#tanakh

[sova-dozhd]

But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.”

---

My first art centered around Judaism since I started my conversion process ahhh fuck I hope I got the Hebrew right, I'm still not too familiar with the alphabet so it moves around on me lmfao

but as a convert ofc Ruth is important and her story is fascinating to me; if anyone has recommendations on JEWISH resources about her would love to read

also ig christians can reblog this but lmfao idk what you could get out of it

Personally I like the interpretations of them being romantic but I tried to leave the art up for interpretation in general however you see them

[magnetothemagnificent]

Thinking about Al Naharot Bavel and how we as Jews have been made to entertain our oppressors since....forever

עַ֥ל נַהֲר֨וֹת ׀ בָּבֶ֗ל שָׁ֣ם יָ֭שַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִ֑ינוּ בְּ֝זׇכְרֵ֗נוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן׃ On the rivers of Bavel, there we sat, and also wept, as we remembered Tziyon. עַֽל־עֲרָבִ֥ים בְּתוֹכָ֑הּ תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃ On the willows, in the midst, we hung our lyres כִּ֤י שָׁ֨ם שְֽׁאֵל֪וּנוּ שׁוֹבֵ֡ינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁ֭יר וְתוֹלָלֵ֣ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֑ה שִׁ֥ירוּ לָ֝֗נוּ מִשִּׁ֥יר צִיּֽוֹן׃ For there our captors asked words of song; our tormentors, amusement, "sing for us from the song of Tziyon" אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר אֶת־שִׁיר־יְהֹוָ֑ה עַ֝֗ל אַדְמַ֥ת נֵכָֽר׃ How can we sing the song of YHVH on foreign soil? [Tehillim 137 1-4]

Thinking about how throughout history we've been made into the jesters, the comedians, the performers, how we're only good as long as we can entertain and amuse our oppressors. Over and over and over again throughout history we weep by the rivers of every generation's Babylon while our captors jeer and order us to sing our sacred songs.

And honestly? I think it's time we hung up our lyres on the proverbial willows. Enough. We don't have to keep on this performance. We don't live for the entertainment of Babylon. We won't perform for our captors anymore.

Antisemites don't deserve to be entertained by us.

[sir-davey]

Need to take a moment to talk about these books I have lol.

These books about David/Jonathan, I love and hate. Idk, like, I just can’t point out exactly, it’s probably the way David/Jonathan are depicted, but it really does frustrate me a little while reading this David/Jonathan trilogy.

It’s genuinely written well, like the writing isn’t corny or overly detailed lol. But it’s written with a Christian perspective, so David and Jonathan aren’t gay in this (sigh). 😞 But in these books, usually each chapter goes back and forth from Jonathan and David’s pov, and I love that.

The first two books are in David and Jonathan’s pov, but in the third book “My Father the King”, it’s in David and Mephibosheth’s pov. I get a lot of inspo for Mephi’s story from this book, but I actually have yet to finish the book because I’m too scared to finish 😭 (it’s literally just like my situation with the Prince’s Psalm atm lmaoo)

But just from reading the first two books, it’s so obviously written for them to be in love. The books are literally about their relationship. David and Jonathan meets, they connect, they share their deepest secrets and feelings, they fight side by side, and David even saves Jonathan from dying in battle!! Jonathan gets shot by arrows, and David wouldn’t stop visiting him. And you know what, Jonathan also saves David from dying in battle! And there’s a moment where David and Jonathan finds a waterfall, and Jonathan would playfully shove David into the water, and they would swim together on a cool night, just like the Simba and Nala water scene from The Lion King with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” playing in the background if you know what I mean 😭 like AAAABABBAAAKSK, and throughout the books, even in the third book, David won’t stop yapping about how he constantly sees Jonathan in his dreams, as well as Jonathan who can’t get David out of his mind 😭 LIKE- NAHHH ☠️ hello??? Yeah, they’re definitely not in love or something… 🤔

But you know what, reading these books frustrated me so much.. The author made sure to constantly pull out the “we’re just friends!” card, so often 💀 it honestly doesn’t make sense to me ngl, from they way wanted to depict David and Jonathan’s relationship. Let me just say- if you’re going to dedicate an entire trilogy about David and Jonathan’s relationship only… there’s no fucking way you can pull it off as them just being “friends”, idk, it’s just not possible to me. The author would do this by, of course, “giving them a wife tactic”, but literally in the book, they cared more about each other than their wives LOL.

But yeah, my little review of this trilogy that I’ve been wanting to talk about. You can always check it out for yourself, I’d say I only recommend it if you like David retellings in general and if you want some Jonathan angst. Not kidding with the Jonathan angst 😭 he is so angsty in the books and a literal punching bag because every bad thing would happen to him. Like I would read about David going on some adventure, and when I turn to the next chapter, Jonathan is absolutely doomed by something 😭

And also, if you can handle the random preaching in the books where David breaks the forth wall and says that G-d is awesome or something and Jesus is coming, y’know, then perhaps you’ll enjoy the series 👍 (or maybe not)

[anniflamma]

Planned to make an animatic about these two for Pride Month but realized I won't be able to do one in time… So here is something cute!

