Friday, October 27, 2017

The Torah places the Law on The Mountain of The Curse.

Deuteronomy 11:29.
"And it shall come to pass, when Yahuah thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal."
Deuteronomy 27:1-4-8
 "And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.  And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which Yahuah thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster:  And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which Yahuah thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as Yahuah God of thy fathers hath promised thee.  Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster...........  And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly."
This is my problem with the Torah Worshiping movement, The Torah itself acknowledges that the Law is a Curse we are to one day be liberated from.   Now I believe choosing to keep the Law can be good, but we are not under any obligation.  See The Law of Moses and Christianity.

So The Torah agrees with Galatians 3:10-13.

Now some will use textual variations to say this is wrong, obviously the Law was on Mt Gerizim.  The Samaritan Pentateuch adds their own references to Gerizim, and changed Deuteronomy 27 to say the Altar here was to be set up on Gerizim not Ebal.  But it agrees that Gerizim was the Blessing Mountain, and Ebal the Cursing Mountain.

Now in some areas, I have become open to consider that the SP sometimes may be the correct version, contrary to my past strict Masoretic adherence.  That may be the subject of an upcoming post.  But not on this issue.

The Book of Joshua in Chapter 8 verses 30-33 verifies that this Altar was built on Ebal. The Samaritans have their own version of Joshua, but it is clearly a much younger text.

Archeology verifies that a structure was build on Ebal going back to the Bronze Age.  Nothing was built on the Samaritan Mt Gerizim till the time of Alexander The Great.  Some have even theorized that the Samaritan Mountain isn't the Biblical Gerizim but perhaps the true Gerizim was to the North of Ebal.

The Samaritans' particular reverence for Gerizim isn't the only motive to want to change this.  So no I'm not impressed by one DSS text that seems to agree with the Samaritan version here.  Many would be uncomfortable with the implications of the Law being placed on the Cursed Mountain.  Like the Desert Tabernacle website, who are willing to change the Torah to suit their preferences regardless of a textual basis.

And that's the thing, there was no reason to change this the other way, those who preserve the Torah tend to revere it, the Masoretic Text was preserved by Kariates not Rabbis, so they would never choose to change it in a way that diminishes the Law.

The Septuagint and Vulgate sometimes seem to agree with the SP readings, but they don't here.

I may even think the Samaritan version of Exodus 20 is more correct then most people do.  It's apparently a misrepresentation when people claim it makes this part of the Ten Commandments.  And Deuteronomy is mostly about repeating commands given earlier, hence it's name.  But if so, I believe the original version of that would have read Ebal not Gerizim.

The Law is the Curse, but the Seed of Isaac is the one Promised to Bless all Nations and Families.  So maybe the Samaritans are right about Isaac being offered on Gerizim, the Vulgate seems to possibly agree with the Samaritan reading of Genesis 22:2, as saying Moreh rather then Moriah.  Only problem is I feel inclined to believe Jesus was Crucified at about the same spot Isaac was Offered.

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