The "Sons of God"

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Some of the earliest rulers named in the Bible are deified by the biblical writers. That is apparent in Genesis 6:4 which ascribes to the mighty men of old the status of elohim (deities) and gibborim (powerful ones). They are also called “sons of God” which is a common honorific among rulers of the ancient world. These rulers and kingdom builders married daughters of noble families who brought forth the proper heirs to royal territories.

The technological advances of the earliest known civilizations were under the powerful leadership and authority of what Genesis 6 calls "the mighty men of old." They established law codes as early as 3000 B.C., built fortified cities, waged war, formed treaties, and established expansive trade along the major water systems of the ancient world.

Some conspiracy theorists attribute the advanced technologies of early civilizations to aliens or to angelic beings. They write curious tomes about the Nephilim and the Annunaki. There is a great deal of interest in the Nephilim, and much of what is written is not supported by the canonical Scriptures, history, archaeology and anthropology. The term refers to powerful men who were considered "sons of God" in the ancient world because of their authority and grandeur. In Genesis 6 the phrase "sons of God" parallels the phrase "daughters of men." Such parallelism is typical of Semitic literature.

The term Nephilim comes from the Aramaic word npyl (nephil) which can mean giant or simply great. The context of Genesis 6-10 suggests that a better rendering is "mighty" or "great." The Aramaic npyl is equivalent to the Arabic nfy, meaning “hunter”. That is why some Bibles describe Nimrod, the Kushite city builder, as a "mighty hunter." The text could also read "a mighty man before the Lord."

As with all in power, there was corruption and vanity. This is the backdrop for the account of Noah, a righteous mighty man. His father Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5) was a righteous man also.

The Anakim and the Nephilim are described as heroes, "sons" of God (that is, deified ones), and the "powerful ones" (gibborim). The term gibborim comes from the term gibor, meaning powerful. Some Hebrew queens held the title gibrah, meaning powerful woman.

The Akkadian term Annunaki refers to the people of Annu. The Anakim and Anunnaki are not different groups! These are early deified rulers who called the High God Annu or Anu. Annu was a name for the High God among some Mesopotamians and among some who lived in Canaan. According to their belief, Anu/Annu has a son who is Lord/Master over the Earth. In Akkadian, the divine son was called "Enki". En means master or lord in Akkadian.

The Anakim were related to Anak of Hebron, where Sarah resided. The Anakim were organized as a three-clan confederation. The three clans were named for these three sons of Anak: Sheshai (Shasu?), Ahiman, and Talmai (Josh.15:14). There is a connection between the Nephilim (Num. 13:33), the Raphaim (Deut. 2:10), the Calebites (Josh.15:13), and the Anakim.

Related reading: Why So Many Names For God?; A Book about the Nephilim

Christ has Risen as Foretold

 

Matthew chapter 28 recounts how two women named Mary came to the tomb very early in the morning. They came toward dawn. John 20:1 indicates that it was still dark. Sunrise Easter services are a way of acknowledging Jesus' resurrection which happened before dawn.

Among the early Hebrew (4000-2000 BC) the Son of God was associated with the sun. He was said to rise in the morning as a lamb and to grow to the mature strength of a ram at sunset. He rode with the Father on the solar boat. The boat of the morning hours was called Mandjet and the boat of the evening hours was called Mesektet. While the Son was on the Mesektet, he was in his ram-headed form. You will recall that God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice on Mount Moriah. Abraham would have recognized this as a symbol of the Son of God who his Horite Hebrew people expected.

Related reading: What Abraham Discovered on Mt. Moriah; Righteous Rulers and the Resurrection; Early Resurrection Texts; The Resurrection Symbolism of Decorated Eggs

Abraham Settled in the Land of Cain

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Bible speaks about the dispersion of the early Hebrew throughout and beyond the well-watered expanse of Eden. Cain left his homeland and settled “east of Eden” (Gen. 4:15) in the land of Canaan. There Cain built a city that he named for Enoch, one of his sons. Canaan is where we later meet Cain's descendants, the Kenites. 

Some of Noah’s descendants, the Hittites, settled in Canaan and Anatolia. The Hittites were descendants of Heth (Gen. 10). Heth was the second son of Canaan (or Cain the Younger) and the ancestor of the Hittites ("sons of Heth").

Nimrod left the Nile Valley and settled in Mesopotamia where he became famous as a city builder (Gen. 10). He married a Mesopotamian princess.

Abraham left Haran in what is today Turkey and settled in Canaan, the land of one of his early ancestors. There he became established in ancient Edom or Idumea, the "Land of Red People". His territory extended on a north-south axis between the settlements of his two wives, Sarah in Hebron and Keturah in Beersheba. His wives' settlements marked the boundaries of his territory.

