1 Samuel 18:25-27
“Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
Discuss.
Paul Johnson asserts repeatedly in “The History of the Jews” that compared to the Greeks, Jews had a richer literary tradition. I see what he means. On the one hand, you have Helen of Troy launching 1000 ships. On the other hand, you have Michal launching 200 foreskins.
Here is a miracle.
3000 years ago, a story was written in words. The story lives on.
The human mind can travel tin time. Learning from that travel, is another gift.
Why does the Bible have all these passages concerning circumcision and foreskins? It’s creepy, just like the old icky guys who hang around the park watching the little girls jump rope.
Paul
You really seem to have a hang up about belittling the Jews.
There are, for what it is worth, other ancient literary heritages. The Vedas, for example, may be even older than the Torah.
What makes the Jewish heritage so unusual is that it got turned into a bible by the Christians.
Jews and Greeks were different too because the phonetic alphabet,originating among the Jews, let both people turn oral legends into literature accessible to their populations.
Now, atheists and Christians join hands in castigating Jews for “bible” stories that are, for us, history.
Imagine the snark and fun Goldy could have if he treated the lives of the saints as revealing what the Jesus deity wills!
@3 %en years
Riddle me this, why should anyone but a Jew care about our history. WE never asked you to be interested.
I think Christians should have their own bible, leave us out of it entirely. I would feature in your bible the moral lessons form the popes and the holy roman emperors.
In this new bible, rather than worrying about the Jewish interest in the prepuce, you can focus on the fascination of popes and emperors on castration.
Ummm “moral lessons [from] the popes”? Let’s not SJ… When the pope elevates himself above Jesus Christ the Son of God, they remove themselves from any discussion!
TYA, for your first sentence… the foreskin was a symbol to demonstrate being set apart by GOD! Now to your second sentence… contact OWS Racist Fraggy. You may have seen him recently!
Lol
@6
I LOVE when puddybigot does Catholic bashing…there was a snide comment about ‘idols’ the other day as well.
Yet another demonstration of puyddyhate ™ based on how someone prays differently than puddybigot.
When the Christianists are out-Christianizing each other – a great day for us atheists!
@ 9
Well, it is the TeaBagger/Fascist party that is promoting the idea that Americans brought the Africans over to feed them, give them clothing and a decent place to live and teach them how to work. In other words, teach them civilization.
Out of the pure decency and kindness of their christian hearts of course.
The Catholic church was a major investor and promoter of the slave trade, and didn’t officially end it until the mid 1980s. They were still openly trading in African slaves until that point, mostly to the Sheiks in the middle east. The RCC never really did forgive the French for losing Haiti.
@4
“What makes the Jewish heritage so unusual is that it got turned into a bible by the Christians.”
The Septuagint was written by Christians? I did not know that.
The Jewish scriptures were collected together long before there were Christians. If you are splitting hairs and saying that was not a Bible because Jews didn’t call it a bible, then the hair you are splitting is a short and curly one indeed.
I don’t know if you got the name wrong, SJ, by referring to me as ‘Paul’, but I just wanted to assure you that some of my best friends are Jewish.
Barbarians…
Tell me why we should ever trust any jew on anything?
@5,
“I think Christians should have their own bible, leave us out of it entirely.”
Great idea! When are you and the rest of the Jews migrating to Israel? Or wherever?
From 5,
Actually SJ, I don’t thnk very highly of Christianity, Judaism or Islam. There’s just to much violence and craziness in all of them. The Big Three Monotheistics are like a big plant with an old root from which two big offshoots have grown. While it’s interesting to study the plant, all three branches are still noxious.
There must be easier ways to get a wife.
@14 Another wingnut who can’t spell “too”.
What you have agaunst, Jews? We are a people .. we have a religiin but so do Indians, Tibettabs, French, Eskimo, …..
It seems to me you confuse us with the war traditions and hatreds of Islam and Jesus … why blame Maimonides for the Jhads and crusades?
@17
If a monkey in a cage flings feces at me, I don’t hate all monkeys. I merely recognize that a particular monkey is in a situation not to its liking and it demonstrating this by tossing turds, pitching poo, scattering shit.
I don’t understand the constant complaint that people here don’t like Jews. It is my personal position that Judaic monotheism is one of the philosophical waypoints by which we have arrived at the scientific method. So it is not Jews to which we, or at least me, object.
Walmart executive jumps the shark.
I love that people found out who the LTE writer really is and are roasting him in the comments.
All over the midwest Walmart’s having trouble opening new stores.
Imagine the tree whose roots have those foreskins buried amongst them!
@ 19
Thats because they’ve run their own customers out of business in every smaller town between the Ozarks and the Rocky Mountains. Wallyworld isn’t about doing business, it’s primary business is running other businesses out of business and then stepping into the hole they buried them in. But when that happens, nobody can even afford to shop there anymore, because their only options for employment are Wallyworld and the local saloons.
@ 20
Would they be hardwoods?
Meanwhile, in Turkey.
Eeeeeeew! Creepy creepy bible. What’s wrong with these people?
What is happening in Tyrkey is what should happen when doctrinaire religionist use tyranny of the majority to rule over a country.
We are SO lucky that Jefferson and Madison were non believers.
Thnks God, the one who appears here, for that.
@22 I saw what you did there
@21 Not unlike the alien race depicted in Independence Day.