+ the original

[nonsensical-raw-material]

I started painting on my TaNaKh. I tried to make them as even as possible obviously but ya know. They're based off the ring neck dove which is native to Israel. I figured I'd share. Also open to ideas on what else I should paint :]

[shiurkoma]

David, accessories inspired by the art works of @eleheba

[chamberofthespirit]

Asherah aesthetic 🌱🌾🌤

[dilutedh2so4]

Ruth and Naomi: Are They Gay? (part one)

[image is in public domain]

“Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to go back and abandon you! Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried. May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!’”

Ruth 1:16-17

You may expect this declaration of devotion to be made between two enamoured lovers. It does sound quite similar to wedding vows, especially "until death do us part" or even "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health." In fact, the YouCat (the Catholic Catechism designed for young people) quotes this exact passage in its section on marriage.

Yet these words were not made as a promise between husband and wife, but instead between two women.

The story of Ruth and Naomi can be found in the aptly named "Book of Ruth." In summary, Naomi's family move from Judah to Moab because of a famine. There, they meet Ruth and her sister Orpah. Naomi's sons marry the two women, and they live in peace for a time. Then, a sudden illness strikes, and both the boys (Mahlon and Chilion) and their father (Elimelech) die.

With nothing left, Naomi decides she must return to her homeland of Bethlehem (in Judah). Ruth and Orpah object, and offer to go with her, but Naomi tries to dissuade them. She says doesn't have any more sons for them to marry, giving them no financial or social security - to her, it seems, she is now useless and worthless. Orpah comes to accept this, remaining in Moab, but Ruth will not relent. It is here she makes her heartfelt speech stated at the start of this post, vowing her entire life to Naomi. Just normal friendship things! This causes Naomi to realise Ruth's love for her, so she finally accepts the offer.

Some of you may be thinking, "This is just platonic! This is just friendship! This is what any woman would do! Why do you have to make everything gay?"

Well, ask yourselves this: is it gay to leave behind your country and all the people you've ever known (including your sister) just to accompany another woman to her homeland?

...A homeland which you have never been to, and where the people there are your enemies? (Numbers 21, Judges 3)

...Travelling across a hostile desert environment, on your own for all we know? (see a map of Moab to Bethlehem)

...Despite your lover insisting you stay, and your sister deciding to stay, but instead you dedicate your life and soul to your lover? (Ruth 1:14-18)

Makes you think.

I can already see your objections: "But then Ruth married Boaz [her male relative]! Naomi told her to do it!"

Again, let us consider Naomi and Ruth's social standing. They were both women, both widows, both poor and starving. Ruth had to go foraging in the fields, collecting scraps of grain left behind so they could eat! (see Ruth 2:2-3, referring to Leviticus 23:22)

*this post is getting long so i'll post part two soon **sorry for the inconvenience lol

image credit: william blake

[entanglingbriars]

My friend @apenitentialprayer (who you should be following if you're interested in Catholicism) asked me to expand on my belief that Genesis 3 is an etiological myth for puberty. The following understanding is emphatically not my own, but it comes from my rabbi and I'm not sure whether he published it so I don't have a citation.

Anyway, the basic argument is that we should read the phrase "knowledge of good and bad" (הדעת טוב ורע) ha-da'at tov v'ra (Genesis 2:17) in parallel with "[he] learns to reject the bad and choose good" (לדעתו מאוס ברע ובחור בטוב) l'dato ma'os bara u'vahol batov (Isaiah 7:15). In Isaiah, learning the difference between good and bad (more literally knowing the difference; da'at in Gen 2:17 has the same root as dato in Is 7:15 (dato is a conjugation of yada)) is a metaphor for maturing. If we read the phrase "knowledge of good and bad" in Genesis 2 in the same way, then we can reasonably infer that the consequence of eating the fruit of the Tree is maturation as such rather than the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

So, what happens when we do that? Human beings in the Garden of Eden have two things in common with God: immortality and the image in which they are made. When they eat from the Tree they gain "knowledge of good and bad" which we've inferred means aging and (specifically) going through puberty. After puberty humans acquire a third divine characteristic: the ability to create life.

The curses that follow for the man and woman then describe the inevitable consequences that they will face by going from childhood and adulthood. The woman will carry babies and have pain in giving birth. She will desire (תשוקה) t'shukah (the verb is used for non-sexual desire in Gen 4:7 and for sexual desire in Song 7:11) her husband. The man will have to labor to bring for the food previously provided by his Parent (i.e. God). And of course both will die (which does happen to children, but is not an inevitable part of childhood the way it is for adulthood).

(Note that the interpretation that the Serpent is Satan comes from later Christian eisegesis is not actually a part of the myth as presented in Genesis 3.)

