Jessica Bourdage Week 2
Strange Power
Why is the bible
so repetitive? When reading the bible I
couldn’t help but notice how much phrases are repeated. In class we talked
about how translations can change the meaning of the work. The bible happens to
be one of the most translated pieces and has many different authors. Perhaps
this is why things happen to repeat themselves. Or perhaps it adds emphasis to
the work. In the first part of Genesis, God creates things and for each day the
author repeats “there was evening and there was a morning” to show the passing
of time. In many different sections it seems to just list a whole bunch of
names of people who were the sons of this person. It goes on until you have a
whole family tree. In part 5 of Genesis, it just lists the generations of Adam.
It lists how long they lived and their sons and says “he died.” I feel that the
repetition and the info is unnecessary. Background is always good for any story
but every small detail doesn’t have to be included. I felt that it was a bit
too much info on all of these different people and their sons that wasn’t
really relevant to the story. It might have been more effective to have
simplified it in order to get from Seth to Noah.
How is the Lord portrayed?
The Lord creates man and woman in his image. He talks to Abraham about making
Abraham the father of a multitude of nations. The Lord seems to favor the
people who are part of his covenant. It’s almost like an exclusive club. In
order to be a part of his “club” you have to adhere to his rules. He says, “Any
uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be
cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (pg. 13) The Lord also
seems to be bias in the Exodus. He favors the Israelis over the Egyptians. He
recruits Moses to help free his people yet the Lord also hardens the heart of
the Pharaoh, making him refuse the Israelis from leaving. The Lord makes a statement
with the Pharaoh and his men to show his power when he drowns them in the Red
Sea. He also decides to kill all the first borns. The people sing “terror and
dread fall upon them because of the greatness of thy arm.” (pg. 61) He does
these acts to make people believe and show his power but does that justify
killing people to make his point? Does he have the right to kill since he is
the one who has created man? In the story of the flood, the Lord sees that the
people he has created have become wicked and evil so he decides to create the
flood. He wants to “blot out man” because he’s “sorry that he made them” (pg.
5) He succeeds in creating the flood whether it be wrong or right it’s in his
power.
Is the bible all positive? The stories in
Genesis are not all delightful. Some deal with some strange events. Instead of
letting the men of Sodom use the men that came to him, Lot instead tells them
that he “has two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you
and do to them as you please.” (pg. 14) Lot was willing to protect the men than
his own flesh and blood. This shows a bit of sexism like in other parts such as
with Adam and Eve when the Lord says “In pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (pg.
3)There is even more disturbing parts when Lot and his family flees to a cave.
His eldest daughter comes up with a plan to sleep with their father in order to
produce offspring. She tells the younger, “Come, let us make our father drink
wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our
father.” (pg. 15) In Genesis, fathers seem to be willing to do horrible things
to their children for the Lord. The previous example of Lot giving up his
daughters instead of the men shows this. Another example is when Abraham brings
his son, Isaac, up a mountain and plans to use him as a sacrifice before God
stops him and instead produces a ram for the sacrifice.
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