The Hebrew practice of sending away non-ascendant sons drove the dispersion of the early Hebrew out of Africa into Arabia, Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia. Cain, Nimrod, and Abraham moved away from their families of origin. In the Bible, the first example of that is Cain, a Hebrew, who left his homeland west of Canaan. This fits with the archaeological evidence that locates the oldest known site of Hebrew worship at Nekhen in the Nile Valley. Nimrod was a son of Kush and Kush is another name for the Nile Valley.

Canaan is where we find some of Cain's descendants, the Kenites (Gen. 15:18–21; Ex. 3:1; Num. 24:20; Jg. 1:16; Jg. 4:11). The word Kenite and the name Cain/Kain are related to the land of Canaan, which is כנען, pronounced kena'an. The Kenites were descendants of Tubal Cain who is identified as an early blacksmith in Genesis 4. The Kenite smiths often camped outside of cities where they did their metal work. When Saul came to attack Amalek’s city, he warned the Kenites to move away, saying, “Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.” (1 Sam. 15:5-6)

Related reading: Cain as Ruler; The Shrine City of Nekhen; Hebrew Priests in Aram, Edom, Judah, and Moab; Hebrew Sent-Away Sons; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries; Eden Was a Well-Watered Region; Nimrod's Mesopotamian Wife

A Christian Anthropologist Considers Gender in the Bible

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


As a Christian anthropologist, I read the Bible to understand how the biblical Hebrew reasoned. Their reasoning is not well represented by the term "complementarian" because that term suggests that there is no hierarchy in their reasoning. That is a false assumption. Orthodoxy requires binary reasoning. That is how the Bible presents the male-female relationship. To understand binary reasoning, we must consider how the Bible presents binary sets pertaining to gender.

We begin in Genesis 1:16 where we are told about the sun and the moon, which for the biblical Hebrew represented a gendered binary set. The sun is described as the greater light that rules the day and the moon as the lesser light that rules the night.

This reflects the binary distinctions which characterize the Messianic Faith revealed in the Bible. In this view, one entity of the binary set is superior to the other in an obvious way. The sun is superior to the moon because it is the greater light. The moon's light is refulgent. Likewise, the male is larger and stronger than the female. The sun is to the moon what the male is to the female, superior in size and strength. This is characteristic of the binary distinctions observed by the early Hebrew in the patterns of nature. 

Their acute observation of those patterns informed the Hebrew binary reasoning. The sun was assigned a masculine gender and was greater than the moon which was assigned a feminine gender. This pattern was modeled on earth by the Nilotic Hebrew kings and their queens. The kings appeared with skin darkened by the sun. Their queens appeared in public with white skin, representing the moon.

In Genesis 37, Joseph had a dream of his father as the sun and his mother as the moon. His dream expressed the Hebrew understanding of male and female as a binary set.

Binary reasoning involves hierarchy. One entity of the binary set is universally recognized as superior in some way to its partner. The primary sets are Creator-Creature, Life-Death, Male-Female, and Sun-Moon. It is evident from observation and experience that one entity of the binary set is greater in visible ways than its opposite. The Creator is greater than the creature. Life is greater than death. The sun is greater than the moon. Males are larger and stronger than females. (See Binary Reasoning Informs Christian Morality and Ethics, also Levi-Strauss and Jacques Derrida on Binary Oppositions)

Indeed, binary reasoning upholds the importance of the female, and this is reflected in the balance of male-female narratives in the Bible which give equal attention to males and females. The blood symbolism of the Passover associated with Moses has a parallel in the blood symbolism of the scarlet cord associated with Rahab. Those under the cover of this blood symbolism were saved from destruction.

The abusive behavior of drunken Noah toward his sons has a parallel in the abusive behavior of drunken Lot toward his daughters.

The gender balance is evident in the New Testament narratives also. When Jesus was presented in the temple His identity as Messiah was attested by the priest Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

Men and women are among Jesus’ followers. The women reportedly provided many of the material needs of Jesus and the Disciples. Jesus restored life to Jairus’ daughter (daughter to father) and life to the son of the widow of Nain (son to mother).

Jesus’ parables in Luke 15 involve a male seeking a lost sheep and a female seeking a lost coin. Paul commends both men and women to the Gospel ministry. Among them are Apollos, Priscilla, and Phoebe, a leader from the church at Cenchreae, a port city near Corinth. Paul attached to Phoebe the title of prostatis, meaning a female patron or benefactor.

To understand the gender balance of the early Hebrew, we must dismiss the false narrative that their social structure was patriarchal. The traits of a patriarchy do not apply to the biblical Hebrew from whom we receive the earliest elements of the Messianic Faith we call "Christianity." There were Hebrew women of authority. Line of descent was traced through high-status wives, especially the cousin brides. Residential arrangements included neolocal, avunculocal, matrilocal, and patrilocal, and the biblical data reveals that the responsibilities and rights of males and females were balanced, yet distinct.

