Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray:
I praise you, my God, with all people.
May they thank and adore you!
You have written your greatness in creation,
your Law in consciences,
your eternal promises in the Bible.
You are eternally faithful and always lovable!
As I read Sacred Scripture today, open my mind to hear your voice and understand your loving message.
Amen.
Today's three chapters are Genesis 34-36.
Trigger warning: The first thing we encounter in Chapter 34 is a rape. We find no concern for the young woman, Jacob's daughter Dinah. All the focus is on an outrage perpetrated against the family. For this culture, there is no concept of individual rights. Sexual ethics, such as they are, fall under what we would consider a form of material justice: the same kind we associate with possessions. This will even be reflected in the 9th and 10th commandments, where coveting a neighbor's wife is forbidden along with coveting his ox "or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17).
At this point, the Chosen People do not have any moral or religious laws from God. They are still operating on the level of a clan or tribe in an honor-based system. We are only at the beginning of a very long training process. God has yet to teach the people basic lessons of human dignity. To even start to do that, he will have to separate them from the influence of other cultures for a generation or two.
If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by Brant Pitre and John Bergsma. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts.
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