[patriottruth]

2024 U.S. Election: donald j. trump Is Not President Elect Until After the Canvas Confirming EVERY SINGLE VOTE, All Election Litigation is Decided in his Favor, and The Results Are Certified By All States (Just Like 2020). Nothing's Official Until December 2024. Initial Election Results Bible Study and Resultant Earthquake Analysis:

A few inconsistencies with the 2024 U.S. elections thus far:

Hillary Clinton received 65,853,514 votes in 2016 when women's human and civil rights hadn't been destroyed, when rape-induced pregnancies weren't spiraling out of control, when the people of the United States didn't know about donald trump's true colors, before donald trump's incompetent COVID-19 response, before all of donald trump's criminal investigations and negative outcomes, when donald trump hadn't tried to overthrow the U.S. government, when donald trump hadn't incited an insurrection, before donald trump's massive cognitive decline, and before donald trump's campaign rallies were only half full for the full 2 weeks prior to the election.

And now, after donald trump said he'd have the election so rigged his supporters would never have to vote again, with American women and men of all ages, of all political parties voting against him, with Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and Blacks voting against him, and with Harris/Walz rallies being packed full the entire election season, with historic early and mail-in voting, with millions more youth voters joining the electorate and voting for Harris/Walz, and with massive Democrat turnout on voting day, donald trump is "somehow' leading Kamala Harris by 5 million votes while he's also under criminal prosecution for election tampering, fraud, interference, and racketeering for the 2020 election and being a long-established cheater and fraud at business, golf, and all of his marriages? Yeah, right…like that's not as fraudulent as the 2016 election where he lost by at least 3 million votes…that we know of… It's important to remember that there's going to be a nationwide canvas to confirm every vote that was cast in the 2024 election for every single race in the election; and that every instance of trump allies "finding him and his allies the votes" they need is an easily resolved, and criminally prosecutable, situation.

Biden/Harris received 81,283,501 votes after donald trump's disastrous COVID-19 response and before his January 6 insurrection; and then there's all of his criminal investigations, scandals, and court losses, his severe cognitive decline and low energy setting in, Republicans, Independents, and former trump voters aligning with Harris voters, his rallies being not only far smaller, but far smaller AND half-empty compared to his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, and him intentionally pissing off all Latinos, Blacks, and Jews the week before the election. And the American people are supposed to believe Kamala Harris somehow received 15 million votes less than Biden/Harris received in 2020, while donald trump received 4 million less votes than he received in 2020 AND he's somehow beating Kamala Harris by 5 million votes? C'mon, now, the American people aren't as stupid as donald trump and his allies!

The 2024 elections aren't over until after the official nationwide canvas/voter confirmation has occurred, all litigation is settled in the courts in December, the results are certified by each individual state, and Congress certifies the results on January 6, 2025. donald trump isn't headed back to the White House, and the control of Congress isn't settled, until every vote he and his allies claim to have received has been verified by every single voter who cast a ballot in the 2024 elections and all litigation has been settled in their favor. And the most important thing to remember about all of donald trump's court cases since the 2020 election: he's lost almost every single one of them; especially when he he was fighting against women, so this 2024 election has only just gotten started, and EVERY single election "victory", at every single level of local, state, and federal government that donald trump and his allies are claiming at the moment are going to have to hold up during the canvas, in court, and in final certification. I mean, claiming that Republicans swept every single race they were competing in along with taking the House, Senate AND Presidency after everything they've been up to since November 2020? The investigations and trials from this attempted overthrow of the U.S. government will be quite similar to what the Nazis experienced after their defeat; and let's not forget that donald trump's OWN MAGA SCOTUS already anointed President Joe Biden as Divine King for Life of the United States of American with Unlimited Immunity and Unchecked Power…so, he's quite likely to use all of that limitless immunity and unchecked power to start the vigorous "ass-smacking" of donald trump and his allies at any moment now that it won't affect voter turnout…

As of 6:08 AM EST 11/6/2024:

Georgia: 117,385 votes votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 2,651,206 (+189,352 from 2020) Harris: 2,533,821 (+60,188 from 2020) Electoral votes: 16

Georgia 2020: Biden: 2,473,633 trump: 2,461,854

Pennsylvania: 170,601 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 3,434,001 (+56,327 from 2020) Harris: 3,263,400 (−194,829 from 2020) Electoral votes: 19

Pennsylvania 2020: Biden: 3,458,229 trump: 3,377,674

North Carolina: 191,543 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 2,875,538 (+116,763 from 2020) Harris: 2,683,995 (−297 from 2020) Electoral votes: 16

North Carolina 2020: Biden: 2,684,292 trump: 2,758,775

Wisconsin: 32,192 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 1,676,729 (+66,545 from 2020) Harris: 1,644,537 (+13,671 from 2020) Electoral votes: 10

Wisconsin 2020: Biden: 1,630,866 trump: 1,610,184

Iowa: 223,320 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 899,659 (+1,987 from 2020) Harris: 676,339 (−82,722 from 2020) Electoral votes: 6

Iowa 2020: Biden: 759,061 trump: 897,672

Michigan: 109,302 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 2,717,396 (+67,544 from 2020) Harris: 2,608,094 (−195,946 from 2020) Electoral votes: 15

