Unit 7 Lecture Notes Flashcards
This Book was written by an unknown author about 200B.C., to encourage faithful Jews to be righteous and patient during the difficult period of Greek oppression. The author of the book was familiar with an ancient folktale called “The Grateful Dead” as it follows the same pattern. The story is set 500 years earlier, in the Assyrian capital of Ninevah after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. The story begins with a good and a certain faithful Jewish man and his family. His love for his fellow Israelites extends to burying the corpses of his fallen people a time of the Assyrian persecution-at the risk of his own life. He becomes discouraged because he has become blind. In another city, far off, a young woman named Sarah grieves for her misfortune. Every man she marries has died on her wedding (for a total of 7). They are killed by a jealous demon. God cares for both of these grieving people by weaving their lives together through the intervention of Raphael (an angel who appears as a man named Azariah). The angel accompanies his son Tobias on a long journey to collect money owed to his father. Along the way the angel matches up Sarah and Tobias. Sarah is related to Tobias’ father’s family an her situation is known through out the land. Under the assurance of Raphael (Azariah) Tobias trusts that all will be well and Tobias and Sarah are married. On their wedding night, the demon is banished forever by Raphael. Tobias and Sarah return home and find out that Tobias’ father’s blindness is cured. Raphael reveals himself as a messenger from God and disappears. The story ends happily with Tobias’ father and Tobias trust and faith in The Lord.
The story of Tobit
The Book of Job struggles with this dilemma. It is a story of a virtuous and wealthy man named Job who loses everything-wealth, family, health. He bears his sufferings patiently, trusting in and not questioning God. The Book of Job does not give a definite answer to the question of why good people suffer from this. Job dismisses the easy answers of the his time (a punishment from God) but rather shows a sense of humility in this great mystery.
Problem of Evil
The angel in the story of the Book of Tobit. He first appears as a man (Azariah) but at the end of the story reveals himself as an angel of The Lord. He reminds Tobit and Tobias that faith in God is deeply rewarded.
Raphael
The author of this Book was probably a Palestine Jew who wrote sometime after 150B.C. The story is set in the Persian period after the Babylonian exile. She is a model of faith and courage and not an historical figure. This is a story of a young Israelite woman who saves her people from destruction at the hands of Holofernes, Nebuchadrezzar’s cruel general. The story opens in the Israelite town of Bethulia which is located near the mountain passes where the Assyrians could enter and overrun Israel. If Bethulia falls, all of Israel falls to the Assyrians. Holofornes has control of Bethulia’s water supply, so he decides instead of attacking the town, he will lay siege to it cutting off the water supply and allow the inhabitants die of thirst. Weeks later, even after rationing the water, the townspeople consider surrendering. The woman enters the scene. She is a young widow who is pious, disciplined, intelligent, and fearless. She begs her people not to give in for it will be not only the end of them but all Israelites. The woman develops a plan: she will enter the Holofernes’ camp and with the help of The Lord, she will crush this enemy. And this is exactly what the woman does. She makes herself beautiful and with her main charms her way into the camp. She tells the guards that she has information for Holofernes about the town and the mountain passes that will he will need when he attacks them both. Holofernes is taken in by the woman’s beauty and believes her plan. The woman tells Holofernes that in order to help him she must leave the camp each night to pray to her God. Her God will tell her when is the best time to attack the town and mountain passes. She also tells Holofernes that she and her maid must carry their own food in a sack because of the kosher requirements. So the woman and her maid, each night leave the camp to pray and bring in their food in a sack. On the fourth night Holofernes plans a banquet for the woman in order to seduce her. But during the meal, he has too much to drink and falls asleep. Alone with him, the woman prays for strength, and then takes his sword, and cuts his head off. She rolls into the sack and leaves the camp to pray. The woman goes to the city gates of Bethulia and shouts “Our God is with us” and pulls the head of Holofernes out of the sack. All the townspeople rejoice. The woman goes off quietly to pray and thank God for her triumph without her defilement. The next day the Israelites pretend to attack the Assyrians and when the Assyrians discover that Holofernes is dead, they panic and flee. Israel is saved by a widowed woman!!!
