When Terah. Terah responded by saying that they are only statues and have no knowledge. The Midrash is also used by James Kugel, the chair of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel, in his book The Bible As It Was, published in 1997 by Harvard University, to look at how stories from the Bible have been changed to how they are taught in the modern day. 15[i]Under his authority were (P)Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in (Q)the cities of the priests, to distribute their portions faithfully to their brothers by divisions, whether great or small, 16without regard to their genealogical enrollment, to the males from [j](R)thirty years old and upwardeveryone who entered the house of the Lord (S)for his daily obligationsfor their work in their duties according to their divisions; 17as well as the priests who were enrolled genealogically according to their fathers households, and the Levites (T)from twenty years old and upward, by their duties and their divisions. (C) 18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,(D) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. Why did God choose to limit the divine creative impulse to the (apparently) inadequate framework of narrative? 54 And the king said to Abram, Had they power to speak and eat and do as thou hast said? Haran is thrown into the fire, and is not saved by God. , was an idol-maker and merchant in Ur.1 Terah. [25] Freeing the Torah from its historical crutches not only frees the narrator from having to keep the narrative in line with past events, but it also neutralizes the basis for the attack against the validity of a person maintaining his or her faith. (Q) 24What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Rambam expressed this idea in his unique idiom. These could now be understood as virtually physical expressions of the divine message. The interpretive strategy of the accepted rendition is paramount emphasizes the importance of our mediated encounter with the text, the reading that I was taught by my teacher, and he his teacher, going all the way back to the law given to Moses at Sinai. In short, the tradition is of utmost value. [21]An ant and an elephant are running through the desert. These events occurred at some point in the past, and the Holy Author (God) describes them from the unique perspective of the divine. If he had possessed the spirit which his son had, he would have said there is no power with these gods; but he did not, and Abraham had to flee from his fathers house, confiding in the Lord, who gave many promises to him and concerning his posterity. "Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people. (AA) What if only ten can be found there?, He answered, For the sake of ten,(AB) I will not destroy it., 33When the Lord had finished speaking(AC) with Abraham, he left,(AD) and Abraham returned home.(AE). Of course, great challenges to Abram's faith lay ahead on his life's journey. See, for example, the Gerrer Rebbe, R. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (Sefat Emeton Leviticus, Pesach 5631): In every generation there is an exodus from Egypt, but one relevant to that generation. There is much more to say about this, but here is not the place. ),Shitat ha-Beinot shel ha-Rav Mordechai Breuer: Qovetz Maamarim u-Teguvot(Alon Shevut: Tevunot, 2005). Therefore I will prepare fresh savory meat to-morrow, better and more plentiful than this, that I may see what cometh therefrom. But the gods remained mute and without motion before the second offering of excellent savory meat as before the first offering, and the spirit of God came over Abraham, and he cried out, and said: Woe unto my father and his wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone, which cannot eat, nor smell, nor hear, nor speak, which have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs without motion!, Abraham then took a hatchet in his hand, and broke all his fathers gods, and when he had done breaking them he placed the hatchet in the hand of the biggest god among them all, and he went out. Nevertheless, such an opportunity would be limited. Commentating on this verse, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, the late Grand Mufti of Pakistan, writes, "According to Imam Qurtubi, this verse shows that to destroy the idols and other icons of paganism is Waajib (mandatory). 3, There is something humorous in a history that we have in relation to this personage. In verse 7 God said the covenant He established with Abraham was to be everlasting and that He alone was to be God to Abraham and his offspring. [19] The various literary layers identified by biblical scholars in the text do not contradict its status as divine. Ge 22:12, 18; 26:5; 2Sa 8:15; Ps 17:2; 99:4; Jer 23:5, Ex 23:7; Lev 4:3, 22, 27; Nu 16:22; Dt 27:25; 2Sa 24:17; Ps 11:4-7; 94:21; Eze 18:4; 2Pe 2:9, Jdg 11:27; Job 9:15; Ps 7:11; 94:2; Heb 12:23, Ge 20:4; Dt 32:4; 2Ch 19:7; Ezr 9:15; Ne 9:33; Job 8:3, 20; 34:10; 36:23; Ps 58:11; 75:7; 94:2; 119:137; Isa 3:10-11; Eze 18:25; Da 4:37; 9:14; Mal 2:17; Ro 3:6, NIV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Galatians, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print. Nimrod the mighty hunter was one of the sons of Kush. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! According to many Jewish and Islamic sources, the two did meet, and their meeting was symbolic of the confrontation between either: And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.. 48 Now therefore my father refrain from this, and bring not evil upon thy soul and the souls of thy household. It is one that any person who wishes to renew his or her faithperhaps even to limit its horizons for a timeshould take to heart. Abraham grabs a stick and smashes all the idols, except the biggest one, in whose hand he places the stick. 