The Torah had only one source. In this story Asherah liberated the Jews.

Discussion about the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint, pseudepigrapha, Philo, Josephus, Talmud, Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeology, etc.
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Krupin
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Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:38 am

The Torah had only one source. In this story Asherah liberated the Jews.

Post by Krupin »

In slavery were only the criminal tribes of the sons of Israel. The Elohim(=Yahweh+ Asherah) deprived them of their protection for vile crimes. The righteous tribes of Jacob lived in their homeland. Mount Garizim was sacred. This mountain was the residence of the Elohim.

The new pharaoh began genocide. The grieving Asherah could not remain indifferent to the extermination of infants. Just at this time, to the righteous priest Raguel came Moses. Zipporah circumcised Moses and he became a member of the tribe of Ephraim. Moses was brought up by Pharaoh's daughter. He knew the palace situation, was familiar with important officials. Therefore, Asherah forced Moses to take part in the rescue expedition. Probably, the children of Raguel (son and daughter) also went to Egypt.

The tribes of Jacob made for the travel of the goddess a magnificent marching tent and the Ark. The statue of Asherah sat on the wings of the cherubs. Asherah, the goddess of fertility, multiplied toads and biting insects. They inflicted painful inconveniences on the Egyptians and Pharaoh. After the seventh execution, Pharaoh released the slaves into the desert for sacrifice.

Pharaoh thought that slaves can not escape through a waterless desert and the sea. But Asherah knew how to get water from the rocks. She made a supply of manna from heaven. In Phenicia, Ashera was revered as a sea goddess. Therefore the sea parted before her ark.

Joshua brought to the aid of the army of the tribes of Jacob. Amalik, king of Edom, refused to peacefully pass the Jewish pillar and attacked her. Joshua defeated this king. The Jews returned to Mount Gerizim through the territory of Edom.

The tribes of Israel were again taken under the auspices of the gods. They passed a circumcision ceremony. Because of this, three days could not «touch» their wives. After healing wounds, Joshua and Moses received two tablets on the sacred mountain. One was given to Jacob, the other was given to Israel. There were seven commandments in the tablets.

At this time, the Jews made a cow from the cedar tree, covered it with wool, stuck into the "mouth" a bunch of hyssop. The cow symbolized the goddess-liberator. The holiday began, which was joined by Joshua with Moses. This, according to this work, is the origin of the Passover feast. Before the captivity, Easter was celebrated in honor of Asherah, the goddess of fertility.

This story is read without special effort between the lines of the Torah.
nili
Posts: 116
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 1:02 pm

Re: The Torah had only one source. In this story Asherah liberated the Jews.

Post by nili »

Krupin wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2017 9:25 pm This story is read without special effort ...
Not in my case.
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billd89
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Location: New England, USA

Holy Moses! He was Uncircumcised???

Post by billd89 »

Krupin wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2017 9:25 pm Zipporah circumcised Moses and he became a member of the tribe of Ephraim.
Waaaaatt...??!

So I'm translating Daniel Völter’s Jahwe und Mose im Licht aegyptischer Parallelen [1919] and he has several pages on this. This I did not know! It was then she declared Moses "a bridegroom of blood by circumcision."

For when Yahweh demands the circumcision of Moses, at the moment when he enters Egyptian soil for the first time after his marriage, He makes the impression of an Egyptian God.

I'm reading:
1) Moses is an Egyptian and not circ'd the right way.
2) Zipporah is the daughter of a Priest of Yaweh; she knows how to do the job in a pinch.
3) Embarrassing elements are dodged by reading Gershom for Moses: Moses didn't circ his own sons, etc.

God Seeks Moses' Life
It appears that God was about to kill Moses because Moses was not circumcised. The episode takes place while Moses, his wife Zipporah, and their son are lodging for the night. As Moses comes under attack by God, Zipporah takes a flint knife and circumcises their son. Scripture says that she then takes their son's foreskin and touches Moses' feet with it. "Feet" is a Hebrew euphemism for “private parts” (our own English euphemism for genitals) . The genitals are so private that they are not mentioned. Every Israelite reading/hearing the story would know that Zipporah did not touch Moses' “feet” with the foreskin, but his private parts. In this way she performed a vicarious circumcision, identifying Moses with the circumcision of their son. Upon this act the LORD “let him alone”(4:26) and let Moses live. Zipporah's quick thinking (and cutting) saved Moses' life.

A Tale of Courage We Never Teach
Since the other Israelite males were circumcised prior to the conquest at Gilgal (some a “second time”; Josh 5:2), we can reasonably assume that Moses had never been circumcised or was circumcised according to Egyptian custom. Had he been marked by Hebrew circumcision, he would likely have been in danger in Pharaoh’s household.

God’s anger at Moses in Exodus 4 is apparently due to Moses’ negligence in obeying God’s covenant ritual as a free man in Midian after he had fled Egypt. Exodus informs us that the Midianites knew the God of Sinai and practiced circumcision—Zipporah knew how to perform the ritual (Exod 4:25). Since God chose Moses as His representative to deliver Israel, Moses’ laxity in covenant obedience became an issue. Doing the Right Thing: Zipporah’s Courage

What about the meaning of touching the foreskin to the “feet”? This is not part of the normal circumcision ritual. However, the Hebrew word translated “feet” (רגל) is also used as a euphemism for genitalia or genital functions, including sexual exposure (see Judg 3:24; 1 Sam 24:3; Ezek 16:25; Ruth 3:4, 7). The phrase in Exodus 4:25 makes sense only if Zipporah circumcised her son, Gershom, and then symbolically transferred that circumcision to Moses by taking the foreskin and touching Moses’ genitals.

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