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GOODWILL TOWARD ALL MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, BORN AND UNBORN

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Whose Map Are We Reading And Why Should It Matter

Where in the World is "Palestine?"

In the Ancient world there was no such place as "Palestine."
At times in early or pre-Roman, pre-Christian era times a small portion of land surfaces in some writings unofficially as "Philistia" which references where the Philistines were- in a land that doesn't come close to the magnitude of land mass the current "Palestinians" claim. The Philistines were notably defeated by Samson at one point (until his devious evil Philistine wife Delilah betrayed him and did him in as the story goes) and by King David such that during the time of King Solomon (King David's son), Philistines didn't have an identified geographic location attached to them. They were as gone a people as the Aztecs are to us today. Note that the ancient world is full of people named things we don't recognize today as identifiably any particular nation, such as Hittites, Ammonites, Moabites, Jebbuzites, etc. What country should all those people have? Where is Hittiteville or Moabland?

During Roman times the land was referenced by the Romans as "Palestine" picking up on and Romanizing the "Philistia" name which was a goofy name to begin with and didn't accurately describe the inhabitants at the time (remember that Romans spoke Latin and the Jews spoke Aramaic and Hebrew- with a spattering of Romans and Greeks in the area speaking Ancient Greek, while hundreds of other dialects referenced in the Pentacost story flourished). Who knows why the Romans actually chose the name Palestinian, but it is a Latinization of Philisia and the Philistines were by that time long since defeated as a power.

The British, who for a time themselves were under Roman rule under Hadrian and for whom Latin was for a time an official language through the 1066 invasion of William the Conqueror, reused the Roman name Palestine when they controlled the area under a "Protectorate."
The name is a complete political fiction because neither the "Philistines" nor any non-Jew residents of Roman "Palestine" of Philistine heritage controlled or ruled (self-ruled or otherwise) any part of the world at any time after King David. At some point, as the below biblical references indicate, Philistines did occupy a portion of this land at one time until they were driven out and clearly defeated. That is why in large part King David is King David.

Why would you want to name a country after people who about three Millenia ago were driven out by God's will and help? Wouldn't that be a little like insisting we all now call Iraq "Babylon" or Lebanon "Phonecia?"or Peru "Matsupishu" or New York "Mowhacanville?" or Washington, DC "Chippawa Swamp." How about if we all insist on it loudly and start killing people over it? How bloody ridiculous would that be?

The Philistines were always referenced biblically as enemies of the Jews who were always out to kill them off. Christians and Jews believe (or should) enemies of Jews are enemies of their God. It's about that simple. So why would anyone call anything the Romanized version of Philistines or Philistia?

I have another idea-let's just call the folks who don't want to live in peace with the Jews in Israel who are openly hell-bent on their destruction and have the nerve to announce it at the UN, "ContraDeo" or the Latin for "Against God" and the part of Gaza and portion of Lebanon from where they are lobbing missiles "TerraContraDeo". Republic of TCD for short. (I am amazed at how easily Christians forget that they are worshipping the Jewish Messiah who first came to save his own and asked us to do likewise.)

Here are various references to the lands biblically referenced as belonging to the Jews by Covenant promise to Abraham first referenced in Exodus 15:17. The boundaries first referenced speak of all the land from the "Great River of Egypt" to the Euphrates. Some biblical scholars think that this must mean the Nile, or some tributary thereof whether currently extant or not. Some have interpreted "great river" without a more concrete reference to mean the Tigres (while that does not run through Egypt). The Nile is the one of the largest five Rivers in the world currently running through Egypt, down through the Sudan. Some scholars believe the reference may indicate where the Nile hits or "falls into" its Source at the Mediterranean or around the Suez Canal to create the Southern most border. Additional boundary descriptions appear as given to Moses from that originally spoken to Abraham.

I leave it to the reader to determine whether God changed the map at various epochs for reasons known only to Him, or whether all these biblical references are internally consistent. Maybe they just reflect bad translations. One thing is certain that from one translation to the next, at least in the Christian versions, there is some discrepancy, thus it requires reading all of them, and preferably going back to the more original of Hebrew Torah texts to get the right or closest to right reading when it comes to boundaries. In other words, you cannot just read the Christian bible your grandmother gave you or the one you got at confirmation and know with certainty where God wants his people to live now.
(This isn't an academic article or I would have to exhaustively list and footnote my sources which are a combination of my commentary, biblical quotes and internet searches that anyone can do. None of it is original as I didn't author the Bible. The reader is encouraged to read as many versions as possible to do the comparison. We aren't all reading from the same Bible.)

