Alice C. Linsley
The Bible is a book for all people, but reading some commentaries one gets the impression that the Bible is about men and the experiences of men. Doubtless this is due to the fact that most commentaries are written by men who tend to filter the material through their male experience. Exposition of the biblical text on the basis of the male experience alone does not render a full picture of God’s work in the world. In fact, it distorts the Tradition concerning the Son of God which is the central and over-arching message of the Bible.
John 3:16 states that belief in the Son of God is necessary for salvation. Likewise, Peter’s confession “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mat. 16:16) is the message of the Church. The emphasis on the Son of God is because Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made to “the Woman’ (Mary, the Blessed Mother of God) in Eden that her Seed would crush the head of the serpent and restore paradise (Gen. 3:15). Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of this promise and prophecy. When his disciples refused to accept that he was going to Jerusalem to die, he told them that unles a seed/grain falls into the ground and dies, it cannot give life (John 12).
Abraham’s ancestors expected the Seed to be born of their priestly bloodlines, which is whythe Horite ruler-priest lines intermarried exclusively.
The female experience as it is presented in the Bible is not well represented. The commentaries written by women tend to be feminist critiques of the patriarchal world in which the women lived. Feminists largely portray the women of the Bible as victims when, in fact, few are victims and few are oppressed. Many women of the Bible are shown to exercise considerable influence, some for good and some for bad. Most of the women in the Old Testament are the wives, daughters and daughters-in-law of rulers and priests. This means that they were upper class and rather protected, though not often pampered. The women of the Bible were prophets, judges, witches, queens, wise women, harlots, merchants, seamstresses, and servants of the Most High God. Their stories round out our understanding of the Bible and of the Tradition concerning the Son of God that comes to us from Eden itself.[1]
To understand the Tradition concerning the Son of God we must pay attention to the women in the Bible because among Abraham’s people bloodline was traced through the mothers. We see how this is true when we trace Jesus’ ancestry through key women. Consider this telescopic line of descent from A to K. (Telescopic means that not all the generations of mothers are listed.) If we begin with B – Cain’s wife – we have a depth of 10 mothers, which is the usual number in telescopic lines of descent.[2]
A. The “Woman” of Eden (Gen. 3:15) is not Eve. She is the mother of the Son of God.
B. Daughter of Nok , wife of Cain (Gen. 4)
C. Naamah, wife of Methuselah (Gen. 4 and 5) Mother of Lamech, who she named after her father.
D. Wife of Shem
E. Mother of Abraham (Horite wife of Terah)
F. Sarah, Abraham’s half-sister
G. Rebekah, daughter of a priest
H. Leah, wife of Jacob
I. Tamar, daughter of a priest
J. Rahab of Jericho, wife of Salmon the Horite
K. Ruth, descendent of Terah by Lot
Explanation
A. The “Woman” of Gen. 3:15 is recognized by the Church Fathers as the Theotokos, or God-Bearer. She is at the beginning of the Messiah’s line as prophesy and she is at the end of Messiah’s line as his virgin mother. She is foreseen in the same way that Levi is said to have existed in the “loins” of Abraham. Hebrews 7:9-10 explains: “And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” Levi, yet unborn is said to have paid the tithe while still in the loins of his "father" Abraham when Abraham paid the tithe to the priest Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20).
B. Cain and his brother Seth married sisters, the daughters of the African chief Nok. We must trace Jesus' ancestry through Cain's descendent Naamah who married Methuselah and was the grandmother of Noah.
C. Naamah is the daughter of Lamech the Elder and the mother of Lamech the Younger. She was Methusaleh’s cousin bride.
D. Shem’s wife is not named. She was likely his half-sister. Shem and Ham’s lines intermarried according to the pattern of the ruler-priests. So Jesus is descended from both Shem and Ham.
E. Abraham’s mother is not named in the Bible, but according to tradition she was the daughter of a priest associated with the Egyptian shrine of Karnach (Karnevo in the Babylonian Talmud). This shrine was dedicated to Horus, called the “son of God”. The genealogical information indicates that her father was Na’Hor. She named her first-born son Na'Hor, according to the cousin bride's naming prerogative.
F. Sarah and Abraham had the same father, Terah, but different mothers. As a ruler-priest, Terah had two wives. One was a half-sister and the other was a patrilineal cousin.
G. Rebekah was Isaac’s cousin wife. His half-sister wife was the daughter of Abraham by Keturah who dwelt in Beersheba. This explains why Eliezar brought Rebekah to marry Isaac in Beersheba, and not to Hebron.
H. Leah is the mother of Judah. The Son of God would come from Judah by Tamar.
I. Tamar, the Righteous, tricked Judah into impregnating her. When Judah discovered that Tamar was pregnant, he ordered that she be stoned to death. This was the sentence for daughters of priests who committed adultery or harlotry.
