The Prestige of Biblical On

Alice C. Linsley

Joseph's elevation to a high position in Egypt and his marriage to Asenath of Heliopolis, a Hebrew shrine city, suggest that he was a rightful heir to something back in Egypt. (See "The Enigma of Joseph".)

Joseph married Asenath, a daughter of the High Priest of On, the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt. On was known to the Greek as Heliopolis, meaning "Sun City" because it was dedicated to the High God whose emblem was the sun. Heliopolis was one of the great Sun Cities of the ancient world that were served by the early Hebrew royal priests.

In ancient Egyptian On was called Iunu (Iwnw) meaning “place of pillars”. In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery realms above and below (the "firmaments") were connected by the massive pillars of the temple of Heliopolis.

Great Hypostyle Hall within the Karnak temple complex.

The complex of the early Sun Temple had many pillars bearing inscriptions to the high king, prayers to the High God and to his son HR. Some pillars depicted great victories in war, the details of treaties, and dedications. Isaiah 19:19 refers to a pillar erected in Egypt as a sign that the Lord will send the Egyptians a savior.

It was common for pillars to be inscribed in memory of holy ancestors, as stained-glass windows in churches are dedicated to "pillars" of the congregation. The entrance pillars of Solomon's temple were named for Boaz, Solomon's holy ancestor on his father's side, and Joktan, a holy ancestor on his mother's side.

The Priests of On

The Harris papyrus speaks of the 'Apriu of Re at Heliopolis. Re in ancient Egyptian means “father”. Re’s son was HR (Horus in Greek). HR in ancient Egyptian means “Most High One”. The ‘Apiru (Abrutu/Hapiru/Habiru/Hebrew) of Heliopolis worshipped God Father and God Son. 

The priests of On were known for their wisdom, purity and sobriety. In his Timoeus, Plato writes: "Tell me of the God of On, which is and never knew beginning." Plato studied under a Nilotic priest at Memphis for thirteen years.

Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts.

Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

The prestige of Heliopolis is evident in the way royal sites were aligned to that complex. The Sun City of Baalbek in Lebanon, with its massive stones, aligned to On (see map above). The pyramids at Giza, Saqqara, and Abusir were aligned to the obelisk at On.

It appears that On eclipsed the prominence of the earlier Horite Hebrew shrine city, Nekhen on the Nile. Nekhen predates the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza and the step pyramid of King Djoser who ruled for 75 years. Djoser inaugurated an era of monumental building in stone which inspired the Great Pyramids. The oldest known tomb, with painted mural on its plaster walls, is located in Nekhen and dates to c. 3500–3200 B.C.

Discoveries at Nekhen (Greek Hierakonpolis) continue to push back the dating of early civilizations. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim announced the discovery of a pre-Dynastic tomb that dates to about 500 years before King Narmer of the First Dynasty. 

Archaeologists working at Nekhen discovered a temple with huge cedar pillars. They describe the offerings at the Nekhen as “ten times larger” than the typical mace heads and bowls offered elsewhere, suggesting that this was a very prestigious shrine city.

Nekhen had a twin city on the opposite side of the Nile. That sister city was Nekheb (Elkab). The royal tomb of Horemkhawef in Nekhen and the tomb of Sobeknakht in Nekheb were painted by the same artist. Hormose, the chief priest of Nekhen, requested material goods from the temple at Elkab for use at the temple at Nekhen.

One of the more intriguing discoveries at Nekhen was the recovery of an almost complete beard in association with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The presence of long wavy natural red hair and a full beard illustrates the genetic diversity that existed in Africa thousands of years ago. The Nekhen News (p. 7) reports, "The vast majority of hair samples discovered at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) in type as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid)."

At Nekhen, archaeologists found hippos buried in the elite cemeteries (Nekhen News, Vol. 25, 2013, p. 20). They also found numerous carved and sculpted figurines of hippos, some with red coloration. They concluded that hippo imagery is "linked to local elites" (Nekhen News Vol. 27, 2015, pp. 8-9).

Cain's brother Seth/Seti is often shown in ancient images as a red hippo. The hippo figurines likely indicate that there were Sethite Hebrew at Nekhen as well as Horite Hebrew.

That Sethites were living among the Horites of Nekhen is not surprising given that these two groups represent a moiety structure of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste. The term "moiety" refers to one people organized into two ritual groups. Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the lines of Cain and Seth indicate that their descendants intermarried (endogamy). 

The diagram above shows the pattern of cousin marriage in which the cousin bride names her first-born son after her father. Lamech the Elder is named in Genesis 4. His daughter Naamah married her cousin Methuselah (Gen. 5) and named their firstborn son Lamech after her father. 

Cousin marriage was a common practice among the early Hebrew. Abraham's second wife, Keturah, was his cousin. Isaac's (probable second wife), Rebekah, was his cousin. Jacob's cousin wife was Rachel. It is likely that Asenath and Joseph were cousins. That is probable because some Hebrew ruler-priests never left the Nile Valley where we find the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship (c.4000 BC).

Related reading: Sun Cities of the Ancient World; Egyptian Glass Beads in Nordic Graves; Ancient Twin Cities; The Enigma of Joseph; The Sethites and the Red Hippo; Belief in the High God

Joseph and Asenath

 

Hypostyle Hall of Karnak aligned to the Milky Way

Alice C. Linsley

Joseph married Asenath, the daughter of a priest of On (Gen. 41) On is known in ancient records as iunu, meaning "place of pillars". This refers to a royal temple complex, such as Karnak (shown above).

On was known to the Greeks as Heliopolis, that is, "Sun City." Plutarch noted that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

The Harris papyrus speaks of 'Apriu of Re at Heliopolis. The terms 'Apiru, Hapiru, Habiru, Abrutu refers to a ruler-priest caste that was widely dispersed in the service of kings and kingdom builders like Nimrod, the Kushite (Gen. 10). Joseph married into this royal priest line when he married Asenath, and she was probably a relative.

Asenath's father was Putiphar or Potiphera. This title is composed of the words pu and tifra. Putifra in ancient Egyptian means "this order" and likely pertains to the order of Horite Hebrew priests, devotees of Horus and his father Re. Horus was the patron of kings. The stela of Putiphar speaks of Putiphar as the "son of Horus, may He live forever."

Horus (from the Greek) is HR in ancient Egyptian. HR means "Most High One" and can refer to God Father (Re = father in ancient Egyptian) and God Son. The image of Horus in the "holy of holies" is the Nilotic equivalent of the Mesopotamian image of Enki in the Abzu . Enki means "Lord Over All." Enki's father is Anu. That Enki is the son of God (and patron of kings) is evident from Sumero-Akkadian texts such as this: "Enki, the king of the Abzu, justly praises himself in his majesty: 'My father, the king of heaven and earth, made me famous in heaven and earth." (See "Enki and the world order: Translation", lines 61-80.)

