JT -- here's a recent link http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/55254/1.ashx
cyberguy
JoinedPosts by cyberguy
-
21
Two most important doctrines of JW's.
by Mr Bean in1. you will believe in the sacrifice of jesus christ.
2. you will believe in god's anointed,directed and inspired organization.. .
in case you are not sure, study baptismal questions.. .
-
-
-
5
Divine interpretation through a human channel ??
by MacHislopp inplease take note of these claims from the wtbs inc.
*** w50 7/15 214 organized testimony to the new world ***
jehovahs word is not of private human interpretation.
-
-
cyberguy
Btw, remember that all these texts i.e. "Watchtowers" articles from 1950 to 1969, are NOT avalaible anymore, in theSociety's new 2001 CD !
I just checked my 2001 CD and my copy does have the Watcthwer articles from 1950-1969. The Awakes start in 1970. Is your copy a prerelease or are there multiple versions out there?
Thank you otherwise for your insightful posts, J.C.M.
-
1
Furuli's new book can now be ordered
by cyberguy innorwegian version: nkr.
thus the reign of darius ii is pushed forward one year (xerxes ii/sogdianos may have ruled a short time between artaxerxes i and darius ii).
the absolute chronology and its problems.
-
-
cyberguy
A new thread on "channelc.org" has this link http://folk.uio.no/rolffu/ to order Furuli's new book.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Persian Chronology Compared with the Chronology of the Bible volume I Persian Chronology and the Length of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews
The paperback edition has about 260 pages and contains 37 tables and 21 pictures/drawings. It is published by R. Furuli AS, Oslo: Norway.
Price English version: $ 29 plus postage, Norwegian version: Nkr. 240;
Mastercard accepted (please give card number, expiration date, and backside code).Postage and handling: Norway, 1 copy Nkr. 55, 2 copies Nkr. 55.
Scandinavia: 1 copy Nkr. 75, 2 copies Nkr. 75.
Europe: 1 copy US$ 11, 2 copies
US 14.US and the world: 1 copy US$ 11, 2 copies US$ 15.Order address: [email protected]
The book is available in English and Norwegian. (in preparation: Danish, Italian, and Polish translations; planned: Swedish, German, French and Russian translations).
Below is a sketch of the conclusions and the table of contents.
ANGLE OF APPROACH
The Oslo chronology versus the chronology of Parker and Dubberstein
The chronology of Parker and Dubberstein has been almost universally accepted for the last fifty years. According to P&D the accession yer of Nebuchadnezzar was 605 B.C.E and his destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 587 B.C.E. The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus occurred in 539, and the Persian empire ended in 331 B.C.E. after the five year reign of Darius III.
For the first time this chronology has been challenged in a scholarly study. The tablets to which P&D refer, have been studied afresh, and for the first time an attempt has been made to make a synthesis of all the tablets that contradict the traditional chronology and give a new interpretation to some of the old material.
The book is based on a study of the data from several thousand cuneiform tablets, including dated contracts and other business documents, and astronomical tablets giving the positions of the heavenly bodies in relation the each other and to the Zodiac in particular years. A careful analysis of relevant texts in Hebrew and Aramaic (the Elephantine Papyri) has been performed. As well About 400 modern sources have been used.
Parker and Dubberstein
A study of each cuneiform document used by P&D to show in which regnal years of Babylonian and Persian kings intercalary months were added, reveals that 49 % of the "evidence" used by P&D has no real value, in this author's judgement. A comparison of 1450 cuneiform tablets dated in the reigns of the Persian kings reveals tablets for most of the kings that contradict P&D's scheme, which was based on first and last tablet dated to each king. On this basis it is argued that the chronology of P&D should be radically revised.
