tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post4418978345449882696..comments2024-03-24T11:03:03.106-07:00Comments on Just Genesis : Temple-Dedicated Daughters of Hebrew PriestsAlice C. Linsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-88809913149486809962011-06-12T22:46:06.143-07:002011-06-12T22:46:06.143-07:00"...the cord symbolizes divine protection of ..."...the cord symbolizes divine protection of the house. Remember how Rahab hung the scarlet cord from the window and her house was saved, a kind of second Passover? Also, a scarlet cord was tied around Zerah's wrist, and he was passed over."<br /><br />In the icon of the Annunciation from St. Catherine's in Sinai, a scarlet cord falls from the Theotokos' hand and visually becomes the umblical cord of the Savior of the World forming in her womb.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12505517873442278318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-69463122000663540822009-06-21T11:35:49.559-07:002009-06-21T11:35:49.559-07:00I don't think so. The phrase daughters of Zion...I don't think so. The phrase daughters of Zion/Jerusalem seems to imply a call and response theme, still evident in African chant where men and women alternately respond to what is sung by the lead singer. The closest parallels to those you note are found in the book of Ruth which was probably written originally as a sacred play. Here we find the women of Bethlehem acting as a chorus. They put forward the critical message in each scene. Upon Naomi's return from Moab they ask "Can this be Naomi?" (Ruth 1:19) At the end of the drama they give a name to Ruth's son. "A son,' they said, 'has been born to Naomi,' and they called him Obed (servant)." Ruth 4:17<br /><br />Even today African cantors use the word "sala" to call forth a response; which in the Hebrew Psalms appears as "selah".Alice C. Linsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-73587148155513191242009-06-21T09:41:45.661-07:002009-06-21T09:41:45.661-07:00Does the special role that you are contending is s...Does the special role that you are contending is supposed to have been reserved to daughters of priests in the book of Genesis, point us to a more certain understanding of the phrase "daughter/daughters of Zion" and "daughter/daughters of Jerusalem" which are used extensively in Scripture (e.g., Zechariah; Song of Solomon; Psalms 9, 48, 97; Isaiah 3, 16; Lamentations; etc.)?Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829257111579899926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-58996702826990372942009-04-19T07:18:00.000-07:002009-04-19T07:18:00.000-07:00Jonathan, you might be interested in this geneolog...Jonathan, you might be interested in this geneological information from Luke 3:23-31:<br /><br />Judah <br />Simeon <br />Levi <br />Matthat <br />Jorim <br />Eliezer <br />Joshua <br />Er <br /><br />Note that the name Er appears in the 6th generation from Judah. This suggests that Judah's son Er had another wife besides Tamar, a cousin bride. By this wife, Er had a daughter. This daughter named her first-born son Er after her father, according to the custom of her people. This second Er married a cousin and his bride named their first-born son Er. This is the Er listed in the 6th generation from Judah.<br /><br />Since these rulers maintained 2 wives and one was a cousin and the other a half-sister, Tamar must have been Er's half-sister. That means that Judah had 2 wives, as did his fathers going back at least 5 generations: Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah and Nahor.<br /><br />Thought you'd find this interesting!Alice C. Linsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-74257509452054771852009-04-18T19:32:00.000-07:002009-04-18T19:32:00.000-07:00Jonathan, you are pursuing this in the right way, ...Jonathan, you are pursuing this in the right way, by looking for patterns in the Bible. I think you are right that Tamar was attempting to have her line numbered among the tribe of Judah. The marriage of Tamar to Er was probably arranged by Judah and Tamar's father. If Tamar's father was a priest, as it appears, he would have desired alignment with the tribe from which Messiah was to come.<br /><br />By levirate marriage law, Perez and Zerah would have been the sons of Er. So Judah raised up sons for his dead son. (Similarly, Naomi manages through Ruth to raise up a son for her dead son.)<br /><br />When Tamar gave birth, Zerah was about to make his appearance but Perez came out first. Hence it is said of Perez, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" (Genesis 38:29).<br /><br />The name Perez comes from peres, breach, usually in walls. It comes from the root paras meaning break (through, down, over), burst. This indicates that you are on the right track in your thinking. Did Tamar follow the pattern of Sarah and Rebekah who positioned their sons? Did Naomi follow Tamar's example in directing Ruth to Boaz so that Naomi's grandson would find position? (Remember that Tamar is praised at the end of the book of Ruth.)<br /><br />I've come to the conclusion that nothing in the book of Genesis is there by chance. Your idea that the staff is a symbol of the tribe is very good. I think the seal and cord are equally symbolic. The seal symbolizes rule and the cord symbolizes divine protection of the house. Remember how Rahab hung the scarlet cord from the window and her house was saved, a kind of second Passover? Also, a scarlet cord was tied around Zerah's wrist, and he was passed over. There is another related meaning found in Zerah's name, which means sunrise. Remember that among Abraham's people the Sun was the emblem of the Creator. Since Zerah came before and then after Perez, the meaning may be that the Creator's light shines over Perez.<br /><br />Thanks for the super comment. I look forward to hearing from you again.Alice C. Linsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-35853904532908148872009-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:002009-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00Alice,