Iunu is related to the ancient Egyptian word Anu, a name for father of Enki. Anu  means HE in ancient Egyptian and is a reference to the High God. This tile found by Flinders Petrie shows a Sethite priest of Anu. Tera-neter refers to a priest. 

In regard to his sons, Joseph followed the marriage and ascendancy pattern of his Horite Hebrew ancestors. His wife Asenath was probably one of Joseph's cousins. Her first born son was likely Manasseh. He belonged to the Heliopolis shrine, whereas Joseph's son Ephraim belonged to the House of Jacob. This explains why Jacob gave Ephraim the primogeniture blessing (Gen. 48:14) that normally fell to the ruler's heir and first born of his half-sister wife.

Since the same marriage and ascendancy pattern of Joseph and Asenath can be traced using the biblical data back to Cain and Seth, I believe the Pharoah who Joseph served would have been a king during the Middle Kingdom (2040 to 1782 BC).

Related reading: Habiru, Hapiru, 'Apiru, Hebrew; Horite Mounds; Where Judaism and Christianity Part Ways; Abraham's Faith Lives in Christianity; Sun Cities of the Ancient World; Trinitarian Correspondences Between Mesopotamia and the Nile

Mind Your Table Manners!

Alice C. Linsley

The “Instruction of Amenemope” (Amen-em-Apt or Amenophis) is a wisdom text composed in Ancient Egypt during the Ramesside Period (1300-1075 BC). The full text has been preserved in the British Museum (B.M. 10474). It contains thirty chapters of advice and exhortations for young men to be humble, to avoid conflicts, and to gain favor in the royal court. This is clear from the Introduction:


The beginning of the instruction about life,

The guide for well-being,

All the principles of official procedure,

The duties of the courtiers;

To know how to refute the accusation of one who made it,

And to send back a reply to the one who wrote,

To set one straight on the paths of life,

And make him prosper on earth;

To let his heart settle down in its chapel,

As one who steers him clear of evil;

To save him from the talk of others,

As one who is respected in the speech of men.


The writer was the scribe Amenemope, son of Kanekht. Amenemope had a son named Horem ma'akheru, meaning “Horus justifies.”

Amenemope lived in Akhmim, the capital of the ninth nome of Upper Egypt (shown on map above). Akhmim was also known as Ipu,/Ipw or Khent-min/Hnt-mnw. The principal temple there was dedicated to Horus. This was a Horite Mound.  

In 1922, E.A.W. Budge noted parallels between the "Instruction of Amenemope” and Proverbs 22:17-24. He wrote “The Teaching of Amen-em-Apt, Son of Kanekht” in 1924. Proverbs 22:20 says, “Have I not written for you thirty chapters of advice and knowledge, to make you know the certainty of true sayings, so that you can return with sound answers to those who sent you?” 

The reference to thirty (sheloshim) chapters harkens back to the wisdom of Amenemope which also has thirty sections: “Consider these thirty chapters, they give pleasure, they instruct.” Ten of the thirty sections of Amenemope's text have parallels in Proverbs 22:17-24:22.

Proverbs 23:1-8 addresses courtly table manners. This appears to be a common theme when instructing young men in how to gain success as courtiers. A similar text is found in the Maxims of Ptah-hotep. Formal dinners were headed by a superior official who showed favor to his underlings by giving them greater portions of food. Genesis 43:34 says that Joseph filled his brothers’ plates with food from his own table, and Benjamin's portion was five times larger than any of the others. 

Related reading: The Teaching of Amenemope and its Connection With the Book of  Proverbs; Wisdom is Expressed in the Practical

Horite Hebrew Expectation and the Star of Bethlehem

Alice C. Linsley

Sidereal astronomy is real science based on observation of the arrangement and movement of the fixed stars and planets. This science originated among Abraham's Nilotic ancestors who had recorded information about the fixed stars and clock-like motion of the planets for thousands of years.

By 4245 BC, the priests of the Upper Nile had established a calendar based on the appearance of the star Sirius. Apparently, Nilotes had been tracking this star for thousands of years and connecting it to seasonal changes affecting the Nile Valley. In 241 BC, the priest Manetho reported that Nilotes had been “star-gazing” as early as 40,000 years ago. Plato claimed that the Africans had been tracking the heavens for 10,000 years.

Plato studied with an Egyptian priest for 13 years and knew about Earth's Great Year, also called the "Platonic Year." This is the time of between 25,000 and 28,000 years that it takes for Earth to complete the cycle of axial precession. This precession was known to Plato who defined the "perfect year" as the return of the celestial bodies (planets) and the diurnal rotation of the fixed stars to their original positions.

The ancients were motivated to understand the celestial pattern because they believed that the order in creation was fixed by the Creator and they were concerned about trespassing boundaries or violating the order in creation. They believed "As in the heavens, so on earth."

For the ancient Nilo-Saharans and Egyptians the stars in the constellation of Leo were especially important because the Nile rose when the Sun passed through the constellation of Leo. Therefore, they associated the arousal of the Lion with the arousal of the waters. The lion was the totem of the tribe of Judah. In Genesis 1, we read that the Spirit of God hovered over the watery deep at the beginning. In John's Gospel we are reminded that the Son was with the Father and the Spirit before the world was made and that all things were made through Him.

The Magi were sidereal astronomers who lived east of Israel, likely in Babylon or Persia. They were heirs of the same astronomical knowledge as the ancient Egyptians, and like Daniel they were of Judah (Jews). They recognized the sign of a triple coronation of two royal celestial bodies in the constellation of the Lion, the totem of Judah. They knew it was connected to the ancient Horite Hebrew expectation concerning the Woman of their people who would bring forth the Seed, the Son of God (Gen. 3:15). Further, they believed Messiah would be born of the royal house of David.

When the Magi appeared before Herod they were told that the King of the Jews was to be born in David's city, the Horite Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem. Abraham and David were of the Horite Hebrew ruler-priest lines. Joseph and Mary, both descendants of Abraham and David, went there to register for the census.

The Magi were aware of God's promise concerning the Righteous Ruler whose kingdom would endure through all the ages because reference to the Messianic promise of Psalm 145:13 is found repeatedly in Daniel. It punctuates the rise and fall of kingdoms and proclaims the coming of an eternal kingdom. As astronomers, the Magi recognized the singular event of Jupiter's triple spiral that brought it in close proximity to Regulus in the constellation Leo, the Lion. The Babylonians called Regulus Sharu, which means king. The word is related to the Persian word Shir, meaning lion.

In his translation of the eighth-century AD Syriac manuscript "The Revelation of the Magi," Brent Landau describes the Magi as those who “pray in silence,” and he proposes that they were a small group of monk-like mystics from a mythical land called Shir. However, there is no such place. Shir refers to the lion, the totem for the Horite Hebrew clans that resided in Judah. The Magi are the descendants of those who were deported. They held the received tradition concerning the coming of Messiah. This explains their recognition of the Messianic symbolism of the alignment of the King Planet and the King Star.