The chronology of the Persian kings
The most trustworthy cuneiform evidence consists of dated business tablets. These indicate sales and loans and other transactions and are dated in the day, month, and year of the king who ruled at the time. These dates are clearly unbiased. A comparison of these tablets suggest a different chronology compared with the one adocated by P&D. The business tablets demand that Bardiya (Gaumata, who probably is the "Artaxerxes" of Ezra 4:23) ruled for 18 months between Cambyses and Darius I. Thus the accession year of Darius I is pushed one year forward. There are strong reasons to believe that Xerxes was co-regent with Darius I for 11 years. (Evidence: 1) Tablets are dated to the accession year of Xerxes before the last tablets of the 36th year of Darius I, 2) drawings and inscriptions make the two equal and give them the same titles, 3) different titles used by Xerxes after his 11th year, 4) the pattern of intercalary months is the same in the last 11 years of Darius and the first 11 years of Xerxes). The reign of Xerxes is pushed back 10 years (11 years of the co-regency minus the 1 year of Bardiya). Thus the accession year of Artaxerxes I is taken as 475 B.C.E., ten years before 465, which is advocated by P&D. This means that the 20th year of Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1) is 455 B.C.E. The business tablets may indicate that Artaxerxes I ruled 51 years or even through his 51st year and a few days into his 52nd year. Thus the reign of Darius II is pushed forward one year (Xerxes II/Sogdianos may have ruled a short time between Artaxerxes I and Darius II).
The absolute chronology based on the positions of the heavenly bodies in the reigns of particular kings
The glimpse of the Oslo chronology of the Persian kings presented above collide head on both with P&D and with the three so-called "Saros tablets" which, as far as we can see from their fragmentary condition, present 18-year cycles of eclipse possibilities of the moon, which can be connected with nubered years of Persian kings.
In order to make an absolute chronology on the basis of astronomical diaries, lunar (Saros) tablets and planet tablets, three requirements must be met:
The positions of the heavenly bodies must be observed by the eye of a scribe and written down at the same time; and they must not only represent backward calculations made at a much later time.
The name of the ruling king must be written on the tablet at the time when the observations are made.
Enough observations must be found on the tablet to be able to pinpoint the dates of observation according to the Julian and Gregorian calendar.
As far as the Saros tablets are concerned, only condition 3) is met. The pattern of the eclipses, numbers of regnal years, and abbreviated names of kings (on one of them) help astronomers pinpoint the years of the kings of the Persian empire back to the last part of the reign of Darius I.
It has been known for a long time that the Saros tablets do not contain original observations, but they represent calculations (solely based on theory, or on a combination of theory and other tablets containing observations). Thus they indicate that in the 3rd century B.C.E, in the astronomical/historical milieu, a scheme of 18-year Saros cycles connected with a chronology of kings existed (probably going back as far as to the time of Nabonassar (747 B.C.E.- this is suggested by other tablets). The important question is: These 24 Saros cycles (of which we just have fragments), which cover 432 years from 747 to 315 B.C.E, and which are connected with a chronology of kings, do they represent reality, or are they as a whole fictional?
If we take the dated business tablets and other material at face value, the answer as far as the Persian empire is concerned, is that the Saros tables are fictional. Eclipses of the moon occur regularly at 5 (or 6 month) intervals, and almost the same series of eclipes occur every 223 months (18 years), so the eclipse part of Saros scheme is real. What is fictional, (a conclusion based on more than hundred business tablets and "anomalous" intercalary months from the Persian empire), is the connection between the eclipse cycles of the moon and the succession of kings. P&D took the Saros tablets as proofs for their chronology and rejected business tablets which contradicted their chronology (and were not aware of scores of other tablets that speak against their chronology). The Oslo chronology do the very opposite of P&D by taking the business tablets at face value, something that forces us to reject the theoretical Saroschronology as a depiction of reality..
The length of the Babylonian exile of the Jews
Language is ambiguous, and many texts can be interpreted in different ways. But a careful linguistic analysis reveals that Daniel 9:2 and 2 Chronicles 36:21 unabgiguously say that Jerusalem was a desolate waste without inhabitants for full 70 years, while the people were exiled in Babylon. It has been argued that the words of Jeremiah 25:11,12 do not corroborate with the mentioned unambiguous texts. This is wrong, and an analysis of these and other words of Jeremiah show that, while his words are not unambiguous, they can be interpreted as saying the same thing as the unambiguous texts. Daniel and the Chronicler, who personally knew the length of the exile, interpreted the words of Jeremiah as indicating a desolate condition for 70 years. A correct understanding of Hebrew verbs help us understand that Zechariah 1:12; 7:5 accords with the other passages, even definitely stressing the desolate condition of 70 years.