Michigan 2020: Biden: 2,804,040 trump: 2,649,852

Nevada: 59,862 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 660,980 (−8,910 from 2020) Harris: 601,118 (−102,368 from 2020) Electoral votes: 6

Nevada 2020: Biden: 703,486 trump: 669,890

Arizona: 103,355 votes difference between trump and Harris trump: 1,150,781 (−510,905 from 2020) Harris: 1,047,426 (−624,717 from 2020) Electoral votes: 11

Arizona 2020: Biden: 1,672,143 trump: 1,661,686

Do not be bitter, my Father will reign over Adam and Eve: אִי תָ מָר אֲבִ ימֶלֶךְ אֹדֶם אִיּ וֹב

Initial 2024 Election Results Bible Study: 11/6/2024: 02:50 AM EST: When asking about why and if the Abrahamic G-d gave the United States and the world over to donald trump and his global dictator allies: TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Page 56 Genesis 26:13 And the Lord was standing beside him and He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac: The ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.

Earthquake: 09:55:50 GMT+2 Jerusalem, Israel, 23:55:50 PST Local Time Petrolia, CA (02:55:50 EST (5 minutes and an unknown number of seconds after the bible study))

Luke 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Luke 9:52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; Luke 9:53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. Luke 9:54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” Luke 9:55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

Luke 23:55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Luke 23:56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Luke 24:1 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. Luke 24:2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. Luke 24:3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. Luke 24:4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. Luke 24:5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? Luke 24:6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, Luke 24:7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

2 Thessalonians 2:6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 2 Thessalonians 2:10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 2 Thessalonians 2:12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Pages 1796 and 1797 Esther 8:1 That very day King Ahasuerus gave the property of Hama, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Mordecai presented himself to the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. Esther 8:2 The king slipped off his ring, which he had taken back from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property. Esther 8:3 Esther spoke to the king again, falling at his feet and weeping, and beseeching him to avert the evil plotted by Haman the Agagite against the Jews. Esther 8:4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and esther arose and stood before the king. Esther 8:5 "If it please Your Majesty," she said, "and if I have won your favor and the proposal seems right to Your Majesty, and if I am pleasing to you--let dispatches be written countermanding those which were written by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, embodying his plot to annihilate the Jews throughout the king's provinces. Esther 8:6 For how can I bear to see the disaster which will befall my people! And how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred!" Esther 8:7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, "I have given Haman's property to Esther, and he has been impaled on the stake for scheming against the Jews. Esther 8:8 And you may further write with regard to the Jews as you see fit. [Write it] in the king's name and seal it with the king's signet, for an edict that has been written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet may not be revoked." Esther 8:9 So the king's scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, that is, the month of Sivan; and letters were written, at Mordecai's dictation, to the Jews and to the satraps, the governors and the officials of the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopa: to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. Esther 8:10 He had them written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet. Letters were dispatched by mounted courieers, riding steeds used in the king's service, bred of the royal stud, Esther 8:11 to this effect: The king has permitted the Jews of every city to assemble and fight for their lives; if any people or province attacks them, they may destroy, massacre, and exterminate its armed force together with women and children, and plunder their possessions--

Acts 8:8 So there was great joy in that city.

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Page 1777 Ecclesiastes 8:8 No man has authority over the lifebreath--to hold back the lifebreath; there is no authority over the day of death. There is no mustering out from that war; wickedness is powerless to save its owner.

1 Corinthians 5:5Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

TANAKH (Jewish Publication Society, Hebrew-English) Pages 1815, 1816, 1817, and 1818 Daniel 5:1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his thousand nobles, and in the presence of the thousand he drank wine. Daniel 5:2 Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar ordered the gold and silver vessels that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple at Jerusalem to be brought so that the king and his nobles, his consorts, and his concubines could drink from them. Daniel 5:3 The golden vessels that had been taken out of the sanctuary of the House of God in Jerusalem were then brought, and the king, his nobles, his consorts, and his concubines drank from them. Daniel 5:4 They drank wine an dpraised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Daniel 5:5 Just then, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand, so that the king could see the hand as it wrote. Daniel 5:6 The king's face darkened, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees knocked together. Daniel 5:7 The king called loudly for the exorcists, Chaldeans, and diviners to be brought. The king addressed the wise men of Babylon, "Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning shall be clothed in purple and wear a golden chain on his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom." Daniel 5:17 Then Daniel said in reply to the king, "You may keep your gifts for yourself, and give your presents to others. But I will read the writing for the king, and make its meaning known to him. Daniel 5:18 O king, the Most High God bestowed kingship, grandeur, glory, and majesty upon your father Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 5:19 And because of the grandeur that He bestowed upon him, all the peoples and nations of every language trembled in fear of him. He put to death whom he wished, and whom he wished he let live; he raised high whom he wished and whom he wished he brought low. Daniel 5:20 But when he grew haughty and willfully presumptuous, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was removed from him. Daniel 5:21 He was driven away from men, and his mind made like that of a beast, and his habitation was with wild asses. He was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he came to know that the Most High God is sovereign over the realm of man, and sets over it whom He wishes. Daniel 5:22 But you, Belshazzar his son, did not humble yourself although you knew all this. Daniel 5:23 You exalted yourself against the Lord of Heaven, and had the vessels of His temple brought to you. You and your nobles, your consorts, and your concubines drank wine from them and praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which to not see, hear, or understand; but the God who controls your lifebreath and every move you make--Him you did not glorify! Daniel 5:24 He therefore made the hand appear, and caused the writing to be inscribed. Daniel 5:25 This is the writing that is inscribed: MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN. Daniel 5:26 And this is its meaning: MENE--God has numbererd [the days of] your kingdom and brought it to an end; Daniel 5:27 TEKEL--you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Daniel 5:28 PERES--your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians." Daniel 5:29 Then, at Belshazzar's command, they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a golden chain on his neck, and proclaimed that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. Daniel 5:30 That very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed,

