“Yet Oholibah increased
Her prostitution activities.
She remembered
The days of her youth,
When she played
The whore
In the land of Egypt.
She lusted
After her lovers there.
Their sexual organs were
Like those of donkeys.
Their sexual emissions were
Like those of stallions.
Thus you longed
For the lewdness
Of your youth.
The Egyptians fondled
Your bosom.
They caressed
Your young breasts.”
Yahweh, via Ezekiel, portrayed Oholibah, Jerusalem, as a sex starved female teenager. However, now she had become a full fledged prostitute. She remembered the good old days when she was a young whore in Egypt. There she lusted after all her lovers, who seem to have been well endowed. Yahweh compared their sexual prowess with donkeys and stallions. Thus Jerusalem longed for the days of her youth when her Egyptians lovers fondled and caressed her breasts.
donkeys
The peaceful saving Spirit of Yahweh (Isa 32:15-32:20)
“A Spirit from on high is
Poured out on us.
The wilderness becomes a fruitful field.
The fruitful field is deemed a forest.
Then justice will dwell in the wilderness.
Righteousness will abide in the fruitful field.
The effect of righteousness will be peace.
The result of righteousness is quietness.
The result of righteousness is trust forever.
My people will abide
In a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings,
In quiet resting places.
The forest will disappear.
The city will be utterly laid low.
Happy will you be
Who sow beside every stream.
You will let the ox range freely.
You will let the donkey range freely.”
Into this desolate situation, Isaiah inserts a ray of hope. The Spirit of Yahweh will descend on his people. The wilderness will become a fruitful field, almost like a forest. Justice shall dwell in the wilderness, while righteousness will be in the fruitful fields. This righteousness will bring peace, quiet, and everlasting trust. You will live peacefully in secure houses with quiet resting places. The city and the forest will disappear. You will lead a happy life sowing along streams and letting your ox and donkeys graze freely. This will be the ideal time of peaceful farmers.
The good times to come (Isa 30:23-30:26)
“Yahweh will give rain for the seed
With which you sow the ground.
Grain will be the produce of the ground.
It will be rich
It will be plentiful.
On that day,
Your cattle will graze in broad pastures.
The oxen will till the ground.
The donkey will eat silage
That has been winnowed
With shovels and forks.
On every lofty mountain,
On every high hill,
There will be brooks running with water.
On this day of the great slaughter,
The towers will fall.
The light of the moon will be
Like the light of the sun.
The light of the sun
Will be sevenfold,
Like the light of seven days.
On the day
When Yahweh binds up
The hurt of his people,
He will heal the wounds
Inflicted by his own blows.”
In this future time, things will be good. Yahweh will send rain to make the seed grains grow rich and plentiful. The cattle will graze in large pastures. There will be plenty of winnowed silage for the working oxen and donkeys so that they can till the ground. All the mountains and the hills will have flowing brooks. The towers will fall on the day of slaughter. However, the light from the moon will be like that of the sun, while the light from the sun will be like the light of a week of sunlight. Yahweh will heal the wounds that people have suffered even from his own blows.
Oracle on the desert animals (Isa 30:6-30:7)
“An oracle concerning
The animals of the Negeb.
Through a land
Of trouble,
Of distress,
Of the lioness.
Of the roaring lion,
Of the viper,
Of the flying serpent,
They carry their riches
On the backs of donkeys.
They carry their treasures
On the humps of camels,
To a people
That cannot profit them.
Egypt’s help is worthless.
Their help is empty.
Therefore I have called her
‘Rahab who sits still.’”
This seems to be an oracle by Yahweh about the animals in the Negeb desert, south of Israel. The messengers of the King of Judah were going to pass by these animals as they went with their riches on the backs of donkeys and treasures on the camel humps on their way to Egypt. Along the way, they would suffer trouble and distress. They would see many animals, like lioness, lions, vipers, and flying serpents. However, Isaiah says that their mission was worthless and empty. It was a waste of time since the Egyptians could not help them. In fact, Isaiah calls Egypt a useless sitting still ‘Rahab,’ a mythological sea monster like the Leviathan monster.
The sentinel announces the attack (Isa 21: 6-21:10)
“Thus Yahweh said to me.
‘Go!
Post a lookout!
Let him announce
What he sees!
When he sees riders,
Horsemen in pairs,
Riders on donkeys,
Riders on camels,
Let him listen diligently,
Very diligently!’
Then the watcher cried out.
‘Upon a watchtower
I stand!
O Lord!
Continually by day!
At my post
I am stationed
Throughout the night.
Look!
There they come
Riders,
Horsemen in pairs!’
Then he responded.
‘Fallen!
Fallen is Babylon!
He has shattered on the ground
All the images of her gods!’
O my threshed one!
O my winnowed one!
What I have heard
From Yahweh of hosts,
The God of Israel,
I announce to you.”
Isaiah continues with what Yahweh had said to him. Yahweh wanted a lookout posted so that he could announce what he saw coming. This lookout person was to watch for riders on horses, camels, and donkeys as well as listen very carefully. He was to stand there during the day and the night. Then he saw the riders coming, as Babylon had fallen with all its gods shattered on the ground. This is what Isaiah had heard from Yahweh in his vision, as he announced this to all. The sentinel watchtower man was a main theme of the later 20th century Jehovah’s Witnesses with their Watchtower magazine.
Yahweh restores the fortune of Job (Job 42:10-42:15)
“Yahweh restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters as well as all who had known him before. They ate bread with him in his house. They showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that Yahweh had brought upon him. Each of them gave him some money and a ring of gold. Yahweh blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginnings. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.”
