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I found an interesting discussion of Yaweh and Asherah presented by NYU Biblical Scholar, Daniel Fleming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rHF3ux4rx8&list=PL49208CAE353159FA&index=17. Actually it’s a video of a Freshman class he gave on Ancient Israel. I’m not sure when it was given but it was...

Paarsurry, I think you are right. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not appear to own any territory and they weren’t rulers. Jacob's sons did not inherit any land from him. Canaan was won in a war and divided among Jacob's descendants 400 years later.

Paarsurrey, Is this the point that you are trying to make by initiating this discussion? It would be helpful if you could expand upon your statement so we can understand your position better.

God may have given the land to Abraham and his descendants but the facts on the ground were probably a little different. It wasn't really theirs in anyone else's eyes until many years later when they waged war for it. Jacob kept a flock of sheep which he probably herded over long distances. He...

Amica, I'm glad you had a good holiday.

Oops. Spelling mistake. :o Ramadan Ramadan Ramadan Ramadan Ramadan Ramadan (100 times on blackboard)

Although I’m not religious, I am also moved by the creation account. Asking questions like “Where did I come from?” “ Where did anything come from?” and “Why must we suffer,” is part of what defines us as human and why these allegories resonate with me. I didn’t know about the Big Bang until...

I know I'm a few days late, but wishing all Muslims a peaceful Ramadam.

Yeah, it's a good time to mention it. I don't know what to say except that it's scary.

I want no part of the atheist movement described above. For one thing, I'm an atheist not because of my desire for social justice but because I don't see the evidence for God. To my way of thinking, the universe is indifferent to us and I can't imagine any creative force behind it being any...

The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text A New Translation The Jewish Publication Society of America Philadelphia 1954 I got it from my grandfather.

As an atheist I'm not looking for evidence of God, although if I come across any, I will consider it. However, you are right that it is the outer entity of God (the omnipotent, omniscient, creator of the universe and arbiter of morals) that it is easiest to reject. The "light within" is far...

Muslimwoman, You may be right. But if so, what do you think the take-home message is for us random dudes? How should we apply the lessons of this story to our daily lives?

Jayhawker, I own a Hebrew/English Bible. I’ve read all of Genesis and Exodus several times, plus Joshua, Esther, Daniel, Ruth, Samuel I and II, Jonah, and Joab. I intend to read more. I’m a Hebrew school dropout and never read the Talmud. I’m not a scholar. I like reading the Bible because...

Why don't you summarize some Torah commentary for us. I'm hear to learn as well as to express my opinion.

Wil, I think I share your approach towards scripture. When I say God, I mean God the literary figure, not God the god. I think the writer's intention in creating the story was to explain why their lives were filled with troubles. Like small children often do, they blamed themselves. If there...

I'm not sure I understand you correctly. Are you are saying that God set us up for failure by first giving us a curious, testing mind and then punishing us for using it? Now it sounds like you are blaming us for our tendency to push the blame onto someone else and not accept responsibility for...

With hindsight these are excellent questions. But I think the real first question was "How did we come to live in this terrible world?" And the answer they gave themselves was "We must have done something really terrible to displease the gods/God. Maybe it was that fruit we ate." ;)

Thanks. This makes sense now. The name of God appears in the bible as yud-heh-vav-heh (Yawheh) but since the name can only be said inside the Temple by the High Priest, the pronunciation, Adonai is substituted.

OK, I looked it up. the Tetragrammaton refers to the word JHWH. Are you saying that the original Deuteronomy used the word JHWH but later versions substituted JHWH with Adonai? Interesting. How did this fact come to be known? When did the change occur and why?