Think back to all the poems, parables, scenes, and stories we read this semester. Select two of them - from different books - that have significant parallels or similarities that aren't obvious at first glance. In other words, I'm not looking for two stories that have nearly the same plot line (e.g. both feature a woman who couldn't have children and then TA DA she had a baby). I'm looking for something that's deeper, more creative, and more unexpected. If you're thoughtful and analytical, you can find links between opposite characters, distinct events, and other surprising things. As always, include specific details, beings sure to note book/chapter/verse where needed.
DUE by 11:59 on Wednesday, December 12th.
WORTH 25 extra credit points.
After looking back on the semester, I have decided to focus on parables. A parable is " a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels." I found two parables from Matthew. The first one comes from 7:24-27. This parable is spoken by the Lord on the mount following the sermon. Jesus talked about the significance of his teachings and how we should not only act on them but learn from them. Those who learn from him will have a solid foundation. Those who obeys Jesus "builds a house on a firm foundation." On the other hand, those don't learn from the teachings of Jesus well essentially crumble because there was no foundation of his life or house that would've been gained from Jesus.The other part of Matthew I decided to focus on was 13:44. This focuses on the kingdom of Heaven. Which is said to be like a treasure found in a field. In the bible when the person finds treasure they sell it to buy a field. I believe the meaning behind this is saying we should value God and his kingdom in the same way. In connection to both chapters, we should trust in God because he can provide for us more than we know. Since he does provide teachings, protection, and a kingdom to us we should value it and do as we are told to get the best outcome.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAfter looking back on the semester, I have decided to focus on parables. A parable is " a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels." I found two parables from Matthew. The first one comes from 7:24-27. This parable is spoken by the Lord on the mount following the sermon. Jesus talked about the significance of his teachings and how we should not only act on them but learn from them. Those who learn from him will have a solid foundation. Those who obeys Jesus "builds a house on a firm foundation." On the other hand, those don't learn from the teachings of Jesus well essentially crumble because there was no foundation of his life or house that would've been gained from Jesus.The other part of Matthew I decided to focus on was 13:44. This focuses on the kingdom of Heaven. Which is said to be like a treasure found in a field. In the bible when the person finds treasure they sell it to buy a field. I believe the meaning behind this is saying we should value God and his kingdom in the same way. In connection to both chapters, we should trust in God because he can provide for us more than we know. Since he does provide teachings, protection, and a kingdom to us we should value it and do as we are told to get the best outcome.
-Sydney Tucker
I’ve always enjoyed discussing the bonds between David and Johnathan and think they are a great model of friendship today, even if society doesn’t understand those bonds. In ENGL 250, we recently read On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and while I hated the book, I appreciated the emphasis of homosociality within. This term means a preference or focus for social relationships among individuals of the same gender. Specifically, not a romantic or sexual nature but the strong bond of friendship. Examples of this would be brothers in arms mentality and a common story this is seen in is Arthurian legend. This friendship is lost on society today, as we discussed in class and as was mentioned in the article we read about Job. The intimacy between our fellow man is nowhere as close as it once was. I really liked the tie in to the book of John. My favorite passage in the Bible comes from John: 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”. The bond seen in 1st and 2nd Samuel between David and Johnathan is the practice of the bond in that passage from John. Jesus shares this bond of brotherhood with his disciples and that is such a strange concept in today’s terms. The term “lost in translation” occurs commonly but I see a great usage of it more literally now. In John 13:35, Jesus says “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”. In both cases, “love” is used and depending on how the reader views this, it could turn out very differently. As we discussed in class and just like in the story of David and Johnathan, the love described is a brotherhood or bromance. The word love here is used throughout the Bible just in ancient languages, there were different words for love, and each described a different connection. Going back to which form of the word in ancient texts shows how to properly interpret its meaning. Many in the world today misinterpret the love of David and Johnathan simply because they do not understand the intimate friendship they had because there isn’t anything like it today but it occurs with Jesus and his disciples as well.
ReplyDeleteIsrael/Palestine is one of the hostile lands on the planet. It was here that the ancient people called the Israelites forged an Army and carved out an empire against all odds. Their ancient military exploits are described in one of history’s greatest and most famous religious texts- the Old Testament of the Bible. That same struggle is going on today in modern times with Israel.