Using Starry Night, a software program that tracks celestial events at any time in history, Rick Larson discovered that sidereal astronomy suggests clues about biblical events. He discovered that the king planet Jupiter met the king star Regulus at the beginning of the Jewish New Year in 3 BC. The conjunction of the Jupiter and Regulus produced the appearance of an extraordinarily bright star. Larson believes this is when Gabriel announced to Mary that she was chosen to bear the Son of God.
(Rick Larson's Star of Bethlehem)

When Mary asked how this could be, the Angel explained that she would be "overshadowed." This divine overshadowing is what the Horite Hebrew expected. In ancient iconography the mother of Horus is shown overshadowed by the sun, the emblem of the Creator. In Christian iconography, the sun is usually replaced by the image of a dove hovering over Mary.

The Horite Hebrew commemorated the death and resurrection of Horus in a 5-day festival. Horus (HR) in ancient Egyptian means "Most High One." As Plutarch noted in Isis and Osiris, 69, the first three days were marked by solemnity and mourning for the death of Horus. His death was commemorated by the planting of seeds of grain. On the third day, the 19th of Athyr, there was a joyful celebration of Horus’ rising to life.

The Horite Hebrew expectation that the Righteous Son would not remain in the grave is expressed in Psalm 16:10: "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." Jesus said, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day..." (Luke 24:46)

Where is it written? Scholars cannot find this in the canon. However, a reference to the third day resurrection is found in the Pyramid Texts: "Oh Horus, this hour of the morning, of this third day is come, when thou surely passeth on to heaven, together with the stars, the imperishable stars." (Utterance 667) Jesus' third-day resurrection fulfilled that Horite Hebrew expectation in every detail.

Skeptics claim that Christianity is based on the ancient myth of Horus. Christians have done a poor job of responding to this assertion. It takes more faith to believe that Christianity is the Horus myth reworked than to accept the substantial evidence that that Abraham and his ancestors were Horite Hebrew who believed in God Father and God Son. They were people of faith who believed the promise that a woman of their ruler-priest lines would bring forth the Son of God, the Messiah. They believed that he would be born in Bethlehem of Judah and that God would make known his wonderful appearing.


Related reading: The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative;  Ancient Wisdom, Science and Technology; Who Were the Wise Men?; Mary's Ruler-Priest Lineage; The Substance of Abraham's Faith; Using Totems to Trace Ancestry

The Unveiling of Joseph

Alice C. Linsley

Joseph's rise to power came when he was recognized as a seer, that is, one who opens dreams and visions. In Genesis he is called abrikku; which is related to the Akkadian abarakku, which means grand vizier (Delitzsch, Hebrew Language Viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, p. 26). There is a relationship to the Sumerian abrilc (seer) and the Latin aperire (to open).

The term abrikku is also related the the Akkadian word for priest, which is abru. Joseph was of the Horite Hebrew ruler-priest caste. Some members of this caste were known as prophets. Asaph was the chief of the Temple musicians and he prophesied in song, a common practice in the ancient world.

In ancient Egypt, dream interpretation was the domain of priests who trained in this "science" in order to gain advancement in the priestly ranks. Seer-priests studied manuals of hundreds of dream interpretations. This was a way for priests to increase their incomes, and this probably motivated many to excel in dream interpretation. Apparently, many of the royal seers were not very good at it. Genesis 41:8 tells us that they failed to interpret the dream that Pharaoh had repeatedly. That is how Joseph came to prominence.

Joseph's wisdom comes from his reliance on the Lord's revelation of the meaning. When asked by Pharaoh if he can explain the meaning of the ruler's dream, Joseph answered the Pharaoh: "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer." (Gen. 41:16)

Given that only circumcised men were permitted an audience with Pharaoh, it is likely that Pharaoh was already well aware that Joseph as a Hebrew of the Horite ruler-priest caste. This explains the ruler's great favor toward Joseph and his rapid elevation to abrikku/abarakku.

In ancient Egypt the high ranking rulers were not seen without their royal garb and instruments of authority. Joseph's appearance as "lord" of all of Pharaoh's house and "a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt" (grand vizier) would have been such that his brothers would not have recognized him. Joseph was clean-shaven, whereas his Horite Hebrew brothers had long hair and beards. His head was shaved as a "korah" or ruler-priest. He wore the signet ring given him by Pharaoh, a gold chain, and a garment of fine linen with fringes, such as those worn by the ruler=priest caste.

The narrative in Genesis 45:1-8 is touching and intimate.

Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Only the personal servant of the ruler knew intimate details of the ruler's daily ablutions. This servant helped the ruler to dress in elaborate style consistent with the ruler's rank. The lower ranking officials wore loincloths. Gold discs were worn on the chest and attached in the back. The men wore a nemes, a blue and gold stripped head-cloth falling down both sides of the head, the front of each shoulder and the back. Another headdress worn by royal officials was the khat (shown below).

The ruler-priests wore leopard skins as a sign of their royal priesthood.

Joseph married Asenath, daughter of the "priest of On" on the Lower Nile (Gen. 41:45).  On was also called "Heliopolis" or City of the Sun. The people who lived in Heliopolis called the shrine city Innu/Iunu, which means place of pillars.

Asenath's father was Putiphar or Potiphera. This is a title composed of the words pu and tifra. Putifra in ancient Egyptian means "this order" and likely relates to the order of Horite Hebrew priests. The stela of Putiphar speaks of Putiphar as the "son of Horus, may He live forever."

Asenath was raised at Heliopolis. Likely, she was Joseph's patrilineal cousin. Her first born son belonged to the Heliopolis shrine, whereas Ephraim, her younger son belonged to the House of Jacob. This explains why Jacob gave him the blessing that pertained to the first born (Gen. 48:14).


Related reading: Joseph and Judah as Instruments of Deliverance; The Enigma of Joseph; Archaic and Ancient Symbols of Authority; The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; Evidence of the Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; Sun Cities of the Ancient World

Joseph and Judah as Instruments of Deliverance

Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time.”

And their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man. And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” (Genesis 43:8-14)

Alice C. Linsley

Old Jacob struggled during an extended famine in Canaan to sustain his family. He sent his older sons to Egypt to buy provisions and there they encountered a powerful Egyptian who was their own brother Joseph. Joseph became an instrument of deliverance for his family.

Joseph married Asenath, daughter of the "priest of On" (Gen. 41:45).  Asenath's father was Putiphar or Potiphera. This is a title composed of the words pu and tifra. Putifra in ancient Egyptian means "this order" and likely relates to the order of Horite priests. The stela of Putiphar speaks of Putiphar as the "son of Horus, may He live forever."

On, called "Heliopolis" by the Greeks, was one of the most prestigious shrine cities of the archaic world. It was an Anu city. The pyramids of Giza, Saqqara and Abusir were aligned to the obelisk of Heliopolis. The Pharaoh held the title of "Ruler of Heliopolis" and his symbol was the scepter-hq. The scepter and the flail became the symbols of the Pharaoh's absolute authority.