Whose son actually was Perez according to ...Alice,<br /><br />Whose son actually was Perez according to a biblical understanding? Your post is very thought provoking on a number of levels. What I was thinking about in particular is the fact that the line of the Christ was destined to come through Perez, which is amazing, because we have learned that Perez was the son (according to the flesh) of Judah, through a messed-up relationship with his daughter-in-law Tamar, which you might have thought nothing good could ever come of. But so much good did come from it, by God's grace, and so it started to get interesting to me to try to figure out whose son was Perez considered, legally speaking, by the standard of the Jewish legal/moral regulation at the time? I mean, what we learned about Onan (the second son of Judah and next in-line candidate husband-to-be to Tamar after Tamar had become a widow in the loss of Er), is that he was conflicted about the idea of fathering offspring by Tamar, and wasted his chances on the ground, because "he knew that the seed would not be his" (Gen. 38:9). That is pretty telling: If Onan was concerned about heirs who would have been attributed to Er under the law or conventions of the time, wasn't that because he might just rather have seen Tamar end up son-less, and therefore he might hope to get some inheritance of Er's in the end, and grab it for himself? Yet, in the event, Tamar did not end up son-less: she had an heir -- a couple of them, actually! But whose sons were they, Perez and Zerah, for legal purposes? Er's? Judah's? Melchizedek's? I am thinking that there must be an answer to this that is highly relevant for some of the questions you have been pursuing on this blog. I have a theory about it, in that I am wondering whether Tamar might have had it in mind all along, in seducing Judah, to interpolate herself, and her line, into the tribe of Judah, and "steal" the preeminance of place in the descent of Judah's "branch" (with the attendant rights and interest (primogeniture)) away from Shua (and Shua's other ofspring), and on to her own offspring, and be herself the mother of the kings of Judea? Do you agree with this? Do you have any thoughts about whether there might be a symbolic importance to the "pledges" required by Tamar from Judah -- the seal, the cord, and the staff? Especially the staff which, if I understand correctly, the Hebrew word for staff "matteh" means "tribe," figuratively. (See Num. 17:2) In other words, could Tamar's subterfuge have been intended not only to just be a means of fulfilling the levirate marriage law, but more ambitiously, to claim the tribe of Judah unto her own clan? Or, even if it was not intended, is Scripture saying that it did symbolically have that result? See also Heb. 11:21 (Jacob's faith is demonstrated in that he bowed in worship over the head of his staff -- Whose staff are we talking about here? Jacob's? Joseph's? ... Melzhizedek's?!)Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829257111579899926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-17020954625732621532009-03-25T14:31:00.000-07:002009-03-25T14:31:00.000-07:00An interesting comment, Phil. Tamar had taken the...An interesting comment, Phil. <BR/><BR/>Tamar had taken the direct approach. After her first husband died, she married the next son, Onan, who was to raise up a male heir for his dead older brother, but he spilled his seed (an evil act in this religious context.) So Tamar petitioned Judah for the next son, but Judah told her to wait until his youngest grew up, which was a way of putting her off. Tamar knew what Judah was doing.<BR/><BR/>Also, the encounter between Judah and the veiled shrine prostitute seems random, but it is likely that Judah visited the shrine often. Otherwise how could Tamar so confidently arrange the encounter? Judah may have visited the shrine regularly for healing or because he was experiencing sexual problems. That puts a different slant of the story, doesn't it? The man who didn't want to fulfill the law, and whose older sons died when they sinned against God, is blessed with twin sons who are remembered as righteous! Indeed God is merciful to us sinners. Tamar is an instrument of God's grace.Alice C. Linsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688820610845171516.post-78652143178136353312009-03-25T14:08:00.000-07:002009-03-25T14:08:00.000-07:00I find Tamar's action in accomplishing her goa...I find Tamar's action in accomplishing her goal interesting. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the cultural context but couldn't she just take the direct approach and ask Judah what the delay was in giving her to Shelah? Would that have been proper for a woman to do in that time? Apparently, she felt she had no other choice but to secure the bloodline by deception. It seems she knew the moral character of Judah and could count on his "appetite" to get what she wanted. Judah seems to have been a bit of a dope. He was negligent in having Shelah & Tamar secure the family line and he fell for her deception because he couldn't keep it in his pants.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com