Yahweh restored Job to good health and fortune because he had prayed for his 3 friends. In fact, he got twice as much as he had before. His brothers and sisters, who were not involved in what happened to Job, came and ate with him. There is no indication of how long this anguishing trial went on for Job. I wonder where they were during the troubles of Job. However, they were generous with money and gold rings. There is no exact number of brothers and sisters mentioned. Now, however, he had 14,000 sheep instead of 7,000, 6,000 camels instead of 3,000, 1,000 oxen instead of 500, and 1,000 donkeys instead of 500. However, his family did not double. He once again had 7 sons and 3 daughters, who somehow replaced the 10 children who had died. The daughters were the most beautiful of all the women in the land. The 3 girls were named, Jemimah, or dove, Keziah or cinnamon, and Keren-happuch or eye cosmetic. He gave all 10 of his children an inheritance. Thus the story has a happy ending, despite all the trials and tribulations during this ancient mythic tale.
Job thought that God was too busy for the poor (Job 24:1-24:9)
“Why are times not kept by the Almighty Shaddai?
Why do those who know him never see his days?
The wicked remove landmarks.
They seize flocks and pasture them.
They drive away the donkey of the orphan.
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
They thrust the needy off the road.
The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Like wild asses in the desert
They go out to their toil.
They scavenge in the wasteland food for their young.
They reap in a field not their own.
They glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They lie all night naked,
Without clothing.
They have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the rain of the mountains.
They cling to the rock for want of shelter.”
Job seemed to imply that God was too busy to care about the poor. Job contrasted the ways of the rich and the poor. The day of the Lord never seemed to come. Instead the wicked remove landmarks or steal land, steal flocks, drive away with donkeys and oxen. They were stealing property from others. The poor are sent into hiding. They have to scavenge for their children’s food, work in other people’s fields, and glean or pick up the left over harvest items in the vineyard. They have no clothing to protect them from the cold and the wet. Their housing was rocks and caves.
The problems of Job (Job 1:13-1:19)
“One day Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house. A messenger came to Job and said.
‘The oxen were plowing.
The donkeys were feeding beside them.
The Sabeans fell upon them.
They carried them off.
They killed the servants with the edge of the sword.
I alone have escaped to tell you.’
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said.
‘The fire of God fell from heaven.
It burned up the sheep and the servants.
It consumed them.
I alone have escaped to tell you.’
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said.
‘The Chaldeans formed three columns.
They made a raid upon the camels.
They carried them off.
They killed the servants with the edge of the sword.
I alone have escaped to tell you.’
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said.
‘Your sons and daughters were eating
And drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house.
Suddenly a great wind came across the desert.
It struck the four corners of the house.
It fell on the young people.
They are dead.
I alone have escaped to tell you.’”
Once again, we begin with the once upon a time concept of “one day” back here on earth. The 10 children of Job were eating and drinking wine together. In a very oral stylistic format, 4 messengers, one after another come to tell him the bad news about his estate and his family. The repetition of lines for each group indicates an oral tradition that made it easy to remember. First, the Sabeans, a southern Arab tribe or traders where present day Yemen is, stole his 500 oxen and 500 donkeys. They also killed all the servants except one. The queen of Sheba may have been from Sheba and part of the Semitic Sabeans, somehow a descendent of Shem, the son of Noah. Secondly, lightning from heaven, the fire of God, destroyed and burned the 7,000 sheep as well as the servants watching them, except for one. Thirdly, the Chaldeans, a predominant Semitic tribe near the Persian Gulf that was taken over by the Babylonians around 600 BCE, stole all his 3,000 camels. They killed all his servants watching them except one. Finally, all his 10 children died when their house fell on them during a great wind storm. The servants all died, except one. Disaster has hit Job on many fronts. Foreigners stole his livestock. Lightning and windstorms destroyed his family and sheep.
The introduction to Job (Job 1:1-1:5)
“That man was blameless and upright. Job feared God. He had turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys, and very many servants. This man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn. They would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them. He would rise early in the morning. He would offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. Job said.
‘It may be that my children have sinned.
It may be that they cursed God in their hearts.’
This is what Job always did.”
Who is Job? This is not about getting a job. Job was blameless, an upright man. He was a pious man with a strong faith. He feared God and shunned evil. He was not an Israelite since there was no attempt to put him into a genealogy that would connect him with Abraham. He had 10 children, 7 sons and 3 daughters. He had a huge prosperous estate since he had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, and many servants. He was a rich guy, the greatest man in the east, or east of the Jordan River, or at least in Edom. All the 10 children would gather for a feast every day at a different person’s house. This included the symbolic numbers of 3 sisters with 7 brothers. When the festival days were over, Job would always offer a burnt offering for each one of them, just in case any of them may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. In other words, he had a sense of sin and a sense of a spiritual relationship to God. So Job was a righteous rich man with 10 children who offered his own burnt offerings for the possible sins of his children. Thus we have a snapshot picture of a happy prosperous God fearing Job.
Holofernes organizes his army (Jdt 2:14-2:18)
“Holofernes left the presence of his lord. He summoned all the commanders, generals, and officers of the Assyrian army. He mustered the picked troops by divisions as his lord had ordered him to do, one hundred twenty thousand of them, together with twelve thousand archers on horseback. He organized them as a great army is marshaled for a campaign. He took along a vast number of camels, donkeys, and mules for transport. He had innumerable sheep, oxen, and goats for food. He had ample rations for everyone. He had a huge amount of gold and silver from the royal palace.”
Holofernes did as King Nebuchadnezzar had commanded. He got all his Assyrian officers together. He picked the 120,000 special troops and arranged for the 12,000 archers on horseback, his cavalry. He truly had a great vast army. He also had a lot of provisions. He had camels, donkeys, and mules for transportation purposes. He had livestock of sheep, oxen, and goats for food. He had plenty of rations, gold, and silver. He was good to go.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 