Volume II and the Babylonian chronology
Much research is needed before volume II is ready for publication. But a few remarks can be made at this point. The chronologies of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia are interdependent, as far as the dates of the reigns of the kings are concerned. If, for instance, the accession year of the first New Babylonian king is pushed forward one or two years, the the whole New Babylonian dynasty is pushed forward by one or two years. The same is true if one of thekings is pushed one or more years backwards. This is what we may call the "domino-effect".
This "domino-effect" works in another way as well, something that can be seen in connection with the Saros cycles. The Saros scheme with each cycle consisting of 223 lunar months, includes the Persian and New Babylonian kings, and a great number of Assyrian kings. The scheme either represents reality, or it is fictional. If we, on the basis of a great number of dated business tablets, can show that the part of the Saros scheme that includes the Persian kings, is fictional - which I believe we can - this has the "domino effect" that the same must be true for the the rest of the Saros scheme covering the New Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Thus the whole frame of the New Babylonian chronology of P&D falls apart.
The year 539 B.C.E.is taken in the Oslo chronology as the time when Cyrus conquered Babylon, although there can be some uncertainty with that year, due to the witness of the tablet Strm Kambys 400, which is not as good as we would have wished. However, if we accept the year 539 and at the same time accept the unambiguous witness of the Bible, we also must accept that the Babylonian exile began about 70 years before the year 539 (and not 49 or 50), which is what B&D allows for). This means that both the Bible and the Oslo chronology of the Persian empire argues against the traditional New Babylonian chronology.
The witness of the cuneiform tablets related to the New Babylonian kings will be thoroughly discussed in volume II. The astronomical evidene of this period is meager indeed,though specific, and it will be discussed in the light of the three crieteria mentioned above. It is particularly important to come to grips with the astronomical diary VAT 4956. As of present I have reviewd data from about 7.000 business tablets from the New Babylonian Empire. There are so many tablets that are anomalous (from the point of view of thetraditional chronology), that the whole scheme of P&D breaks down ; each king seems to have ruled longer than P&D says. This material will be systemtized and interpreted. An important question that will be scrutinized, is whether one whole Saros period of 18 years somehow was lost in the New Babylonian era in the theoretical Saros schemes that were used in the 3rd century B.C.E., to the effect that the New Babylonian dynasty of kings existed 18 years longer than P&D says. There are several original inscriptions from this period as well, some containing information that is contradicted by others. The result of a study of these will also be presented.
A word of caution
Ancient history cannot be proven, because there are no living informants. And any attempt to make a chronological scheme of the kings of ancient nations is tentative. The Oslo chronology does not claim to represent the final word of the matter, but it represents a new approach to chronology. It does not generally challenge the interpretations and datings of astronomical tablets by experts such as Sachs, Hunger, Watson, and Steel, but it asks about the origin and quality of the tablets in question, thus scrutinizing the connection between the dates and regnal year of real kings Its advantage is that the cuneiform data are not seen through the glasses of the traditional chronology, but the evidence of each tablet is presented in its own right. It is also an advantage that published cuneiform sources are much moren umerous and much more complete than was the case 50 years ago when Parker and Dubberstein did their work. The real importance of the Oslo chronology, therefore, is not that it has established "the only true chronology", but that it has demonstrated that neither the accepted chronology which is based on P&D not "the only true chronology" .
