There are many versions to the same story. There are the heroes and the villain’s side, the conquered and the defeated. However, there are some accounts that have been recorded as true to make the people involved to look more superior than they really where in that event. The event that can be looked at is the battle between the Neo-Assyrians and the Jews of Judah. Each side has its own version of what happened. They also both have their own gods participating in the story in some way. So reading both accounts of the event can tell us how the fighting went and may leave us with new questions.
From this event one can learn a historical encounter between two kings. King Sennacherib and King Hezekiah are in conflict with each other. King Sennacherib’s
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god is called Ashur and any territory he conquered would be under the “yoke of Ashur”. Now King Hezekiah god is the Jewish god and Sennacherib has decided to come and take Judah for the “yoke of Ashur”. The Neo-Assyrians were very aggressive and wanted all to be under the “yoke of Ashur” and they always stated in their records that they are always successful. However the Jewish documents have shown another version and ending to the Neo-Assyrians so called successes. Now one can read two different accounts on the events leading up to the battle of Judah.
The Taylor Prism of Sennacherib or The Bible 2 Kings 18-19. Each martial is from the views of either Sennacherib or Hezekiah written under their stories of divine proof of their own gods. Now the Taylor Prism of Sennacherib is pretty much a record of Sennacherib’s accomplishments. It describes all the territories, cities and anything in between that he conquered and brought under the “yok of Ashur”. His version tells of how he conquered Judah and took all the treasure there and took people from the towns back to his home and he cut Judah off from any help from any surrounding territories. The Bible is the Jewish and Christin document proof and word of their God. The story in 2 Kings 18-19 is the same story described in the Taylor Prism, however it’s ending is different it states that the angel of the Lord went and slewed many of the Assyrians soldiers. With the slaughter of his army Sennarch’erib king of Assyria left and went back to his home and was praising his own god when his sons killed him with a sword. With two different records of the same event can lead to a lot of confusion and many …show more content…
questions. Some questions that can’t be quit answered have accrued are: How can one historical event have to different endings?
With two documents so closely related one would think we could figure out which one is the real ending. However each article is pretty much stating how their side had won in the end. So this leaves us to think how can two parties of a two way war both win? Also there is a question that lurks more behind the scenes of both articles. Does this god really exist? We have the Neo-Assyrians god of Ashur and it tells how Sennacherib was able to conquer all he did with his god beside him. The bible on the other hand states at the end an angle of the lord came and killed the Assyrians and set Judah free. Will these questions be able to be answered? From reading only two articles may not supple the answers we look
for. So reading both accounts of the event can tell us how the fighting went and may leave us with new questions. Anyone can make up a story to an event and change it however they want it to be. The Assyrians made Taylor Prism of Sennacherib to show how successful he was with their god Ashur. While the Jews wrote in The Bible on how God came at the end and saved them all and punished Sennacherib. So heroes and villains make up their own stories. The conquered will win and the defeated will lose. It all depends on which one is more believable.
Much of Revelation is the source of debate. Many passages are symbolic in nature, and the exact meaning of the symbols can be difficult to determine. Some passages can be interpreted in various ways. The identity of the Four Horsemen, the 144,000, and Babylon the Great in particular are points of contention. Nevertheless, proper hermeneutics and careful study can illuminate these difficult passages.
Sennacherib Prism was written in 701 BCE, which is a year after the invasion. On the other hand, the Book of Kings isn’t written until at least 680 BCE, which is 20 years after the invasion. The Book of Kings is written by many different people, which could cause a difference in details of the invasion. The introduction of the Book of Kings excerpt also says: “Historians also point out that it mixes history, folktales, myths, and religious miracles” (Document B: The Book of Kings). This also may make some details of the siege false and turn the actual accounts into different ones. Although the Hebrew Bible is a religious book, it is a somewhat reliable source when it comes to the ancient world. It provides some knowledge that is useful to archaeological records but it also intertwines some myths and miracles that might not have
Ezekiel lived in a time of international crisis and conflict. Assyria was the world power in the area under the rule of Tiglath-pilesar III. In 724 B.C Israel raged war upon Assyria, and Israel was no match for Assyria. In 627 B.C the last of the able Assyrian ruler, Ashurbanipal died. Right after the death of Ashurbanipal, Babylon under Nabopolassar wanted independence from Assyria. In 612 B.C the Assyrians under Nineveh surrendered to the rising Babylonians. In 605 B.C the Babylonians were at war against the Egyptians. The Babylonians won and they established themselves as the leading power in the area. During all of this Judea allied with the Babylonians and with this Judea kept her independence. During the last century before Judea was destroyed it was ruled by four rulers and of those rulers, all but Josiah were wicked. Josiah was committed to God and led Judea to him. All the others did not heed the warnings of Ezekiel and Jeremiah from God, and the rulers of Judea chose to rebel against God. God punished Judea by sending Nebuchadnezzar’s army to crush the nation of Judea and flatten the city of Jerusalem.