There were Anu/Ainu among Abraham's ancestors. Asenath was related to Joseph, probably a patrilineal cousin. According to Genesis 41:50, she gave birth to two sons before the time of famine. Her first born son was named Manesseh and he would have been dedicated to (belonged to) the Heliopolis shrine, whereas Ephraim, the younger son, belonged to the House of Jacob. This explains why Jacob gave him the blessing that pertained to the first born (Gen. 48:14).

Manesseh and other Habiru/Hebrew clans related to the Horites of Egypt and Edom settled in the region of Galilee. The Horites of Nazareth constituted the sixteenth division of priests, the order of Hapi-tsets. The word is of Egyptian origin. Hapi is an ancient reference to the Nile. T-sets refers to the One who rules the wind, waves and currents (cf. Jesus' calming of the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee.)

Judah's role

When Joseph's brothers discussed killing him (Gen. 37), it was Judah who came up with a suggestion that preserved Joseph's life, and it was Judah who offers to "be surety" for Benjamin's safe return to Jacob (Gen. 43).  Is it any wonder that Jacob grants a special blessing to this son? In the tribal lists, Judah is sometimes replaced by Ephraim and Manesseh, but Jacob's deathbed blessing of his sons favors Judah and Joseph above the others. Here is part of the blessing given to Judah: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet [nor a lawgiver from his loins], until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (Gen. 49:10)

This relates to Christ who is the long-expected Righteous Ruler and the Lawgiver because every law that comes from God is given through Him. He is a descendant of both Joseph and Judah. Judah had two wives, as was the custom for the Horite rulers. One was Shua, one of Jacob's daughters. She was Judah's first wife and his half-sister (as was Sarah to Abraham). By his two wives Judah had two firstborn sons: Er and Onan. Their names represent two Horite territories. Er (Ur) is the eastern territory of the Mesopotamian Horites in Ur, and Onan (Onn) is the western Horite territory centered at Heliopolis (biblical On) on the Nile. All of these Horites were ethnically Kushite.

"The scepter will not depart from Judah..." is generally taken to mean that the Messiah would come from Judah, but it is possible that it refers to a historical reality; namely, that some of Jesus' ancestors were never captives in Babylon. Jacob's holdings extended to Beersheba and the Babylonians were not interested in engaging warriors in the Negev.

One of the oldest shrines in the Negev has been found at Timnah where copper was mined from very ancient times. Some of the mines are at least 6000 years old. This was a Horite shrine as evidenced by the presence of a statue of Hathor, the mother of Horus and the patroness of metal workers. A temple dedicated to Hathor was discovered at the southwestern edge of Mt. Timnah by Professor Beno Rothenberg of Hebrew University.

The Chalcolithic metal works at Timnah were found at the Wadi Nehushtan in the foothills along the western fringe of the southern Arabah Valley. The smelting works, slag and flints at this site were found to be identical to those discovered near Beersheba where Abraham spent his old age. This is why Rothenberg concluded that the peoples living in the area were "partners not only in the work but in the worship of Hathor." (Timna, p. 183)

It is appears that Tamar was from this region. She bore Judah twin sons after Judah refused to provide her another husband from among his sons. Judah praised her as "more righteous” than himself (Gen. 38:26) because she fulfilled the levirate marriage law. The younger of Tamar's two sons was Perez, an ancestor of Jesse of Bethlehem, David, and Jesus Christ.

Mary's Ancestry

Mary’s parents were Joachim and Anna. Joachim was a shepherd-priest of Bethlehem Ephrath. Throughout the Bible, Ephrath is a reference to Judah. His wife was Anna, a daughter of a priest. Hippolytus of Thebes records that Mary’s mother was one of three daughters of a priest named Matthan (Matthias/Mattai). The eldest sister, Mary, was the mother of Salome; the second sister, Sobe, was the mother of Elizabeth whose son was John the Baptist. The third sister was Anna, Mary’s mother. Elizabeth and Mary were cousins, and both were daughters of priests.

Herod the Great deposed the High Priest Matthias after the priest removed the Golden Eagle from the Temple. Matthias was the second to the last High Priest before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.  Matthias' father was the High Priest Theophilus, the brother-in-law of Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest before whom Jesus appeared after his arrest. Theophilus' family was a ruler-priest family from Edom. They were descendants of Abraham and Seir the Horite (Gen. 36). The Horite ruler-priest lineage was very ancient and was recognized by Herod the Great who also was from Edom/Idumea.

The ancestral family of Jacob ben Mattat, once a favorite of Herod the Great, came to have limited influence with the House of Zadok, as this lineage of King David’s descendants appears to have been increasingly ostracized after Herod's death in 4 BC. In light of historical events, it appears that the ancestral scepter would have departed from Judah had the Christ not appeared when He did. With Christ's appearance the scepter passed to him, the eternal King. In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed as Jesus had predicted and the solemn ceremonies, as well as the blasphemies, ceased. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." (Matt. 24:1-2)

Related reading: The Enigma of Joseph; The Significance of Galilee in Matthew's Gospel; The Nazareth-Egypt Connection; The Moral Code of Ani

Wisdom in Genesis

Alice C. Linsley

When we consider ancient wisdom literature, we tend to think of books like Job, Proverbs, or the Wisdom of Ben Sirach. The word "wisdom" does not appear in the book of Genesis so some might assume that the first book of the Bible does not touch on this subject. However, from an anthropological perspective, Genesis reveals the antecedents of wisdom literature in the Bible.

Leon Kass touches on wisdom in Genesis in his book The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis. He explores the ethical dimensions of Genesis as a physician committed to teaching it as a defense against the "antiwisdoms" of modernity (p. 4). He hopes his book will help Jewish “children of skeptics” to understand why their predecessors found Genesis compelling and illuminating. Kass is critical of how science abandoned "the large metaphysical-theological questions and spiritual-moral concerns that preoccupied" ancient Man, and most especially Abraham's people (p. 5). He explores the Genesis text as a coherent whole. His approach is to gain practical wisdom for today and his method is dependent upon psychological insights and insights from the Talmud.

Kass sees the patterns in Genesis and explains that Genesis speaks not about "what happened, but what always happens" (p. 10). He maintains that Genesis is "instructional narrative" (p. 79). Joseph and Solomon married women of the royal Egyptian court and both men embody wisdom in the Old Testament. On closer examination, we see that these rulers had much in common.

Imbued with wisdom from God, Joseph is recognized by Pharaoh as wiser than all the royal wise men. He speaks as one with authority. Solomon also is a wise teacher, as is evident in the Proverbs.  Indeed, the 3000 year old Egyptian text Teaching of Amenemope suggests that Solomon's Proverbs were based on an older tradition whereby royal sons were taught. Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter and there was a close relationship between the Egyptian court and Solomon's court (Currid, 1997: 159-171). It is likely that Solomon had royal advisers, but the biblical text places emphasis on Solomon as the righteous ruler imbued with divine wisdom (another Messianic allusion). The similarities between Proverbs and the Teaching of Amenemope can be explained by the fact that the Hebrew (Habiru) were blood relatives of the Nilotic rulers and priests who preserved the tradition received from their Horim. Ibn Erza holds that the phrase al-tifra-u in Proverbs 8:33 means "don't change the order." The verse says: "Listen to my instruction and become wise. Don't change the order." The rulers and priests felt constrained to preserve the tradition of their Horim (Horite ancestors).