CONTENTS
Introduction
Abstract
Chapter 1: Fundamental chronological considerations
The need for a balanced approach
Proofs versus evidence
The basis for making a chronology
Proofs versus evidence
The basis for making a chronology
The relative chronology and its problems
The absolute chronology and its problems
Factors connected with the scribes and the tablets that may cause errorChapter 2: The litmus test of the absolute chronology
Observation versus calculation
The interplay of the absolute and the relative chronology and the "domino effect"
The "domino-effect" and the astronomical diaries
The "domino-effect" and the Saros tabletsChapter 3: The languages and script of the original documents
Sumerian signs and language
The Akkadian signs and language
A possible identification of Nimrod
The Akkadian numbers
The reading and understanding of Akkadian by modern scholars
The reading of tablets may be erroneous
Possible reading errors because of chronological pressure
The Aramaic and Hebrew languages and their signs
Hebrew and Aramaic numbers
Philological questions regarding the text of the BibleChapter 4: Old chronological accounts of the New Babylonian kings Chronological accounts written in the Greek language
The Bible: 70 years of Babylonian captivity
The 70-year desolation of the land
What was the objective of Jeremiah?
The words of Zechariah
A theological attempt of harmonizing the Bible and the traditional chronologyChapter 5 -The Weakness of the traditional Persian chronology
The Saros cycle and intercalary months
Attempts to establish Saros cycles back to 747
The meaning of the Saros tablets
The Saros-tablets cannot be used to make an absolute chronology
Problems in using the Saros-tablets in connection with a relative chronology
How many of the intercalary months on the theoretical Saros tablets are confirmed by independent sources?
The data of the Saros tablets and the 19-year cycle
An acute problem of the dated business tablets
The intercalary months that are confirmed
The tablets from Persepolis and their intercalary months
The quality of the study made by Parker and Dubberstein
Quantity versus quality
A selective handling of data
How many of the intercalary months referred to by P&D have a sound foundation?
A synthesis of the evidence
The criticism of P&D
Conclusion regarding weakness of the chronologies of Ptolemy and of the Saros tabletsChapter 6 - Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius I, and Bardiya, the chronology iconoclaster
Cyrus (II) - the first king of the Persian Empire
Cambyses, the son of Cyrus-the second king of Persia
The nature of Strm Kambys 400
Darius I - the lance bearer who came to power
The Behistun inscription
Bardiya and his tablets punctures Ptolemy's chronology
The authenticity of the tablets dated to Bardiya
The evidence regarding Bardiya is not generally accepted.
Nebuchadnezzar III and Nebuchadnezzar IV - have they existed?
An interpretation of the supposed tablets of Nebuchadnezzar III and Nebuchadnezzar IV
Have Nebuchadnezzar III and Nebuchadnezzar IV existed?
What about other Nebuchadnezzars?
Concluding remarks on the transition of kingship to Darius IChapter 7: The reign of Xerxes and his co-regency with his father Darius I
Inscriptions and engravings suggesting a co-regency
A change in titles used suggest a co-regency
An important test: Do the intercalary months of the supposed years of co-regency coincide?
Conclusion regarding a possible co-regencyChapter 8: An alternative view of the reign of Artaxerxes I
Business documents and other dated tablets
Astronomical tablets connected with the reign of Artaxerxes I
Some thoughts on dating principles
The astronomical diaries
Some Greek evidence
Some Egyptian evidence
The data of the double-dated papyriChapter 9: Darius II and the last kings of the Persian Empire.
The astronomical witness in the reign of Darius II
Venus data
Conjunctions of Mars and Saturn and the moon
Planet observations
The continuation of intercalary months from Artaxerxes I to Darius IIChapter 10: A comparison of the Oslo chronology and the Ptolemaic chronology
An analysis of the models
The fictional source of the Ptolemaic chronology
Volume II: Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian chronologyBibliography
List of authors
Tablets
-
14
To AlanF and others! What legal means can be used to stop JC's?
by cyberguy into allan f. and others, what legal means did you use to stop judicial committees from dfng you?
since i was baptized as a teenager, can i use this to my advantage, since i was not of "legal" age to enter into a contract with the watchtower society (i was baptized in 1973)?
also, in my 30s i was appointed an "elder.