45 And forget the Lord God who made heaven and earth, and who created you in the earth, and thereby bring a great evil upon your souls in this matter by serving stone and wood? If the stories about the ancestors of the nation had not been included in the Torah at Sinai, it seems likely that they would be without any religious implications. So Nimrod declares they worship water. Writing, especially in the above examples, allows people who were not witnesses to the events to meet the reality of the event in a mediated encounter. Perhaps they even needed to be narrated in exactly the way the Torah itself narrates them. In his view, such an approach implies a weakness of faith and a deviation from the authentic approach of the Jewish tradition. Understanding the Torah this way can strengthen the deep vitality buried in its every story, every verse, every word even every letter. Is there spirit, soul, or power in these gods to do all thou hast told me? [18] Is it less significant than a partial biography of a given individual, who lived 3500 years ago in some insignificant part of the world? Abraham emerging unscathed must have been a compelling and humbling sight. In the book of Abraham, translated in our day and generation, we are informed that Abraham was bound, and those priests sought to take his life, but the Lord delivered him from them. Does the Torahs Abraham really need the historical Abraham in order to claim an important role in Jewish religious consciousness? 8When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and (J)His people Israel. One of the questions that occupies philosophers of history as a discipline has been, to what extent can a historian really reconstruct the past and to what extent is he or she actually reshaping it? There is also a third option, of course, that the Abraham who lived in Ur continued to live in the hearts of Israel. From whence sprang the suggestion to interpret the Torah against the way it has been read? These events are seennot without causeas being singular and special. 2 Kings 23:14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Abraham is the first patriarch and is seen as the father of the four Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bah Faith. He is the father of three children including the Patriarch Abraham. Amplified Bible Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there. This one, enraged against them on account of their behavior, took the hatchet and broke them all, and, behold, the hatchet is yet in his hands, as thou mayest see., Then Terah turned in wrath upon Abraham, and he said: Thou speakest lies unto me! And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. The Torah describes various events from its own unique perspective. A woman came carrying a plate of fine flour and she told me to offer it before them. Completely erase the names of their gods! Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition. [16]Whether one must take the account of the Sinai revelation as historical or not is dealt with in chapter 4 of my book. An ahistorical Torah is not subject to being disproven by archaeology or academic historical reconstructions. "[5] There is no description of a biblical interaction between Nimrod and Abraham. can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon them? As I came to understand the Word of Wisdom, I wanted my parents to live that law. The image of Abraham smashing idols in his fathers store and blaming it on the god is likely to bring a smile to the lips of any person who is familiar with the story from his or her childhood. [10]In my opinion, which is based on multiple encounters with a number of different groups, this critique can be found at the heart of many peoples objections to ahistorical reading of the Torah, and feeds their intuitive rejection of this paradigm. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem . Seeing the Torah as the story of God establishes a persons faith in Torah from Heaven at its highest and purist level. Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver thee? Rambams approach here applies to our case as well. This comes from the idea that Abraham did not need proof of God before being cast into the fire, which is why God saved him. Nimrod 's Humble Heritage. I cannot deny that the intuition of religious people, whether they be simple believers or great scholars, prefers to see the Torahs narratives as based in factual history. NASB 1995 Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she sat on them. Therefore, we should be careful not to miss even a single hint or implication that may be imbedded in the direct speech of God to us. The consequence was, his father and the idolatrous priests of that day sought to take his life. So Nimrod declares they worship wind. 12They faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge (N)of them, and his brother Shimei was second. 9Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. For another angle on the problem of ahistorical interpretation, made in modern times, see words of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Iggerot Kodesh7:996): [9]We will leave, for now, the difficult questions engendered by the issue of the slippery slope and return to them indirectly when we deal with the other basis for challenging the ahistorical interpretation, namely the problem of truth. Additionally, the slippery slope problem is discussed more fully in chapter 4 of my book, which deals with the historicity of a different biblical story, namely the revelation at Mount Sinai. A divinely originated narrative has no need for real historical events in order to grow sinews and flesh and become something substantial. Thou speakest lies to me. New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Abraham responds that water puts out fire. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. The later life of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis Chapters 1125. The idols argued about which one should eat the offering first, then the largest idol took the stick and smashed all the other idols. [12]In this case, it isnt about writing per se, as it makes little difference whether it is reported by radio, TV, or newspaper. Abrahams father had instructed him in the doctrines of these idols, and had sought to induce him to have faith in them and in their power, authority, and dominion, telling him what great personages they were. [14]M.Pesachim10:5. Kula was formerly the Rosh haYeshiva of Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati in Ein Tzurim. Nevertheless, this possibility brings to mind the old joke about the elephant and the ant. Start for FREE. [Abraham] understood that there was a God in heaven, a living and true God, and that no man should worship any other God but Him. what makes muscle tissue different from other tissues? Now, believing it is safe, Abram leaves Noah's home and returns to his father Terah. Conversely, if the Torah is only telling stories, it would appear, at first glance, more difficult to account for the similarities between its stories and those of the surrounding cultures. 