Andrew did a good job at bring the physical settings of the Bible to life for us. He had his handouts and was able to give us a visual  map that helped as he  explained. The different region and there climates was something. The climate was so hot when these events happened in the bible. There was not a lot of rain. No wounder the people kept crying to Moses for water along with a lot of other things. The fact that the story in the bible still happened in spite of the climate is really something.

Juanita presented on the ancient near eastern literature and how the author of  this book is trying really hard to prove his points. The author wants to show how the near east  stories is very similar to the bible and that the bible could not be writing without other help from the foregor that was living around them. This chapter talks about how it is going to dismiss the truth to help show the things that the author believes and has found from research.

I am very sorry that my presentation was not good. So this is for those that did not get what i said . Some thing i may not have said and for that my b.

My chapter was about the possibility that myths and legends from the foreigners living among them could have been used when writing the Bible. There reason for saying this  is because of the similarities and the fact that plagiarism was not around in that time. There are many Scholars that believe this. However, like it was stated in the chapter there is no way to prove anything that they are saying.

There were many Scholars that did what ever to try and prove there point because of there finding and the fact that they wanted to discredit the Bible if at all possible. There has been some ancient near eastern literature that has been found and transcribed that is  very similar and parallel as they say. This was why the quote was read from pg 47 or 48.

” To say that literature two stories are parallel implies that they are legitimately be printed in adjacent columns as a means of calling attention to detailed similarities between them. What it does not imply is anything about the nature of that relationship: ‘there it is- make of it what you will’ is the only implication. At one extreme the resemblance might be purely accidental, and at the other it might have resulted from deliberate copying”.

After this is said the author of this book then stated that this information that was just given will now be dismissed as to the possibilities of it not being true just to show the parallels and similarities between the two.  This is so that one is able to take a deeper look into the different stories within the Bible.

This is what is done in a lot of chapters within this book. This is just another author that is trying to discredit a lotof the information within the bible. There is always something that can be found to prove a point if you want to make it and that is what this book has prove that.

Mr. Carrall’s lecture was very interesting.  He is right about how it is important to know and read the context as well as the text. A lot of people don’t pay much attention to the context when reading or talking about the Bible. I did not know that the book of Mark was written so long after the events happened. I did get to talk to him after class about some of the things he talked about. I think he needed more time to explain and for people to talk and ask questions.

In my group we  talked about 

• Why Pharaoh had no names. We didnt understand that . I said that there was a Paraoh with a name but realizied i was wrong it wasn’t a Pharaoh that had a name  it was just kings Abimelech. I think it is only the rulers in egypt that everyone calls Pharaoh.
• What was the credibility to a lot of the information that we read about.  When did all these other people come into being.
• How many years was between the children that Jacob had it didnt say.  Was Rachel really given to Jacob in a week or did he have to wait seven more years.
• The notes at the bottom of the chapters are somewhat helpful because it gives some  information that was not in the text.

Group members: Shawn Corbett, Katie Sadis and Juanita Mckoy

Facts

• Rachel is jealous that she didn’t bear Jacob any children.
• Rachel is mad with Jacob that she as had no children. She is blaming Jacob like he is God
• Jacob gets mad with Rachel because she is trying to make him responsible for something that he has no control.
• She gives Jacob her maid, Bilhah, in order to have a child.
• Bilhah gives birth to a man whom Rachel takes as her own and names Dan.
• Bilhah then has a second child name Naphtali and Rachel exclaims that she has faced her sister and won
• Leah then gave Jacob her maid with which he had 2 sons
• Leah also gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob in order to have more children. Zilpah had two sons named Gad and Asher.
• Leah believes that she had her six son because of the dowry of mandrakes (Dowry means property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage)
• Leah then bought a night with Jacob for mandrakes, where she proceeded to bear a 5th and 6th son for him, as well as a daughter
• Leah 5^th and 6^thsons are Issachar and Zebulun. Her daughter name is Dinah.
• Rachel is blessed with her own child now named Joseph
• God then blessed Rachel with another son for Jacob by “opening her womb”
• Rachel then speaks about another child that will come some.
• Jacob wanted to be able to provide for his family.
• Jacob then asks for freedom from Laban, who tricks Jacob by preventing him from taking his pay of the goats and lambs.
• Jacob conceived a plan to help the flock breed that, which was his payment.
• He becomes very rich

observations

These are things that happened to Jacob and his family. Jacob was made to deceive his father to get a blessing. But look what happened to Jacob he was deceived by his father-in-law with Leah and not Rachel. Look what happened to Leah for listening she was unloved no matter what she tried (or how many children she was able to have. So because Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah god didn’t allow her to have children for some years. This only made Rachel very jealous of her sister even though Rachel still had more than Leah but couldn’t see (the love of her husband Jacob). Laban taking the flock out before Jacob only hurt him in the end because Jacob came up with a way to get his flock and be rich off of Laban. Jacob means heel catcher, supplanter, cheater, defrauder, and deceiver.

To me it seems like whatever you are named that is what you will be or will be like in some way.  Look because of what Jacobs name means that is what he is called. It also seems like he is called by the meaning of his name even when he does good. As to say it doesn’t matter. It is something how Leah has to demand Jacob to come to bed with her like she is not his wife. Because Leah said to Jacob you must come to bed with me. 

Ideas

Rachel has been looking also to magic and not just god. Is this true because of what the dictionary has to say about mandrakes. She was worshiping more then one good. Just like her father. The father uses divination. Divination is like insight. Now i don’t know about this but why does Rachel want these Mandrakes.

 some thing for a thesis:

God used all the events or things that Laban, Reahel and leah did thru out this chapter; to prove to jacob that he is a god that keeps his promises. Everything was used the good the bad and the ugly.