abraham destroyed idols bible verse abraham destroyed idols bible verse
Over the years, the interpretive tradition has taken this statement far out of its original meaning, which refers to the way a person is to behave on the night of the 15thof Nissan, and turned it into a key phrase describing Jewish consciousness in general. And Nimrod and all his princes and servants were that day sitting before him, and Terah sat also before them. Abraham Wrecks Terah's Idols - LDS Scripture Teachings So he got a club, or some other weapon, and knocked off the heads of some, the arms and legs of others, and made a general wreck among the idols, but left the biggest untouched. Writing, especially in the above examples, allows people who were not witnesses to the events to meet the reality of the event in a mediated encounter. 43 And Abram answered his father and said to him, And how canst thou then serve these idols in whom there is no power to do any thing? what are the 3 odd numbers just before 200 003? If this is a story, he said, it is a very human story. Hasnt the meaning of the word, with its halachic implications, been determined by the way it has been read over the generations? Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Of course, great challenges to Abram's faith lay ahead on his life's journey. A comparison between the various tellings allows us to clarify the core values the come through in each text, and, consequently, to characterize with more clarity the meaning with which the scriptural Author meant to imbue the story (a claim made above as well.) 5. The consequence was, his father and the idolatrous priests of that day sought to take his life. [3]See the long discussion inResponsa Rashba(1:414), where Rashba uses strong language to criticize various sages who suggested a philosophical-allegorical understanding for a number of biblical characters, including Abraham. The power of a story cannot be found purely in the ideological explication of the divine message contained within, even if the message once understood, requires a person to live up to it in his or her life. In many ways, the challenge faced by such a person is similar to the one faced by Rambam when he tried and demonstrate to the world that God has no body. 71C11132 Haran, Abraham's brother, having witnessed the miracle, decides to undergo the test of fire as well, but is immediately consumed. The later life of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis Chapters 1125. Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver thee? This claim, however, can be countered by making recourse to the premise of comparative literature, where it is one and the same whether a given story has a historical basis or not: comparison between texts always offers useful and challenging insights. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children[ a] by her." 13Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers [g]under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei by the appointment of King Hezekiah, and (O)Azariah was the chief officer of the house of God. Abraham). Abraham is cast into the fire and is saved by God. Abraham and the Idol Shop - Wikipedia Instead, the full power of the divine message comes once the message finds its place within a persons heart. Once he went on a trip and he placed Abraham in charge of the store in his place. [Abraham] understood that there was a God in heaven, a living and true God, and that no man should worship any other God but Him. 10Azariah, the chief priest (K)of the house of Zadok, said to [f]him, (L)Since the contributions started coming into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over, for the Lord has blessed His people, and this great quantity is left over.. [7]Doubtless, this claim reveals an important educational principle whose significance is beyond reproach. , was an idol-maker and merchant in Ur.1 Terah. [3] Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, in the presence of his father, Terah.[4]. Abraham's father in fact agrees with Abraham regarding idol worship unlike the Qur'anic version! Delivered at Provo, Sunday Afternoon, August 28th, 1881, Reported by Geo. The plot point of Abrahams fattempted murder for his beliefs is found in four source texts. Some critics of the Bible point to the story of Abraham, who laid his son Isaac on an altar and prepared to sacrifice him as directed by God (Genesis 22:1-14). Abraham is known to have done something similar. I discuss this halacha in greater detail in the book. These could now be understood as virtually physical expressions of the divine message. If I were pushed to offer some sort of response to this question anyway, I would say that just as any great author can breathe life into his or her characters and describe them from many angles, so too can the Divine Author, the greatest of authors. 17Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham(B) what I am about to do? The simple reader of Maimonidesand even the not so simple readerwas likely to feel that the loss of Gods body was almost equal to the loss of God. 13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall One approach (the older and more nave one) claims that the job of a historian is to make a copy of the past and place it, as-is, before present day students of history. Abraham told him that a woman came in to make an offering to the idols. Nevertheless, juxtaposed to this more moderate phrasing, we placed a more radical one. Abraham went thence to his mother, and he spoke to her, saying: Behold, my father has shown those unto me who made heaven and earth and all the sons of men. Save 15% for life! And Abram answered the king in the words that he spoke to his father, and he said, The large god that was with them in the house did to them what thou hast heard. not in the hands of heaven,) in order to say something about the God he discovered and followed. So Nimrod declares they worship water. 