2And Hezekiah appointed (B)the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, (C)for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord. He did his Ph.D.in Jewish thought atBen Gurion University, focusing on the writings of Rav Kook. Hebrews 11:10 says of Abram: "He was awaiting the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which city is God.". He was looking forward. This is the meaning of the phrase, In every generation a person must look upon himself as if he left Egypt.[14], This perspective is reflected in the world of halacha as well. Narrower concepts. [27] Putting this view forward before those who believed that God had a body probably caused those believers a crisis of faith. This is a false dichotomy. 2 Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. The idols argued about which one should eat the offering first, then the largest idol took the stick and smashed all the other idols. When his father returned, he asked him: Why did you do this to them? [Abraham] replied: Would I hide it from you? If the religious value of events comes from their being included in the word of God, let us allow God to speak to us in Gods own language, and to tell us the divine story with its entire force. Save 15% on BibleGateway+ with code SPRINGSTUDY15. Anyone who accepts the seven mitzvot (of the Noahides) and is careful not to violate them should be considered one of the righteous gentiles and has a share in the World to Come. the literary character. [a] 19For I have chosen him(E), so that he will direct his children(F) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord(G) by doing what is right and just,(H) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.(I), 20Then the Lord said, The outcry against Sodom(J) and Gomorrah is so great(K) and their sin so grievous(L) 21that I will go down(M) and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. Cautiously, I would like to suggest that doing so is not important. Hence the verse in Genesis 11:28, And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.[6], The Midrash is not the only mention of this storythe Quran discusses the story in great detail as well. 53 And the king said to Abram, What is this that thou hast done to thy father and to his gods? The first statement, the simpler one, would probably be acceptable to anyone. The plot point of Abrahams fattempted murder for his beliefs is found in four source texts. Because of the signs in the heavens that were associated with his birth Nimrod tried to kill him at that time. When President Nelson shared the story of his breaking the bottles of alcohol his father owned, I kept thinking about another prophet who also broke things. Can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon them?, After having spoken these and similar words, admonishing his father to mend his ways and refrain from worshipping idols, he leapt up before Terah, took the hatchet from the big idol, broke it therewith, and ran away. He has two wives, Sarah and Hajar and is well into his old age and childless. 11Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare (M)rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. New American Standard Bible Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel's saddlebag, and she sat on them. 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of . The simple reader of Maimonidesand even the not so simple readerwas likely to feel that the loss of Gods body was almost equal to the loss of God. SeeIggrot Raayahvol. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. This understanding is reminiscent of the approach of Peter Winch, which requires a historian to enter into the past and to view it from within. It is this perspective in particular, and the interpretation of the event expressed in it, that is of interest, religiously speaking, for within this retelling of the event lies its religious value. Instead, the full power of the divine message comes once the message finds its place within a persons heart. 29 And Abram took the savory meat from his mother, and brought it before his fathers gods into the chamber; and he came nigh unto them that they might eat, and he placed it before them, and Abram sat before them all day, thinking perhaps they might eat. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. Nimrod becomes angry with Abraham and declares that Abraham shall be cast into the fire, and if Abraham is correct, i.e. 17Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham(B) what I am about to do? Dr. The ant says to the elephant, Just look at the dust-clouds were making!. Designed using Unos Premium. Many in Maimonides generation believed that the existence of God was coterminous with Gods physical existence. Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Abraham's father, Terah. It would always have been possible to claim that one author, Moses for instance, wrote it on his own. Would we really be unable to give ear and listen to Gods story with great focus, attention, and feeling unless we could simultaneously locate it in a specific time and place? What are they if not dry historical descriptions? 16When the men(A) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Later, a woman walked into the store and wanted to make an offering to the idols. Continue Learning about Religious Studies. Rav Kook believed that this model should be copied when wrestling with notions that were current in his day, like the theory of evolution. why would the ancient Greeks have Worshipped Demeter. A young Abraham destroys his father Terah's idols, by Jacob Ernst Marcus, 1819. 13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall Abram Rescues Lot. [13]Even if its conclusions will, in the end, be rejectednot always and not necessarilyby practical halacha. 16 And Abram came to his fathers house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was kindled when he saw these images in his fathers house. Although these events have halachic weight in Jewish tradition, this is not because they happened in the past (before the revelation at Sinai) but because they were included in the Torahs narrative at Sinai.[15]. When he or she reads the accounts of our father Abraham in the Torah and wishes to understand their significance, what he or she wants is not to find out more about the (possible) historical character behind the story but to encounter the protagonist of the narrative, i.e. 50 And Terah, seeing all that Abram had done, hastened to go from his house, and he went to the king and he came before Nimrod and stood before him, and he bowed down to the king; and the king said, What dost thou want? 21. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 3He also appointed (D)the kings portion of his property for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the appointed festivals, (E)as it is written in the Law of the Lord. Said he, Father, I did not do anything to them, they quarreled among themselves and went to work fighting and knocked one another down, broke one anothers heads and knocked off one anothers arms and legs. Oh, said his father, my sons do not tell me anything of that kind, for they are made of wood and they could not move or stir from their place nor knock one another down; it has been some other agency that has done it. Why, father, said he, would you worship a being that could not stir or move, that had hands and could not handle, that had legs and could not walk, a mouth that could not speak, and a head and it was of no use? And Terah answered his son Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house. 15 And Terah his father was in those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods. Once he went on a trip and he placed Abraham in charge of the store in his place. Our analysis of the truth problem leads us to this summary statement: Whenever we as readers encounter a description of an event in the Torah, the main concern for us as students of Torah is not the reality of the event as it happened but the event as described in the biblical narrative. Start your free trial today! Oops! 10Azariah, the chief priest (K)of the house of Zadok, said to [f]him, (L)Since the contributions started coming into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.. Child sacrifice was one reason for the Babylonian captivity (verse 36). 635-637 [Hebrew]). Abraham told him that a woman came in to make an offering to the idols. Finally, Abraham is not punished . As I was leading a discussion in the beit midrash on this subject, one of the participants pushed back against this approach. Following the analysis offered here, the halachic tradition makes the religious value of any historical event that occurred before the revelation at Sinai contingent upon the power given to it by its inclusion in the narrative that came down to the world at Sinai. Access 50+ premium resources. And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr). In a world where there are many doubts about the historicity of core events in the Torahs narrative,[24] establishing the palace of Torah upon a higher foundation would seem to be a constructive goal. The Torah tells the story in a certain way, and other traditions tell it in different ways. In this story, he or she creates a new reality that never before existed, or, to be more precise, he or she describes a reality that bears a relationship with events that did occur in the past, but is not an exact replica of those events. For it is hardly surprising that events that occurred in history would be recorded in the writings of various cultures that witnessed these events. The believer, who adapts the divine message to his or her own life, chooses to look upon the events of the past described in the Torah from the divine perspective. 22 And Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him. For an overall discussion of his approach by other scholars, see: Yosef Ofer (ed. Although the book focuses on a period of time later than that discussed herethe period of David and Solomonnevertheless, the rhetorical force of the essays that express reservations similar to that expressed aboveessays that come from very different scholarsdemonstrates the tangible reality of the emotional power that stands behind the truth problem. I must admit that I could not personally identify with any of the (admittedly thoughtful) analyses in that collection, and this is probably due to my own alternative way of thinking about this problem, as described in this essay. The text designates Terah, Abraham's father, as a "manufacturer of idols." One day, while Terah is away from his workshop, he entrusts it to young Abraham. Such a perspective does not diminish the connection between humanity and God; it strengthens it.[23]. De Du). And Abram hastened and went from the chamber to his fathers outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him. Abraham responds that clouds hold water. Wisely, Abram was not looking back to the home and comforts he had left behind in Ur. 30 And Abram viewed them, and behold they had neither voice nor hearing, nor did one of them stretch forth his hand to the meat to eat. So Nimrod declares they worship clouds. Will you really sweep it away and not spare[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? So, one day when I was very young, I went to our basement and smashed on the concrete floor every bottle of liquor! [5]A lot has been written about the principle of the slippery slope. See, for example, the essay by Yuval Cherlow, Halacha and the Slippery Slope,Akdamut23 (5769): 33-48 [Hebrew]. If this is a story, he said, it is a very human story. Nimrod is a descendant of Noah and is considered to be a "mighty one on the earth. Thus, we can say that there is no reason not to ascribe great literary prowess to God. English Revised Version When his father saw that his son Abraham had broken his gods he was very angry with him. See also the words of Maharal of Prague about Abraham and Sarah in hisGlosses on Aggadot(part 3, p. 83), but compare these with his comments inGevurot Hashem(ch. Douay-Rheims Bible And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. Abraham responds that people withstand wind. Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Regarding this, seePinkasei Ha-Raayahvol. Although Hajar is Abraham's second wife she is the first to bear him a son, Ishmael. [6]In my book, I deal with this in chapter 4. And Nimrod and all his princes and servants were that day sitting before him, and Terah sat also before them. Rambam, in contrast, uses this claim to explain why God commanded humans to act in certain ways and forbids them to act in others.) 16 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. It is this difference, which lies at the heart of the distinction between the two interpretive methods described above. The Midrash has also been discussed in the contexts of complete, unquestioned faith. Its meaning is not dependent on external evidence; its narrative descriptions should not be characterized as reconstructions or preservation of past events.