J. Rahab was a prostitute visited by Hebrew spies. She helped them to escape and as a reward her family was spared when the Hebrews attacked Jericho. The sign of her protection was a scarlet cord hanging from her window, a symbol of the Blood of Lamb. This is like the blood on the doorposts in Goshen and Rahab’s story is a second Passover. She married Salmon, the Son of Hur (Hor). Salmon is called the "father of Bethlehem" in 1 Chronicles 2:54. Rahab became the grandmother of Boaz who married Ruth. Salmon (also Salma or Solomon) is a Horite name and is associated with Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:51).
K. Ruth is the celebrated great grandmother of King David. With Ruth the bloodlines descending from Terah converge. Ruth is the celebrated great grandmother of King David.
NOTES
1. Genesis 2:10-14 says that Eden was watered by four rivers: the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Pishon and the Gihon. Two are in Mesopotamia and two are in Africa. This is the heart of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. This is the place of origin of the ruler-priests and of "him that holds the scepter from the house of Eden" (Amos 1:5). So Eden is not a mythical garden, but an actual region on earth and the point of origin of Abraham’s ancestors.
The description of Eden as a well-watered region is supported by climate and geological studies. Around 12,000 years ago the Nile river system filled with waters from the Angolan Highlands. Geological uplift tilted the region to create Lake Victoria and direct its excess flow north into the White Nile which provides most of the Nile's water during the dry season. Essentially the entire Albertine Rift was a vast flood plain extending 3,700 miles from Syria to central Mozambique.
The Ethiopians identify the Gihon with the Abay River, which encircles the former African kingdom of Gojjam (where Ge'ez was spoken, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church). The Pishon "flows through the whole land of Havilah" (Gen. 2:11). Havilah is a son of Kush (Gen. 10:7) and the "Kushites" lived in the upper Nile region and the Sudan. Kushite kings also ruled in Egypt. These four rivers encompass the heart of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion which was ruled by a network of ruler-priests. They controlled the major water systems and built shrines along the rivers.
2. One theory holds that the genealogical segments were in groups of 10 because to facilitate the memory of the tribal story teller. While this is certainly possible, it seems more likely that 10 represents the beginning of a new cycle, since the counting system of Abraham’s people used 9 as the base. This would mean that Ruth, descendent of Terah, begins the new cycle and this cycle traces the Son of God through David. This is significant since David’s city was Bethlehem and the “father of Bethlehem” was a Horite. I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur (Hor) as the "father of Bethlehem". The author of I Chronicles knew that Bethlehem was originally a Horite settlement, less than 10 miles from Mt. Hor.
Related reading: The Daughters of Priests
The Bible is a book for all people, but reading some commentaries one gets the impression that the Bible is about men and the experiences of men. Doubtless this is due to the fact that most commentaries are written by men who tend to filter the material through their male experience. Exposition of the biblical text on the basis of the male experience alone does not render a full picture of God’s work in the world. In fact, it distorts the Tradition concerning the Son of God which is the central and over-arching message of the Bible.
John 3:16 states that belief in the Son of God is necessary for salvation. Likewise, Peter’s confession “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mat. 16:16) is the message of the Church. The emphasis on the Son of God is because Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made to “the Woman’ (Mary, the Blessed Mother of God) in Eden that her Seed would crush the head of the serpent and restore paradise (Gen. 3:15). Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of this promise and prophecy. When his disciples refused to accept that he was going to Jerusalem to die, he told them that unles a seed/grain falls into the ground and dies, it cannot give life (John 12).
Abraham’s ancestors expected the Seed to be born of their priestly bloodlines, which is whythe Horite ruler-priest lines intermarried exclusively.
The female experience as it is presented in the Bible is not well represented. The commentaries written by women tend to be feminist critiques of the patriarchal world in which the women lived. Feminists largely portray the women of the Bible as victims when, in fact, few are victims and few are oppressed. Many women of the Bible are shown to exercise considerable influence, some for good and some for bad. Most of the women in the Old Testament are the wives, daughters and daughters-in-law of rulers and priests. This means that they were upper class and rather protected, though not often pampered. The women of the Bible were prophets, judges, witches, queens, wise women, harlots, merchants, seamstresses, and servants of the Most High God. Their stories round out our understanding of the Bible and of the Tradition concerning the Son of God that comes to us from Eden itself.[1]
To understand the Tradition concerning the Son of God we must pay attention to the women in the Bible because among Abraham’s people bloodline was traced through the mothers. We see how this is true when we trace Jesus’ ancestry through key women. Consider this telescopic line of descent from A to K. (Telescopic means that not all the generations of mothers are listed.) If we begin with B – Cain’s wife – we have a depth of 10 mothers, which is the usual number in telescopic lines of descent.[2]