Acts 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

Matthew 16:1 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. Matthew 16:2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; Matthew 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

LAW AND ORDER!!! The People of the State of New York v. donald j. trump is a criminal case against failed and deposed former president donald j. trump. donald j. trump was charged with and convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter between them; with costs related to the transaction included, the payments totaled $420,000. The Manhattan District Attorney (DA), Alvin Bragg, accused Trump of falsifying these business records with the intent to commit other crimes: violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election that he lost to Hillary Clinton by 3,000,000 American votes, and tax fraud. The criminal indictment charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, in violation of New York Penal Law §175.10. Each count is related to a specific business document, each having a date ranging from February 14 through December 5, 2017: 11 for invoices from Michael Cohen 9 for general ledger entries for donald j. trump 9 for checks from donald j. trump 3 for general ledger entries for the donald j. trump Revocable Trust 2 for checks from the donald j. trump Revocable Trust

Earthquake: M 2.6 - 8.8 km (5.5 mi) WNW of Petrolia, CA

2024-11-06 07:55:50 (UTC) 40.347°N 124.385°W 16.3 km depth

In the Pacific Ocean off of Mussel Rock adjacent to Mattole Road and Petrolia Table Cemetery.

Mattole refers to a Native American group and their language, historically situated in the northwestern region of California, particularly along the Mattole River and nearby coastal areas.

The common name "mussel" is also used for many freshwater bivalves, including the freshwater pearl mussels. Freshwater mussel species inhabit lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, canals, and they are classified in a different subclass of bivalves, despite some very superficial similarities in appearance. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones. Nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell.

Natural (or wild) pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Many hundreds of pearl oysters or mussels must be gathered and opened, and thus killed, to find even one wild pearl; for many centuries, this was the only way pearls were obtained, and why pearls fetched such extraordinary prices in the past. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes. One family of nacreous pearl bivalves – the pearl oyster – lives in the sea, while the other – a very different group of bivalves – lives in freshwater; these are the river mussels such as the freshwater pearl mussel. Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain (but by no means all) species of freshwater mussels in the order Unionida, the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae.

Matthew 13:45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. Matthew 13:46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

40.347°N

Strong's Concordance #40 Abimelek: From 'ab and melek; father of (the) king; "father is king," "My father will reign," a Philistine name, also an Israelite name Original Word: אֲבִימֶלֶךְ

Strong's Concordance #347 Iyyob: From 'ayab; hated (i.e. Persecuted); Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience -- Job. Original Word: אִיּוֹב

124.385°W

Strong's Concordance #124 odem: From 'adam; redness, i.e. The ruby, garnet, or some other red gem -- sardius; a carnelian Original Word: אֹדֶם

Strong's Concordance #385 Ithamar: From 'iy and tamar; coast of the palm-tree; "land of palms," Ithamar, a son of Aaron Original Word: אִיתָמָר

Do not be bitter, my Father will reign over Adam and Eve: אִי תָ מָר אֲבִ ימֶלֶךְ אֹדֶם אִיּ וֹב

[hyperpotamianarch]

Next, I'm going to try and pour out information about Jewish religious literature. To be fair, there are probably way more extensive posts, websites and YouTube videos on this topic, but I chose to talk about it because I've seen some slight misinformation going around. Hope I won't come off as patronizing. Note, I'm writing it to be comprehensible for none-Jews as well as Jews, so I might say a lot of things you already know if you're Jewish.

So, Jewish religious literature can be divided to three main branches: Mikra, Mishnah and Talmud. This is not a completely precise division, nor can it be applied to every Jewish religious book, but it's helpful for the basic books, those considered obligating by Rabbinic Judaism.

