Seth, Son of Adam

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The historical Adam was the father of three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth. The Bible does not name any descendants of Abel. Some of Cain's descendants are listed in Genesis 4 and some of Seth's descendants are listed in Genesis 5. The lines of Cain and Seth intermarried (endogamy). That is shown in the diagram.

Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4) had a daughter named Naamah. She married her cousin Methuselah and named their firstborn son Lamech, after her father. This is an example of the cousin bride's naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the early Hebrew (5000-2000 BC).

The rulers listed in Genesis chapters 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36 were members of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste. As is common with castes, they practiced endogamy. By marrying only members of their caste, certain genetic traits were passed to their descendants. Apparently, a red to red-brown skin tone was one of those traits. 

The Sethite Hebrew were a well-established moiety of the Hebrew caste by 2400 BC because their sacred sites are mentioned in texts that date to 2400 BC. This means that the historical Adam probably lived between c.5000-4800 BC. 

The Sethites served at the sacred high places (mounds) along the Nile and are mentioned many times in the Ancient Pyramid Texts (2400-2200 BC). One place where figurines of Seth were found is Nekhen on the Nile. The city was dedicated to the son of the High God, HR (Horus in Greek). HR in ancient Egyptian means "Most High One."

The vast majority of hair samples discovered at the predynastic cemetery site HK43 at Nekhen were cynotrichous (Caucasian) as opposed to heliotrichous (Negroid), according to The Nekhen News (p. 7). Samples ranged from a single hair to a complete headful, with the largest number originating from the disturbed Burial no. 16 of a female of around 35+ years of age.

Another fascinating find at Nekhen was the recovery of an almost complete beard in association with the redheaded man in Burial no. 79. The man had long wavy natural red hair and a full beard. 

The shrine city of Nekhen is the oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship and there were Sethite Hebrew living there. This figurine of Seth as a red man with the head of a hippo. was found at Nekhen. Perhaps the hippo was the totem of the Sethite Hebrew, and the falcon was the totem of the Horite Hebrew. Note the red-brown tone of the figurine.

Seth is often portrayed in ancient images as a red hippo. Seth’s homeland is the land of Seti, at the northern edge of the Upper Nile. This region is sometimes referred to as the land of red earth. 

According to Genesis 5:3, Seth was a son in the image of his father Adam. This likely means that he had a red skin tone. The word “Adam” refers to blood (dam in Hebrew, dammu in Ancient Akkadian) and the color red. Adam is derived from the root אדם (A.D.M), meaning "to be red or ruddy" (Strong’s #119). Jeff A. Benner explains, Dam is the "red" blood, adamah is the "red" ground, edom is the color "red" and adam is the "red" man.

The connection between the terms adam (red man) and adamah (red soil) is evident in Genesis 2:7 which states that "the adam" was formed out of the "adamah." The region of the Nile under consideration has a cambic B horizon. Chromic cambisols have a strong red brown color. 

Related reading: Horite and Sethite Mounds; Adam and Estrangement from God; Funerary Rites and the Hope of Resurrection; African = Black is a Modern Equation

Is "Male Headship" a Biblical Doctrine?

 

The Hebrew cousin bride had the prerogative to name her firstborn son after her father.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Where is the Evangelical doctrine of "male headship" found throughout the canonical Scriptures? It is cobbled together by cherry picking verses from Paul whose concern was recognition of God's supreme authority. The Apostle Paul had great respect for women and his instructions in 1 Timothy 2 address a specific situation. Most of Paul's writings on men and women are used to speak of the authority of Christ as the Head of the Church.

"For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands." (Eph. 5:23-24) Here Paul uses a marriage analogy to speak of Christ's authority. 

Paul repeats that analogy in 1 Cor. 11:3 - "But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Again, Paul's concern is that Christ's followers recognize authority.

Paul often uses analogies. The Adam of which Paul speaks is analogical, not historical. Paul's analogy involves a typical Hebrew parallelism between Adam by whom sin and death entered and the New Adam, Jesus Christ, by whom sin and death are overcome. Clearly this analogy is not intended to be taken as history, unless we are to believe that people before 6000 years ago did not sin and did not die.

