The Red Tent (page 2)

waiting

(((((((((((((((((HEY Jenny!)))))))))))))))))))))))

I read The Red Tent some time ago............loved it (except for the songs - just not my style). All the "what-ifs" we were never presented with.

In The Red Tent, Anita Diamant weaves a novel around the unsettling story of Dinah. What if Dinah loved Shechem? How did Dinah feel as she was taken out of Shechem's house and saw what her brothers had done? What was Dinah's life like after this horrific slaughter?

The bible never says that Dinah did - or didn't - love Shechem. All we know is the story. And all most of us knew was that she hung around with "bad association", got raped, and her brothers killed all the men in that city because of her. It was all her fault. "Bad association spoils useful habits. Remember Dinah?"

I thought it was marvelous to think about the "what if" concerning Dinah. Who knows?

And on the other hand.............some feel that this story/account isn't factual - but a way of explaining the slaughtering that some of the Jews did in trying to establish themselves beyond being nomadic sheepherders. Remember all the references in the book as to the dust on all the people? I'd never thought about that. Try being out in a dusty field all day, and not look like the dusty field by the end of the day. Yuck.

Yanno.........it states in the Bible that Rachel stole her family's gods & then hid them from her father. But it NEVER occurred to me.........Jacob KNOWINGLY married a woman who worshipped false gods. lol - he married TWO of them. And he was blessed by Jehovah. And Jacob NEVER tried to make his wives turn to his religion/god. Being the "head of the house" - that is his biblical duty.

I had never thought about the significance of that happening in the Bible. And "all things are written as an example"..............

Good to see ya!

waiting

joannadandy

I will have to check this book out, it sounds good.

You know, that whole Dinah story NEVER sat right with me even as a kid! I remember asking my dad, "Why did they kill him?" I think I got some answer about how he was a bad man. I just remember thinking how pissed off I'd be if my love was killed by my dumb fanatical brothers.

stillajwexelder

Read "Who Wrote The Bible" by Friedman

gaiagirl

Another book in the same vein is "The Moon Under Her Feet", by Clysta Kinstler. This book deals with the life of Mary Magdelene, and provides a rich picture of her life and times.

Winston Smith :>D

Sounds like a good read.

Ther were a couple of Bible accounts that read more like a myological tale rather than an inspired book which stirred some curiousity in me.

Hey stilla, at risk of hijacking the thread, what is the synopsis of Friedman's book?

seven006

G,

What's up? Did your cable go out during the ice storm and you can't watch any of your soaps?

Round 1, your turn.

Big hug woman,

Dave

Mulan

I read the book about a year and a half ago. I agree.................it explains many things, in a logical way that make you think it was very possible it happened just that way.

think41self

Hi Ginny

Just popping into your thread to say HI to you.

As far as the book you mentioned, it does sound interesting. If I'd come across it 4 years ago, I might have read it. These days...I just don't have much interest in anything biblically related. I guess it just doesn't get me going anymore. There were so many bible stories that didn't make sense to me when I was younger...it would have been interesting to put a different twist on things when we were still dubs, eh?

Good to see you.

Tracy

outnfree

Hi, Ginny!

Me, too, I'm popping in to say "glad to see you!"

I've read this book and really, really enjoyed it! Not only because of all the "what if" possibilities, but also because it seemed an honest look at what life must have been like in a many wives household back in ancient times.

It always made me sad, too, to think that Dinah's brothers killed the man she loved. How dare they! Yet, that's exactly the way society was back then -- men were all about keeping the women of their house, be they wives or sisters, modest and chaste, otherwise the men were dishonored. I keep learning more and more about these things in my World Civ classes (the prof looks in my direction and laughs at my sputtering indignation every time we're talking about the way women are [mis]treated in ancient civilizations - lol). In fact, the book is interesting on several quasi-historical levels ... we learn more about pagan beliefs as well as what life was like in nomadic society and in everyday Egyptian life as well.

I highly recommend the book -- even for Tracy. It's a wonderful celebration of sisterhood.

outnfree

bluesapphire

I loved it!

The Red Tent

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