Mikra (which, roughly translated from Hebrew, means "something that is read") is the one of those three that is pretty much closed: you can't really write a new Jewish book that'll be considered a part of it. It's also called the Written Torah, and includes the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, AKA Tanakh. In case you're wondering, that includes all books in what Christians call "the Old Testament", only sorted differently and into three categories: Torah - the Pentateuch, Nevi'im (Prophets) - which includes every book named after a person outside of Job, Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Neḥemiah, and in addition to those books includes the books of Judges and Kings, and the Ketuvim (Written texts) - which includes all the rest of the books. The order of the books in the Tanakh is as follows (using their English names for convenience, I don't necessarily stand behind those translations): Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Nevi'im: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1&2), Kings (1&2), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Twelve Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Naḥum, Ḥabakuk, Zephaniah, Ḥaggai, Zechariah, Malachi). Ketuvim: Psalms, Proverbs, Job (transliteration did a number on this one), the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra&Neḥemiah, Chronicles (1&2). Overall, there are 24 books in the Hebrew Bible. It is only later divisions, some of which are outright nonsensical, that made the number into 39.

Those books are ones that are considered to be written using some degree of Divine Inspiration or outright prophecy (which doesn't have to do with knowing the future). Common tradition considers the division of the Tanakh to be between three levels of prophecy, of which the Ketuvim were written in the lowest. As the Written Torah, the entirety of these scriptures is meant to be read (and not repeated by heart). There are occasions where there's a difference between the reading tradition and the writing one - but that's another story. The last books in the Tanakh were written around the 5th Century BCE according to tradition, and it was closed to new additions a couple of decades, perhaps a century or two, later.

The other two branches are both considered parts of the Oral Torah, to varying degrees. You see, according to Jewish tradition, Moshe (Moses) got the Torah in Mt. Sinai in two parts: the Written one (which at the time only included the Pentateuch) and the Oral one, which included explanations on how to actually act upon the commandments in the Written Torah, in addition to deduction laws to be used on the Written Torah (at least according to Rambam, AKA Maimonides). Both the Mishnah and the Talmud, at their core, are based on that. But much of the things said there are things clearly said by Sages and Rabbis from the 1st Century CE onward. How does that work, then?

The answer kind of depends who you ask. But the Orthodox way to look at that is usually that people either have old traditions that were passed down to them, or are using the deduction laws given to Moshe at Mt. Sinai. But I guess all that was a digression, so let's get back on topic.

The Mishnah is called that way after the Hebrew word for repetition. It's supposed to be sturdied this way to be memorized, though it mostly exists as written text nowadays. Back in the time it was codified - the Tana'ic era (10-220 CE, approx.), called that way after the Aramaic word for people who memorize through repetition - there were many versions of traditional laws memorized this way. This stemmed from many different people teaching the same laws, and it ended up being a game of Telephone. Also, it probably needs to be said that while I call those "laws" they weren't usually the bottomline Halachic rules, since it included disagreements and multiple opinions.

The end of the Tana'ic era came when one person, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, composed an authoritative collection of those after studying all the different traditions he knew of. This is what we nowadays call the Mishnah. It's made of 60 tractates- (whisper, whisper Wait, really? Whisper, whisper Huh. All right, then.) I have been informed that the number is actually 63. Who knew? Anyway, those 63 tractates are sorted by topic into 6 orders. Those orders are: Zera'im (seeds, concerns itself with matters related to plants with the odd tractate about liturgy at the start), Mo'ed (occeasion/time, concerns itself with Jewish holidays), Nashim (women, concerns itself with marriage laws in addition to two tractates about oaths and vows), Nezikin (damages, concerns itself with court procedures. Has two miscellaneous tractates that don't make sense there but belong nowhere else), Kodashim (holy things, concerns itself with matters relating to the Temple procedures as well as one tractate about Kashrut and one about heavenly punishments), and Taharot (ritually clean things, I guess? Though this translation is less than accurate. Has to do with - you guessed it - ritual cleanliness). The tractates aren't divided evenly between the orders, and inside of them are sorted by length. The longest tractate is 30 chapters, the shortest is 3. And yes, all of that was supposed to be remembered by heart - possibly only by a number of specific people.

Now, I didn't mention it previously, but there were certain books written that didn't get into the Tanakh - Apocryphal books. Those are not only considered outside the religious canon, but are not to be studied as well - though this might be a little flexible, the bottom line is they can't really be used for anything religious. I'm saying this right now because the same isn't true for Oral traditions that weren't codified in the Mishnah. Some of those were codified in other ways, and can be used to help understand the Mishnah better - which leads us to the Talmud.

Talmud, translated literally from Hebrew, means "study", as in the study of the traditions from the Mishnah. It is a separate book from the Mishanh, but is structured around it. Due to that, there are occasions people will tell you a given quote is from the Talmud when it's actually from the Mishanh - since the Talmud quotes the Mishnah when talking about it. The Talmud usually tries to reason the origin of the opinions in the Mishnah and to delve into the intricacies of those laws: what happens in fringe cases? What about other situations that the Mishnah didn't mention? How does what this specific Tana (rabbi from the Mishnah) says here fits with what he himself said in another place? And such things. The Talmud is, in essence, a recording of centuries of debates and discussions about the Mishnah. Oh, and there are two Talmudim (the plural form of Talmud).