So, after all this, my observation about the ACNA and other Anglican jurisdictions is that we have failed to dig deep into the canonical Scriptures which should inform every aspect of our life as the Church.

Related reading: Orthodoxy Requires Binary Reasoning; The Feminist Critique Fails; Is "Male Headship" a Biblical Doctrine?; Philosophers' Corner: Is "Complementarianism" a Biblical Concept?; Misunderstanding the Priesthood

The Influence of Hebrew Wives

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Hebrew wives whose husbands served the high kings enjoyed privileges that average Hebrew women did not have. They socialized with women of the royal courts, and they were familiar with court protocols and listened to court rumors.

Doubtless, they conveyed much of what they heard to their husbands. The story of Esther provides a glimpse of the court intrigues to which they were privy. Though the story of Esther comes from a late source (after 500 B.C.), it presents a good picture of ancient royal courts, political intrigues, and the resistance of righteous women to cruelty and injustice.

The marriages of high-status Hebrew women to Hebrew ruler-priests helped to form political alliances between the Hebrew clans. Often those clans were geographically distant. This is illustrated by Nimrod’s marriage to a Mesopotamian princess. Nimrod was a Kushite (Gen. 10) whose homeland was in the Ancient Nile Valley (ANV). He established himself in Mesopotamia where he married the royal daughter of Asshur, a Hebrew ruler (shown in the diagram above). This is further evidence of the close connection between the Hebrew of the Nile Valley and the Hebrew of Mesopotamia.

The Hebrew wife was her husband’s helper (Gen 2:18,22). Adam’s wife is described as his ezer, a Hebrew word for one who aids, supports, or helps. This is the same word used to describe God in Psalm 33:20, Psalm 70:5, and Psalm 121:1-2.

Before Israel existed, the wives of the Hebrew rulers listed in Genesis 4, 5, 11, 25, and 36 ruled over large households, arranged royal weddings, owned property, and assisted in the building of kingdoms.

The wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob influenced their husbands’ actions and decisions. They steered events that served their interests and those of their husbands. Sarah’s concession to use Hagar as a surrogate as was allowed by Horite/Hurrian family law. She took advantage of that law. Rachel’s theft of the teraphim meant that she could claim some inheritance for her husband Jacob. According to Hurrian/Horite legal records, possession of these ancestor figurines validated inheritance claims.

Sometimes the actions of Hebrew wives worked against the wishes of their husbands. Rebekah’s attempt to disguise Jacob as Esau is an example. According to the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew, Esau was Isaac's proper heir. Isaac clearly intended that Esau should receive the birthright and the blessing due to the proper heir (Gen. 25). It is likely that Esau was the firstborn son of Isaac’s unnamed first wife, a half-sister. As the firstborn son of Isaac’s half-sister wife, Esau was Isaac’s proper heir. This is consistent with the two-wife pattern of Isaac’s forefathers, including Lamech the Elder, Terah, Nahor the Elder, and Abraham. As the firstborn son of Rebekah, Isaac’s cousin wife, Jacob was sent to serve the household of his maternal grandfather. This hierarchy of Hebrew sons was a long-standing custom.

Genesis 36 states that Esau's wives were Adah, a daughter of Elon the Hittite Hebrew ruler, and Oholibamah, a great granddaughter of Seir the Horite Hebrew Ruler, and a granddaughter of Zibeon. Both wives were women of high social standing. In Genesis 36:2, Zibeon is called a Hivite, and in Genesis 36:20 Zibeon is identified as a Horite. Other examples of the interchange of the terms Hivite and Horite may be found by comparing the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint. The Septuagint reads "Horites" for the "Hivite" of the Masoretic Text in Genesis 34:2 and Joshua 9:7.

The Bible scholar, E.A. Speiser, called attention to Hurrian/Horite personal names associated with Shechem and other settlements in Canaan whose inhabitants are called Hivites. Genesis 34:2 specifies Shechem as a Hivite or Horite settlement. The Horite Hebrew were devotees of God Father and God’s son, HR (Horus in Greek). Their earliest known settlements were in the Ancient Nile Valley where the original inhabitants were known to have a distinctive red skin tone, as did Esau and Adam.

Related reading: Hebrew Cousin Wives; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons, Lamech Segment Analysis; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; Adam was a Red Man; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant

Number Symbolism in the Bible is Relative

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Number symbolism in the Bible varies, depending on the cultural and geographical context. For the early Nilotic Hebrew (4000-2000 BC) "40 days and 40 nights" pertained to the Nile floods (40 days) and the period of time before the people could return to their homes (40 nights). However, the number 40 does not appear in the Book of Daniel with its geographical setting around Susa (biblical Shushan) in Babylon. The geographical differences are a significant factor in understanding number symbolism in the Bible.

