Friday 13 June 2008

Response to Comments

Ordinarily, I would have just responded in the comment sections themselves, but the comment got so long it was worthy of a new post. A few posts ago, I posited a theory I saw on Jewish Atheists's blog that Deuteronomy was not written by Moses, and that the Jews had no knowledge of Sukkot until it was instated by Ezra, supported by Nechemia 8:17:

And all the congregation of them that were come back out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

I then drew the conclusion that Moses was not an historic character.

Rabban Gamaliel disputed both the Deuteronomy theory and the Sukkot theory and if he is correct, would defeat my conclusions about Moses and reinstate the status-quo (but not prove it).

Was Deuteronomy written by Moses?
Gamaliel said> "Also it doesn't say the Torah was not heard of."

The first thing to note is that the question is about Deuteronomy, not about the Torah as a whole. As there's some confusion about what I wrote, let me state it again.

8. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD. 10. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. [II Kings 22]
The conclusion from this passage is that "a book of the law" was discovered and caused quite a stir. It went from the High Priest, to the court scribe, to the King himself who heard it and then tore his clothes in grief. No-one seems to have known of this book until now - therefore many scholars suggest there is a strong possibility that the book of Deuteronomy was new and hadn't been heard of before this point.

"The book of the law" doubtless refers to one of the books of the Torah (law), but the question is which one? Deuteronomy is the obvious choice, as it has a completely different style to the rest of the books and contains many of the laws of all the other books as well as some of its own.

Further, the actions of the Josiah in response to the discovery of this new book seem to indicate that the book referred to is Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 16:21: Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God 22 and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.
Deut. 17:2: If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.
Compare with:
2 Kings 23:4: The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts.
And more:

Deuteronomy 12:2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills
and under every spreading tree...
Compare with:
2 Kings 23:5: He [Josiah] did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon.

Deuteronomy 23:17 No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute.
2 Kings 23:7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD...

Deuteronomy 7:5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.
2 Kings 23:15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.

Deuteronomy 12 demands one place of worship, which is exactly what the demolition of all high places (idol and non-idol) and killing of pagan priests and general smiting of all religious things outside Jerusalem would do. It creates a centralised base of worship. This all seems to confirm that the book in question is Deuteronomy.

More Problems
If the book of Deuteronomy had merely been lost, I argued, why weren't there some elderly people who remembered it? Grandparents? Or how about younger people who had been told some Torah from Deuteronomy - for example, the opening words of the Shema (Deut. 6:4) - why didn't anyone remember it? In writing this up, I even crunched some numbers.

Menashe, the wicked king of Judah to whom the forgetting of Deuteronomy is attributed, ruled for 45 years. His son Amon then succeeded him and ruled for all of two years before he was killed. Then Josiah, Amon's son emerged as ruler. In his 18th year he found the book which is the subject of our discussion. That's 55 years in total and since we know that the average life expectancy was around 70 years (Psalms 90:10) it's entirely plausible that someone could have remembered one of the famous passages from Deuteronomy.

However, this is without factoring in that Menasseh ultimately repented of his evil ways and reinstated his saintly father's religious ordinances, so it's quite unlikely any forgetting of anything could happen just in Menasseh's reign, or in the two years of his son.

What suggests itself more logically, and in view of the evidence, is that the book of Deuteronomy was newly written and introduced to the people in Josia's reign, whilst inventing the notion that it was an old but forgotten book and Menasseh was used as a scapegoat to validate the story.

Why would they do this?
Easy. The temple needed cash for repairs and the priests of the temple needed to consolidate their power. The economic gain in having all sacrifices brought to the temple in Jerusalem, as opposed to any of the other "high places," is obvious, as is the effect of the entire nation giving tithes to the priests and levites. This effect is magnified as it was only the local Levites and the family of Hulda and Hezkia - descendants of Zadok - who were able to officiate at the Temple, whilst the northern Levites were demoted (they were non-Zadokites) - in essence, the central Jerusalem temple and one particular and powerful Levite family were benefiting from this new arrangement.

Is it any wonder a high priest "found" this document? And any wonder that Hulda, the high priests cousin and not anyone else, validated it? And any wonder that only Zadokites were able to officiate (validated by Ezekiel)?

Myth of the 13 Torah Scrolls

Interestingly, the book found is said to be written in Moses' own hand, no less. But if Moses existed, did he even have access to parchment in such quantity? Doubtful, considering that medium wouldn't be commonplace until 5 BCE. Parchment did exist as early as somewhere between 2613BC-2484BC.