One could say that the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi) is the equivalent of the oral traditions that didn't get into the Mishnah: it's less studied and considered less obligating than the Babilonian Talmud (Gemara, or Bavli). It still is occasionally quoted and used to study things the Gemara doesn't talk about or doesn't elaborate on. The main difference between the two is where thy were codified - the Yerushalmi is a codification of the study as it was conducted in the land of Israel (mostly in the galillee; the name Yerushalmi is a little misleading), while the Bavli codifies and records the study of Babylon. There's also a different in the language - both are written in Aramaic interladed with Hebrew, but in different dialects. The Yerushalmi was also codified a couple of centuries earlier than the Bavli - the Yerushalmi was codified around 350CE, due to persecutions under the Bizantine empire, while the Bavli was compiled by the 5th century CE.

While those two Talmudim are separate from each other, there is some intersection. Travel between the land of Israel and Babylon wasn't too rare at the time (called Tekufat Ha'Amora'im in Hebrew, the era of the Amora'im. Amora means interpretor or translator in Aramaic), and so you can see rabbis from Babylon mentioned in the Yerushalmi and Rabbis from the land of Israel mentioned in the Bavli. The easiest way to tell the difference is by their title - in Babylon, a rabbi is called "Rav [name]", while in the land of Israel they are called Rabbi. There is a reason to that, but I'm not getting into it yet. In addition, the Bavli regularly talks about how things are done "in the west" - which is the land of Israel, since it's to Babylon's west. As mentioned, the Bavli is the more authoritative of the two, and is the one usually referred to when people say "the Talmud". The Bavli directly discusses 37 of the Mishnah tractates - it nearly doesn't talk at all about the first and last orders of Mishnah. The Yerushalmi, meanwhile, talks extensively about the first one - but has nothing about the next to last one. There are also other tractates missing in the middle for both.

Now, technically the Babylonian Talmud was codified at the end of the Amora'ic era. However, somewhat unlike the Mishnah (well, I'm not being accurate, the Mishnah also has a thing or two that was shoved later), there were still later additions from a time known as the Savora'ic era. Savora is a word that means "a reasoner" in Aramaic, and I probably could've explained how appropriate this name is for them if I'd have studied enough. From what I know, the characteristics of a Talmudic piece from the Savora'ic era is having no names mentioned/having names of known Savora'im mentioned (the latter is a little rare, to my understanding), and reasoning about the language and meaning of words from the Mishnah. the Savora'ic era probably ended at around the 6th-7th century CE.

From that point on, we'll need to more or less abandon the comfortable division I offered earlier, because it's kind of hard to say which book belongs where, besides many books that might technically fall under the same category but be different enough to require their own categories. In addition, from here on out, no book is considered as all-obligating: you can't go against the Talmud in a halachic ruling, but you can go against anything later.

But, since this thing is long enough as it is right now, I think I'll just write a couple of additions about important books I chose not to mention, and then finish it here for now - with the next couple of periods of history of Jewish religious literature left for a future date.

So, the most significant genre of books I've been ignoring are the Midrashim. I mean, sure, I could talk about Apocrypha, or about the Tosefta/Baraitot (oral traditions that didn't get into the Mishnah), but I mentioned those already. The Midrashim, however, are a genre of writing I completely ignored so far.

I think the best way to explain Midrash is that it's a loose interpretation of the Mikra, based on traditions. There are generally two sub-genres for Midrash - Midrash Halachah and Midrash Agadah. The former concerns itself with the law, the latter with the stories and ideas. The books of Midrashei Halachah we have that I can remember are Mechilta (lit. "Including", more or less. On Exodus), Sifra (lit. "Book", from Aramaic. On Leviticus) and Sifrei (lit. "Books", from Aramaic. On Numbers and Deuteronomy). Those are mostly from the Tana'ic era, I think. There are two major books of Midrashei Agadah, both encompassing all of the pentateuch, named Midrash Rabbah and Midrash Tanḥuma. Those are named after specific people, likely the ones who compiled them, and those names indicate they are from the Amora'ic era.

So, to sum it up: 24 books written during the vague time of the Biblical era, codified into the Tanakh at around 300 BCE, with lots of disagreement on the exact date. Oral traditions passed down between generations, including ones clashing with each other and rulings added through the generations, passed around throughout the Tana'ic era (10-220 CE), and codified into 60 tractates of Mishnah by the end of it. In addition, at the same time, some loose interpretations of the Tanakh that have led to the rulings of those oral traditions are written down in the Midrashim. Discussions and elaborations on those oral traditions of the Mishnah as recorded from places of learning in Babylon and the Land of Israel through the Amora'ic era - around 220-500 CE - are recorded in the Talmud, with some additions from around the 6th century CE.

Any inconsistency in spelling and terminology is to be blamed on my unwillingness to go back and edit this. Sorry.

Thank you for reading, have a good day, and I hope to see you for part 2! Once I get an idea about what I'm going to say in it...