In the minds of the rulers named in Genesis, wisdom is the Lord's instrument by which He created all things (Psalm 104:24). "God founded the earth by wisdom; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down dew" (Prov. 30:20).

Wisdom “came forth from the mouth of the Most High and covered the earth like a mist” (Sirach 24:3). Here we have an allusion to Genesis 1:1 which speaks of the Spirit (ruach/wind/breath) going forth from the Creator to establish order in the chaotic deep. In Job 32:8, Elihu declares that it is the spirit in a man, the breath of Shaddai, that gives him wisdom.

Such wisdom is given to righteous rulers who seek it. God rewards the ruler who seeks wisdom above power and wealth (2 Chronicles 1:11). Wisdom expresses itself in good governmental administration (Gen. 41:8-43). It is demonstrated in mathematics, engineering, architecture, as expressed in this statement: "Wisdom builds her house" (Prov. 9:1).

Wisdom/skill is chokmah (hokma) in Hebrew and is related to chakam (hakam) which refers to a wise or skillful royal official. Hakam is the word found in the Genesis 41 narrative, where we are told that Pharaoh called for his wise men and, after they failed to interpret his dreams, he called for Joseph. Joseph interpreted the dreams and also gave Pharaoh unsolicited advice on how to prevent catastrophe. The king of Egypt than declared that there is none so wise and discreet as Joseph. Joseph was elevated to a position that made him like a "father" to the king (Gen 45:8). Joseph never claimed to have wisdom of his own. He relied on God to give the meaning of the king's dreams. If Pharaoh was regarded as a "son" of God and a deified ruler, how much more would Joseph as Pharaoh's "father" have been regarded as deified? So Joseph, rather than Pharaoh, becomes the archetype of Christ.

Kass notes that both Joseph and Solomon, the wisest men in the Old Testament, are attached by marriage to the royal house of Egypt. He sees this as the reason for the moral failure of both rulers. However, these were not "foreign wives" who led their husbands astray. Joseph and Solomon were of Horite ancestry, and by marrying into that caste, they were reconnecting with the Horites of Egypt. These were the keepers of the wisdom they received from their Nilo-Saharan ancestors at Nekhen. They preserved the ancient science and technologies that made Egypt great.

The Horites of Edom (Gen. 36) built a temple in honor of Pharaoh's daughter. This was Petra's central temple and it was called Qasr al-Bint al-Faroun, which means "The Fortress of the Daughter of Pharaoh." The walls rose to over 75 feet. At its height of glory, Petra rivaled the grandeur of Herod's Jerusalem. The skill exhibited here is the wisdom of the Horites.

The Horites traced blood line through the mother. Married women held and bequeathed property, and a few even ruled over their clans. Anah is listed as a "chief" in Genesis 36. Her name is also spelled Anat and Anath. Joseph married the daughter of a Horite priest of Heliopolis, the most prestigious shrine city of the ancient world. Her name was Asenath, a variant of Anath.

In 2010, the tomb of a Horite priest was discovered south of the cemetery of the pyramid builders at Giza. It belongs to a priest named Rudj-Ka (or Rwd-Ka). Rwd-Ka was a purification priest serving the house of Khafre (2520-2494 BC), the pharaoh who built the second-largest pyramid at Giza which was aligned to the obelisk of Heliopolis. This was an important priest and scribe of the Egyptian royal court as evidenced by his several titles. Rwd-Ka means "deified ruler of the sphere or realm."

The Horite priest was purified before entering the temple. His purification involved fasting, abstinence from sexual relations and alcohol, ritual bathing, and an intense period of prayer. Korah, Moses' half-brother, was a priest according to Numbers 16:17,18. His name means "shaved one." Horite priests shaved their heads and bodies as part of the purification ritual. Joseph shaved before he appeared before Pharaoh (Gen. 41:14).

Related reading:  The Enigma of Joseph; Seats of Wisdom; Leon Kass on Genesis; Diplomatic Communities of the Old World Middle East; Joseph as a Wise Egyptian Diplomat; Who Were the Horites?; Horite Deified Sons; Genesis in Anthropological Perspective

YEC Dogma is NOT Biblical

Young Earth Creationism has been criticized for lacking a solid scientific basis. It also should be criticized for lacking a solid Biblical basis.


Alice C. Linsley

Young Earth Creationists use Archbishop James Usher’s chronology to date the age of the Earth. They believe that the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 are chronological and can be used to estimate when God created the Earth. They calculate the earth's age at 6000 years on the basis of lifespans assigned to the men named in Genesis 5 and 11. They ignore the line of Cain in Genesis 4 because they assume that his line became extinct in Noah's flood.

Biblical studies and discoveries in various sciences have left Usher's erroneous interpretation in the dust.

Usher lived before the development of molecular genealogy which has shed much light on human origins, and especially on the dispersion of the ancient Nilotes and Kushites. He also lived before the development of kinship analysis which makes verification of the Genesis King Lists possible. It can no longer be claimed that these rulers did not live in history. Their marriage and ascendancy pattern is authentic and can be traced from Genesis 4 to the New Testament records of Mary and Joseph's families. It is not possible that this aspect of Biblical history could have been written back into the texts since the 66 books of the Bible represent the contributions of numerous scribes and authors over about 1200 years.

Usher's scheme is terribly flawed. He failed to recognize that the so-called "genealogies" are actually King Lists. These lists are not generational, but regnal, and the reigns of some kings coincided. Tubal-Cain (Gen. 4) and Methuselah (Gen. 5) ruled at the same time. Tubal-Cain's sister, Naamah, married Methuselah. (See diagram below.) This is an example of how people abuse Biblical lists.

Usher also missed the fact that the lines of Cain and Seth intermarried, and as St. John Chrysostom recognized, the line of Cain received great mercy. Not only 7 fold for Cain, but 77 fold for Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4:24), and 777 in the case of Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5:31).

Further, these men are not the first humans on earth, but rulers of the Afro-Asiatic Dominion. They were kingdom builders, like Nimrod the Kushite (Gen. 10:8). This was a time of  law codes such at the Law of Tehut, warriors, weapons, shrine cities such as Nekhen in Sudan, and numerous technologies associated with the Neolithic Period. These earliest rulers of Genesis lived between 6000 and 3000 B.C., millions of years after the appearance of archaic humans. The evidence of the Bible and the various sciences indicates that they lived in Africa or migrated out of Africa.

