I've been an AI skeptic. I'm becoming less skeptical. I prompted Claude with a complex idea, and it produced a cogent analysis including many connections I hadn't considered, though some were imo spurious. It works as an idea generator and is far more sophisticated than AI was a couple of years ago.
Really enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Glahn. She has an excellent way of leading fun, insightful conversations. #TheChickReport
This reads like an exercise in having a machine confirm your assumptions are correct when you tell it to presume your assumptions.
The year is drawing to a close, and so is our exceptional sale of new and classic titles. www.gorgiaspress.com #dontmissout
Genesis 3 and Numbers 22 are the only instances in the Hebrew Bible where animals speak to humans. In each, the dialogue uses similar language and a specific style of call-and-response, pointing to a deliberately created narrative... #intertextuality #bible
https://intertextual.bible/t/4340
Genesis describes God walking in the garden as the humans hide in fear after disobedience, using unique language that is later used in Leviticus to describe God walking among Israel as a sign of covenant closeness. #intertextuality #bible
https://intertextual.bible/t/2149
Today's pick: The Creation of the Sun, the Moon and the Plants (1508-1512) - Michelangelo Buonarroti.
A fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Two [..] #art #Michelangelo
www.artbible.info/art/large/663.html
This is the end of a project begun in 2019 – a meditation on Genesis 1 through Judges 1 in attempt to understand the narrative threads that run through Caleb’s story. Those threads continue through Judges into David’s story and beyond.
Thanks to all who’ve followed. All this is eventually going somewhere more accessible to most. Your support is appreciated.
The next phase of the project is to consider Caleb’s limited presence in the early church fathers and Jewish extra-biblical literature. In the near future, posts on this account will likely be even farther apart and on those topics.
This is the end of a project begun in 2019 – a meditation on Genesis 1 through Judges 1 in attempt to understand the narrative threads that run through Caleb’s story. Those threads continue through Judges into David’s story and beyond.
Deuteronomy 7:22 indicates God intended a slow occupation of the land dependent on the Israelites’ growth to populate it, “otherwise wild animals would become too numerous for [them].”
”Then they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had promised; and he drove out from there the three sons of Anak.”
setting the stage for a great enemy's emergence in the days of the next great Judahite leader.
The failure to quickly kill the Lord of Bezek and conquer the territory defended by iron chariots may indicate a crumbling of resolve and faithfulness, but this is not the only way to receive the passage.
Looking at a map, it appears Judah, at least for a time, controlled territory on every side, but the city in the middle of the plain with iron chariots, to which the giant Anakim fled (Joshua 11 tells us they went to Gaza, Ashdod, and Gath), remains unconquered,
In keeping with the biblical authors’ common practice, we get few details about Israel’s enemies, and here, the unstated powerful enemy is Gath. Gaza, Ashkelon, and even Ekron are all closer to the coast (and farther from Hebron).
which is mentioned as part of Judah in Joshua 15, and, not mentioned as conquered in any Judah lists, Gath.
“Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had iron chariots.”
apparently the same city the rebellious Israelites were driven beyond when they attempted to go up into the land without God’s support in Numbers 14.
Judah takes three of the cities associated later with the Philistines – Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, leaving Ashdod,
Elsewhere, we discussed their association with metal work, making them a significant addition to Judah’s life in the land and effectiveness in war.
Closing the circle on an earlier Israelite battle loss, Judah and Simeon attack Zephath,
Achsah and Othniel’s short story of obedience, acquiring fruitful land, and protecting it recalls the Genesis 2 ideal and foreshadows themes of the Judahite Boaz and Ruth story to come.
The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenites, come up from the wilderness to dwell with Judah in the land.
Judges 1 retells the capture of Hebron and Caleb’s interaction with Othniel over Caleb’s daughter Achsah, first with the capture of Debir/Kiriath Sepher and then with Achsah’s advocacy for a fruitful inheritance.
They capture Jerusalem, though, significantly, it later is no longer under Israelite control, and set it on fire. They fight in the hill country, the Negev, and the lowland. In a passage substantially similar to part of Joshua 15,
#Bible #Judges 1
After Joshua’s death, God designates the tribe Caleb leads, Judah, to go up first to fight the Canaanites. With Simeon, they defeat the city of Bezek, which according to its king was a menace to the region, and humble that king with reciprocal justice.
📺 Watch the episode now!
Rachel Booth Smith compares Genesis to other ancient creation myths—and finds beauty in what’s missing.
🎥 buff.ly/4C3XAls
#biblicalmind
“If I can get to the end of a Sabbath and realize you are God and I am not, I feel like that was a win.”
— Rachel Booth Smith
🎧 buff.ly/03wEbqn
#biblicalmind
If you were one of those poor misbegotten unfortunates who were unable to attend the 2025 Wilmot Lecture, here it is again for your viewing pleasure: youtu.be/MTqnt_cpa10
The majority of American evangelicals chose a leader who looks like Genesis 4-11 and are conforming to his image
Exodus 22:21 "You must not wrong a resident foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Exodus 23:9 "You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Leviticus 19:33 When a resident foreigner lives with you in your land, you must not oppress him. Leviticus 19:34 The resident foreigner who lives with you must be to you as a native citizen among you; so you must love the foreigner as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 23:22 When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner. I am the Lord your God.'" Leviticus 24:22 There will be one regulation for you, whether a resident foreigner or a native citizen, for l am the Lord your God." Numbers 15:15 One statute must apply to you who belong to the congregation and to the resident foreigner who is living among you, as a permanent statute for your future generations. You and the resident foreigner will be alike before the Lord. Numbers 15:16 One law and one custom must apply to you and to the resident foreigner who lives alongside you" Deuteronomy 10:19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 24:14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages. Deuteronomy 24:17 You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow's garment as security for a loan. Deuteronomy 27:19 'Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.'
Psalms 146:9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked. Jeremiah 7:6 Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. Ezekiel 22:6-7 "See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. Malachi 3:5 "I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination; those who commit adultery; those who break promises; and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the resident foreigner and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.