[sova-dozhd]

And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” continuing, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’

Apparently I lied LMFAO the one with Ruth and Naomi wasn't my first art for Judaism, I forgot I had done this one like two years ago during Rosh Hashanah

Once again, I hope my Hebrew is right LMFAO this one was digitally done but

[magnetothemagnificent]

Various Purim memes for ya'll:

[id in alt text]

[sir-davey]

King Saul’s evil spirit, also known as the Ruach Ra’ah

I want to show some of the characters from my Saul retelling, The Book of Saul, and one of the major ones that take part of Saul’s life is Ze’ev, who is King Saul’s evil spirit but personified as a spirit always taking the form of a wolf in Saul’s visions.

I have yet to properly introduce him, but I will now lol.

I draw him frequently with Saul and I have a lot planned for him. He’s his own character instead of simply being the vaguely mentioned evil spirit that attacks Saul in the Bible lol. In the story, there’s some heavy lore that Ze’ev carries, and when he first actively interacts with Saul (right after being rejected as king), he becomes Saul’s conscience, and a guide, as he twists truths for his own benefit and amusement.

To summarize Ze’ev’s character, Ze’ev can be interpreted in many ways. He is basically the essence of Saul’s subconscious containing his deepest fears and regrets. Saul’s mentality will be reflected on Ze’ev who guides Saul, seeking truths he desperately yearns for, through 7 seven visions. No matter how hard Saul tries, he cannot escape the spirit always appearing before him. And also, those 7 visions are basically Saul’s hell with different truths revealed to him. Ze’ev finds so much joy in watching him suffer, yet he is able to have Saul always running back to him for help. Ze’ev knows very well that Saul has absolutely no one to turn to as he takes advantage of his helplessness.

As for Ze’ev’s appearance, he is usually a wolf, and there are two reasons why Ze’ev appears as a wolf. One being the tribe symbol for Benjamin, the tribe Saul’s from, which is represented with a wolf, and in the past I had called Ze’ev the “Wolf of Benjamin”, but I ended up changing his name lol. But the second reason resonates with Saul more deeply, where in the story, Saul is terrified of wolves due to traumatic experiences with them, and it comes off basically as a phobia Saul has (I believe the phobia for wolves is called “lupophobia”, that’s what Saul would have oof). But ironically, Saul is from Benjamin, and he’d be surrounded by wolf symbols as a benjaminite king ruling the place. And plus, Ze’ev is almost always a wolf, and if you recall what I’ve said, Ze’ev is the essence of Saul’s mind made up of his darkest fears and regrets while appearing in Saul’s visions.

I could literally go on and on about the evil spirit Ze’ev, but I would be crossing spoiler territory if I do loll.

But some small things about him: Ze’ev shapeshifts a lot, and his form is always moving in place. And he has a HUGE tail that constantly flows.

But lastly, this one means a lot to me lmaoo, but hear me out on this. When it comes to Ze’ev’s voice, I usually either have him speak with both a male and a female voice that intermingles at the same time (for reference, it’s just like Satan’s voice from that creepy Mark Twain clay animation movie. Look it up if you’re curious lol). Or, Ze’ev speaks as a distorted version of Saul’s voice.

Butttt, I can’t help but headcanon his voice as Will Wood when it comes to visualizing him in my head. Ze’ev sings as well (he sometimes sings to lure Saul), and whenever he sings, all I can hear is Will Wood. Ack, Will Wood!!! 🔥 And I know I’m being biased because I LOVE Will Wood (pls if you’re a Will Wood fan you gotta let me know 😭). But outside of the book, I imagine Ze’ev’s voice as Will Wood’s lolllll.

I already have a bunch of Saul and Ze’ev animatics planned, but if I do make an animatic/animation with Ze’ev, it’s going to be a Will Wood song.

[anniflamma]

Midrashes are pretty crazy. It’s like fanfiction.... and sometimes they can really venture into the ArchiveOfOurOwn realm...

Question: How can Potiphar be a eunuch if he’s married to a woman? That doesn’t make any sense!

A midrash: Oh, it’s because Potiphar did have a manhood, but when he bought Joseph as his slave, he intended to buy him as his sex slave. But before he could touch the 17-year-old, an angel came and cut off his manhood! And that’s why Potiphar is a eunuch yet married to a woman!

Me: W H A T ?!?!! (im scared)

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

The way the ancients saw the world is beautiful to me. The blue sky? A sign that God brings order out of chaos. The sun, moon, and stars? A sign that messengers (angels) are always watching over us. Rivers of fresh water? A sign that God can cleanse that which is unclean. The chaotic sea? A sign of God controlling the evil of the nations. Sea monsters? A sign that God will destroy the evil of the nations. The birthing of the lambs? A sign that God will deliver those who trust him. Eagles soaring in the air? A sign that God will renew those who trust him. Lilies? A sign of the beauty of God in the simple things. A pomegranate? A reminder to be passionately in love with God because they're passionately in love with you. The growing wheat in the field? A reminder to be compassionate to the poor and the immigrant. A mountain? A reminder that you can be with God on earth.

Us moderns may be more knowledgeable but the ancients were far more wise.