-
-
cyberguy
Oh yea! I’m definitely on the "hot-seat," Alan! Elders are showing up very frequently, 1-2 times per week; they’re driving me "nuts," especially since I’ve been neglecting the meetings as of late! Anyway, I ‘m going to try my best and keep my BIG MOUTH SHUT (for the sake of not being DA’d; my brother is still in the organization—I don’t want to loose him)! However, it’s not always that easy, especially when I know that I’ve been violated (that’s a strong word, but it actually may not be strong enough)! Anyway, thank you so much for your kind and considerate response to this matter, both previously and now. I may have to give you another phone soon to help me deal with the current situation! I hope you don’t mind; you’re especially a very kind, mild, considerate, person (all the "Christian" qualities that Witnesses are suppose to have) and I’m sure you understand what I’m going through! In fact, I would suggest to anyone that needs help, to give you a call (hope you don’t mind me saying-so, and especially I hope your wife doesn’t mind—I don’t want to impose on your family).
Thanks again, Alan, for just being there!
-
14
To AlanF and others! What legal means can be used to stop JC's?
by cyberguy into allan f. and others, what legal means did you use to stop judicial committees from dfng you?
since i was baptized as a teenager, can i use this to my advantage, since i was not of "legal" age to enter into a contract with the watchtower society (i was baptized in 1973)?
also, in my 30s i was appointed an "elder.
-
-
cyberguy
To Allan F. and others, what legal means did you use to stop Judicial Committees from DF’ng you? Since I was baptized as a teenager, can I use this to my advantage, since I was not of "legal" age to enter into a contract with the Watchtower Society (I was baptized in 1973)? Also, in my 30’s I was appointed an "elder." Does this make it a little more difficult to use the "baptized-as-a-teenager" defense?
Thank you in advance. I’m sure there are others out there with the same problem I have! I want-out, but I'm fearful of the repercussions and the loss of my relationship with my fleshly brother (an JW elder). So, I'm trying to do the slow-fade-thing! Once again, thank you so much for consideration.
-
33
Seventy years Desolation- History or Myth
by scholar ina new book has just been published on judean history in the neo- babylonian period.
the title is judah and the judeans in the neo -babylonian period by obed lipschitz joseph blenkinsopp, april, 2003. it is hardcover of over 600 pages and is published by eisengraums.
the isbn is 1575060736 and can be purchased from amazon books.. this book is based on a colloquim of international scholars who met at a conference at the university of tel aviv, may, 2001 and discussed the above subject.
-
-
cyberguy
The Myth of the Empty Land
Hans M. Barstad
University of Oslo
The period following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E, commonly referred to as the ‘exilic age, has, in several respects, been regarded as the most important period in the history of ancient Israel. Scholars regard this age, as well as the time that followed it, the ‘post-exilic’, Persian period, as ‘formative’ epochs in Israel’s religious and cultural history.
However, the very sharp distinction that is often made between ‘before and after 586’ has overshadowed the fact that we are after all dealing with a continuous culture in Palestine in this period. The history of the large majority of the population that actually remained in Judah, have hardly caught the interest of biblical scholars at all. This followed as a natural result of the belief in the ‘Empty Land’ that dominated 19th century scholarship. The repercussions of the view that the land of Judah was in ruins and uninhabited, and that nothing much went on during the Neo-Babylonian period, are, unfortunately influential even today.
Obviously, we should not belittle the several deportations, and the catastrophic implications of the fall of Jerusalem. What we must renounce, however, is the claim that these deportations affected life in Palestine in the way that much scholarly consensus appears to believe. The Judah left behind by the Babylonians was not a desolate and empty country lying in ruins until the Jews miraculously arrived back under Cyrus. On the contrary, Neo-Babylonian Judah probably represented a society where life went on after 586 B.C.E. pretty much in the same way as it did before the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar’s armies, constituting yet another wheel in the much bigger economic machinery of the Neo-Babylonian empire.
Clearly, this was a hard blow for the Judean state. We should not, however, think of an ancient pre-industrial society in such a static way that through the removal of certain social strata the nation would simply cease to exist. Those who stayed behind, would have to take up the tasks of those who left, and life would go on, obviously under harsh circumstances, and under new overlords.
