There appears to be conflating traditions concerning where Aaron’s budding rod was relegated. In the Priestly narrative of Numbers 17, Aaron’s budding rod is set in front of the Ark of Testimony before Yahweh’s throne seat (#159; #226) to serve as “a sign to rebels.” But when the author of Hebrews six centuries later duplicates this tradition while speaking of the first Temple, he places Aaron’s budding rod in the Ark!Read More
Month: July 2014
#254. Who can burn incense in front of Yahweh: only Aaronids OR not? (Ex 30:7; Num 17:5; 1 Chr 23:13; 2 Chr 26:16-19; Lk 1:8-11 vs Deut 33:10; 1 Sam 2:28; 1 Kgs 9:25)
The message endorsed through the tale of Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16-17—that only the Aaronid priests can offer incense to Yahweh and only at Yahweh’s altar—is yet but another story in a long list meant to legitimate the Aaronid’s sole right to minister to Yahweh. We have now seen in this Aaronid written text, the Priestly source, “Yahweh” endorse: the sole selection of the Aaronids as his priests, while at theRead More
#251. What bronze is used to plate the altar: the donation from the Israelites at Sinai OR the Kohathite fire-holders? (Ex 35:5, 38:2 vs Num 17:3-4)
#252. Who does the hammered bronze work: Bezalel OR Eleazar and the Aaronids (Ex 38:1 vs Num 17:1-4)?
#253. When and where was the altar plated: between the 6th and 12th month of the 1st year from the Exodus at Sinai OR in the 2nd-3rd years (?) after the Exodus in the wilderness? (Ex 38-40 vs Num 9-17)
We last noted the contradictory rebellion stories now stitched together in Numbers 16 (#246-250): From the Yahwist tradition: The rebellion of the Reubenites led by Dathan, Abiram, and On against Moses’ authority, to which Yahweh responds by opening up the earth and swallowing “them and all their households” (16:32); and From the Priestly source: The rebellion of the Kohathites led by Korah and his cohort of 250 chieftains against the Aaronid’sRead More