- Oct 2023
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en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shmita
During shmita, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by halakha (Jewish law).
The sabbath year (shmita; Hebrew: שמיטה, literally "release"), also called the sabbatical year or shǝvi'it (שביעית, literally "seventh"), or "Sabbath of The Land", is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah in the Land of Israel and is observed in Judaism.
Tags
- agriculture
- Nehemiah 10:31
- halakha
- shmita
- 2 Kings 19:29
- remission year
- Exodus 23:10-11
- Isaiah 37:30
- 2 Chronicles 36:20-21
- sabbaticals
- debt
- Deuteronomy 15:1-6
- time in relation to work
- Leviticus 25
- Jewish law
- jubilee
- Deuteronomy 31:10-13
- Friends of the Link 2023-10-18
- Jeremiah 34:13-14
- Leviticus 25:5
Annotators
URL
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claudemariottini.com claudemariottini.com
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There are several occasions where the massebah is not associated with pagan worship. When the massebah is associated with the worship of Yahweh, the massebah is accepted as a valid expression of commitment to Yahweh.
Massebah for pagan worship: - Exodus 23:24 (https://hypothes.is/a/r3m5QmyDEe6SC8eLYcJE1Q) - Hosea 10:1 (https://hypothes.is/a/4PK2GGyDEe6wZg_r2YpVCA ) - 2 Kings 18:4 - 2 Kings 23:14
Massebah for worship of Yahweh: - Genesis 28:18 Jacob's pillow (https://hypothes.is/a/NF5p8Gx6Ee65Rg_J4tfaMQ)<br /> - Genesis 31:44-45 Jacob and Laban's covenant - Exodus 24:4 - Joshua 24:25-27
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in violation of the demands of the covenant, the people of Israel erected sacred stones dedicated to other gods (Hosea 10:1). In their religious reforms, both Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4) and Josiah (2 Kings 23:14) destroyed the sacred pillars which the people of Israel had dedicated to the worship of Baal.
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During the establishment of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel, the people were commanded to destroy the sacred stones of the Canaanites, “You must demolish them and break their sacred stones (masseboth) to pieces” (Exodus 23:24).
In neighboring cultures in which both have oral practices relating to massebah, one is not just destroying "sacred stones" to stamp out their religion, but it's also destroying their culture and cultural memory as well as likely their laws and other valuable memories for the function of their society.
View this in light also of the people of Israel keeping their own sacred stones (Hosea 10:1) as well as the destruction of pillars dedicated to Baal in 2 Kings 18:4 and 2 Kings 23:14.
(Link and) Compare this to the British fencing off the land in Australia and thereby destroying Songlines and access to them and the impact this had on Indigenous Australians.
It's also somewhat similar to the colonialization activity of stamping out of Indigenous Americans and First Nations' language in North America, though the decimation of their language wasn't viewed in as reciprocal way as it might be viewed now. (Did colonizers of the time know about the tremendous damage of language destruction, or was it just a power over function?)
Tags
- Joshua 24:25-27
- The Covenant
- biblical stones
- colonization
- Hezekiah
- hypocrisy
- Indigenous languages
- Genesis 28:18
- sacred stones
- songlines
- Hosea 10:1
- what's good for the goose is good for the gander
- masseboth
- Canaanite religion
- orality and memory
- 2 Kings 23:14
- Exodus 23
- massebah
- Baal
- Genesis 31:44-45
- Exodus 24:4
- standing stones
- 2 Kings 18:4
- Exodus 23:24
- Josiah
Annotators
URL
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- Mar 2022
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www.haaretz.com www.haaretz.com
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The historic books of the Bible were written by a “Yahweh only party” and are thus keenly critical of the worship of other gods in Judah. Still, it is clear from their description that polytheism was the norm in the First Temple period. It was only during King Josiah’s reform that the "Yahweh only party" really took control and began pushing other gods out of Judean minds.
Polytheism was the cultural norm during the First Temple period. It wasn't until the reforms of King Josiah described in 2 Kings in the second half of the 7th century BCE that other Semitic gods were actively removed from the Temple and parts of culture in favor of Yahweh.
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The Bible also recounts that the ancient Hebrews worshipped a god named Moloch, who was associated with the Ammonites and with child sacrifice. This worship too was stamped out by Josiah in the same reform (e.g. 2 Kings 23:10).
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Yet the ancient Hebrews clearly adored them just like the other West Semites did. Ezekiel (8:16) recounts seeing people worshiping the sun in the Temple. We can infer this because the bible specifically condemns their worship, and we are told that Josiah took actions to stomp out the cult in the late First Temple period, the second half of the 7th century B.C.E. These actions included removing cult objects from the Temple itself (2 Kings 23:11).
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