This last fact reveals the un-biblical and racist nature of YEC dogma. At the back of YEC books one finds the 12 Affirmations and Denials. Affirmation XII claims that the diversity of languages and skin color came about as a result of divine judgment at the Tower of Babel.

XII. We affirm that all people living and dead are descended from Adam and Eve...and that the various people groups (with their various languages, cultures, and distinctive physical characteristics, including skin color) arose as a result of God's supernatural judgment at the Tower of Babel..."

Africa always has had the greatest genetic and linguistic diversity of any continent. Long before the earliest Genesis rulers there already existed diversity of skin color. Here are images of red, black and brown Nubians.

Red and black Nubians
(Ippolito Rosellini)

Red and brown Nubians
They resemble the warriors of Petra who had long wavy hair and wore feathers.
(Dr. Arthur Brack)

The Habiru (Hebrew) marriage and ascendancy pattern

Usher's errors reflect ignorance of the marriage and ascendancy structure of Abraham's ancestors as it is revealed in Genesis 4, 5 and 11. This same pattern characterizes Moses' family and Samuel's family. It is the distinctive pattern of the ancient Habiru (Hebrew), a caste of ruler-priests.

Ussher did not understand that the rulers listed had two wives so there were two first born sons. The first born son of the half-sister wife was heir to his father's throne. So Isaac was heir to Abraham's territory between Hebron and Beersheba. The first born son of the patrilineal cousin wife was named after his maternal grandfather and served as a prime minister in his grandfather's territory. So Joktan, Abraham's first born son by Keturah, was not Abraham's heir. He would rule in the territory of Joktan the Elder.

Judah likely had two wives. In Genesis 46, we read that Judah went into Egypt with his brothers and presumably settled in the land of Goshen with his wife and children. In Genesis 38, we read that Judah had sons by Shua who lived in the region of Adulla, Mareshah and Chezib in Horite territory.

Some lists provide the names of the first born sons of half-sister brides. Other lines are traced through the cousin bride who named her first born son after her father. This is the case with Methuselah's wife, Naamah, who named their first born son "Lamech" after her father (see bottom of diagram).

Let us examine in greater detail the problems with Ussher's scheme.

Ussher did not recognize that the Genesis genealogies are regnal, not generational. They cannot be used to count generations because they are king lists and some kings ruled simultaneously. Others ruled for short periods, and still others ruled for longer than a generation (40 years).

Usher insisted on reading Genesis as chronology, and therefore missed that some rulers were contemporaries. Lamech the Elder was a contemporary of Enoch, Methuselah's father. Abraham was a contemporary of Job. Nahor's son Tahash was a contemporary of Isaac.

None lived the lifespans assigned to them. These numbers are symbolic, with Kabalistic meanings coming from a later period. (Kabal is derived from the Egyptian words ka and ba which in modern parlance would "body and soul.")

Ussher did not recognize that some of the Biblical lists are telescopic. Telescopic lists leave out some names. Such lists give the names of only the most famous rulers. This means that we cannot use the king lists to date the earth.

Ussher ignored the later king lists, such as the Horite rulers in Genesis 36 and their royal kinsmen in Genesis 22:20-24. Here we find the identical marriage and ascendancy pattern as among the Genesis 4 and 5 rulers.

Ussher did not recognize that the lines of Cain and Seth intermarried, as did the lines of Ham and Shem and the lines of Abraham and Nahor.  Each ruler had two wives. The cousin bride named her first born son after her father. Thus we find Esau the elder and Esau the Younger, Joktan the Elder and Joktan the Younger,   Kenan is a variant of Kain, and could be called Cain the Younger. Likewise, Irad is a variant of Jared and could be called Jared the Younger.

In the case of Lamech's daughter, Naamah, the pattern is quite clear. She married her cousin Methuselah and named her first-born son Lamech after her father. This pattern of marriage can be traced from Genesis 4 and 5 to the lines of Joseph and Mary in the New Testament, demonstrating that Jesus is a direct descendant of the people to whom God made the first promise of the Bible that a woman of their ruler-priest lines would bring forth the "Seed" of God (Gen. 3:15).

Jesus' mother's name was Miriam daughter of Joachim Son of Pntjr (Panther) Priests of Nathan of Beth Lehem. From predynastic times, ntjr designated the ruler among the Kushites. The name Panther or p-ntjr meant "God is King." It is certain that Mary was of the ruler-priest caste because even those who hated her admit this. Sanhedrin 106a says: “She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters.”

Ussher didn't know about the cousin bride's naming prerogative which meant that the cousin bride's father and her first born son had the same name. This explains the recurrance of names skipping a generation. There are two named Enoch; two named Lamech; two named Joktan, and two named Sheba. There are also two named Esau, as shown below.

Here we see that Esau the Elder married Adah. Esau the Younger married Oholibamah, a prefigurement of the Virgin Mary.





Seir is identified as a Horite in Genesis 36. The names Esau, Dishon, Uz, Lot/Lotan and Timna are Horite names. The name "Adah" can be traced back to Lamech the Elder. One of his wives was named Adah (Gen. 4:23).


Related reading: Facebook Conversation on Creationism; Evidence of an Old Earth; Smoking Gun Evidence of an Ancient Earth; Genesis on the Ancient Kingdom Builders; Cain as Ruler; Lamech's Story and Horite Kingship; Bishop Ussher Goofed; DNA Research Confirms Kushite Migrations; Biblical Anthropology...the Science, not speculative theology; Calculating the Dates of the Patriarchs; The Genesis King Lists; Two Named Esau; Abraham and Job, Horite Rulers; The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; Objections to the Fundamentalist Reading of Genesis

Dreams in Genesis

Dreams and their Theological Meaning in Genesis

by Simon Lien-yueh Wei

I. Introduction

Dream narratives in the Bible (the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament) abound in the Book of Genesis, which contains nearly one third of biblical dream narratives. Like other narratives, dream narratives are used by the biblical writer to convey theological messages or affirm theological beliefs.[1] Although dreams and their literal meanings in Genesis primarily serve the biblical stories, many profound theological meanings about dreams themselves can also be discovered from the dream narratives.

This paper is motivated by the fact that many biblical readers are fascinated by dream narratives of Genesis, but they neglect the theological meanings of dreams that those narratives may present. This paper attempts to manifest that the theological meanings of dreams revealed by those narratives include: 1) the dream world as a sacred space, 2) dreams as a divine language, 3) dreams as a mode of divine revelation, 4) dreams as a divine initiative intervening in human affairs for God's people, and 5) dreams as a divine-human encounter.