It is clear that in drawing this analogy, Paul believed Adam to be historical because both Adam and Jesus Christ acted in ways that had lasting consequences in human history. However, Paul also admits that his presentation of Adam involves typology. He writes that Adam “was a type of the one who was to come.” (Rom. 5:14)

Evangelicals maintain that God established male headship at creation. However, in the Bible male-female is a binary set. Binary sets are composed of 2 closely related entities such as male-female and sun-moon. It is universally evident that one of the entities of these sets is greater in strength than its partner. "God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night." (Gen. 1:16) This is the message! The Creator is greater than the creature. Only the greater power and authority can stoop to save. Paul goes on to express the binary relationship this way: As Christ loves and protects the Church so the husband is to love and protect his wife. 

The binary reasoning of the Bible is based on the early Hebrew priests' acute observation of patterns in creation. The male of the human species is larger and stronger than the female. The sun's brilliance surpasses the refulgent light of the moon. To apply an analogy: The Church reflects Christ's light in the world. 

For the early Hebrew the sun was a symbol of the Creator because it spoke of God's rule over all the earth. It also spoke of divine authority. Those who were appointed by God were believed to be divinely overshadowed. That is why Hathor is shown with the sun resting in her crown of horns. She is the archetype of the Virgin Mary who conceived by divine overshadowing (Lk 1:35). 

The same belief about divine appointment is expressed in the Hebrew names of many rulers. The initial Y is a solar cradle indicating divine appointment. It is found in these names: Yishmael (Ishmael); Yishbak; Yitzak (Isaac); Yacob (Jacob); Yehuda (Judah); Yosef (Joseph); Yetro (Jethro); Yeshai (Jesse), Yonah (Jonah), Yeroboam (Jeroboam), Yosedech (Josedech) and his son Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) who wore the double crown (Zech. 6:11).

Yesu (Jesu) in hieroglyphics represents one who judges and rules as God's appointed.

The binary reasoning of the Bible prevents the biblical faith from slipping into dualism, a view in which the two entities of a set are equal in every way and to be granted equality in all things. That view is represented by egalitarians. Binary reasoning also prevents slipping into views that place all authority exclusively with males (absolute patriarchy). The social structure of the biblical Hebrew was neither egalitarian nor patriarchal. My book "The First Lords of the Earth" makes that clear in chapters 6-13. The final chapter is about binary reasoning.

Gender Balance Throughout the Scriptures

A detailed anthropological study of the social structure of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste shows that it was neither patriarchal nor egalitarian. It reveals a balance of authority between males and females. There were male prophets and female prophets, male rulers and female rulers; inheritance by male heirs and inheritance by female heirs, patrilocal residence, and matrilocal residence; and an equal distribution of rights and responsibilities between the "mother's house" and the "father's house."

Hebrew names and titles include patronymics such as Kalev ben Jephunneh (Num. 13) and Bartholomew, an Anglicized version of the Aramaic patronymic Bar-Talmai. Patronymics are common in the Hebrew Bible. So are matronymics. Bath-Sheba is an example. Solomon's mother was of the royal house of Sheba. This is why one of the entrance pillars of Solomon's Temple commemorates Jachin (Joktan), a name associated with the clan of Sheba. Solomon bowed before Bathsheba, the queen mother, and had her sit on a throne at his right side (1 Kg. 2:19).

The Hebrew gender balance is evident in the biblical narratives 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.

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, Timothy, and Phoebe, a leader from the church at Cenchreae, a port city near Corinth. Paul attaches 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." Line of descent was traced through high-status wives, especially the cousin brides. Women owned property and could inherit. The biblical data reveals that the responsibilities and rights of males and females were balanced, yet distinct. There were Hebrew women of authority, but not one served as a priest at the altar. Instead, many ministered to women at the royal water shrines where women came for healing, purification, and for prayers concerning fertility concerns. 

In the Bible, both men and women of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste were persons of authority though no women served as priests. Unless the Church reflects this biblical pattern, it cannot claim to be faithful to the whole counsel of God.

Related reading: Philosophers' Corner: Is "Complementarianism" a Biblical Concept?; Male and Female are Primary in Hebrew Scriptures; The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities; Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Temple Women

The Ministry of Hebrew Woman at the Sun Cities

 

Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall, eastern interior wall.