Archaeological excavations have demonstrated beyond doubt the continued existence of a considerable Israelite material culture in the Negev, and in particular in the area of Benjamin, but also in the Judean hills, and, possibly, in Jerusalem. One major challenge that we are facing now is to compare the most recent archaeological studies on changes in settlement patterns during the exilic period (Barkay, Ofer, Zorn, Lipschits, and others), in order to try to create a broader picture. Another important task would be to look into the agricultural and industrial production of the period in order to understand better the macroeconomics of Judah within the larger system of the Neo-Babylonian empire. A third project concerns the evaluation of the biblical sources. The historiographical sources of the Hebrew Bible are narrative and pre-modern, yet they do contain valuable historical information. In the future, we shall have to deal more critically with the question of how the texts of Jeremiah, the Deuteronomist, the Chronicler, and Ezra and Nehemiah can be used for historical reconstructions.
Where is "The Myth of the Empty Land" to be found?
History versus Myth
B. Oded.
The University of Haifa
The theory of the "Myth of the Empty Land" is an offshoot of the main stem of a school dubbed ‘postmodernist’/ ‘minimalist’ etc. The basic attitude (with variations) of this school is that ‘Israel’ as a unique ethnic, national and religious entity with YHWH as the God of Israel, and Canaan as the Promised Land is just a propagandistic fabrication (a ‘myth’) of post-exilic Judaism. Exile and Restoration are myths. The large majority of the inhabitants of Judah, (disregarded by the biblical text), remained in the land and life went on ‘as usual’. A small group, centered in Jerusalem, whether returning exiles or non-Judaean/Israelite groups who had been deported to Jerusalem and Judah by the Persians, invented a myth according to which all the inhabitants of Judah were deported by the Babylonians; Judah lay desolate and empty, ‘tabula rasa’. The intention of the creating of the myth is to justify and legalize the seizure of lands belonged to the "indigenous Palestinians", by the "Jerusalemite aristocrats", "the Jewish sacred enclave". The "traditional scholars" collaborated with the fabricated biblical tradition in furthering the myth of the empty land.
The paper focuses on the question: is there in the biblical literature a myth of the empty land in order to justify the possession of land of the ‘other people’? The aim is to demonstrate that (a) there is no unequivocal proof, biblical or extra biblical, to the claim that during the exilic period (586-538 BCE) a "silent majority" remained in Judah and life continued as usual; (b) the evidence that we do have, albeit scanty, points to the opposite, i.e., that the deportations and the massive destructions of the land and the capital by the Babylonians exerted a significant destructive effect on the land of Judah and its inhabitants during the Neo-Babylonian period; (c) the term ‘exilic period’ allegedly ‘invented’ by the traditional scholarly (i.e., the so-called maximalists) is justified; (d) the "myth of the empty land" is the invention of the ‘pan-mythic’ scholars rather than the Bible (or the "traditional scholars"), with the implicit or explicit aim of substantiating their theory that biblical Israel is a fallacy.
The paper surveys (a) the biblical evidence (II Kings; prophecies; Ezra-Nehemiah; II Chronicles; Lamentations), (b) the archaeological finds in Judah proper during the exilic period, (c) evidence from epigraphic material relating to the exilic period.
The paper ends with several observations that lead to the conclusion that "The Myth of the Empty Land" is an unproven theory.
------------------------------
More can be found at http://www.tau.ac.il/humanities/jewishhistory/confer/conference.doc
-
33
Seventy years Desolation- History or Myth
by scholar ina new book has just been published on judean history in the neo- babylonian period.
the title is judah and the judeans in the neo -babylonian period by obed lipschitz joseph blenkinsopp, april, 2003. it is hardcover of over 600 pages and is published by eisengraums.
the isbn is 1575060736 and can be purchased from amazon books.. this book is based on a colloquim of international scholars who met at a conference at the university of tel aviv, may, 2001 and discussed the above subject.
