Relevant to Divine Misconceptions:
- Report on last night’s episode of Kings (“Prosperity”):
- Notions of prophecy seem to be rather muddled in this show. In the Hebrew Bible, if one suspects that one has seen a sign from YHWH, one goes to a prophet to confirm and explicate it. Or the prophet simply shows up and lets one know what YHWH has to say. The writers of Kings have seriously muddled this straightforward process. Silas/Sha’ul looks for signs of the will of God. However, without explicit prophetic communication, the error rate of interpretation is bound to be high.
- Jack/Yonathan still hates the guts of David/Dawidh. This is against the original text.
- In the original text, Sha’ul sets a task for Dawidh to complete in order to be allowed to marry Mikhal, which if I remember correctly was to bring him a large number of foreskins of Pelishtim (Philistines). (I know: EW! GROSS!) Considering the peacemaking efforts going on in this episode and modern sensibilities and th1e decline of arranged marriages, Kings cannot possibly have events play out this way. This episode has Silas/Sha’ul remind Michelle/Mikhal of a vow she made without anyone ever saying what the vow was, but afterwards she virtually cuts off contact with David/Dawidh. Presumably in another episode it will be revealed that the vow concerns who Michelle/Mikhal may marry, and David/Dawidh will have some task to complete.
- I do not remember Sha’ul ever trying to make a peace treaty with the Pelishtim or cede territory to them. The inclusion of such material in Kings sounds suspiciously like someone trying to retrofit bogus “Palestinian” land claims into the story.
- The idea that a dream is ¹⁄₆₀ prophecy is Jewish, from the last chapter of Tractate Berakhoth in the Talmudh Bavli, if I remember correctly.
- The name of the series, Kings, seems to derive from the Septuagint’s scheme for naming the books of the Hebrew Bible. Corresponding to the Hebrew books of Samuel (Shemu’el) and Kings (Melakhim), the Septuagint has four books of Kings (ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΩΝ, Basileiōn). Not mention calling this series Samuel might seem a bit odd.
- China’s using politics to try to squelch the Dalai Lama backfires: “Nobel outrage at South Africa’s decision to ban the Dalai Lama”.
- “Chief IDF rabbi, chief medical officer sign organ donation cards”: More religious leaders should step up to set such a good example.
- “AIG in 2009”
- “The BBC During the Gaza War: Biased Coverage of the Conflict”: They should get out of the news business and stick to making new episodes of Doctor Who.
- “snopes.com: M*A*S*H: Col. Henry Blake's Death”
- “Body 2.0 - Continuous Monitoring Of The Human Body”
Aaron
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