"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays." Mal. 4:2

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The veneration of the sun as a symbol of the High God was well developed by 3200 BC, as is evidenced by at least 6 sun temples. Among them were the sun temples of Niuserra at Abu Ghurab, the Userkaf Sun Temple, and the Sun Temple at Heliopolis. The temple of Niuserra had a central sacrificial altar in an open-air courtyard. The altar is composed of a number of alabaster parts. Heliopolis, which means the “City of the Sun,” was one of the oldest cities on the Nile River. It was occupied since the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 – 3000 BC) and predates the emergence of Egypt as a political entity.

By 3000 BC, the veneration of the sun had received royal patronage. Over the centuries, temples, shrines, and royal complexes were dedicated to the sun. The wives and daughters of Hebrew rulers ministered to women at the sun city water shrines. Asenath is an example. She lived at Heliopolis, one of the most prestigious sun cities of the ancient world. In Heliopolitan cosmology the watery realms above and below (the "firmaments") were connected by the massive pillars of the temple of Heliopolis. Heliopolis is mentioned in Isaiah 19:18 as one of five Egyptian cities that swore allegiance to the Lord of Hosts.

The association of the sun’s radiance with holiness and purity was a common theme in the Ancient Near East. According to the Lukan genealogy, Mary’s husband, Joseph, was the son of a man named Heli (Lk. 3:23). Heli refers to the sun and to righteousness. 

The sun also was associated with divine appointment. When Mary asked how she would conceive, seeing as she was a virgin, the Angel Gabriel explained that she would be divinely overshadowed (Lk. 1:35). This fulfills the expectation of the early Hebrew that a virgin of their ruler-priest caste would conceive miraculously and bring forth the Son of God (Gen. 3:15). That expectation was first portrayed by Hathor, the mother of HR (the Most High One). She is shown on ancient images overshadowed by the sun.

The prevalence of solar imagery in the ancient world is evident in the study of ancient artifacts and sacred texts. The six-prong solar symbol is found on ossuary boxes, tombs, and grave markers from Africa to Europe and the Indus River Valley. It is found on the foreheads of rulers as a sign of divine appointment. This bust, found near Jamaa, Nigeria, shows the solar symbol on the forehead of a chief.

 

Photo credit: Andre Held

Many ancient images show the sun over water. The sun resting directly over the Nile River is a sign of divine blessing upon the waters. This image (called “Aker”) shows the sun resting in the horns and flanked on the east and west by lions, a symbol of royal authority.

 

Fertility and Water Shrines

Because water is universally perceived as a substance necessary for life, women seeking to conceive and deliver healthy children visited water shrines where they prayed and made offerings. Water shrines could be at rivers, lakes, wells, or oases. They might even be a ritual bathhouse such as the mikveh. Even the mikveh is associated with natural water systems. By law, it must be composed of stationary waters and must contain a percentage of water from a natural source such as a lake, river, sea, or rain.

The Jewish actress Abbe Feder endured a harrowing, six-year journey to motherhood. Months of disappointment and repeated miscarriages left her spiritually and emotionally depleted. A Jewish friend suggested that she might find relief by frequenting a mikvah, a ritual bath. Abbe had never considered going to the mikvah as a treatment for infertility, but she tried it and eventually she conceived twins. She does not think of the mikvah as a magical treatment, but she admits that repeated visits brought her relief.

Sacred pools are mentioned in the New Testament as places of healing. Jesus sent "a man blind from birth" to the pool of Siloam to complete his healing (John 9). John 5:2 gives an account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. These public bathing places were reserved for men, and women had their own more private locations.

The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinoski observed that women of the Trobriand Islands associated conception with sacred pools. Archaeologists found fertility offerings in Tuscany near hot springs reputed for their restorative powers. These fourth century BC offerings had the shape of newborn babies, wombs, penises, and breasts buried in the mud at the bottom of the pools. The offerings suggest that thermal baths were particularly associated with aid in fertility and the health of infants.

In Gambia (West Africa) women with infertility visit the sacred pools of Katchikaly in Bakau and Folonko in Kartong. They go there to pray, drink the water, or wash themselves with the holy water. The women make offerings of salt, sugar, kola nuts, and white candles to the old ladies who guard the pools. Often the visitors take some of the sacred water with them when they leave.


