Hi everyone. I'm a new member and I don't know if this is the right place to post about this. I've just started reading the Bible and finished Genesis and Exodus. I'm reading it in Spanish, so sorry if places, concepts or names are translated wrong to English.
- Genesis
1) The Babel Tower: in this story, humanity, who speaks the same language, decides to build a tower that reaches heaven and God to become famous and not disperse across the earth. God came down and saw it and scattered everyone throughout the land and made them speak in different languages and they did not understand each other. A generic interpretation indicates that this passage explains the origin of all languages and cultures, as a consequence of divine punishment. But, in Hebrew they do not say “those who spoke the same language”, but rather they use the expression “the whole earth had one lip”, which has nothing to do with the question of language, but rather of power. That is, everyone was subject to an emperor who used the tax system to oppress others and maintain power. The conquerors built towers as a symbol of power, whose top floor was destined for the divinity, who came down from heaven to speak with the emperor. In this way they tried to convince the people that divinity was on the side of the oppressor. Then, could it be interpreted that God came down and destroyed the tower, a symbol of union between the oppressor and divinity, to free the people from the “one lip"? So it is not a punishment but a liberation? Reading it today, can it be a reflection on globalization? Is it suitable for all people? What role are all institutions, including religion, play in this process?
2) Joseph: After being sold by his brothers, Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams and is appointed prime minister, managing the grain impeccably in the face of the imminent famine that he himself predicts. His agrarian policy consisted of the following steps: First, all the money and purchasing power of the people who bought grain from Egypt were absorbed. Then all their belongings and livestock are demanded. Finally, having exhausted all of the above, Egypt is left with the peasants' lands and the people themselves become their properties, becoming serfs and slaves. This passage caught my attention because it could be said that thanks to the political and economic decisions of Joseph, who seeks the benefit of Pharaoh and, therefore, of the Egyptians, a system ends up being created where the same people are forced to sell themselves. to be able to eat, but then we move on to the Exodus, where slavery is criticized and denounced when it afflicts the Hebrews. But isn't Joseph partly responsible for creating a similar system?
- Exodus
1) 1 : 15-16 : Regarding the issue of the midwives, in Hebrew it is not specified exactly if they were Hebrew or if they were the midwives of the Hebrew women, that is, they were Egyptian. Does it seem like it's open to the reader's interpretation? Which is ambiguous on purpose. There are some who think they are Egyptian because Pharaoh wouldn't waste his time asking Jewish women to kill Jewish children. On the other hand, one can think that they were Hebrews and draw a good lesson from it for today: a tyrant who empowers women to murder his men. He wants to "feminize" the Hebrews. The first thing a tyrant wants to do is get rid of the figures that may be an opposing force to his system. What do you guys think?
2) The Golden Calf: Tired of waiting forty days for Moses, the people tell Aaron that they want another God, since they do not know where Moses is or when he will return. Aaron relents and builds a golden calf for them, which the people idolize and offer sacrifices to, being unfaithful to the Alliance. Moses comes down from the mountain and sees how the people dance under the golden calf. Moses, angry, throws the tables and breaks them. He destroys the calf and cremates it, forcing the people to drink the ashes. He commands the Levites, uncontaminated by the worship of the calf, to kill the unbelievers. Around three thousand people die.
The priestly line that prevailed in Israel comes from the nucleus of priests who officiated in Jerusalem when the elimination of all local sanctuaries was decreed, leaving the temple of Jerusalem as the only sacred place. A very serious religious and economic conflict occurred since the rest of the priests, most of them Levites, were left without work and without the right to officiate. They were objects of public charity, like widows and orphans. The priests of Jerusalem, Zadokite and not Levitical, managed to demonstrate their descent through the line of Aaron.
So my question is, on what grounds do the priests that say that they come from the line of Aaron (the one that commanded the Golden Calf to be built and let the people worship it) consider themselves above the priests form the line of the Levites (the only ones uncontaminated by the worship of the calf)?
Thanks for reading, sorry if something is confusing or, now that I think about it, maybe this is too long, haha. But yeah, hope someone can answer me and I can learn more
))
