehemiah 7:46-56 – [Differences of Ezra with Nehemiah shown in brackets.]  "The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha [Sia], the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebanah [Lebana], the sons of Hagabah [Hagaba],* the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hagab,* [*-* Nehemiah omits] the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddell, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, *the sons of Asnah,* [Nehemiah omits] the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim [Nephushesim], the sons of Bakbuk ["jar"], the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Bazluth [Baslith], the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha." . . .  58. "All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were three hundred and ninety-two."
Nehemiah 7:5b-6 :  "And I [Nehemiah] found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at first , and I found written in it:
6. [Same as Ezra 2:1.]
7:46–56 – [Same as Ezra 2:4-54 except as noted above.]
7:60 –[Same as Ezra 2:58.]"


IV. Daniel's Prophecies

1.  Daniel 2:44 – After the interpretation of the dream about the image in Nebuchadnezzer's dream: 44. "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people."

Jesus of the gospels seems to know this book, and he is given to announce the coming of this kingdom, Mark 1:14.

2.  Daniel 4:24-25  – 4.  Interpreting Nebuchadnezzer's dream of the tree cut down: "This is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, 25.  That you shall be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with beasts of the field; you shall be made to eat grass like an oz, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will."

This is the "model" for the "temptation in the wilderness" scene, Mark 1:12-13.

3.  Daniel 7:13-14 – Vision of Belshazzar: "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came on like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient (Ensign) of Days and was presented before him.  And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."

This introduces the term "the son of man," *ho vios anthrOpou*.  In the gospels it is "the son of the man," *ho vios tou anthrOpou*.  Note that this is the same language Jesus is given to use in his answer to the question of the high priest, Mark 14:62, "And you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven."
In Ezekiel, the prophet is addressed by Yahveh as "son of man" (Ezekiel 2:1 et al.), in the Greek of the Septuagint this is vie anthrOpou, direct address without any definite articles.  Here it is not a title nor a possible tie to Canaanite mythology.