Water Shrines at the Royal Sun Temples 

Temple women had many responsibilities and privileges. Their duties included weaving, sewing, drawing water, brewing beer, singing, and playing musical instruments such as the sistrum and the tambourine. In the King James Version, the "alamot" are called “damsels” – “The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.” (Ps. 68:25) They also ministered to women who came to the water shrines for purification and healing.

The sun city water shrines were for purification and healing and the work of the Hebrew women was connected to rites of water purification, healing, and prayers for fertility of land, beasts, and women. Asenath probably ministered to women who came to the water shrine at Heliopolis (biblical On).

Royal Sun cities emerged in many parts of the ancient world, especially from the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 BC). The temples were oriented so that the rays of the rising sun would shine through the east-facing entrances. The sun also shone on the purification pools. Today we know that solar radiation can purify water.

The symbol of purity along the Nile River.

Related reading: BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Temple Women; Just Genesis: Solar Imagery of the Proto-Gospel; Philosophers' Corner: The Sun and the Sacred; Temple-Dedicated Daughters of Hebrew Priests; The Prestige of Biblical On; Joseph and Asenath; Sun Cities of the Ancient World

Orthodoxy Requires Binary Reasoning

 

The early Hebrew anticipated that a temple virgin from among their people would conceive by divine overshadowing and bring forth the Righteous Ruler who would overcome death and lead his people to immortality.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The word "binary" is a nasty term for many in contemporary society. To insist that the male-female binary set is a fixed order of creation is to draw accusations of homophobia, bigotry, and misogyny. Attempts to impose gender relativity is evident in the insistence that gender is self-defined. We must talk over the loud and intrusive noise of radical gender politics and transgenderism, an expression of self-loathing.

Even among Bible believing people is difficult to have a reasonable and intelligent conversation about binary reasoning because they do not recognize the binary reasoning of Scripture. Beginning in Genesis, the sun and moon are presented as a binary set. A binary set involves two closely related entities which, when observed empirically, reveal that one of the entities is greater than its partner. Genesis 1:16 speaks of the two great lights and notes that the sun is the greater of the two. Likewise, in the male-female set, it is universally true that the human male is anatomically larger and stronger that the female. 

Not all pairs of opposites are binary sets. The element of relativity excludes a pair from the definition. For example, the tall-short contrast is relative to the observer. I am 5 feet 5 inches tall. Standing beside a Watusi warrior, I would appear to be short. However, were I to stand beside a Pygmy, I would appear to be tall.

The binary reasoning of the Bible is based on the early Hebrew priests' acute observation of patterns in creation. It prevents the biblical worldview from slipping into dualism, a view in which the two entities of a set are equal in every way. 

The Binary Feature of the Hebrew Social Structure

A detailed anthropological study of the social structure of the biblical Hebrew reveals gender balance. The social structure of the Hebrew ruler-priest caste was neither patriarchal nor egalitarian. It reveals a balance of authority between males and females. There were male prophets and female prophets, male rulers and female rulers; inheritance by male heirs and inheritance by female heirs, patrilocal residence, and matrilocal residence; and an equal distribution of rights and responsibilities between the "mother's house" and the "father's house."

Hebrew names and titles include patronymics and matronymics. A patronymic is a personal name based on the given name of one's father or a famous male ancestor. These names are identified by the words ben or bar, meaning son or male descendant. In Numbers 13, Caleb is designated Kalev ben Jephunneh. 1 Chronicles 2:19 refers to Hur ben Kalev. An example in the New Testament is the name Bartholomew, and Anglicized version of the Aramaic patronymic Bar-Talmai. Patronymics are common in the Hebrew Bible.

In some cases, high ranking women are identified with a famous male ancestor. One example is Bath-Sheba, Solomon's mother. She was of the royal house of Sheba. This is why one of the entrance pillars of Solomon's Temple commemorates Jachin (Joktan), a name associated with the clan of Sheba. Solomon bowed before Bathsheba, the queen mother, and had her sit on a throne at his right side (1 Kg. 2:19).

In the Hebrew double unilineal descent pattern, both the patrilineage and the matrilineage are recognized and honored, but in different ways. The cousin bride's prerogative to name her firstborn son after her father insured her ancestry would be honored among her descendants. Lamech the Elder (Gen 4) had a daughter Naamah. She married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah (Gen. 5) and named their first-born son Lamech after her father.