-
-
cyberguy
see https://www.eisenbrauns.com/ECOM/_0ZP1FFM4H.HTM
Description
This volume is the outcome of an international conference held at Tel Aviv University, May 29-31, 2001. The idea for the conference germinated at the fifth Transeuphratene colloquy in Paris in March 2000. The Tel Aviv conference was organized in order to encourage investigation into the obscure five or six decades preceding the Persian conquests in the latter part of the 6th century. The essays here are organized in 5 parts: (1) The Myth of the Empty Land Revisited; (2) Cult, Priesthood, and Temple; (3) Military and Governmental Aspects; (4) Archaeological Perspectives on the 6th Century B.C.E.; and (5) Exiles and Foreigners in Egypt and Babylonia. Contributors: H. M. Barstad, B. Oded, L. S. Fried, S. Japhet, J. Blenkinsopp, G. N. Knoppers, Y. Amit, D. Edelman, Y. Hoffman, R. H. Sack, D. Vanderhooft, J. W. Betlyon, A. Lemaire, C. E. Carter, O. Lipschits, A. Zertal, J. R. Zorn, B. Porten, and R. Zadok.Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: The Myth of the Empty Land Revisited
After the “Myth of the Empty Land”: Major Challenges in the Study of Neo-Babylonian Judah - Hans M. Barstad
The Land Lay Desolate: Conquest and Restoration in the Ancient Near East - Lisbeth S. Fried
Where Is the “Myth of the Empty Land” To Be Found? History versus Myth - B. Oded
Periodization: Between History and Ideology, The Neo-Babylonian Period in Biblical Historiography - Sara Japhet
Part 2: Cult, Priesthood, and Temple
Bethel in the Neo-Babylonian Period - Joseph Blenkinsopp
The Relationship of the Priestly Genealogies to the History of the High Priesthood in Jerusalem - Gary N. Knoppers
Epoch and Genre: The Sixth Century and the Growth of Hidden Polemics - Yairah Amit
Gibeon and the Gibeonites Revisited - Diana Edelman
The Fasts in the Book of Zechariah and the Fashioning of National Remembrance - Yair Hoffman
Part 3: Military and Governmental Aspects
Nebuchadnezzar II and the Old Testament: History versus Ideology - Ronald H. Sack
Babylonian Strategies of Imperial Control in the West: Royal Practice and Rhetoric - David Vanderhooft
Neo-Babylonian Military Operations Other Than War in Judah and Jerusalem - John W. Betlyon
Nabonidus in Arabia and Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period - Andre Lemaire
Part 4: The Sixth Century B.C.E.: Archaeological Perspectives
Ideology and Archaeology in the Neo-Babylonian Period: Excavating Text and Tell - Charles E. Carter
Demographic Changes in Judah between the Seventh and the Fifth Centuries B.C.E. - Oded Lipschits
The Province of Samaria (Assyrian Samerina) in the Late Iron Age (Iron Age III) - Adam Zertal
Tell en-Nasbeh and the Problem of the Material Culture of the Sixth Century - Jeffrey R. Zorn
Part 5: Exiles and Foreigners in Egypt and Babylonia Settlement of the Jews at Elephantine and the Arameans at Syene - Bezalel Porten
The Representation of Foreigners in Neo- and Late-Babylonian Legal Documents (Eighth through Second Centuries B.C.E.) - Ran Zadok
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
Index of Sites -
7
Watchtower Prophecies and Contradictions
by ClassAvenger inmy jw friend does not believe that the watchtower has made many false prophecies before, he says that all people who say those things are apostates and that they are lying.
well, i know that many of you know magazines where the watchtower prophecises or makes contradictions, can anyone post what magazines they were (year, month, day) and if you can, the page #.
that way i can tell him to check them out himself.
-
-
cyberguy
here's a good place to start: http://www.geocities.com/osarsif/index2.htm
-
19
JGnat's comments on WT May 15, 2003 Christ Speaks to the Congregations
by jgnat inwt may 15, 2003 christ speaks to the congregations study june 29, 2003
here we study about the seven stars talked about in revelation 2, whom the article states logically denote spirit-anointed overseers, or bodies of elders.
* in revelation 2, the seven congregations are alternatively complimented for their strength, and slammed for their areas of weakness.
-
-
cyberguy
Hey winston!
I’ve been enjoying your commentaries on various threads on this board. I still attend some meetings, but I’m trying to do the slow-fade-thing. In protest to this particular Watchtower, I didn’t bother going! I probably won’t go next week for the 2 nd part of this article for the same reason. Anyway, I just wanted to share something I found interesting about the reference to 2 Cor. 11:19-20.