16 And Abram came to his fathers house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was kindled when he saw these images in his fathers house. why dost thou worship . The interpretive strategy of the received text is paramount takes an entirely different approach, which attempts to encounter the word of God without any mediation. The interpretive strategy of the accepted rendition is paramount emphasizes the importance of our mediated encounter with the text, the reading that I was taught by my teacher, and he his teacher, going all the way back to the law given to Moses at Sinai. In short, the tradition is of utmost value. 26 And Abram saw on the day when he was sitting amongst them, that they had no voice, no hearing, no motion, and not one of them could stretch forth his hand to eat. A different approach (cutting edge and more realistic) assumes that reconstruction of the past, with a point-by-point accurate portrayal, is impossible. Whether our actions motivate us to work for labor and the downtrodden or peace in Israel, we activate a certain "Abraham" within to destroy the idols of prior perspectives and belief systems, and . What does the Bible say about child sacrifice? | GotQuestions.org Whereupon Abraham responded by saying that you deny their knowledge, yet you worship them! 20 And Abram said to his father, My lord, shew them to me I pray thee; and Terah brought Abram into the chamber of the inner court, and Abram saw, and behold the whole room was full of gods of wood and stone, twelve great images and others less than they without number. Save 15% on BibleGateway+ with code SPRINGSTUDY15. Abraham is to be killed for his righteousness, and is saved by God Inasmuch as Abrahams fight against idolatry is a common theme in the Bible, so is the prophet of God, in the face of adversity, being persecuted for his beliefs. Said he, Father, I did not do anything to them, they quarreled among themselves and went to work fighting and knocked one another down, broke one anothers heads and knocked off one anothers arms and legs. Oh, said his father, my sons do not tell me anything of that kind, for they are made of wood and they could not move or stir from their place nor knock one another down; it has been some other agency that has done it. Why, father, said he, would you worship a being that could not stir or move, that had hands and could not handle, that had legs and could not walk, a mouth that could not speak, and a head and it was of no use? Does the Torahs Abraham really need the historical Abraham in order to claim an important role in Jewish religious consciousness? [2]For a discussion of the phenomenon of filling the gaps see Yonah Frankel,Midrash ve-Aggada, (5753), 41 [Hebrew]. 2 Chronicles 31 NASB - Idols Are Destroyed - Now when all this - Bible went away on a journey, and he left Abraham in charge of the store. 22 And Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him. Abraham at last thought he would teach his father a lesson by making a clean sweep of his gods. 2 Chronicles 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. Therefore, we should be careful not to miss even a single hint or implication that may be imbedded in the direct speech of God to us. "Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. Following the analysis offered here, the halachic tradition makes the religious value of any historical event that occurred before the revelation at Sinai contingent upon the power given to it by its inclusion in the narrative that came down to the world at Sinai. Terah was the father of Abram (his name was later changed to 635-637 [Hebrew]). 40 And the large one saw their works that they did before him, and his anger was violently kindled against them, and he went and took the hatchet that was in the house and came to them and broke them all, and behold the hatchet is yet in his hand as thou seest. As our rabbis taught us, all is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven (b. Berachot 33b); even the historical Abraham would have to fit into this rubric. 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. Destruction of Idols | Daiyah Wiki | Fandom The missing years of Abraham's early childhood are explained through a series of Midrashim. 38 And he found Abram his son still sitting in the house; and he said to him, What is this work thou hast done to my gods? I simply believe it. Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition. New American Standard Bible (NASB). Douay-Rheims Bible And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. Finally, Abraham is not punished . The image of Abraham smashing idols in his fathers store and blaming it on the god is likely to bring a smile to the lips of any person who is familiar with the story from his or her childhood. [10]In my opinion, which is based on multiple encounters with a number of different groups, this critique can be found at the heart of many peoples objections to ahistorical reading of the Torah, and feeds their intuitive rejection of this paradigm. 2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. A woman came carrying a plate of fine flour and she told me to offer it before them. 14Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the eastern gate, was in charge of the [h]voluntary offerings for God, to distribute the contributions for the Lord and the most holy things. 8When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and (J)His people Israel. [b](P) 23Then Abraham approached him and said: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? [25] Freeing the Torah from its historical crutches not only frees the narrator from having to keep the narrative in line with past events, but it also neutralizes the basis for the attack against the validity of a person maintaining his or her faith. The only similarity that one finds here is Abraham advising his father about the futility of idol worship. are also to be treated as idols." Deuteronomy 9:21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount. What Does the Bible Say About Abrahams Descendants? - OpenBible.info Genesis 31:34 Now Rachel had taken Laban's household idols - Bible Hub Completely erase the names of their gods! The way the Sages understand Scripture is quite different. Ge 22:12, 18; 26:5; 2Sa 8:15; Ps 17:2; 99:4; Jer 23:5, Ex 