Territorial Ambitions of the Early Hebrew

A royal couple representing the sun and the moon, a binary set.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The early Hebrew were observant of the relationship of the sun, moon, and stars. They thought of the sun and the moon as a binary set, that is a naturally paired set of entities. They also noted that one of the entities of the set was superior to the other. This is expressed in Genesis 1:16 which describes the sun as the greater light and the moon as the lesser light. However, though one is greater than the other, both rule their domains. The sun rules the day, and the moon rules the night.

This reasoning is apparent in Joseph’s dream of his parents and siblings (Gen. 37:9-10). Joseph’s father, Jacob, is represented by the sun. Joseph’s mother, Rachel, is represented by the moon. Joseph’s siblings are represented by stars. The dream expresses the hierarchical relationship of his parents (Jacob’s authority being the greater), and it reveals that both parents had authority as the sun and the moon rule over their domains. This accurately describes the social structure of the biblical Hebrew who did not have a fully patriarchal social structure. (This is explained in my book The First Lords of the Earth: An Anthropological Study. 2023.)

Among the Nilotic Hebrew the sun-moon binary set was expressed in the way royal couples presented themselves in public. The king appeared with skin darkened by the sun. This implied that his divine appointment to rule by the overshadowing of the sun, the symbol of the High God. His royal wife appeared white as the moon, implying that the powdered queen was to her husband what the moon is to the sun.

The binary sets of light-dark and east-west expressed territorial claims. The two wives in the Song of Solomon represent the two horizons or dawn and dusk. One of Solomon’s wives is described as having sun-darkened skin ("dark as the tents of Kedar") and the other is described as having skin as pale as the moon (6:10). For the rulers of the Ancient Near East, the two wives represent a claim to a vast territory that extends from horizon to horizon.

Likewise, the claim of a territory that stretched between the separate settlements of his two wives is found in the story of Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4). Lamech’s wives were named Adah and Tzillah. The Hebrew scholar Theodor Gaster noted that the names Adah and T-Zillah correlate to the Akkadian words for dawn and dusk. This suggests that Lamech claimed to rule over a vast territory. The sun-moon binary set and the east-west solar arc are used in the Bible to speak of the authority and sovereignty of divinely appointed Hebrew rulers.

The early Hebrew believed that they were to disperse and rule. This is evident in Genesis 1: 28. God told them to "'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." They took this seriously and long before Abraham's time (c.2000 B.C.) they had already moved into many regions of the Old World.

The Old World throughout which the early Hebrew dispersed.

The Territorial Sovereignty of Father and Son

The early Hebrew conception of territorial sovereignty on earth was patterned on their observation of the celestial pattern. 

As a youth, HR/Horus (the Son of the High God) was associated with the rising sun, dawn, and the eastern horizon. In his maturity he was associated with the setting sun, dusk, and the western horizon. He is often pictured on the solar ship of his father Re making his daily journey from east to west. This artifact of the solar ship shows HR in the form of his animal totem, the falcon.

The Nilotic conception of HR’s journey from youth to maturity involves two vessels. The ship of the morning hours was called Mandjet (Ancient Egyptian: mꜥnḏt) and the ship of the evening hours was called Mesektet (msktt). While Horus was on the Mesektet, he was in his ram-headed form.

Abraham’s Hebrew people conceived of the eternal Son as a lamb at sunrise and a mature ram at sunset. This explains the lamb-to-ram sequence in the story of Abraham on Mount Moriah. Isaac asked his father, “The fire and wood are here, ... but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied that God himself will provide the lamb (Gen. 22:8). However, God provided a ram instead, and for Abraham the Hebrew that profound revelation spoke of the Father’s offering of his own son. Jesus said that Abraham saw his day and believed (Jn. 8:56).

Related reading: Orthodoxy Requires Binary Reasoning; The Authority of Queen Mothers; Get Acquainted with the Biblical Hebrew

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; Philosophers' Corner: Two Types of Binary Reasoning; The Feminist Critique Fails; Is "Male Headship" a Biblical Doctrine?;  Is "Complementarianism" a Biblical Concept?; Misunderstanding the Priesthood

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

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: Ethics Forum: Binary Reasoning Informs Christian Morality and Ethics; 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