Land of Israel
The Land of Israel (Hebrew: Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The term has been used by Jews and Christians throughout history. The Bible explains how the kingdom was split into two with the names Israel and Judah(too long a story to tell here, but suffice it to say God never called either place "Palestine" and you won't find a reference to any portion of any land God gave the Jews "Palestine.")

During the British mandate of Palestine, the Anglicization of the Hebrew name Eretz Yisrael (abbreviated Aleph-Yod), was part of the official name of the territory athough, as much for a political statement it was more commonly referenced as "Palestine", which is just Anglicized Roman nomenclature. Consequently, in its modern usage, the term usually denotes only those parts of the land which came under the British mandate, i.e. the land now or recently controlled by Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, and sometimes then also Transjordan (now the Kingdom of Jordan). As the below biblical passages demonstrate, this is a narrower vision of what the biblical "Promised Land" is supposed to look like. "Palestine" even under the British Protectorate did include the West Bank and Gaza. (What was Sharon thinking?)

Biblical passages

The actual borders defined in God's covenant with the Israelites from Abraham on through Joshua is actually much larger than the current borders of the State of Israel. Several verses from the Torah, (commonly referred to as the First Five Books of Moses, while we don't think Moses wrote Genesis for example) a verse from the Book of Joshua, and a sequence from the Book of Ezekiel speak to the definition of the borders of the Promised Land (that God covenanted to Abraham's seed/ancestors for all time). Translations vary significantly.

Genesis 15:18-21 From this desert and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea westward shall be your boundary (Genesis 15:18-21).
Significantly, a Christian translation has no reference whatever to Lebanon and reads: "From the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

Exodus 23:20-33 Behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Beware of him and obey him; do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your transgression, for My Name is within him. For if you hearken to his voice and do all that I say, I will hate your enemies and oppress your adversaries. For My angel will go before you, and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivvites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them. You shall not prostrate yourself before their gods, and you shall not worship them, and you shall not follow their practices, but you shall tear them down and you shall utterly shatter their monuments. And you shall worship the Lord, your God, and He will bless your food and your drink, and I will remove illness from your midst. There will be no bereaved, (miscarrying) or barren woman in your land; I will fill the number of your days. I will send My fear before you, and I will confuse all the people among whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send the tzir'ah before you, and it will drive out the Hivvites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them away from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field outnumber you. I will drive them out from before you little by little, until you have increased and can occupy the land. And I will make your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert (wilderness) to the river (Euphrates), for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hands, and you shall drive them out from before you. You shall not form a covenant for them or for their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me, that you will worship their gods, which will be a snare for you.(Exodus 23:20-33)


Numbers 34:1-12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Command the children of Israel and say to them, When you arrive in the land of Canaan, this is the land which shall fall to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its borders. Your southernmost corner shall be from the desert of Zin along Edom, and the southern border shall be from the edge of the Sea of Salt Dead Sea to the east. The border then turns south of Maaleh Akrabim of Akrabim, passing toward Zin, and its ends shall be to the south of Kadesh barnea. Then it shall extend to Hazar addar and continue toward Azmon. The border then turns from Azmon to the stream of Egypt, and its ends shall be to the sea. The western border: it shall be for you the Great Mediterranean Sea and the border this shall be your western border. This shall be your northern border: From the Great Mediterranean Sea turn yourselves toward Mount Hor. From Mount Hor turn to the entrance of Hamath, and the ends of the border shall be toward Zedad. The border shall then extend to Ziphron, and its ends shall be Hazar enan; this shall be your northern border. You shall then turn yourselves toward the eastern border, from Hazar enan to Shepham. The border descends from Shepham toward Riblah, to the east of Ain. Then the border descends and hits the eastern shore of Lake Kinnereth (Sea of Galilee). The border then continues down along the Jordan, and its ends is the Sea of Salt Dead Sea; this shall be your Land according to its borders around. (Numbers 34:1-12).

Deuteronomy 1:7, 11:24 Turn and journey, and come to the mountain of the Amorites and to all its neighboring places, in the plain, on the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and the Lebanon, until the great river, the Euphrates River (Deuteronomy 1:7). Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread, will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary (Deuteronomy 11:24).