23:7; Lev 4:3, 22, 27; Nu 16:22; Dt 27:25; 2Sa 24:17; Ps 11:4-7; 94:21; Eze 18:4; 2Pe 2:9, Jdg 11:27; Job 9:15; Ps 7:11; 94:2; Heb 12:23, Ge 20:4; Dt 32:4; 2Ch 19:7; Ezr 9:15; Ne 9:33; Job 8:3, 20; 34:10; 36:23; Ps 58:11; 75:7; 94:2; 119:137; Isa 3:10-11; Eze 18:25; Da 4:37; 9:14; Mal 2:17; Ro 3:6, NIV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Story of Jesus: Experience the Life of Jesus as One Seamless Story, NIV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Galatians, Paperback, Comfort Print, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, NIV, Beautiful Word Bible Journal, Revelation, Paperback, Comfort Print. These were the feelings of Abraham, and he taught his fathers house, and all around him, as far as he had the privilege. returned from his journey, he found his merchan- What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." The text designates Terah, Abraham's father, as a "manufacturer of idols." One day, while Terah is away from his workshop, he entrusts it to young Abraham. Kush was the son of Ham, the lowest and least important of Noah 's three sons. I cannot thank them enough for the happy homelife they created for me and my siblings. If he had possessed the spirit which his son had, he would have said there is no power with these gods; but he did not, and Abraham had to flee from his fathers house, confiding in the Lord, who gave many promises to him and concerning his posterity. can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon them? He did his Ph.D.in Jewish thought atBen Gurion University, focusing on the writings of Rav Kook. (C) 18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,(D) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. Nimrod becomes angry with Abraham and declares that Abraham shall be cast into the fire, and if Abraham is correct, i.e. So Abraham took a stick, smashed the idols and placed the stick in the hand of the largest idol. Genesis 16 ESV - Sarai and Hagar - Now Sarai, - Bible Gateway Rav Kook, in his analysis of this approach, found that Rambam made use of it as he wrestled with Aristotles notion of an eternal universe. that we are sacrificed to the Lord for this end, that our former life being destroyed in us, we may be raised up to a new life. Muhammad describes Abraham's anguished attempts to reason with His father and persuade him to accept a new divine Message this way: "O my Father! the literary character. 44 And now surely it is not good for thee nor for the sons of men that are connected with thee, to do these things; are you so silly, so foolish or so short of understanding that you will serve wood and stone, and do after this manner? F. Gibbs. [17]There are those who point out that it is precisely if one assumes that Torah relates historical events that comparison with similar accounts in the Ancient Near East make sense. [15]With regard to the sciatic nerve, the Mishna states (m.Chullin7:6): The rule applies to clean animals but not to unclean ones. ORLOV 'The Gods of My Father Terah' 35 Testament of Abraham, also deny the possibility that God has a human- like form. It would always have been possible to claim that one author, Moses for instance, wrote it on his own. The Torah crafts its story line purposefully in such a way as to support the aims of the Narrator, including the Narrators values and moral lessons. [20]For more discussion on this question, see the position of R. Mordechai Breuer as he expressed it first inDeot12 (Winter 5720): pp. Contrast this with the literary Abraham, the Abraham who is the fruit of the spirit of God and the divine pen. It is this perspective in particular, and the interpretation of the event expressed in it, that is of interest, religiously speaking, for within this retelling of the event lies its religious value. [9] Kugel's interpretation continues in the tradition of looking at this midrash as part of the analysis of monotheism. 3He also appointed (D)the kings portion of his property for the burnt offerings, namely, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the appointed festivals, (E)as it is written in the Law of the Lord. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! What is a believer to do, when he or she is convinced that a new religious outlook, as innovative and brazen as it may be, not only doesnt diminish the value of faith but even colors it in stronger and more vibrant colors? 27 And Abram mocked them, and said, Surely the savory meat that I prepared has not pleased them, or perhaps it was too little for them, and for that reason they would not eat; therefore tomorrow I will prepare fresh savory meat, better and more plentiful than this, in order that I may see the result. Abraham married them according to the Book of Genesis). 61 And when Abram had ceased speaking before the king and princes, Abram lifted up his eyes to the heavens, and he said, The Lord seeth all the wicked, and he will judge them. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. It is a post-biblical story imagining the early life of Abraham. Anyone who accepts the seven mitzvot (of the Noahides) and is careful not to violate them should be considered one of the righteous gentiles and has a share in the World to Come. Rabbi Amit Kulaisthe rabbi of Kibbutz Alumim as well as of Beit Midrash Daroma at Ben Gurion University. Bruce Feiler (Abraham) says that probably less than one per cent of the stories told about Abraham appear in the Bible, with an explosion of detail beginning to appear in Jewish tradition from the third century BCE onwards. Sons were born to them after the flood. Abram is now 50 years old; he has lived with Noah and Shem for 39 years and a cave for 10. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem . Christian Standard Bible According to many Jewish and Islamic sources, the two did meet, and their meeting was symbolic of the confrontation between either: And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.. Conversely, if the Torah is only telling stories, it would appear, at first glance, more difficult to account for the similarities between its stories and those of the surrounding cultures. When his father saw that his son Abraham had broken his gods he was very angry with him. Amplified Bible Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there. Abraham chose to follow God alone, and he demonstrated his commitment by circumcising every male in his household. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession. 21. At this point, Terah took Abraham to Nimrod. English Revised Version The main purpose of contracts and newspapers, for example, is to translate the real worldwhere a deal was struck or something worth describing occurredinto writing. Idols Are Destroyed 31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the memorial stones in pieces, cut down the [ a]Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until [ b]they had destroyed them all. Although I felt able to push the first question into the sidelines, the second question seemed to me more problematic. 1, p. 164: Tamar Ross makes great use of this principle, primarily in dealing with the feminist critique of Torah. Thou speakest lies to me. Child sacrifice was one reason for the Babylonian captivity (verse 36). Would we really be unable to give ear and listen to Gods story with great focus, attention, and feeling unless we could simultaneously locate it in a specific time and place? Furthermore, this objection often remains inchoate and not fully articulated. See also the words of Maharal of Prague about Abraham and Sarah in hisGlosses on Aggadot(part 3, p. 83), but compare these with his comments inGevurot Hashem(ch. Seeing the Torah as the story of God establishes a persons faith in Torah from Heaven at its highest and purist level. The Midrash is also used by James Kugel, the chair of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel, in his book The Bible As It Was, published in 1997 by Harvard University, to look at how stories from the Bible have been changed to how they are taught in the modern day. One reason why they did so was, that he had gone into those places which his father considered sacred, and among the wooden gods which were there, and, being filled with anger that his father should bow down and worship gods of wood and stone, he broke them. To me, the key question is whether ones approach to exploring the ahistoricity of the narrative is in order to reduce the vital importance of the Torah and its message or whether it is the opposite, to increase it, as I suggest above. Please support us. NASB, Zondervan NASB Study Bible, Red Letter Edition, NASB, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, 2nd Edition, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New American Standard Bible, NASB, Super Giant Print Reference Bible, Red Letter Edition, 1995 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Large Print, Red Letter Edition, 2020 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Red Letter Edition, 1995 Text, Comfort Print, NASB, Thinline Bible, Red Letter Edition, 2020 Text, Comfort Print. 25 And his mother did so, and she fetched a kid, and made savory meat thereof, and brought it to Abram, and Abram took the savory meat from his mother and brought it before his fathers gods, and he drew nigh to them that they might eat; and Terah his father, did not know of it. In the book of Abraham, translated in our day and generation, we are informed that Abraham was bound, and those priests sought to take his life, but the Lord delivered him from them. (R) 25Far be it from you to do such a thing(S)to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous(T) and the wicked alike. Abraham responds that people withstand wind. 42 Is there in these gods spirit, soul or power to do all thou hast told me? All rights reserved worldwide. Abraham responds that water puts out fire. Even religious feeling, if it is possible to speak of this as a thing, is poised to gain from the intimate connection that is formed between humanity and God, when one understands the Torah as God telling a story just as a parent tells a story to his or her child. 12They faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge (N)of them, and his brother Shimei was second. Can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon them?, After having spoken these and similar words, admonishing his father to mend his ways and refrain from worshipping idols, he leapt up before Terah, took the hatchet from the big idol, broke it therewith, and ran away. Abraham responds that clouds hold water. Commentary on Parashat Lech-Lecha, . Abraham told him that a woman came in to make an offering to the idols. Such a perspective does not diminish the connection between humanity and God; it strengthens it.[23]. Abraham, the Father of Faith | True Faith - JW.ORG From whence sprang the suggestion to interpret the Torah against the way it has been read? 4Also he told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give (F)the portion due to the priests and the Levites, so that they might devote themselves to (G)the Law of the Lord. 20 Bible verses about Abandoning Idols - Knowing Jesus It is the Torah of God, turning its face to Torah students in every generation. Something went wrong while submitting the form. This is true even for a person who can digest the nuances of the ahistorical approach to the Torah. Later, a woman walked into the store and wanted to make an offering to the idols. 5 From . If the religious value of events comes from their being included in the word of God, let us allow God to speak to us in Gods own language, and to tell us the divine story with its entire force. Its meaning is not dependent on external evidence; its narrative descriptions should not be characterized as reconstructions or preservation of past events. [11]It is virtually impossible to exaggerate the political, sociological and emotional implications of this assertion. When Terah. Commentating on this verse, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, the late Grand Mufti of Pakistan, writes, "According to Imam Qurtubi, this verse shows that to destroy the idols and other icons of paganism is Waajib (mandatory).
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