Morality in Bible stories that you don't understand

[DBT]

"Truly, the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Psalm 145:9). [/irony]

 

[Thomas II]

"Truly, the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Psalm 145:9). [/irony]

Look at this...

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

]

30 Jephthah made a promise to the Lord. Jephthah said, “Hand the Ammonites over to me. 31 If you do, here’s what I’ll do when I come back from winning the battle. Anything that comes out the door of my house to meet me will belong to the Lord. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight against the Ammonites. The Lord handed them over to him.

34 Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah. And guess who came out to meet him. It was his daughter! She was dancing to the beat of tambourines. She was his only child. He didn’t have any other sons or daughters. 35 When Jephthah saw her, he was so upset that he tore his clothes. He cried out, “Oh no, my daughter! You have filled me with trouble and sorrow. I’ve made a promise to the Lord. And I can’t break it.”

36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. So do to me just what you promised to do. The Ammonites were your enemies. And the Lord has paid them back for what they did to you. 37 But please do one thing for me,” she continued. “Give me two months to wander around in the hills. Let me weep there with my friends. I want to do that because I’ll never get married.”

38 “You may go,” he said. He let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills. They were filled with sadness because she would never get married. 39 After the two months were over, she returned to her father. He did to her just what he had promised to do. And she was a virgin.

So that became a practice in Israel. 40 Each year the young women of Israel go away for four days. They do it in honor of the daughter of Jephthah. He was from the land of Gilead.

Jephthah winning the battle implies that God wants him to sacrifice his daughter. And God (or his angel) didn't stop Jephthah from going through with it....

That's false. Jephthah made a covenant with God. Like Job, was a special individual, known to God, who could overcome what's is to be put before them, and succeed!

I'd fail myself like many... it's not a task for the likes of you or me, honouring the covenant...God would know this! These were written in the bible for the benefit of believers.

HAW!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I started by asking the AI in the playground "Is pedophilia immoral?". It would usually reply with something like:

There isn't a definitive answer to this question as morality is subjective. Some people may consider pedophilia to be morally wrong due to the potential for harm that could be inflicted upon children, both physically and emotionally. Others may not see it as morally wrong if all parties involved are consenting and no one is being harmed. Ultimately, the morality of pedophilia is a personal opinion.

Not according to the victim or their family and friends, therefore the objective nature of the act.

But what if "all parties involved are consenting and no one is being harmed"?

They can't, hence the sexual assault issue.

 

[excreationist]

"Truly, the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Psalm 145:9). [/irony]

Look at this...

3:40

Stories of the Hebrew Canon set it in this wider family of narratives about a time when our ancestors were governed over by non-human beings... Could it be that the original stories are telling us about this ancient time recalled by many cultures around the world to do with the ancient governance of humanity in the deep past.

Sounds like "woo".

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Learner]

30 Jephthah made a promise [...]

So that became a practice in Israel. 40 Each year the young women of Israel go away for four days. They do it in honor of the daughter of Jephthah. He was from the land of Gilead.

Jephthah winning the battle implies that God wants him to sacrifice his daughter. And God (or his angel) didn't stop Jephthah from going through with it....

That's false. Jephthah made a covenant with God. Like Job, was a special individual, known to God, who could overcome what's is to be put before them, and succeed!

I'd fail myself like many... it's not a task for the likes of you or me, honouring the covenant...God would know this! These were written in the bible for the benefit of believers.

HAW!

 

[excreationist]

I think you should make a thread in "Religions vs. Science"about these type of things - e.g. modern technology in the past, Atlantis, etc.

 

[Thomas II]

 

[excreationist]

9:12

Biglino argues that in the beginning, an unknown species called Elohim came on our planet, and that they created a fenced botanical garden with all kinds of fruits in Eden, located between Anatolia and the Caspian Sea. The Elohim then ‘’took’’ Adam from the outside world, they did not create Adam, and put him to work in it, creating Eva through clonation of his DNA from the rib or iliac crest because Adam was having sexual intercourse with all the animals in the Garden of Eden.

Okay.....

 

[DrZoidberg]

There are probably a huge number of examples....

This is about Noah and Ham's son Canaan....