Also, consider how different translations provide different numbers. Genesis 46:27 in the Septuagint says, "Thus all the souls of Jacob's house who went to Egypt were seventy-five" but the Masoretic says, "...all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy." Different lifespans are assigned to Lamech the Younger (Gen. 5). In the Septuagint, he is said to have lived 753 years. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, he is said to have lived 653 years, and the Masoretic text claims that he lived 777 years.

The number 7 is frequently found in the Bible in connection with the royal Hebrew priesthood. The number 4 is often found in connection to the cardinal directions.

The number 3 is repeatedly found in connection to divinely inspired or God directed actions. Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the whale. Moses was hidden for 3 months (Ex. 2:2). Job's 3 friends struggled with the mystery of why the righteous suffer. Moses asked permission to go 3-days journey into the wilderness to worship. Abraham traveled 3 days to a mountain only God could reveal and upon which God provided His own sacrifice. The Covenant God made with Abraham involved cutting up 3 animals that were 3 years old. The visit by 3 "Men" to Abraham's tent. The 3 measures of flour made into cakes for those Visitors. The 3 gifts offered them: curds, milk and a calf. Abraham prayed 3 times for Sodom. Joseph had a dream of a vine with 3 branches (Gen 40:10-12). The “Son of Man” appeared with 3 men in the fiery furnace. 

In ancient Egypt, the number 3 symbolized the divine triad of Re, Hathor and Horus (HR, "Most High One" in Proto-Egyptian). The number 3 also spoke of life after death, symbolizing birth-death-and bodily resurrection. St. Augustine noted that the Egyptians took great care in the burial of their dead and never practiced cremation, as in the religions that seek to escape material existence. Their greatest fear was the "second death" which apparently occurs when the body and the spirit/soul as a unit are not restored to life in the resurrection. The Son of God rose on the third day, as his early Hebrew ancestors anticipated. HR is described as rising on the third day. Utterance 667 (The Ancient Pyramid Texts) dates to about 4000 years ago and states that HR would rise on the third day. "Oh HR, 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."

The study of numbers in the Bible is fascinating, but one must not become dogmatic about one's personal or mystical interpretation. The Church Fathers were not interested in philosophical speculation about numbers. Nor was the Apostle Paul. Risto Santala, the late Finnish Bible scholar and an expert on Paul, wrote, "The esoteric Qabbalah wandered off the right track in creating a very extensive literature on doctrines of angels and mysteries relating to God's being (razei El). Only those over the age of forty were allowed to study them. The angel RAZIEL, whose numeric value in gematria is 248 and who thus knew the inner secrets of the two hundred and forty-eight 'do'- commandments, gave Adam the 'Sefer Raziel', that is, 'the Book of Raziel', an esoteric source. The enormous literature of the Kabbalah is occupied with these imaginary conjectures. They indeed have 'an appearance of wisdom,' but both Jesus and Paul entirely renounced them."

Related reading: Early Resurrection Texts; Righteous Rulers and the Resurrection; The Cardinal Directions Tell a Story; Just Genesis: Lamech Segment Analysis; Number Symbolism in Revelation

Farsi Lexicon

Zendeh bad Iran! - Long live Iran!

atash - fire

azadi - liberty, freedom, independence

ba - with

bādām - almond (badam bedune namak - almond without salt)

bargaštan - to return, come back

bedune - without

bah bah - how good! Wow!

berenj - uncooked rice

boro! - Go! Leave!

borj - tower

chador - veil or scarf

chai - tea

chello - steamed Persian rice

dar - door

deevāné - crazy, insane

dobara - again

dokhtar - daughter

geshangi (ghashang) - beautiful, pretty, lovely

gom - lost, missing

halleh - All good. It is solved.

haram - forbidden, unlawful, prohibited

javid - eternal, everlasting, immortal

khāneh - house or home

khayli - very (Khayli khoob - very good)

khiâbân - street

khodâfez - goodbye

khoob - good

khoresh - stew

khoshhaal - glad, happy

khyar - cucumber (mast ba khyar - yogurt with cucumber)

kučeh - alley

kuh - mountain

luleh - pipe or tube

madar - mother or māmān (informal)

mast - yogurt

māshin - car/automobile

mazra'e - farm

morgh - chicken

namak - salt

nan - bread

pedar - father or baba (informal)

parandeh - bird (parandegân - birds)

panjereh - window

pesar - son

piste - pistacio

polo - rice

qanat - canal or conduit

salam - hello

shab (pronounced sheb) - night

shab bekheir - goodnight

shah- king or ruler

shahbanu - female ruler, queen or empress

shām - dinner

shams - sun (borrowed from Arabic)

shir - lion, also can refer to milk, or a faucet/tap

shirzan - lioness or a brave woman

sobh - morning

tokhm - seed, egg, semen, testicle

tokhm morgh - egg (of chicken)

vatan - homeland

yad - memory