The story of Judith
It means “fit” or “proper” in Hebrew, and the food is prepared according to Jewish dietary laws. The word is introduced in the Book of Judith.
Kosher
There is debate over when this book was written but the unknown author had two purposes in writing the book: 1) to praise the goodness of God, who saved the Jews from annihilation and 2) to explain the origin of the feast of Purim. The time of the story is the reign of the King of Persia named Artaxerxes (485-464 B.C.). The location of the story is Susa, a Persian city where many Jews of the Dispersion settled. King Artaxerxes orders his queen to step down from the throne after an incident where she humiliates him. To replace her, the king searches the kingdom for the most beautiful woman in the land. A Jewish girl is
encouraged by her kinsmen, Mordecai to place herself in the running for queen, but she can’t
reveal that she is Jewish. Because of beauty and piety she is immediately selected by the king. As queen, she discovers a plot by the prime minister, Haman, to kill all the Jews in the land. This grudge goes back to a incident when Mordecai did not respect Haman by bowing down to him. Ever since then, Haman tried to find a way to punish Mordecai and his people. Haman convinces the king that the Jewish people are treasonous and the king agrees to the plan. At Mordecai’s urging, the queen agrees to plead for her people. But she is terrified to go to court without the king’s summons: such an act would be considered improper and would mean her death. The queen shaking with fear, appears before the king. He welcomes her but she faints.
When recovered, she invites the king and Haman to be guest at dinner. But at the mean, Esther is too afraid to ask the king to save her people. Instead she asks the two men to return the next evening. That same night, the king learns that Mordecai once uncovered a plot to kill the king but was never rewarded for his good deed. The king insists on finally rewarding (completely unaware that Haman hates Mordecai). In the morning, Haman shows the king the gallows he has constructed for the Jews, the king asks him what he should do to honor a certain man. Haman dreams up a elaborate procession. The king is well pleased and said that is exactly what Mordecai should receive and Haman is to make all the arrangements. The next evening, the queen gathers her strength and tells the king that one of his nobles wants to kill herself and all her people. The king is furious and demands to know who this noble is and the queen points to Haman. Haman begs forgiveness from the queen but the king will have none of it and has Haman hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai.
Esther
A Jewish festival to celebrate the courage of Queen Esther to save her people. The name comes from the lot-the pur-that Haman drew to determine the date of the slaughter of the Jews. On this festival, the Jewish people attend synagogue service, primarily to hear the story of Queen Esther. The congregation gets into the story by booing Haman and cheering Esther.
Purim
This Book is a short book only 4 chapters long. It is considered a humorous satire. The main point of the story is that God’s mercy extends to all not just the Chosen People. The author is unknown and the setting is the Assyrian Empire around 750 B.C. The
book was probably written in the 5th century B.C. The prophet is depicted, satirically and not of the tradition of any of the Old Testament prophets. He is portrayed to be scatterbrain and self-serving and complains and sulks when God turns out to be merciful to sinners. The story opens with god telling the prophet to go to Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) and warn the people that their wickedness is known and the people are going to be destroyed. To the prophet, the Ninevites are pagans and should be destroyed. So instead of doing what God wants him to do, the prophet flees on a ship bound for a distant land. Out on the sea, a terrible storm comes up, and the crew blame the prophet for their troubles and throw him overboard. The prophet is swallowed by a fish and held in the fish belly for three days until the fish throws him up on the shore. The prophet is changed by this experience and now has the full attention of The Lord. This time when The Lord sends him to Nineveh (for the 2nd time), he goes and delivers the message of destruction from The Lord. After only one day of preaching, the Ninevites, repent, fast and turn to God for mercy. Upon seeing the Ninevites repent, God decides not to destroy them after all. The prophet is not pleased to hear this so he throws God’s mercy back into God’s face. He tells God that this was the reason why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh is the first place, God is too
forgiving. The prophet would rather die than lose his creditability as a prophet of doom. God makes it clear that the prophet has no reason to be angry. If the prophet is so concerned about himself, shouldn’t God be concerned about and show mercy to the city of Nineveh and its 120,000 inhabitants? The books ends with the prophet having no answer.
The story of Jonah