Joshua 1:4 From this desert and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea westward shall be your boundary (Joshua 1:4).Ezekiel 47:13-20 So said the Lord God: This is the border whereby you shall divide the land for inheritance to the twelve tribes of Israel, Joseph two portions. And you shall inherit it, one as another, being that I lifted up My hand to give it to your forefathers, and this land shall be to you an inheritance. And this is the border of the land: to the northern side, from the Great Sea the way to Hethlon to the road leading to Zedad. Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. And the border shall be from the sea to Hazer-enon, the border of Damascus, and in the north northward is the border of Hamath; this is the northern side. And the eastern side is between Hauran and Damascus, between Gilead and the Land of Israel is the Jordan; from the border by the eastern sea shall you measure; this is the eastern side. And the southern side is from Tamar until the water of Meriboth Kadesh to the stream falls into the Great Sea; this is the southern side. And the western side is the Great Sea from the border until opposite the road leading to Hamath; this is the western side. (Ezekiel 47:13-20)
Notes
The size of the Promised Land of the Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible referred to also as the "Old" or "First" Testament" by Christians) encompasses a region that extends from the "Great River of Egypt" to the Euphrates. Area known to be included depending on the translation one reads are the modern states of Israel, Lebanon, much of modern-day Syria, and "Yesha" or Yemen. Also in this region would be the Sinai Peninsula, which is widely believed to encompass the route of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt if one takes the reference to mean the whole Nile rather than where it falls into the Sea as the Southern Border which would mean the territory doesn't go into Egypt. However, it should be noted that the most exact definitions of the borders, the ones in Numbers and Ezekiel, describe a much smaller area, with the river Jordan as its eastern border and the Nile (or where it hits the Med) in the SouthWest. It encompasses most of modern Israel -- excluding however most of the Negev desert in the south -- the territories, a small part of modern Egypt, southern Lebanon, and the southwestern tip of Syria.
Another point of debate for some religious scholars is the consistent reference to the inclusion of "the Land of the Hittites" within the borders. Some view the Hittites as one of the tribes that had settled in Canaan and was conquered by Joshua, while others refer to a greater empire that encompassed most of Central Turkey.

The "land of Canaan" or land of the "Canaanites" or "Cana" is a consistently repeating reference as part of the inheritance of the Jews. The Canaanites take their name from Canaan which name is linked to a relative (son?) of Noah (the Noah of the Flood) who because he saw Noah's uncovered drunken Nakedness was cursed to be a slave to his brother. The land of Canaan was given in inheritance as a blessing because the land of Canaan was cursed to the Canaanites.
It is no accident that the first miracle performed by Jesus in his ministry was the turning of the water to wine at the "wedding in Cana" thus spiritually connecting himself and his believers to the blessings of covenental inheritance.

Now a closing word on "proportionality." The "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" commandment wasn't made up by a bunch of European anti-semites. That is the very definition of proportionality and from it comes the Catholic understanding of "just war"-e.g. over the top reactions can turn a "just" response unjust. Christ taught the "turn the other cheek" rule; you hit me on the cheek, I turn it and give you the other one. That has been the hardest concept for anyone to grasp and doesn't feature in the Catholic Just War proportionality concept.
You take out my eye, I can take yours out. I can't however bludgon your skull into pulp. You knock out my tooth I can beat the tooth-fairy to your front tooth, but I can't firebomb your village and mushroom cloud your house. You take out a couple of my buildings and 3,000 people, I can't take out your leader, kill all his sons, destroy all your major cities, firebomb the capital to smitherines, install my military in your leader's palace, and corner the market on all your natural resources. You lob 2,000 missiles into my back yard, killing 100 people, I don't get to kill 200,000 and displace half a million more. I may however, get to destroy all your missile launchers and 2,000 guys who intended to kill with them. Self-Defense is a concept that has to be merged with proportionality. I will leave its definition to Talmudic scholars to determine the blend.

But what is ethically permissible is not always what is wise. What is permissible is not always what is beneficial. The wisdom behind the Proportionality of the "Eye for an Eye" commandment (not a suggestion) is protection from blistering retaliation and foaming resentment that invites more over the top blistering retaliation into an unstoppable escalation. I don't judge what is proportionate. I caution what is unwise.

Postscript:
Nothing about the Unjust War doctrine or Proportionality Concept says that if you take out two of my buildings and 3,000 people I get to go to another country not affiliated with the aforementioned act, and because I think that country sympathized with the act or likes the guy who did it, I get to firebomb the place to smitherines, take out the leader, kill all his sons, destroy his cities, camp in his palace, shoot anyone who objects and bulldoze anything getting in my way. The proportionality doctrine does not even apply in that context because I there am the aggressing offendor and I was not justified in doing anything to the neighboring country whose only involvment in the first act was to sympathize with it and the perpetrator.


See alsoPalestine History of Palestine Holy Land Promised land IsraelExternal links What Should We Call Eretz Israel/Land of Israel - Falastin/Palestine?

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