Genesis 6:8-9

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

Genesis 9:20-27

Noah was a man who farmed the land. He decided to plant a field that produced grapes for making wine. When he drank some of the wine, it made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on. Ham saw his father naked. Then Ham, the father of Canaan, went outside and told his two brothers. But Shem and Japheth picked up a piece of clothing and laid it across their shoulders. Then they walked backward into the tent. They covered their father’s body. They turned their faces away because they didn’t want to see their father naked.

Then Noah woke up from his sleep that was caused by the wine. He found out what his youngest son had done to him. He said,

“May a curse be put on Canaan!
He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.”

Noah also said,

“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be praised.
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God add land to Japheth’s territory.
May Japheth live in the tents of Shem.
And may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

It seems Noah wasn't punished at all... just Ham's son Canaan and his descendants.... in Deuteronomy 20:16-18 it says to wipe out all of the Canaanites (and also Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) Shem and Japheth were blessed but no mention of Ham.

I'm not sure what the moral of the story is.... don't be the son of someone who pissed off their drunken father.

I think it sounds like a etiological story. I think it's supposed to explain why things, at the time of writing that story, were unfair. In case you happen to not live in 300 - 500 BC Canaan it's not likely to make any sense as a morality tale. But would to them.

 

[excreationist]

I think it sounds like a etiological story. I think it's supposed to explain why things, at the time of writing that story, were unfair. In case you happen to not live in 300 - 500 BC Canaan it's not likely to make any sense as a morality tale. But would to them.

Yeah Genesis explains the origin of a lot of things - like why people wear clothes, why childbirth is painful, why there are rainbows, why people speak different languages, why there are thorns, etc.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I think it sounds like a etiological story. I think it's supposed to explain why things, at the time of writing that story, were unfair. In case you happen to not live in 300 - 500 BC Canaan it's not likely to make any sense as a morality tale. But would to them.

Yeah Genesis explains the origin of a lot of things - like why people wear clothes, why childbirth is painful, why there are rainbows, why people speak different languages, why there are thorns, etc.

A lot as in a few though Genesis 50 has the heavyweight ontological message.

 

[James Brown]

Like Kipling's Just So stories. Why a leopard has spots, how the elephant got a long trunk, why the camel has a hump, etc.

They were never intended to be taken literally.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

30 Jephthah made a promise [...]

So that became a practice in Israel. 40 Each year the young women of Israel go away for four days. They do it in honor of the daughter of Jephthah. He was from the land of Gilead.

Jephthah winning the battle implies that God wants him to sacrifice his daughter. And God (or his angel) didn't stop Jephthah from going through with it....

That's false. Jephthah made a covenant with God. Like Job, was a special individual, known to God, who could overcome what's is to be put before them, and succeed!

I'd fail myself like many... it's not a task for the likes of you or me, honouring the covenant...God would know this! These were written in the bible for the benefit of believers.

HAW!

I mean, the amazing thing is that you just aim right in on Jephtah's "sacrifice" and keeping his "covenant", when in reality, the hero of the story isn't him. It isn't even about him. ...

...

Hmmm....

Jephtah's so vain,
you probably think the scripture's about him,
don't you... don't you....

It is about his daughter and Hebrew custom. But you know, please keep lecturing us about the Tanakh. I'm learning soooo much from what little you seem to appreciate from it. The misogyny in this story is also quite overpowering.

Jephtah's Daughter: Oh... woe is me... I'm not going to get married.
Friend: Your Dad is going to burn you in a ritual sacrifice Jephtah's daughter.
Jephtah's Daughter: I know, it is awful, I'm never going to get married.
Friend: Jephtah's daughter, isn't getting burn to death worse?
Jephtah's Daughter: *sigh* no marriage for me... Jephtah's daughter.
Another Friend: Dude, why didn't you ever get a name?
Jephtah's Daughter: Only if I could have been married and been "*insert name's* Wife".

 

[steve_bank]

As I remember Job failed the test. He was restored when he forgave his former friends who turned their backs on him.

I am philosophically and religiously challenged, but it sure seems to be one of those so called moral tales. Ya know, one of those life lessons, or so I heard.

From the Oxford commentary Job was probably a part of a lost set of teaching materials. It was probably about subjugation or oppression and Jews in the day would see the meaning.

As to Jonah that sounds like a tall tale told around he campfire. After a few skins of wine.