Yesterday we went to the City of David. During that time, we read through many stories in both Samuel book one and two. These stories covered the beginning to the kings of Israel, to the crowning of King David, and we ended with David and Queen Bathsheba. Following the stories of all Jewish leaders, these kings were not perfect. Both King David and Saul had many flaws, and while we mostly went over just Saul's flaws, we went over one big thing that David did that didn't match with all of the other good things that he did. What were these flaws and how did they effect the kings and their bloodlines. (Listed in the Tanakh)
On the trip, we visited a few sites, including an archeological dig that was still ongoing, and a house which was believed to have been lived in by a scribe. We also crawled through an underground tunnel which was built during the time of King Hezekiah. What other sites did we visit and what was the importance of those sites.
All the sites we visited yesterday were places mentioned in the Tanakh, there is also evidence from other cultures about these places which gives us reasonable evidence. Throughout the Tanakh there are stories supported by other cultures writings, what other stories are there that are supported in this way?
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| Silwan from the roof of a building. Below the settlement is the Hezekiah water tunnel. |
I'm a little confused by the question to be completely honest, but I am going to interpret as what were the other cultures like in the tanakh. Mostly through our stories we hear of these other cultures that are put down in a bad light. We went into a lot of these cities and took there land, it is pretty mean to think of it. If a bunch of people came into our towns now and said "our god(s) said this is our land". David came into to this city to claim it for the Jewish people, and it must have been really hard for the Canaanites with such advanced technology and we just took it. It bothers me not know what happened to the people the we took away from ttheir homes.
ReplyDeleteTo start with the first question, David's sins that we focused on during our trip was the fact that he committed adultery and murder. After laying with Bathsheba, he had her husband, Uriah, killed on the front lines of war. As for the other question, I didn't completely understand it. The other cultures in the Tanakh were idol worshippers and polytheistic. Because of this, in the Tanakh, they were seen as automatic enemies. However, we were enemies to just as many cultures as were enemies to us. In writings from other cultures, the Jews were the enemies. This can go for any place conquered by the Jews including places like Jericho.
ReplyDeleteAlthough King David committed adultery and murder, this did not affect his bloodline because he was able to truly repent. However, when David brings the Ark to Jerusalem and dances in joy, his first wife Michal teases him for his immodesty. David becomes angry with her, and simultaneously ends their relationship and the line of Shaul.
ReplyDeleteAn example of corroboration with our stories as mentioned by another culture, is the "Habiru," or "dusty wanderer," mentioned in ancient Egyptian writings. The Tanakh tells us that our people were nomadic for many years. Habiru, closely related to Hebrew, is likely a reference to ancient Israelites. If this theory is correct, it is evidence to support the fact that we were an established nomadic people, as stated in the Tanakh.
The first story that comes to mind that is written in both the Tanakh and other sources is of the flood. Several cultures, including Gilgamesh and the Sumerians, and even Urites, Akkadians and other Mesopotamian cultures. Another story is that of the conquering of Jerusalem from the Jebusites. It is said in the Tanakh that King David took the city and made it his capital, renaming it from Jebus to Jerusalem. There is little archaeological evidence to support this claim, though biblical scholar Theophilus Pinches asserts that a tablet with the word "Yabusu" is in agreement with the Tanakh. Other sources claim that every reference to the area used a word similar to "Jerusalem", showing a discrepancy that remains unclear.
ReplyDeleteOne of King David's major flaws was when he broke two of the ten commandments having to do with adultery and murder. King David wasn't severely punished for his sins because he took responsibility for his actions, chose Jerusalem as the capital, and returned the ark to Jerusalem which brought strength and unity to the city. Because of King David's major accomplishments and because he took responsibility for his sins, David's bloodline wasn't affected by his choices. One story that is in the Tanakh that is supported by actual evidence would be at Jericho because the city still exists today. Another would be about the civilization of the Canaanites with their advanced technology and communication/language. Some of their ruins also still exist today.
ReplyDeleteShaul really was an ideal king for several reasons, but it was just the minor flaws and slip-ups that God and the people of Israel used to hate Shaul. First, Shaul disobeyed God by performing a sacrifice without his prophet, Shmuel, present. The double reasoning behind the fall of Shaul is the rise of David. Though Shaul was good, David was better.Then, Shaul's only son by blood dies, leaving David as the next in line. David, though he seems ideal at first, commits adultery then has the husband of the woman killed
ReplyDeleteI was also a little bit confused with the second question, but another example of mind-blowing historicity is the relation between Moses and the Pharaoh in Egypt. As we all know, Moses was extracted from the Nile River and raised by Pharaoh's daughter as her own. It was interesting to learn this year that the boy who was raised with Moses, known as Ahmose, grew up to be Pharaoh of Egypt. Ahmose in Hebrew would translate to "brother of Moses," and the time frame in which Ahmose ruled fits into the time frame of Moses.
