Bear with me as I have yet to unpack all of the books yet. Please note that we move from the large mythic framework of chs.1-11 and now focus on one person and that one family.
1) Abram may mean father is great or exalted, or even high father, possibly from a name of a deity. In the previous verses, his father was to go to Canaan, but they did not go all the way and settled in Haran. Part of this story then is about unfinished business. In our text, no reason is given for God's command. A midrash has Abram assisting his father's business, dealing in idols.Some tradition holds that Abram was a monotheist. Buber read be a blessing, as become a blessing, an obligation to those who receive blessing.
2) The call story here is one of leaving all that one knows, all the connections, all familiarity.
3) I would assume that Abram will be a focal point for later blessings, the progenitor.
4) Blessing and curse is a fundamental biblical polarity. It may be a good exercise to list some of each.I see curse as anything antithetical to life.
5) The curse comes if someone slight or belittle Abram. why would that be? Consider how slights affect not only relationships but our own sense of self.
6) Janzen notes (18, Abraham and All the Families of the Earth0 that that god and Abram's action add up to seven.
Ps. 121 is a favorite psalm for a number of folks. we are in the series of psalms of ascents, perhaps read as one was on pilgrimage toward the temple.
1) As I read it again, I do get a sense of age, of a prayer where the natural world is threatening and foreboding.
2) The moon striking may be a direct attack on other religions, as both sun and moon were deified in a variety of religious forms.Also the moon could be attributed to lunacy or other diseases, including fever or epilepsy. I have asked our brilliant daughter and fiance for help on this. It could be the power of the Moon God, as Sinai may wellcome from the Moon deity, Sin.
3) Patrick Miller notes that prayer would often try to rouse God in times of trouble, but here it is a statement of trust.
4)Shade has a sense of defense in Num.14:9,Jer. 48:45
5) The beautiful ending blessing is echoed in DT. 28:6, 31:2
1) Abram may mean father is great or exalted, or even high father, possibly from a name of a deity. In the previous verses, his father was to go to Canaan, but they did not go all the way and settled in Haran. Part of this story then is about unfinished business. In our text, no reason is given for God's command. A midrash has Abram assisting his father's business, dealing in idols.Some tradition holds that Abram was a monotheist. Buber read be a blessing, as become a blessing, an obligation to those who receive blessing.
2) The call story here is one of leaving all that one knows, all the connections, all familiarity.
3) I would assume that Abram will be a focal point for later blessings, the progenitor.
4) Blessing and curse is a fundamental biblical polarity. It may be a good exercise to list some of each.I see curse as anything antithetical to life.
5) The curse comes if someone slight or belittle Abram. why would that be? Consider how slights affect not only relationships but our own sense of self.
6) Janzen notes (18, Abraham and All the Families of the Earth0 that that god and Abram's action add up to seven.
Ps. 121 is a favorite psalm for a number of folks. we are in the series of psalms of ascents, perhaps read as one was on pilgrimage toward the temple.
1) As I read it again, I do get a sense of age, of a prayer where the natural world is threatening and foreboding.
2) The moon striking may be a direct attack on other religions, as both sun and moon were deified in a variety of religious forms.Also the moon could be attributed to lunacy or other diseases, including fever or epilepsy. I have asked our brilliant daughter and fiance for help on this. It could be the power of the Moon God, as Sinai may wellcome from the Moon deity, Sin.
3) Patrick Miller notes that prayer would often try to rouse God in times of trouble, but here it is a statement of trust.
4)Shade has a sense of defense in Num.14:9,Jer. 48:45
5) The beautiful ending blessing is echoed in DT. 28:6, 31:2
6) The ending is quite broad, so it goes beyond a pilgrimage to the entire pilgrimage of our lives.
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