Slog
News & ArtsSunday, August 19, 2012
Religion Slog Bible Study: Exodus 31:15
Posted by Goldy on Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Exodus 31:15
Whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Discuss.
1
II'ma biblical literalist so I'm not even going to get up today. Force applied over distance is work, yo.
2
So much for mowing the lawn - I guess I have to watch football and drink beer all day. It's God's will, after all.
3
I guess this means I'm courting death. Didn't I read somewhere that the death I'm courting is Death by Stoning? Oh well. Guess I better accept my fate *burgleburgleburgle--choooom!*
5
Of course today is not the Sabbath referred to in Exodus, that would be Friday at sunset until Saturday at sunset, the Sunday "Sabbath" was a creation of Constantine in an effort to unite Xian and Pagan religions in the Eastern Roman Empire
8
Isn't killing someone... work? So if some over-eager enforcer got upset and killed a guy for working on the Sabbath, then another enforcer killed him, and so on, wouldn't there be a chain reaction until everyone was dead? That's one way to make sure no work gets done.
13
Damn, I work almost every Sunday AND Saturday (for those traditionalists and 7th Day Adventists out there)
15
I think smiting might be better than this windowless office. I work from a cave inside of a building. Though, can one be smited/smoted in an area that doesn't get cell reception? Do they have different barriers?
17
So I guess the best time to invade a country is on the sabbath, since the military won't be doing any work that day. It's also the best day to commit arson, since the fire and police departments won't be operating.
Who the fuck wrote this nonsense????
Who the fuck wrote this nonsense????
18
Depending on how observant / insane the Jews in question are, some have been known to criticize their neighbors for gardening on the sabbath, and in Israel there have been cases of people throwing rocks at ambulances on the sabbath. (Apparently anybody who has a heart attack or falls down a flight of stairs on the sabbath should just lie there until the next day.)
21
Man, every time I'm feeling lazy on a weekend I just need to remind myself that the Bible doesn't want me to do any work, and it'll motivate me to get up off my ass and clean the damn house.
23
Yay for context...
So, in the original Hebrew, according the years of Rabbinical tradition, the meaning was clear that the first six days of the week were days on which a Hebrew man may work, but that the seventh should be kept apart, set aside for non-mundane tasks and purposes. The seventh day was for holy things.
So, preaching, teaching, putting aside the holy bread, etc. should all be fine.
This is an interesting thing, because in the New Testament, some of the Pharisees try to stir up a controversy when Christ healed a man on the sabbath. In that situation, Christ asked the Pharisee before healing the man if it was lawful or permitted, and the religious leader stayed silent, refusing to answer... so Christ did the healing and then told all the people in the room "which of you having a son, or a donkey, or an ox, that has fallen into a well would not pull him out on the sabbath?"
So, under both Hebrew traditions and Christian traditions, the Sabbath is meant to be a day of rest, when you set aside your regular, worldly chores, but are still allowed to do necessary tasks and godly things. It's biblical literalists of both traditions that turn the Sabbath into a day where you have to sit at home doing nothing for fear of angering God.
So, in the original Hebrew, according the years of Rabbinical tradition, the meaning was clear that the first six days of the week were days on which a Hebrew man may work, but that the seventh should be kept apart, set aside for non-mundane tasks and purposes. The seventh day was for holy things.
So, preaching, teaching, putting aside the holy bread, etc. should all be fine.
This is an interesting thing, because in the New Testament, some of the Pharisees try to stir up a controversy when Christ healed a man on the sabbath. In that situation, Christ asked the Pharisee before healing the man if it was lawful or permitted, and the religious leader stayed silent, refusing to answer... so Christ did the healing and then told all the people in the room "which of you having a son, or a donkey, or an ox, that has fallen into a well would not pull him out on the sabbath?"
So, under both Hebrew traditions and Christian traditions, the Sabbath is meant to be a day of rest, when you set aside your regular, worldly chores, but are still allowed to do necessary tasks and godly things. It's biblical literalists of both traditions that turn the Sabbath into a day where you have to sit at home doing nothing for fear of angering God.
24
@17: See: Yom Kippur War, which also fell during Ramadan.
But in Judaic jurisprudence, you can violate a lesser commandment in order to fulfill a greater one, and in some cases are obligated to. For example, ambulance drivers still have to be on call during the Sabbath, since saving lives is more important than tiptoeing around this particular law. The general theory is that if you offend God a little bit in order to preserve His creation, He'll forgive you. (There are, of course, a few things that you're not allowed to do even for the greater good: things like murder and blasphemy.)
But in Judaic jurisprudence, you can violate a lesser commandment in order to fulfill a greater one, and in some cases are obligated to. For example, ambulance drivers still have to be on call during the Sabbath, since saving lives is more important than tiptoeing around this particular law. The general theory is that if you offend God a little bit in order to preserve His creation, He'll forgive you. (There are, of course, a few things that you're not allowed to do even for the greater good: things like murder and blasphemy.)