A. The “Woman” of Eden (Gen. 3:15) is not Eve. She is the mother of the Son of God.
B. Daughter of Nok , wife of Cain (Gen. 4)
C. Naamah, wife of Methuselah (Gen. 4 and 5) Mother of Lamech, who she named after her father.
D. Wife of Shem
E. Mother of Abraham (Horite wife of Terah)
F. Sarah, Abraham’s half-sister
G. Rebekah, daughter of a priest
H. Leah, wife of Jacob
I. Tamar, daughter of a priest
J. Rahab of Jericho, wife of Salmon the Horite
K. Ruth, descendent of Terah by Lot
Explanation
A. The “Woman” of Gen. 3:15 is recognized by the Church Fathers as the Theotokos, or God-Bearer. She is at the beginning of the Messiah’s line as prophesy and she is at the end of Messiah’s line as his virgin mother. She is foreseen in the same way that Levi is said to have existed in the “loins” of Abraham. Hebrews 7:9-10 explains: “And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” Levi, yet unborn is said to have paid the tithe while still in the loins of his "father" Abraham when Abraham paid the tithe to the priest Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20).
B. Cain and his brother Seth married sisters, the daughters of the African chief Nok. We must trace Jesus' ancestry through Cain's descendent Naamah who married Methuselah and was the grandmother of Noah.
C. Naamah is the daughter of Lamech the Elder and the mother of Lamech the Younger. She was Methusaleh’s cousin bride.
D. Shem’s wife is not named. She was likely his half-sister. Shem and Ham’s lines intermarried according to the pattern of the ruler-priests. So Jesus is descended from both Shem and Ham.
E. Abraham’s mother is not named in the Bible, but according to tradition she was the daughter of a priest associated with the Egyptian shrine of Karnach (Karnevo in the Babylonian Talmud). This shrine was dedicated to Horus, called the “son of God”. The genealogical information indicates that her father was Na’Hor. She named her first-born son Na'Hor, according to the cousin bride's naming prerogative.
F. Sarah and Abraham had the same father, Terah, but different mothers. As a ruler-priest, Terah had two wives. One was a half-sister and the other was a patrilineal cousin.
G. Rebekah was Isaac’s cousin wife. His half-sister wife was the daughter of Abraham by Keturah who dwelt in Beersheba. This explains why Eliezar brought Rebekah to marry Isaac in Beersheba, and not to Hebron.
H. Leah is the mother of Judah. The Son of God would come from Judah by Tamar.
I. Tamar, the Righteous, tricked Judah into impregnating her. When Judah discovered that Tamar was pregnant, he ordered that she be stoned to death. This was the sentence for daughters of priests who committed adultery or harlotry.
J. Rahab was a prostitute visited by Hebrew spies. She helped them to escape and as a reward her family was spared when the Hebrews attacked Jericho. The sign of her protection was a scarlet cord hanging from her window, a symbol of the Blood of Lamb. This is like the blood on the doorposts in Goshen and Rahab’s story is a second Passover. She married Salmon, the Son of Hur (Hor). Salmon is called the "father of Bethlehem" in 1 Chronicles 2:54. Rahab became the grandmother of Boaz who married Ruth. Salmon (also Salma or Solomon) is a Horite name and is associated with Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:51).
K. Ruth is the celebrated great grandmother of King David. With Ruth the bloodlines descending from Terah converge. Ruth is the celebrated great grandmother of King David.
NOTES
1. Genesis 2:10-14 says that Eden was watered by four rivers: the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Pishon and the Gihon. Two are in Mesopotamia and two are in Africa. This is the heart of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. This is the place of origin of the ruler-priests and of "him that holds the scepter from the house of Eden" (Amos 1:5). So Eden is not a mythical garden, but an actual region on earth and the point of origin of Abraham’s ancestors.
The description of Eden as a well-watered region is supported by climate and geological studies. Around 12,000 years ago the Nile river system filled with waters from the Angolan Highlands. Geological uplift tilted the region to create Lake Victoria and direct its excess flow north into the White Nile which provides most of the Nile's water during the dry season. Essentially the entire Albertine Rift was a vast flood plain extending 3,700 miles from Syria to central Mozambique.
The Ethiopians identify the Gihon with the Abay River, which encircles the former African kingdom of Gojjam (where Ge'ez was spoken, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church). The Pishon "flows through the whole land of Havilah" (Gen. 2:11). Havilah is a son of Kush (Gen. 10:7) and the "Kushites" lived in the upper Nile region and the Sudan. Kushite kings also ruled in Egypt. These four rivers encompass the heart of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion which was ruled by a network of ruler-priests. They controlled the major water systems and built shrines along the rivers.
2. One theory holds that the genealogical segments were in groups of 10 because to facilitate the memory of the tribal story teller. While this is certainly possible, it seems more likely that 10 represents the beginning of a new cycle, since the counting system of Abraham’s people used 9 as the base. This would mean that Ruth, descendent of Terah, begins the new cycle and this cycle traces the Son of God through David. This is significant since David’s city was Bethlehem and the “father of Bethlehem” was a Horite. I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur (Hor) as the "father of Bethlehem". The author of I Chronicles knew that Bethlehem was originally a Horite settlement, less than 10 miles from Mt. Hor.
Related reading: The Daughters of Priests
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