The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries makes some interesting points:
Vs. 19: Paul here justifies, with no little irony, the appeal to the Corinthians made in verse 16 to allow him to boast as a fool, on the ground that they are people who are wise, some of the so wise that they can tolerate even fools gladly, and therefore, they could not possibly have any objection to what he was doing.
Vs. 20: But not only do some of the Corinthians gladly put up with the folly that proceeded from the mouths of these bombastic talkers; they are also content to suffer personal indignities at their hands such as their own apostle could never dream of inflicting upon them. Paul’s opponents were not only braggers, buy tyrants, determined to enslave their victims. The verb translated bring into bondage, katadoulo, is used in Gal. Ii, 4 (and nowhere else in the New Testament) of the Judaizers who were trying to enslave the Galatians by making them keeep the Jewish law in its entirety; and it may be that it has the same implication here. Many commentators, however, consider that the verb, though active in form, has in effect a middle sense. These tyrants are endeavoring to enslave the Corinthians to themselves, so that in all things they may be the servants of their will.
In their greed they use every available means of extracting money from those who come under their power. They devour (RSV ‘preys upon’) them, the same verb katesthio being used here as in our Lord’s denunciation of the Pharisees because they ‘devoured windows’ houses’ (see Lk. Xx. 47).
By inserting the words of you after take AV gives the verb lambano the sense, which it is capable of bearing, of ‘get something out of you’; but this is a weaker charge to bring against the tyrants than that set forth in the previous verb devour. The RV and RSV renderings ‘taketh you captive’ and ‘takes advantage of you’ are, therefore, preferable. The verb seems to suggest here, as Plummer points out, that these unscrupulous rogues are trying to ‘catch’ the Corinthians ‘as birds in a snare, or fishes with bait’ (cf. The use of the same ver in Lk. V. 5).
By exalt himself (RSV ‘puts on airs’) something more is implied than the ‘boasting’ to which reference has already been made. The meaning of the verb here used epairetai is brought out better by Plummer in his translation ‘lords it over you.’
To smite on the face or mouth is a mark of the greatest disrespect. It was an indignity suffered literally by Micaiah at the hands of the false prophet Zedekiah (1 Ki. Xxii, 24), by Jesus at the hands of those who arrested Him (Lk. Xxii. 64, AV), and by Paul at the instigation of the high priest Ananias (Acts xxiii. 2). Some commentators take the expression here also in the literal sense, and infer that physical violence was used on the Corinthians; others, with perhaps greater probability, follow Chrysostom in regarding it as symbolic of any kind of humiliating treatment.
Judging from this commentary, may I suggest that Paul was actually being a bit sarcastic rather than encouraging them to "put up" with such men.
Something else to think about; when we look at the relationship between the WT Society with its the GB and the flock, are they not more like these "superfine apostles" Paul is talking about, bringing great harm to the flock by their lording-over the sheep? Doesn’t the GB claim to have a sort of apostle-like appointment, a special relationship with Christ, that only they enjoy? In your experience, doesn’t it seem to you that we’ve been caught like "birds in a snare, or fishes with bait?" In addition to money, have theses very ones not only demanded out precious time (i.e., their matra is "more is never enough, do more, more, more!")? Finally, don’t you agree that "these tyrants are endeavoring to enslave" us "to themselves, so that in all things" we "may be the servants of their will?"
-
24
The New Kids Book Release; Letter Ideas.
by shamus ini think that it would be a good idea to give a copy of that picture of armageddon to any letters that you send to any politicians, legal court cases, whatever the case may be.. the picture is absolutley disgusting, and shows blatant mind control.
a copy of that in with a letter to any politician would wake them the hell up as to what kind of cult this is!
maybe a follow-up letter with the picture enclosed?
-
-
cyberguy
This picture is similar to the last picture in the old Paradise Lost/Regained book from the early 1960's. However, they only had a blank-and-white picture then, with some red spot color to add to the gore! It scared the crap out of me when I was a little kid! I guess the Witchtower it back to their old fire-and-brimstone approach to getting kids to fall in line!