For Ian: What We Learned About Sarai in my Bible Study.
Ian & Pam Dorion dorioni@ipa.net
Sat, 22 Nov 1997 22:58:35 -0600 (00880282715, 3477B7FB.32D8@ipa.net)
Claire E. O'Connor wrote:
>
> Dear Ian:
>
> I strongly disagree that reading the Bible on my own with a concordance
> and a dictionary is enough. Why run the risk of interpreting the Bible
> anachronistically? With my late 20th - century American sensibilities,
> how could I hope to understand the customs and concerns of people who
> lived thousands of years ago in the Near East, unless I had a good
> commentary with me?
IAN
If you want to understand the customs and concerns of these people, then
yes, a commentary may be of some use. Unfortunately it may be of use in
brainwashing as well. If you are looking for just the facts, it is best to
stay away from other people's opinions
(snip)
> THE PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES Gen 11:28 - 36:43
(snip two paragraphs)
> THE ABRAHAM CYCLE - Gen 11:28 - 25:18
(snip three paragraphs)
> The ancestress in danger.
> "Soon after the promise of land (12:7), we find Abram traveling to Egypt
> because of a famine. It was not unusual for Semitic peoples to go to
> Egypt in search of food, as is evidenced in Egyptian records of the
> period. But in light of the promise of land, it does not put Abram in
> the best light. What is even more striking about the story is that the
> patriarch, in order to ensure his own safety, knowingly compromises his
> wife's honor. He fears that his wife's beauty will come to the attention
> of Pharaoh and that Pharaoh will kill him in order to take Sarai into
> the royal harem. He persuades Sarai to lie by saying she is his sister
> so that his life will not be in danger. As Abram had predicted, Sarai's
> beauty comes to the attention of the Egyptians, and Pharaoh, assuming
> that Abram is her brother, bestows gifts upon Abram and takes Sarai into
> his harem. Yahweh intervenes by sending a plague on Pharaoh's house but
> does not punish Abram. Pharaoh reprimands Abram and sends him away under
> military escort.
IAN
Ah yes! At 65 years of age this ignorant Hebrew woman is more beautiful
than all the young and horny beauties of Egypt. This, dear Claire shows
the shear and utter stupidity of the story. To add insult to injury, Your
great and fair Yahweh punishes Pharaoh rather than yellow Abraham. Can you
really trust Yahweh to send you to heaven? Can you really trust heaven to
be as he says?
CLAIRE
> "The wife-sister motif in this story may reflect an ancient Hurrian
> practice in northern Mesopotamia by which a husband adopted his wife as
> his sister. This gave the husband greater control over the wife, but it
> also gave the wife protection and privileges beyond those given to the
> ordinary wife. Such a practice eventually died out, and the narrator of
> the story does not seem to be aware of it.
(small snip)
>
> Abraham no longer lies, since Sarah is said to be his half-sister, and God intervenes before her honor is compromised.
IAN
Well, The Catholic Encyclopedia states that Sarah is his step-sister.
Which one of these learned and inerrant documents should we accept?
CLAIRE
> Abram's behavior, but rather seems to take delight in his shrewdness.
> The story also shows that in spite of what Abram and Sarai do, they are
> under God's protection, and God will intervene to secure the future
> realization of the promise when it is placed in jeopardy.
>
> "The story and the context in which it is found presents some
> difficulties. How does Pharaoh know that the plague is sent because of
> Sarai? How does he learn that Sarai is Abram's wife? These questions are
> never answered. The mention of camels in v. 16 is certainly
> anachronistic, for camels were not domesticated until the thirteenth
> century B.C.E. Is one to suppose that Sarai is actually sixty-five years
> old in the story? (see Gen 12:4; 17:17). These inconsistencies were not
> of importance to the narrator, though they bother contemporary readers.
> The narrator's interest is in God's intervention that redeems the
> situation."
> IAN
Apparently they are not of any importance to you either. Have you
forgotten what this chat group is about? You're not looking for truth any
more than my brother is or for that matter, most of the other theists in
the world.
CLAIRE
> [I skip over several pages of commentary...]
>
> Endangering the ancestress a second time (Gen 20:1-18)
> "This story is immediately recognized as a doublet of the Yahwist story
> in 12:10-20. There is [general] agreement that it is to be identified as
> the product of the Elohist. In addition to the use of the Hebrew Elohim
> for the divine name, the Elohist's authorship is indicated by the use of
> dreams as a means of divine communication. The distinctive concerns of
> the Elohist are all the more apparent when contrasted with the earlier
> version. Whereas the Yahwist presented at some length Abraham's motives
> for passing off Sarah as his sister and explained how she came to be in
> Pharaoh's harem, these concerns are largely ignored by the Elohist, who
> focuses rather on Abimelech's guilt and deliverance. In spite of the
> fact that Abimelech acted in ignorance and consequently did not intend
> to do wrong, he is considered guilty. He has sinned by taking another
> man's wife into his harem, even if he acted unknowingly, and that act
> cannot go without some form of punishment. In this case, it is Abraham,
> whose own guilt is overlooked, who will be able to intercede on
> Abimelech's behalf. Abraham, who has special access to God by virtue of
> his call, is depicted in the role of mediator and prophet.
IAN
Of course, there is no mention of Sarah being 89 years old and too dried
up to have children. I'm afraid they got to you Claire.
CLAIRE
> "There are other differences between the two accounts. It is not clear
> in the Yahwist's version whether Pharaoh actually had relations with
> Sarah, but the Elohist leaves no doubt that God intervened before
> Abimelech even touched her. Here Abimelech's gifts to Abraham stand as
> testimony to the honorableness of Abraham and Sarah. In the Yahwist's
> version gifts are given when Sarah is first taken into Pharaoh's harem.
> The Elohist's moral sensitivity is indicated by his attempt to justify
> Abraham's action, stating that Sarah was indeed Abraham's half-sister.
> Whereas the Yahwist allows the patriarch's behavior to speak for itself,
> the Elohist explains Abrahams actions in order to present a more
> honorable picture of his ancestor."
IAN
I don't know what your church and your parents taught you about honor but
it is my humble opinion that king Abimalech was far more honorable than
the liars Abraham and Sarah. I also feel he was far more honorable than
your great Yahweh who punished an innocent man. This is why I have ti
laugh when Christians talk of 'family values' and 'christianity.'
> {more to come at another time} :)
> Best wishes,
> Claire O'Connor