queens

September 12, 2016

The signal from Yahweh (Isa 49:22-49:23)

“Thus says Yahweh God.

‘I will soon lift up my hand

To the nations.

I will raise my signal

To the people.

They shall bring your sons

In their bosom.

Your daughters shall be carried

On their shoulders.

Kings shall be your foster fathers.

Queens shall be your nursing mothers.

With their faces to the ground,

They shall bow down to you.

They shall lick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know

That I am Yahweh.

Those who wait for me

Shall not be put to shame.’”

Second Isaiah has this oracle of Yahweh where he was going to lift up his hand and give a signal to the nations and the people of the world. Everyone will come with their sons and daughters. Kings would become foster parents, while queens would be nursing mothers. These kings and queens would bow down before them and lick the dust off their feet. Then they would know that it was Yahweh who was putting them to shame. However, those who had been waiting for Yahweh will not be put to shame.

March 19, 2016

The uniqueness of the female lover (Song 6:8-6:10)

Male lover

“There are sixty queens.

There are eighty concubines.

There are maidens without number.

My dove!

My perfect one is the only one.

She is the darling of her mother.

She is flawless to her that bore her.

The maidens saw her.

They called her happy.

The queens saw her.

The concubines also saw her.

They praised her.

‘Who is this that looks forth like the dawn?

Who is as fair as the moon?

Who is as bright as the sun?

Who is as awesome as an army with banners?’”

Now this male lover or prince compares his lover to 60 queens, 80 concubines, and numerous maidens. Is this the king speaking about his various female companions or the prince speaking about them? His lover is considered better than all of them, since she is the perfect one. She was the flawless darling of her mother. Everyone, the queens, the concubines, and the maidens, seems to praise her. They are all looking forward to her as if she was like the dawn of a new day. She was like the moon and the sun combined. She was going to come with an awesome army of banners.

December 31, 2014

The end of the reign of Queen Athaliah (2 Chr 23:20-23-21)

“Jehoiada got together the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land so that they brought the king down from the house of Yahweh, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. They set the king on the royal throne. Thus all the people of the land rejoiced. The city was quiet after Queen Athaliah had been killed with the sword.”

This is loosely based on 2 Kings, chapter 11. They brought the king down to the throne. Everyone rejoiced. Jerusalem was quiet after the death of Queen Athaliah. Notice that there is nothing about burial. She was a woman. There is nothing about the “Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah,” since she was a queen. Notice that the Baal worshippers appeared to be female. Queen Jezebel was in northern Israel and Queen Athaliah here in Judah. Although to be fair, many of the kings also were Baal worshipers, but of course they were induced by their wives.