Month: August 2015

#312. Was the tamid to be performed once daily OR twice? (2 Kgs 16:15; Ez 46:13 vs Ex 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8; 1 Chr 16:40)

Despite Number 28’s decree that the tamid was to be offered twice daily, in the morning and in the evening, this sacrificial legislation seems to reflect public cultic practices of a late time period in Israelite history, to be exact of the post-exilic period. First, as we saw in the previous entry (#311), the tamid is only mentioned two times in all of Torah legislation, and not surprisingly in some ofRead More

#311. Was the regular burnt-offering (tamid) performed at Sinai OR not? (Num 28:6 vs Ex 24:3-7, 32:5-6; Lev 8-9)

Numbers 28-29 outlines the schedule of public sacrifices performed in the cult during the calendar year. The schedule complements P’s list of public festivals or holy assemblies enumerated in Leviticus 23 (see Festival Calendars for an overview). It is one of five different sacrificial or festival calendars in the Torah, whose contradictions and historical developments we’ve already discussed: For the Passover see #194-197 For the Festival of Weeks see #198-204 ForRead More

The Creation According to Genesis 1

As many of you know, my book Genesis 1 and the Creationism Debate: Being Honest to the Text, Its Author, and His Beliefs—Not Ours has been accepted for publication and should hopefully be out in the Winter. One of the goals of this project is to present an unbiased, objective, and culturally-contextualized reading of Genesis 1—being as honest as possible to the text and the beliefs and worldview expressed therein, andRead More

#309. Where does Joshua get appointed: in public OR in the Tent of Meeting? (Num 27:18-23 vs Deut 31:14-15)
#310. When does Yahweh confer Joshua as Moses’ successor: Before the giving of the laws OR after? (Num 27:18-23 vs Deut 31:14-15)

Following contradictions #307 and #308, the place where Joshua’s appointment is conferred and when are also contradictorily represented between the Torah’s different sources. The earlier tradition of Joshua’s appointment, which comes from the Elohist source, has been grafted onto the end of Deuteronomy. As noted previously (#166), it has some striking differences when compared to the Priestly writer’s version. As we saw in other entries (#166, #220, #231, #254), the AaronidRead More