ReplyDeleteJust before 4 P.M. on May 14, 1948, a black limousine pulled up to a small museum in Tel Aviv. A crowd of onlookers applauded vigorously and waved white flags emblazed with the blue Star of David (the ancestral symbol of the Jewish people). A short, stocky man in a dark suit with an unkempt halo of white hair stepped out the car, he paused briefly and waved to the cheering crowd before climbing the stairs and disappearing into the building. The man was David Ben-Gurion.
Ten minutes later, as head of the National Council, the governing body of Jews living in the British-controlled land of Palestine, he would lead a ceremony establishing the Jewish state of Israel. Today, all Jews, after 2,000 years of exile from their ancestral land, facing endless persecution and poverty, would again have a home.
Inside the Tel Aviv Museum, Ben-Gurion joined a group of 12 men sitting behind a long wooden table. Hanging over the table and dominating the hall was a portrait of Dr. Theodor Herzl, the 19th-century Austrian Jewish playwright who transformed the desires of European Jews for a homeland into a modern political movement called Zionism. Scattered around the room were reporters and press photographers who had come from all over the world to record this historic moment.
At precisely 4 P.M. Ben-Gurion stood and struck a gavel on the table. An instant later the spectators rose to their feet and sang a traditional Jewish song called “Hatikvah,” a Hebrew word that means “the hope” eventually becoming the national anthem for the new nation. After it was finished, Ben-Gurion read the Proclamation of Independence of the State of Israel: “Exiled from the Land of Israel, the Jewish people remained faithful…never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and restoration of their national freedom. We hereby proclaim the establishment of Jewish state in Palestine, to be called the State of Israel.”
With this proclamation the entire crowd rose to its feet and burst into an emotional encore of “Hatikvah.” Spectators tearfully embraced and congratulated each other. Outside the hall the streets of Tel Aviv were alive with joyous celebrations as people cheered and danced in the streets.
Only 37 minutes were needed to proclaim the independence of the Jewish people who had struggled and yearned for freedom for almost 2,000 years. At the stroke of midnight, with the state of Israel, barely eight hours old, the tiny nation would be faced with an all-out war for survival as five Arab nations’ armies invaded Israel following the announcement of the independence of the state of Israel. The 62-year old Ben-Gurion’s historic journey as the first Prime Minister of Israel had just began.
Without question, David Ben-Gurion is one of the most celebrated figures in Israel’s history. As the primary founder of his nation he is Israel’s George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, as a statesman he was Zionism’s Lincoln and Churchill during his country’s darkest hours. Ben-Gurion is almost universally revered today as a man of rare ability and character who shaped Israel in his image, to the lasting benefit of all Israelis who followed in his wake. Ben-Guiron is a modern-day David in the struggle for Israel.
Dom Oto
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ReplyDeleteWe have discussed in class about Judith in the book of Judith and about Esther in the book of Esther. I would like to say some about them since I found some similar interesting characters in their stories. According to the scriptures both Judith and Esther are heroine in the history of Israel victory over their enemies. Judith and Esther have many similar characteristics in their stories. Both were very beautiful, faithful and patriotic who won the battle for Israel by humiliating the enemies. They were smart and had great personal characters that God used them for glorious purpose to deliver Israel from relentless enemies.
ReplyDeleteJudith is a daring and beautiful widow who went to the enemy's place and used her beauty and seduce general Holofernes when he got drunk and lied, she cut his head and took his head back to her people to glorify her God as a victorious. Judith known by stranger prayers, she asked God to make her a good liar. She could able to trick the general and cut off his head thus help Jewish people toward victory over the Assyrian forces.
Esther was also a beautiful and strong Jewish girl who became queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus. She was chosen for her beauty to be a wife. Her cousin Mordecai persuaded her to take risks to save Israel people from massacre plotted by the king's chief minister Haman. Her characters were similar to Judith, she was courageous and faithful woman who God used for glory. She asked for prayers to over come enemy plot that God used her to deliver Israel from their enemy action of genocide. She dutifully obeyed and took risk for her people by chose to die with them. She approached to make her plea to the king which reversed the case thus led the Israel to victory.
To end up, the story of Judith and Esther are related and similar historical. Both were contributed a big thing to the Jewish victory to overcome their enemies. It is very interesting story!!!!!