II. Dreams and their Theological Meanings in Genesis

1. The Dream World as a Sacred Space

The first theological meaning of dreams which can be revealed by dream narratives in Genesis is that the dream world is a sacred place. According to Mircea Eliade, space is not homogeneous; some parts of space are qualitatively different from others. When theophany takes place in some space, that space becomes sacred. The sacred space emphasizes not on the physical or geographical dimension, but on the religious and mysterious ones. The nostalgia of the religious is to inhibit the sacred space. They desire to situate themselves in that space and to open themselves to the divine.[2]

In all sacred space, the world of dreams may be the most private, exceptional, and mysterious one. When God comes to a dream, that dream becomes the sacred space. The dream narratives in the Hebrew Bible present this aspect clearly. As Robert Gnuse asserts, "Like their contemporaries in the ancient Near East, Israelites used the dream report in stereotypical fashion to respectfully describe a divine theophany."[3]

The view of dreams as the sacred space in which the theophany occurs can also be found in many dream narratives in Genesis. For instance, Gen 20:3 writes, "God came to Abimelech in a dream by night (NRSV)." Gen 31:24 tells us, "God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night."

This view is most explicitly shown in Jacob's dream at Bethel. The biblical text describes, "And he [Jacob] dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him" (Gen 28:12-13). Jacob awakened and concludes that the Lord actually appears at the site where the dream occurred. He then named the place Bethel (house of God). However, it may be wrong if we think that the place Bethel is more sacred than the space of the dream. This is because the divine appeared not at Bethel, but in Jacob's dream at Bethel. Therefore, if it is the dream that should be seen as the locus of divine self-manifestation, then the dream's space should be the sacred place.

Moreover, from the practical dimension, if dreams are the space theophany takes place, then the narrative in Ex 3:1-5 (God asked Moses to remove his sandals in order to stand on the sacred place where theophany occurred) seems to remind Christians that before sleep they should lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles them in order to prepare themselves to meet their God in dreams. If they encounter the divine in dreams, they may think of Jacob's dream at Bethel. Then, they should regard those dreams as the house of God and the gate of heaven, or as the holy place.

In this sense, the dreams of Genesis in which the divine appears could be understood as "a break (an opening by which passage from heaven to earth is made possible), the axis mundi (the place connects the earthly world and the divine world),"[4] or the sanctuary. From the Christian theological perspective, we may say that if a church is the collective sacred space for the community of faith, then a dream world is the private sacred space for an individual believer. Since both spaces are sacred, the attitude of Christians toward them should be equal.

Indeed, our attitude towards dreams should be religious and sacred, rather than profane. If we desire to see God while we are still living in this world, then every day we may expect and prepare ourselves to meet God in dreams, the sacred space. At the same time, God may be expecting us to slumber so that God can come to our dreams and to meet us.


2. Dreams as a Divine Language Transmitting on Divine Messages

The second theological meaning of dreams in Genesis is that dreams can be regarded as a divine language transmitting on divine messages. In Genesis, the main purpose of the divine coming to human dreams is to deliver the message. Dreams are essentially used by the divine as a language to carry messages. The divine messages in dreams are significant not only for dreamers themselves but sometimes also for a tribe or a nation.

Many dream narratives in Genesis describe that God uses dreams as a language to transmit divine messages, such as God's commands, promises, encouragements, and directions for people.[5] For example, from the divine message in his dream, Abimelech not only learned the truth about the hidden relationship between Abraham and Sarah from God, but also received God's command to return Abraham's wife (Gen 20:3-7).

Through a dream, Jacob first received the divine covenant and promises directly from God about him and his offspring (Gen 28:13-15). In addition, when Jacob was frustrated with Laban's attitude toward him which was not what it had been, God instructed Jacob in a dream how to procure better yields from his flocks and commanded him to go back to his birth land (Gen 31:10-13). It was also through a dream that God sent a message to Laban and Pharaoh (Gen 31:24, 41:25-31).

In fact, every dream in Genesis can be seen as a divine language to communicate the divine message. The dreams in Genesis may be classified typologically as auditory message dreams (e.g. Gen 20:3, 28:12-15, 31:10-13, 24), in which the divine delivers auditory messages in plain language, and symbolic dreams (e.g. Gen 37:5-10, 40:5 ff, 41: 1 ff), in which the dreamers witness enigmatic visual images that, for most cases (except Joseph's dream), require an interpreter with the aid of god to decipher the hidden messages in the dreams. The auditory dreams may be more likely as a mode, rather than a language, for God to communicate with humanity. However, they are essentially a divine language, especially from the perspective of dreamers, because it is through dreams that dreamers heard or received divine messages (just like it is through our spoken language that we received auditory messages from other people in our daily lives). In this sense, dreams, like other vehicles which carry divine message (such as visions), should be viewed as a language of God.

Likewise, the symbolic dreams may not be a divine language seemingly because the dreamers themselves even did not know the divine messages or their meanings in the symbolic dreams at all. However, because the symbolic dreams still carry divine messages (which were eventually known by dreamers through an interpreter in the biblical story), only by a different way, they should be viewed as a language of God. In short, dreams in Genesis, whether they are formulated in comprehensible messages or in enigmatic symbols, can all be regarded as a divine language which transmits divine message.[6]

3. Dreams as a Way of Divine Revelation

The third theological meaning of dreams in Genesis is that dreams is a mode of divine revelation. The mode of revelation in the Hebrew Bible varies from external phenomena (e.g. voices and forces of nature) to internal phenomena (e.g. visions and dreams). In Genesis, dreams are one of the legitimate and common channels by which God reveals God's will and foreshadows future events.

For instance, God reveals God's will to Abimelech, Jacob, and Laban through dreams (Gen 20:3-7, 28:12-15, 31:11-16, 31:24). Gen 41:25b writes, "God had revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do." The biblical narrative describes Pharaoh's dream as a foreshadowing from God which shows the coming of great abundance and famine in Egypt (Gen 41:15-32). Therefore, Jean-Michel de Tarragon claims that ordinary prophecy could always benefit from revelation by dreams, such as the dream of Jacob at Bethel and the dreams that Joseph interpreted for his companions in captivity and for Pharaoh.[7]

Moreover, scholars have been able to deduce some theological agenda of the biblical writers concerning revelation from dream narratives in Genesis. For instance, Hermann Gunkel argues, "[E] prefers dreams and the call of the angel from heaven--the most invisible means of revelation.¨[8] A. Oppenheim and Robert Gnuse also observe that many narratives in Genesis as well as in the Hebrew Bible appear in the materials attributed to the Elohist. For Gnuse, the Elohist sees God as distant from creation while demanding fear and obedience as human responses. This aura of transcendence requires the Elohist to use more indirect forms of revelation than the anthropomorphic theophanies of the Yahwist.[9]

Gnuse also commends, "Israelites believed that reality encountered them in their dreams, whether it was from God or from somewhere else, the experience was to be respected. Thus, God might choose the dream as a mode of revelation."[10] Hence, dreams eventually became one of the best modes of revelation, either for God, for the Elohist, or for Israelites. In short, dreams in Genesis can be understood as a mode for God to reveal the divine will and to foreshadow future events.