The Hebrew cousin bride had the prerogative to name her firstborn son after her father.

The Hebrew persons named in the Genesis king lists (Gen. 4, 5, 10, 11, 25 and 36) acknowledge both female and male ancestors (cognatic descent). Cognatic kin are blood relatives who acknowledge both maternal and paternal ancestors. The Hebrew practiced caste endogamy, so all were related by both blood and marriage.

In the biblical texts, women of authority are not named as frequently as men of authority simply because the Hebrew were a caste of ruler-priests and women never served as priests. To be right believing means to uphold the received tradition in full. That tradition never involved females at the altar or men in the birthing chamber.

Women and men have different roles in God's plan and design. The priesthood of the Church emerges from the oldest known priesthood, that of the early Hebrew ruler-priests (4200-2000 BC). It is a received tradition and sacred unto God. Only males offered blood sacrifice at the altars. Women were not permitted in the area where animals were sacrificed. Likewise, men were not permitted in the birthing chambers where women shed blood in childbirth. These distinct types of blood work speak of death and life and the two were never to be confused. Therefore, the blood work of the Hebrew priests and the blood work of the Hebrew women never shared the same space. That received tradition must be preserved because it speaks of divine mysteries.

Gender Balance of the Biblical Narratives

The Hebrew gender balance is evident in the biblical narratives 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. 

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 attaches 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.

Related reading: The Authority of Queen Mothers; Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Rebecca Ran to Her Mother's House; Temple Women; Time to Jettison the Marxist-Feminist Hermeneutic

The Authority of Queen Mothers

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


In ancient Egypt, the influence and authority of queen mothers was often considerable because many pharaohs were very young when they came to the throne and their mothers served as regents. Royal mothers ensured that the future kings were healthy, prepared to rule, and kept in power. The role of the queen mother was never separate from the identity of the royal house and its political strategy.

The Nile Valley has a long tradition of queen mothers. This is exhibited by the prominence of Queen Mother Tiye who guided the rule of three kings. Tiye was the principal wife of Amenhotep III (c.1388-1351/50 BC). He reigned over a vast empire that extended from the Upper Nile to the Orontes River in Turkey.

The southern border of Amenhotep’s empire was at the fortified settlement of Karoy in Nubia and the northern border was Naharin in southern Turkey. Naharin was the territory of Abraham’s father Terah in Mesopotamia.

Queen Tiye's father was a high official and priest and her mother was a temple singer. It is possible that the name of Tiye's father “YuYa” is a theophoric reference to the High God as it appeared on Nubian inscriptions.

Before the time of Tiye, a queen named Merneith gave birth to a son known as Hor-Den. Hor-Den was a devotee of God Father (Ra) and God son (Horus/HR). This was when the Upper and Lower Nile regions were first united (c. 3000 BC), and Den, who was "King of Upper and Lower Egypt,” was the first depicted as wearing the double crown.

Balance of Authority Among the Hebrew

The social structure of the biblical Hebrew was neither patriarchal nor egalitarian. It reveals a balance of authority between males and females. There were male prophets and female prophets, male rulers and female rulers; inheritance by male heirs and inheritance by female heirs, patrilocal residence, and matrilocal residence; and Hebrew patronymics and Hebrew matronymics. In the Hebrew double unilineal descent pattern, both the patrilineage and the matrilineage are recognized and honored, but in different ways. The Hebrew persons named in Genesis acknowledge both female and male ancestors (cognatic descent). Cognatic kin are blood relatives who acknowledge both maternal and paternal ancestors.

As royal wives, Hebrew women exercised considerable influence within their social circles and with the ruler. The powerful influence of the royal mother is evident in the story of Bathsheba appearing before King Solomon. “Bathsheba therefore went unto King Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand.” (1 Kg. 2:19).

This male-female balance of authority is evident in many Old Testament narratives. Consider the distinct duties and responsibilities of the mother's house versus the father's house. Naomi told her daughters-in-law to return to their mothers’ houses (Ruth 1:8-9). This was Naomi’s way of encouraging them to remarry since the mother’s house attended to the practical arrangements necessary for a newly married couple to begin their life together. This explains why Rebekah ran to her mother’s house after she received a proposal of marriage (Gen. 24:27-28). On the other hand, Judah did not want Tamar to remarry so he sent her to her father’s house (Gen. 38:11).