After reflecting back on stories and topics we focused on I found a parallel between two people, Judith and Deborah from the book of Judges. Judith is someone who does the deed herself. She’s a beautiful woman who is determined to stay a widow. Judith is not set-up as a prophetess but acts like one. She’s the leader of people. Judith becomes the town heroine when she beheads Holofernes and takes over Bethulia again. On the other hand, Deborah is a prophetess. She tells the future and speaks the truth. Deborah warns people about what’s going to happen. She’s a moabite woman who rules Israel. Now here’s where I see a parallel, they are both heroines who takes down an enemy of Israel single handedly. They both played the role of being a leader and a strong woman. Considering most of the judges and leaders in the bible are males. Based on the structure of the stories, it seemed like the women were just there for the man. They were needed to carry the family legacy and reproduce. Within these two characters you can see them both carrying a legacy but this time it was different. They carried the legacy of being a hero and saving their people. They were needed to do so. In both situations they used their “lethal charms” to dispatch and enemy of Israel. Which is something unique and ironic I got from the texts.
ReplyDelete-Sydney Tucker
I noticed a connection between Deborah and Ruth when I went back and looked over the stories we read. In Judges 4:7 Deborah asks Barak to help her assemble troops. She knows that she is the won that will be awarded glory over the victory but she also understands that she needs Barak's help to get the troops. She knows her strengths and weaknesses and played her cards accordingly. Just like in Ruth 1:16-18 when Ruth tell Naomi that she is going to continue to stay with her. Ruth understood that she needed Naomi's guidance in order to succeed. The way both of these women asked for help and didn't get lost in pride shows how strong and wise they both were. Both women knew when to ask for help and when to do things on their own. This knowledge is what made them seem so strong in their stories.
ReplyDeleteLooking back over the stories and books we read this semester, I found a slight correlation between Hannah's request to God for a son in I Samuel chapter 1 and Esther's request to the King in Esther chapter 5. While these are two very different requests, they are related in the fact that both women are making requests to higher powers. Also, both requests made by these two women are requests on their behalf in order to better their own lives in some way. Finally, both of these requests begin with the women humbling themselves before the higher power to which they are speaking. Hannah starts her request in 1 Samuel 1:11 by saying "Oh Lord of Heaven's Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer...." And Esther starts her request in Esther 5:8 with "If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask..."
ReplyDeleteI found an interesting connection between the punishment of sons and the circumstances that arise between them in the books of Genesis and Esther. In Genesis, I focused on the story of Noah after the flood. Noah is found naked in his tent by his youngest son who alerts his older brothers (Genesis 9:21-23). Although it may be considered offensive in some way that Ham, the youngest son, witnessed his father in such a state. It doesn't seem like Ham is all too active in this scene. He does not even speak and is only described through his actions. However, Noah becomes enraged and curses Ham's son (Genesis 9:25). In Esther, it also seems as though the sons of Hamon are punished by execution for seemingly nothing (Esther 9:7-10). I cannot find any mention of Haman's son assisting him in his plot. Instead, it is Haman alone who plotted to kill the Jews and Mordecai. Much like Ham in the Noah story, Haman's sons suffer for that which they had a passive and/or accidental role in.
ReplyDeleteSome of the mentions that are very repetitive throughout the stories we read were talking about being covered and naked. There are some mentions that talk about actual covering the bodies and there are others where it is talked about like covering a plant or the earth. It is very interesting to see how it is used in many different ways to describe different meanings of it in the stories.
ReplyDelete"Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings." When Adam and Eve are first realized that they had been walking naked around each other and it was a symbolism of how they couldn't look at each other the same way without clothes. "Jonah 3:6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes." Then there are other books like "Job 14:17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You wrap up my iniquity." It is not talking about physically wrapping or covering something on their body but something emotionally or mentally.
-Kim
Since my final project was on parts of the Bible that incorporate all Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, I recognized that water and wind are the only creators while fire is destructive and earth is what's being created. Wind and water can also be destructive as seen in the story of Noah and the Ark, but their purpose is not inherently that of destruction but rebirth. The flood in a way is a "baptism" of the Earth. It is the cleansing of the sins of the people with a promise of new life after the earth begins to dry out. The purpose of wind is God's breath of creation and God's breath as he clears the waters or riles the waters. Fire is destructive because it is symbolic of Hell, and destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, but also interestingly is a sign of the Holy Spirit which is paradoxically raging of peace. Meanwhile the Earth is birthed after the breath of God pushes away the waters to form the Earth. In turn, Jesus is born on that same Earth in the waters of Mary's womb and his humanity is breathed into her body.
ReplyDelete-Emily Geary