In the book “The Art of Biblical Narrative” by Robert Alter, there is one chapter (Chapter 3) titled “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention” (Alter 47). Alter describes several different stories (but similar in some ways) in the Old Testament that can be difficult to interpret in today’s culture. Alter describes how reading any book (more specifically the Bible), requires use of conventions, which he describes as “… an elaborate set of tacit agreements between artist and audience about the ordering of the art work is at all times the enabling context in which the complex communication of art occurs” (Alter 47). In other words, an agreement of how the writing is done; it can be pretty complex as well. He states that there are stories in the Bible that have the same stories of narrative, but there are different characters, they often are told several times in the Bible. Alter uses several of examples, like how patriarch is driven by famine; or where someone is found and is invited to eat with them, or a betrothal (engagement) near a well/body
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This section of a verse from the NRSV started the grand story of the bible. In the beginning the Bible brings two things to focus. The two things that are focused on is the setting and the main characters of the Bible (Professor Smallbones). The Bible opens in Genesis 1 with God creating. God creates light, the earth, the sun, living creatures, and many other things, but most importantly God creates humans. As God is the main character in the grand story he immediately forms a personal relationship with man and woman. God created Adam the first man and Eve the first woman. In the book, The Unfolding Drama of The Bible, Anderson says, “The
The bible comes in a variety of truths. These truths are scientific truth, historical truth, symbolic truth, proverbial truth, moral truth, and religious truth. In the bible these truths are expressed through different types of literary forms such as myths, law, and apocalyptic writings. These different truths are understood and recognized by some but not to others. While a story in the bible may not be true, they have a symbolic meaning behind it, some people may not see the symbolic meaning and see the story as set in stone. These types of people are called literalists.
Alt, A. "The Monarchy in Kingdoms Israel and Judah", Essays on Old Testament History and Religion, Blackwell 1966. p.243.
Correspondingly, other canonical prophetic books interpret Yahweh’s will during periods of social or political crisis.4 Many minor prophets wrote during one of the three critical periods: the Assyrian Crisis, the Babylonian threat, or the postexilic readjustment.5 During the Babylonian threat of the late-seventh century, Habakkuk served as a link between God and humanity. The Assyrian kingdom, led by Shalmanasar V, forced the people of Judah into harsh conditions through a heartless deportation. In time, political drama spread throughout the region. After 612 B.C.E. when Assyria fell to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Habakkuk wrote his prophetic book, focusing on the agony of humankind’s struggle to progress in such a wicked world. His message of faith and morality transcended the evil within society, ultimately revealing to the Israelites that justice would prevail.
Contained in the many intricate and poetic Surahs of the Qur’an are retellings of a number of famous stories of the Hebrew Bible, known to Jews as the Torah, Prophets, and Writings. However, the Qur’an’s account of the lives of certain biblical characters often differs in significant ways from the Jewish version. While a believer in the divine nature of the Qur’an may claim that differences in facts stem from distortions of G-d’s message as recorded in Jewish holy books, both Muslims and non-Muslims might agree that the differences in emphasis are intentional. A more cynical observer might claim that the Qur’an changed the known Bible stories to suit its purposes. By choosing to include certain parts of a famous story and leaving out others, the story itself takes on a very different significance. Occasionally, the Qur’an will also discuss parts of the story which are entirely left out of the Torah, in which case a Muslim may claim the Torah did not deem those facts important for its own reasons. A cynical observer would claim the Qur’an made these additions to make its own message clearer.
Moses, the man upon whom God built the nation of Israel, brought his people out of the land of Egypt. By God’s power, he divided the waters of the Red Sea. By God’s power, summoned manna in the wilderness. By God’s power, he led the Israelites despite their obstinate attitudes. He is a greatly respected patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike. But, imagine his legacy to be non-existent. Imagine that he died under the will of the God who sent him. Exodus 4:24-26 is brief story that nearly describes such a scenario. This exegetical study will partake in an attempt to better understand Exodus 4:24-26 through examining its historical and literary context and looking into the scholarly opinions about the topic. The proposal this paper will make is that God is in control of everything. Though He had just called Moses to rescue the nation of Israel, He shows Moses and family his complete sovereignty.
The contents of the Bible have dealt with controversy in regards to its inerrancy since publication, and will surely continue to. Historians progress to learn more about biblical stories in order to provide evidence for the reliability of information. Many believers today understand that not everything in the Bible has been factually proven. An outstanding topic many scholars pay attention to lies within the four gospels. The three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, replay essentially the same story with minor inconsistencies, while John portrays Jesus in an entirely different way. The differences in each gospel are due to how each gospel entertains different portrayals of the life and understanding of Jesus himself, in order to persuade
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
The next few pages are compare the similarities of the stories between the Old Testament and the older Sumerian, Akkadian and
The Prophet Ezekiel is considered to be one of the most colorful prophets found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Taking place during dramatic times, Ezekiel’s ministry reflected this drama with evocative, perhaps, even bizarre allegories designed to communicate his perspective on these events. Around the time of Ezekiel’s call, many important theological and historical events were occurring, the most significant of which was the Babylonian invasion of Judah with the subsequent exile of Judah’s inhabitants. The invasion culminated with a siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, where the Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar, broke through the walls, plundered the city and razed the Temple of Solomon. This was an immense tragedy for the Judeans, and for Ezekiel