Generally, everything was being written on papyrus or stone - which is why, I suppose, we have the idea of the tablets of stone.

Specific responses to Gamaliel
As for Persia being unknown in the Torah, what has that to do with anything? Deuteronomy doesn't give us any new history, it merely concisely (relative to the rest of the book) notes the history of Moses and Israel in the desert, before going on to give laws which are extremely favourable to the economy of the temple and Kingdom of Josiah.

You said also that "It is the way of the world that most of what we expect to be recorded of the history of a nation is from itself." Whilst I agree there, it is also the way of the world that a nation writing about itself tends to exaggerate things with absolutely no shame. This is why historians look for evidence external to that nation when seeking validation for any particular claim.

As for the proof texts brought for Sukkot, you brought down the text for the dedication of the temple. It says:

Kings I Chapter 8
1. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the people of Israel, before king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. 2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
The claim:
Sukkot is mentioned right here during the time of Solomon, therefore it's obvious that Sukkot was celebrated after the time of Joshua, and Nehemia 8:17 needs to be reinterpreted: "and all the congregation of them that were come back out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so." It shouldn't mean that the Israelites had no knowledge of Sukkot, rather, they had a novel celebration of it on this particular occasion.

My Response:

The term "feast" (or chag in Hebrew) is a generic term which can refer equally to any of what we now call "High Holy Days." So then, which Chag takes place in the seventh month? All the High Holy days:

Rosh Hashanah: 1+2 Tishrei
Yom Kippur: 10th Tishrei
Sukkot & Hoshanna Rabbah: 15th-21st of Tishrei

This means the feast in 1 Kings could refer to any of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur or Sukkot, all of which fall in the month of Tishrei. That means that the "feast" spoken about doesn't necessarily imply a celebration of sukkot. Further, the dedication of the temple described here took place around the 8th of Tishrei and lasted for 14 days:

1) It was not a feast of 7 days, which sukkot is, so can't mean sukkot.
2) The sombre tone and many sacrificial offerings given seem to indicate that the feast started between Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, or possibly on one of these days, but doesn't necessarily indicate Sukkot.
3) The absence of the construction of booths during this celebration, which is specifically mentioned in Deuteronomy, seems to confirm the feast here was not sukkot.
4) To interpret "novelty" into the text and to state this was the booths being constructed means that for many hundreds of years, sukkot wasn't celebrated in accordance with the Torah and brings fault onto the likes of the Eli Hakohen, the Prophet Samuel, King Saul, King David and so on and so forth until the 18th year of the reign of Josiah. Is it likely these people would fail to celebrate a Torah-mandated festival? No.

Given all these objections, I consider it unlikely that your interpretation of the text in Kings is correct. Further, history very much seems to verify the theory but contradicts yours:

1) There's no mention of sukkot after Josiah discovers Deuteronomy, though it does mention Passover wasn't celebrated like it was there "since the days of Joshua."
2) No mention of sukkot during the babylonian exile.
3) If you're wrong about Solomon, which I believe you are (and if you object, I look forward to the rebuttal of all my objections), then there's no mention of sukkot there either.
4) Ezra arrives: suddenly we have sukkot.

Any proof from Chronicles brought for the celebration of Sukkot during Solomon's time is irrelevant because Ezra also wrote Chronicles.

I didn't mention anything about Passover in my original post, so have nothing to respond to the proofs of Passover you brought down.

72 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok I will respond soon, hopefully tonight. Thank you for the exchange.

Anonymous said...