There's plenty of archeological evidence that backs up events that we read about in the Tanakh. Although we don't get to actually see any proof of King David's personal flaws, we can see in the text that he was not an ideal leader. He committed multiple sins and was punished for it. Aside from his flaws, David had his fair share of successes as well. He was responsible for uniting a whole city and creating a place of culture and comminunity. Jerusalem as a city itself is a huge piece of historicity and I'm glad that so many biblical stories are supported by real life places and evidence and especially glad that we get to actually see it and learn from experiencing it.
ReplyDeleteAs we've gone over in class, the tanach is quite the pro-David book so in terms of flaws of course we won't go over them as much. When it comes to him and Saul, overall I think the two of them were both great leaders. They just made a few mistakes and Saul's were more discussed in the tanach and in general. Saul only performed a sacrifice in lieu of Shmuel because he was running late and everyone was starting to leave. Whereas David was said to be a better leader yet unlike Saul he broke two of the ten commandments. Adultery and murder in the same case yet he's still held in higher regard. Saul's sin got his bloodline cut off while David's bloodline wasn't effected partially because he repented and accepted his sins.
ReplyDeleteOur first full day tiul was absolutely fascinating! Reading about King David in the Tanakh, and then being able to go to sites in the City of David where geological evidence supporting stories such as him breaking some of the ten commandments. I think that King David was not punished for his sins because he took responsibility for his actions. Not that this excuses his mistakes, but David had many major positive accomplishments that helped strengthen and keep the Jewish people together. He chose Jerusalem for for the center of our holy land. This gave the Jewish people a place, not only physically protected but also very sacred to us spiritually. I think learning about King David has taught us all a very valuable lesson. His story teaches us not only that not everyone is perfect, but when you truly make morally wrong decisions, you can change the path you have made for yourself by recognizing what you have done and by helping those around you to improve their lives along with your own. By continuing to help better the community he was involved with, King David wound up being an amazing leader for the Jewish people.
ReplyDeleteWell there is the story of the flood. We learned that in other religions there too was flood (story of Gilgamesh). Although it was kinda fuzzy as to who had won, we know that there was a war between Assyria and Israel and Yehudah because there is evidence from each group speaking of this war, including Egypt. And we also know that when this war happened, the tunnels of Hezekiah were built.
ReplyDeleteIn tanakh terms, Shaul's sins were minor... As in he made a sacrifice instead of waiting for Shmuel. David, however, had major sins. He committed adultery and then proceeded to have the husband of the woman killed. Here David broke two of the 10 most important commandments, while Shaul broke one of the lesser 603. Why then is David loved so much by God, and Shaul's lineage ended? The tanakh has evidence of which proof has been found in various writings in other religions, in artifacts from around the country (and world) and in writings from other ancient cultures. Obviously, not everything has specific proof that we can see and say "hey this exact thing happened this way here", but there is enough to have mostly a general idea.
ReplyDeleteIn the Tanach, the sins of Saul seem to be less than those of David, but Saul is punished to a greater extent. The reasoning we get for this is that David was able to repent for his mistakes. The punishments on the future line of David were not made because of David, rather they were doled out because of the wrongdoing of the individual and made less severe for the sake of David. In response to the second question, we do share many stories with other cultures and this fact adds credit to the historicity of the event. Our story of Noah and the flood coincides with a similar story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. So while a giant flood that completely ended the world is unlikely, two cultures could have experienced the same natural phenomenon and interpreted it similarly.
ReplyDeleteIn the history of the tenakh we come to find that david has few flaws and much favored by G-d. It was Saul that in the eyes of G-d screwed up the most. Even when Saul screwed up G-d did not take away his throne in order to honor David. another thing that other cultures verify in our history is our biblical stories. For example Islam believes in a lot of our earlier stories and accepts them as factual history proving that their culture verifies a lot of our history.
ReplyDeleteIn the tanakh we can see that David does have many flaws but is still favored by god. God thinks that it was Saul who screwed the most. There are many stories in the tanakh that are supported by other cultures writtings. Like the story of Noah and the Flood, which is similar to the story of Gilgamesh.
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