4. Dreams as a Divine Initiative Intervening in Human Affairs for God's People

The fourth theological meaning of dreams in Genesis is that dreams is a divine initiative intervening in human affairs for God's people. In Genesis, people cannot force God into giving dreams for divine direction or revelation through the ancient practice of incubation (sleeping in a temple and praying for a dream from the divine).[11]

Although some scholars have claimed that Jacob's dream at Bethel results from the practice of incubation, Diana Lipton's argument may successfully invalidate this kind of idea. She argues that the text (Gen 28:10-22) never mentions about the practice of incubation or any action Jacob did concerning it at all. In addition, it is generally acknowledged prerequisite of dream incubation that the dreamer should be aware of the holiness of the place before falling asleep. Therefore, Jacob's failure to recognize holiness of the place proves that he was not involved in the practice.[12]

A. Oppenheim also points out that even if Jacob's dream at Bethel was involved in the practice of incubation, "this might be called a case of unintentional incubation."[13] Robert Gnuse even asserts that the Israelites disdained the practice of incubation.[14] Thus it is impossible to view Jacob's dream as a result of incubation. We may now conclude that all dreamers in Genesis received dreams passively and unexpectedly.[15] Every dream originates from God or serves for God's will concerning God's people.

The dream of Abimelech and Laban (Gen 20:3-7, 31:22-29) clearly show God's proactive action and protection through dreams for God's people. The divine action through dreams happened even when God's people did not know that they were in danger (Gen 31:29). For this reason, Scott Noegel proclaims that the dream of Abimelech illustrates "how Yahweh assumes an active role in saving the founding father of the Israelite religion."[16] Jacob's dream in Gen 31:10-13 also reveals that God has a proactive hand in the successes of God's people. Pharaoh's dream discloses God's intervention in the affair of Egypt not merely for Joseph but for the Israelites (Gen 41:25-41, 45:4-9).

Indeed, the dream narratives in Genesis present the close relationship between God and God's people. The divine action and voices surrounds them. The dreams witness the divine intention of intervening in human affairs in order to manifest the almighty God who guides God's people and directs the flow of history for them.[17]

God acts for God's people on God's own initiative without anyone else ordering, suggesting, or helping. It is only God who "speaks through dreams, either to make known His will or to announce future events."[18] In short, dreams in Genesis demonstrate the transcendence and initiative of God, who dominates and directs all things for God's people.


5. Dreams as a Divine-Human Encounter

The fifth theological meaning of dreams in Genesis is that dreams as a human-divine encounter. From Genesis we may find that it is difficult for humans to see God directly. People cannot meet God in the same way they meet others. Dreams, like visions, thus become an alternative way for the divine-human encounter. Moreover, the experience of encountering the divine in dreams is able to change people's attitudes toward God or their acts toward God's people.

The divine-human encounter is depicted in many dream narratives in Genesis (e.g. Gen 20:3-7, 28:10-15, 31:24). For instance, Gen 28:10-15 portrays that Jacob dreams a ladder which connects between the earth and heaven; then the divine appears to Jacob, and Jacob encounters with the divine. According to Frances Flannery-Daily, the ladder in this dream could be seen as "a symbol that bridges earth and heaven, signifying that the divine realm is accessible from earth" through dreams.[19] In this sense, this dream can be regarded as a kind of ladder which is able to make divinity and humanity connected. 

Moreover, in Genesis, after people wake from the dreams in which they encounter the divine, their attitudes toward God or their acts towards God's people are altered. Supporting by Niditch's argument, Flannery-Daily states that biblical dreams "speak directly to the idea that contact with the divine has a profound effect on the dreamer."[20] Lipton also asserts that each dream in Genesis is received during a period of anxiety or danger, either for the dreamer or the person for whom the dream is actually intended; but each dream signals a change in status for the dreamer or the person, or for both.[21]

This is evident in the reactions of Abimelech, Jacob, and Laban to their dreams (Gen 20:3-18, 28:10-22, 31:10-21, 24-29). After waking from their dreams, Abimelech returned Abraham's wife, and Laban bewared of attempting anything with Jacob, good or bad. Jacob¡¦s dream at Bethel also leads to the change of his attitude toward God. The first time that Jacob spoke of God is in Gen 27:20. At that time, he called the Lord not as his God, but as Isaac's God. But when he encountered the Lord in the dream at Bethel, not only did he practice (this is the first time he practiced) some religious rites for God (e.g. set the stone up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it; name that site as Bethel, house of God) but also he made a vow that he will regard the Lord as his God and set aside a tithe for God if he sees further evidences. In addition, after encountering with the Lord in another dream, Jacob followed God's direction: left the land of Laban and returned to his birth land, the land of Canaan (Gen 31:10-21).

All these examples demonstrate the fact that many dreams in Genesis are the events of divine-human encounter. Those dreams force people to make critical decisions or take significant actions as reactions to their dreams. Their encounters with the divine in dreams require their active and immediate responses to God or God's people in waking lives.

III. Conclusion

One third of biblical dream narratives are presented in Genesis. For many readers, dream narratives are one of the most fascinating narratives in the entire Bible. Dreams in Genesis may primarily serve the biblical stories. But dreams themselves can also reveal many significant theological meanings, which have been neglected by many biblical readers.

After deeply exploring the dream narratives in Genesis, we may discover that the theological meanings of dreams include: the dream world as a sacred space, dreams as a divine language transmitting divine messages, dreams as a common mode of divine revelation, dreams as a divine initiative intervening in human affairs for God's people, and dreams as a divine-human encounter, which is able to change the dreamer's attitude toward God or God's people.

Bibliography


Blau, Ludwig. "Dreams." in Isidore Singer, ed. The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. IV. NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901.

Eliade, Mircea, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Trans. by Willard R. Trask. FL: Harcourt, 1959.

Flannery-Dailey, Frances. Dreamers, Scribes, and Priests: Jewish Dreams in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras. Boston: Brill, 2004.

Gnuse, Robert Karl, Dreams and Dreams Reports in the Writings of Josephus: A Traditio-Historical Analysis. NY: E. J. Brill, 1996.

"Dreams and their Theological Significance in the Biblical Tradition." in the Journal Currents in Theology and Mission. 8 Jan, 1981. ATLA Religion Database.

Husser, Jean-Marie, Dreams and Dream Narratives in the Biblical World. UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.

Lipton, Diana. Revisions of Night: Politics and Promises in the Patriarchal Dreams of Genesis. UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999.

Mendelsohn, I. "Dreams." in George A. Buttrick, ed. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. I. TN: Abingdon, 1962.

Noegel, Scott. "Dreams and Dream Interpretations in Mesopotamia and in the Hebrew Bible." in Bulkeley, Kelly. ed. Dreams: A Reader on Religious, Cultural, and Psychological Dimensions of Dreaming. NY: Palgrave, 2001.

Oppenheim, A. Leo. The Interpretation of Dreams in the Near Ancient East. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1956.

de Tarragon, Jean-Michel , "Witchcraft, Magic, and Divination in Canaan and Ancient Israel." in Jack. M. Sasson, ed. Civilization of the Near East. Vol. III. NY: Charles Scribner's Son, 1995.