"The conclusion from this passage is that "a book of the law" was discovered and caused quite a stir. It went from the High Priest, to the court scribe, to the King himself who heard it and then tore his clothes in grief. No-one seems to have known of this book until now - therefore many scholars suggest there is a strong possibility that the book of Deuteronomy was new and hadn't been heard of before this point."
It says "I have found the book of the Law" not "a book of the Law." Since this is the case it implies a book already known.
II Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the Torah in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. Actually it says "the book of the Torah."
The Greeks translated Torah as law. Really it is teaching. If it is Deuteronomy alone it is certainly not the ordinary meaning but it is not my central argument in any event.
I Kings Chapter 2
1. And the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2. I go the way of all the earth; be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man;
3. And keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn yourself...
II Kings Chapter 10:31. But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the Torah of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.
II Kings Chapter 14
1. In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah.
2. He was twenty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
3. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father; he did according to all things as Joash his father did.
4. But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
5. And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he killed his servants who had killed the king his father.
6. But the children of the murderers he did not kill; according to that which is written in the book of the Torah of Moses, because the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin. ..
Deuteronomy 24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
A distinct problem for your claim is also that the Torah was yet in written form for the Samaritans before the time of King Josiah. If you'll say it was made up, that would be weak as why should one story be believed and not the other?
II Kings Chapter 17
1. In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
3. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute.
4. And the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
5. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7. For so it was, that the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
8. And walked in the statutes of the nations, whom the Lord cast out from before the people of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they practiced.
9. And the people of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortified city.
10. And they set up for themselves pillars and Asherim in every high hill, and under every green tree;
11. And there they burned incense in all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord carried away before them; and did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger;
12. For they served idols, about which the Lord had said to them, you shall not do this thing.
13. Then the Lord warned Israel, and Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the Torah which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
14. However they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God.
15. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies with which he warned them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
16. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, two calves, and made an Ashera, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17. And they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
18. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
19. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they practiced.
20. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them to the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them from his sight.
21. For he tore Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.
22. For the people of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23. Until the Lord removed Israel from his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. And Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria to this day.
24. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria, and lived in its cities.
25. And so it was at the beginning of their living there, that they feared not the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
26. And they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the customs of the God of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them, because they know not the customs of the God of the land.
27. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Take there one of the priests whom you brought from there; and let them go and live there, and let him teach them the customs of the God of the land.
28. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Beth-El, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29. But every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they lived.
30. And the men of Babylon made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31. And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32. And they feared the Lord, and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
33. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, according to the customs of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.
34. To this day they do according to their former customs; they do not fear the Lord, nor do they follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the Torah and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;
35. With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them;
36. But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you worship, and to him shall you do sacrifice.
37. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the Torah, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall be careful to do for all time; and you shall not fear other gods.
38. And the covenant that I have made with you you shall not forget; nor shall you fear other gods.
39. But the Lord your God you shall fear; and he shall save you from the hand of all your enemies.
40. But they did not listen, but did according to their former customs.
41. And these nations feared the Lord, and served their carved idols, both their children, and their grandchildren; as did their fathers, so do they to this day.
II Kings Chapter 21
1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the nations, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel.
3. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal, and made an Ashera, as did did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
6. And he made his son pass through the fire, and practiced soothsaying, and used enchantments, and dealt with mediums and wizards; he did much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
7. And he set a carved idol of the Ashera that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;
8. Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more from the land which I gave to their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Torah that my servant Moses commanded them.
9. But they listened not; and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel...
If King Mannashe put up high places which his father had destroyed it means Mannashe really made an innovation. If you'll say it was made up so why not have Hezekiah then condemned as he really would then have had high places. The whole thing becomes arbitrary as the Bible has to have whole parts ignored for the crime of not fitting in with the DH version of history. What laws for the Temple and Judaism were observed if it was made up later?
Clearly below Torah of Moses would not make much sense as being only Deuteronomy:
II Kings Chapter 23
...21. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22. Surely there was not celebrated such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23. But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, when this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24. Moreover the mediums, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the Torah which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
25. And like him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him...
"What suggests itself more logically, and in view of the evidence, is that the book of Deuteronomy was newly written and introduced to the people in Josia's reign, whilst inventing the notion that it was an old but forgotten book and Menasseh was used as a scapegoat to validate the story."
Again no one said it was forgotten but that the book was lost. Remember it yet says that Josiah was a righteous King doing according to the Torah all his days as king not that he was suddenly learning a new faith for him. What fits best the text is not what you said but the story which it claims to begin with. not to mention what kind of High Priest goes heretical by making up a claimed lost text for his heresies and expects it to be accepted by his fellow priests? Is that the power of tradition taking over? When Akhenatan introduced his Sun worship the priests did not accept it nor were his subjects believing it was anything but a change.
"Why would they do this?
Easy. The temple needed cash for repairs and the priests of the temple needed to consolidate their power."
They had all the cash and the power as it says:
II Kings Chapter 22
1. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
3. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,
4. Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the silver which is brought to the house of the Lord, which the gatekeepers have gathered from the people;
5. And let them deliver it to the hand of the workmen, who supervise the house of the Lord; and let them give it to workers who are in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,
6. To carpenters, and to builders, and to masons, and to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house.
7. But there was no account made with them of the money that was delivered to their hand, because they dealt in good faith...
"The economic gain in having all sacrifices brought to the temple in Jerusalem, as opposed to any of the other "high places," is obvious, as is the effect of the entire nation giving tithes to the priests and levites. This effect is magnified as it was only the local Levites and the family of Hulda and Hezkia - descendants of Zadok - who were able to officiate at the Temple, whilst the northern Levites were demoted (they were non-Zadokites) - in essence, the central Jerusalem temple and one particular and powerful Levite family were benefiting from this new arrangement."
There were no Northern Levites at the time:
II Chronicles Chapter 11
1. And when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin a hundred and eighty thousand chosen men, who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2. But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,
3. Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying,
4. Thus said the Lord, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers; return every man to his house; for this thing is done by me. And they obeyed the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
5. And Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
6. He built Beth-Lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
7. And Beth-Zur, and Soco, and Adullam,
8. And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,
9. And Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,
10. And Zorah, and Ayalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fortified cities.
11. And he strengthened the fortresses, and put captains in them, and stored provisions, oil and wine.
12. And in every city he put shields and spears, and made them very strong. And Judah and Benjamin were on his side.
13. And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel resorted to him from all places where they lived.
14. For the Levites left their pasture lands and their possessions, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from performing the priest’s duties to the Lord;
15. And he ordained his own priests for the high places, and for the hairy goats, and for the calves which he had made.
16. And those, from all the tribes of Israel, who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the Lord God of their fathers...
Of course they left because they were not in charge in the Northern Kingdom but that means of course that they had been in charge before so clearly the Levites' authority was way before Josiah. The tithes after all were only necessary if the Levites had authority as the Holy NonTribe without land and just devoted to G-d. Since they had been so in the past before Josiah so the tithes were there.
"And any wonder that Hulda, the high priests cousin and not anyone else, validated it?"
In all of Tanach where does it say she was related to the High Priest? I ran a search on her name and only these were found: II Kings Chapter 22:14. And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter; and they talked with her.
II Chronicles Chapter 34:22. And Hilkiah, and those whom the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Toqhat, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; and she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter; and they spoke to her to that effect.
It appears unlikely she was of Kohanic descent but instead it appears she was a member of the tribe of Judah. If you read from Bible critics that she was related to the high priest it appears they made it up to satisfy their theory, thinking it must be the case because of their theory rather than bothering to investigate.
"Myth of the 13 Torah Scrolls
Interestingly, the book found is said to be written in Moses' own hand, no less. But if Moses existed, did he even have access to parchment in such quantity? Doubtful, considering that medium wouldn't be commonplace until 5 BCE. Parchment did exist as early as somewhere between 2613BC-2484BC.