25
@23 Because it is precisely the literalist who don't know what they're supposed to be literal about. They don't read their scriptures. They just yell a lot at other people as if they've had. They're so convinced of their knowledge of their scriptures that they don't bother to read them.
26
@2: I know a guy who grew up in a small southern town where everyone attended one of the half dozen protestant churches, which ranged from very conservative to batshit fundie wacko. The men (and it was always the men) of the town never mowed their lawns on Sunday. The neighbors wouldn't put somebody to death if they violated the sabbath in this way, but they would gossip and give them nasty looks.
27
You take a step, interpret your direction according to the best available religious thinking, take another step, apply religious law to that, iterate, adjust, iterate and adjust, and before you know it, you're standing in a hole in some imaginary adventure game world that shows no relation to reality. Each interpretive step was reasonable, but the end result is preposterous.
Here's my favorite example of Sabbath law stupidity, as practiced by observant Conservative and Orthodox Jews. You're not allowed to work your animals on the Sabbath, so you can't go for a pleasant, contemplative ride in your horse-drawn buggy. So, the horseless carriage comes along, and to be consistent, rabbinical interpretation says you can't go for a pleasant, contemplative ride in your automobile, either. There are no horses, but the car is being used the same as if horses were being worked, so no deal.
You can't turn the knob on your self-lighting stove, either, because making a fire is traditionally work. Ditto, turning on the light switch. So far, whatever... We haven't fallen off the deep end quite yet. There's a certain consistency to the observance.
Here's where we head off into territory that makes my head spin. An observant family can make advance arrangements with a non-Jewish neighbor, or actually employ someone (as long as money doesn't change hands on the Sabbath itself) to come to their home to operate their lights and turn on their stove for them. (The person providing services is referred to as "The Sabbath Goy.")
Which means, Jewish sabbath law interpretation values protection of an imaginary horse from work more highly than an actual human being of another religion.
Here's my favorite example of Sabbath law stupidity, as practiced by observant Conservative and Orthodox Jews. You're not allowed to work your animals on the Sabbath, so you can't go for a pleasant, contemplative ride in your horse-drawn buggy. So, the horseless carriage comes along, and to be consistent, rabbinical interpretation says you can't go for a pleasant, contemplative ride in your automobile, either. There are no horses, but the car is being used the same as if horses were being worked, so no deal.
You can't turn the knob on your self-lighting stove, either, because making a fire is traditionally work. Ditto, turning on the light switch. So far, whatever... We haven't fallen off the deep end quite yet. There's a certain consistency to the observance.
Here's where we head off into territory that makes my head spin. An observant family can make advance arrangements with a non-Jewish neighbor, or actually employ someone (as long as money doesn't change hands on the Sabbath itself) to come to their home to operate their lights and turn on their stove for them. (The person providing services is referred to as "The Sabbath Goy.")
Which means, Jewish sabbath law interpretation values protection of an imaginary horse from work more highly than an actual human being of another religion.
28
At 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, on Rosh Chodesh Elul, a gathering of Jews will observe Rosh Hashanah La B’Heimot for the first time in more than 2,000 years. They will gather for a specially prepared Seder at the Caravan of Dreams Restaurant in Manhattan.
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the…
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the…
30
Please sign this petition for Gov. Don Siegelman who was railroaded into jail by Karl Rove and his gang of cretins:
http://www.change.org/petitions/presiden…
Thanks!
http://www.change.org/petitions/presiden…
Thanks!
31
Completed three reports for work. Did some laundry. Went to the gym. Come and get me, motherfuckers.
32
So do I need to kill my waitress before or after the Sunday brunch? I mean, my glass isn't going to be filling itself on its own.
33
We lived in an apartment with many observant Jews for a couple of years. They limited the number of steps they would take on Saturday and made meals that either cooked all day (so they could eat after sundown Friday) or could be eaten cold.
What I remember most was that they even refused to use the telephone on the Sabbath. One time out neighbor started banging on the wall (he could afford to steps to walk all the way over to our door I guess) and begged me to make a phone call form him that had to happen "right now".
So it was OK for him to make me "work" I guess.
What I remember most was that they even refused to use the telephone on the Sabbath. One time out neighbor started banging on the wall (he could afford to steps to walk all the way over to our door I guess) and begged me to make a phone call form him that had to happen "right now".
So it was OK for him to make me "work" I guess.
34
That should read "many observant Jewish neighbors" and "couldn't afford the steps to walk"
Need an edit function :)
Need an edit function :)
35
I love those wacko rabbis who think pressing an elevator button is work but climbing up 12 flights of stairs isn't.
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