The blood symbolism of the Passover associated with Moses has a parallel in the blood symbolism of the scarlet cord associated with Rahab. 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). 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 attaches to Phoebe the title of prostatis, meaning a female patron or benefactor.

 

Related reading: Key Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Royal Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Temple Women

Herod the Great (73 BC - 4 AD)

Herod was born in Ashkelon, a Mediterranean seaport. His father, Antipater, was from Idumea or Edom ("land of red people"), the same region where Abraham established his territory. Antipater II was Procurator of Judaea.

Herod's mother, Kypros, was a Nabatean princess from Petra.

Edom was recognized as a seat of wisdom, but unlike Solomon who sought wisdom from the LORD, Herod the Great sought power. He executed his own relatives out of paranoia.

Herod the Great was the Roman-appointed king of Judaea who built many fortresses, aqueducts, theatres, and other public buildings and generally raised the prosperity of his land but who was the center of political and family intrigues in his later years. He ruled for 33 years and died a horrible death, possibly from intestinal cancer.

The BAS Library archive has some excellent articles on Herod, "the cruelty that defined his rule, and his horrific demise. Also, learn about the archaeological examinations of his building, and the Roman-inspired style that came to be known as “Herodian.”

Follow the links below.

In “Building Power,” Kenneth G. Holum takes the excavations of Caesarea’s harbor, built by King Herod.

In “Herod’s Roman Temple” David Jacobson explores Herod’s building project and what motivated him as he completed it.

In “Wooden Beams from Herod’s Temple Mount,” Peretz Reuven attempts to answer that question archaeologically, following the possible paths of re-use or destruction.

In “Reimagining Herod’s Royal Portico,” Orit Peleg-Barkat undertakes the difficult process of modeling what the Portico must have looked like in Herod’s time.

In “Searching for Portraits of King Herod,” Ralf Krumeich and Achim Lichtenberger attempt to discover what can be known about Herod’s appearance from the scanty evidence that remains.

In “Was Herod’s Tomb Really Found?”, Hershel Shanks examines the evidence and weighs in as the hunt for Herod’s tomb continues.

Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


1. The Hebrew ruler-priests were a caste. The most significant feature of a caste is the practice of taking marriage partners only from members of the caste (caste endogamy).


2. The Hebrew caste is characterized by cognatic double descent or bilateral descent. The individual’s descent is traced through both the father’s line and the mother’s line. With bilateral descent, there is a doubling of ancestors. Lamech the Younger could claim descent from both Cain and Seth since his father and mother had Cain and Seth as common ancestors. Nimrod could claim descent from both Ham and Shem since those lines intermarried.


3. In the Hebrew cognatic double descent system, caste members receive some rights and obligations from the father’s side and some from the mother’s side. Those rights and responsibilities depend on the parent’s status and the order of marriage. The rights and responsibilities of the firstborn son of the first wife (usually a half-sister) are different than those of the firstborn son of the second wife (usually a cousin).


4. Hebrew men who ruled over territories maintained two wives in separate settlements. These settlements marked the boundaries of the ruler’s territory. The wives’ settlements were usually on a north-south axis.


5. Only males offered blood sacrifice at the altars. Women were not permitted in the area where animals were sacrificed. Likewise, men were not permitted in the birthing chambers where women shed blood in childbirth. These distinct types of blood work speak of death and life and the two were never to be confused. Therefore, the blood work of the Hebrew priests and the blood work of the Hebrew women never shared the same space.

The marriages of the early Hebrew were regnal marriages involving a bride and a groom from related Hebrew clans or between half-siblings. Royal marriages are not like the marriages of commoners because of political complexities and the need for an undisputed heir. In some countries men marry multiple wives as a show of their wealth. Such a practice is self-serving, not God serving. Christians are not to build kingdoms for themselves. Instead, they are committed to the eternal kingdom of Christ our God.

Related reading: The Hebrew Were a Caste; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; The Cousin Bride's Naming Prerogative; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons; The Genesis "Begats"; Understanding "Biblical" Marriages