Generally, everything was being written on papyrus or stone - which is why, I suppose, we have the idea of the tablets of stone."
Dead Sea Scrolls were written in abundance some centuries before then. I do not believe there was as much papyrus in the Holy Land or in the desert but writing they had with the Alphabet being old in Moses day unlike what the critics thought.
"Specific responses to Gamaliel
As for Persia being unknown in the Torah, what has that to do with anything? Deuteronomy doesn't give us any new history, it merely concisely (relative to the rest of the book) notes the history of Moses and Israel in the desert, before going on to give laws which are extremely favourable to the economy of the temple and Kingdom of Josiah."
But Genesis gives a list of nations and Persia is unknown there. The Philistines in Genesis are under one king and not in the same exact boundaries. Why not have it reflect at least how it is recorded in the book of Samuel with them having no one ruler. What William Chomsky said makes sense that there were different waves of these sea invaders. Also why are there Egyptian words and names of people in the Torah? Why is the language of the Torah closer to earlier books than that of the later prophets and books? These questions are like that of the lack of Persians ones of argument for old material with the language argument being decisive and fatal to theories charging a lack of old material. Persians would have been included if known and so that absence also dates material though not as decisively far back.
"You said also that "It is the way of the world that most of what we expect to be recorded of the history of a nation is from itself." Whilst I agree there, it is also the way of the world that a nation writing about itself tends to exaggerate things with absolutely no shame. This is why historians look for evidence external to that nation when seeking validation for any particular claim."
Yes but exaggeration is given to the country's and ruler's benefit. A claim of guilt is a sign something was not being done right by somebody as otherwise no one would bother to claim guilt as existing in their land. Also despite exaggeration these nations exaggerated accounts are not considered made out of whole cloth but instead as true minus exaggerated glorification.
You say that Sukkos was unknown before Nechemia yet Zecharia who predicted the Exile and so prophesied before Nechemia was around said:
Zecharia Chapter 14:16. And it shall come to pass, that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths."
Further if Sukkos was made up by Ezra why is it mentioned by Ezekiel who prophesied and witnessed the Exile? Ezekiel Chapter 45:25. In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, he shall do the same in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, according to the meal offering, and according to the oil.
Also Ezra writes that the people celebrated as it says The Feast of Booths as it calls it upon their first year in Israel in the days of Cyrus King of Persia and before Ezra reprimanded them during the days of Artaxerxes. What it says is that not since the days of Joshua did the people of Israel in general celebrate in the same manner Sukkos but not that the holiday was unknown or not celebrated. On the contrary it was celebrated in the same way in Joshua's day.
"And all the congregation of those who had returned from captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua, son of Nun, to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was a very great rejoicing.
"This means the feast in 1 Kings could refer to any of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur or Sukkot, all of which fall in the month of Tishrei. That means that the "feast" spoken about doesn't necessarily imply a celebration of sukkot. Further, the dedication of the temple described here took place around the 8th of Tishrei and lasted for 14 days:

1) It was not a feast of 7 days, which sukkot is, so can't mean sukkot."
Celebration of the Tabernacle was lasting 14 days but in identifying when they were going up it tells us in terms of not a celebration of that year but of all years:"And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month."
It is clearly a permanent feast referred to. Clearly they were not observing the dedication every year so what is the identification supposed to mean if not something other than 14 days of celebration. They came for the traditional holiday celebration and they celebrated 14 days
Verse 65. And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entrance to Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days.
That is they observed first seven days of celebration and then seven other days of celebration not having a special 14 day holiday but rather seven days of celebrating plus the seven days of Sukkos. Rosh Hashannah would be too late to be the holiday referred to as them coming for the feast of the Seventh Month as that would entail coming before the Seventh Month and we don't have reason to believe they all gathered before the Seventh Month as opposed to them gathering in the Seventh Month for the next feast in it which would in any event be called the feast of the Seventh Month when not specified otherwise as it lasted seven days. Not even Shemini Atzeret would be referred to as the feast of the the Seventh Month as it is only one day as opposed to Sukkos. Further it does not say that the feast started around the eighth of Tishrei but rather that the celebration lasted seven days and then seven other days and the eighth day from the second celebration they were sent home.Yom Kippur of course would not be called a feast leaving aside the fact that it like Shmeni Atzeret and Rosh Hashanna was only one day as opposed to all those days of Sukkos since on Yom Kippur we don't eat or drink.
"2) The sombre tone and many sacrificial offerings given seem to indicate that the feast started between Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, or possibly on one of these days, but doesn't necessarily indicate Sukkot."
It was celebratory not somber. It was respectful and celebratory like Sukkos which also had many sacrifices. But in any event the celebration and sacrifices referred to by you were not for the holiday of Sukkos but for the dedication of the Temple.
"3) The absence of the construction of booths during this celebration, which is specifically mentioned in Deuteronomy, seems to confirm the feast here was not sukkot."
Again what is being referred to in detail as the celebration is not Sukkos but the dedication. Further it says in Deuteronomy specifically to keep the Feast of Booths as it calls it and it also says it before Deuteronomy in the Torah also calling it the Feast of Booths so if it was made up by Nechemia was it added to Deuteronomy?
"Any proof from Chronicles brought for the celebration of Sukkot during Solomon's time is irrelevant because Ezra also wrote Chronicles."
But Chronicles repeats what it says about Josiah and Solomon. If Chronicles is reliable for Josiah why is it not for Solomon? On the contrary if it is contradictory to Ezra and Nechemia why can't it be said that Ezra and Nechemia are wrong in their book? Further if Ezra wrote Chronicles then he is confirming that Sukkos was celebrated before. Why would he contradict himself this way, saying it was never observed before in his book of Ezra and in Chronicles say otherwise. Further in the dedication of the Temple Solomon mentions the Exodus from Egypt and the Tablets of Stone from Moses are there too. Why should we reject that and accept the rest of the account or reject the whole account. It is disingenuous for critics to accept only parts of the Tanach that suit their theories on no other grounds but that they accept their theory and then cast doubt on anything that contradicts it in the text so that the text is deemed to be believed and reliable and to be the source of statements of fact when it suits them but deemed otherwise when it doesn't.

Lubab No More said...

You've been tagged:
http://lubabnomore.blogspot.com/2008/06/questionare-atheist-thirteen.html

BTW do you have an email address?

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