douglas

Please help a novice bible explorer... :notworthy:

There's a discussion on the carm.org site about circumcision, and a quote was made from Exodus 4:

24 At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met {Moses} [b] and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched {Moses'} feet with it. [c] "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said. 26 So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.)

My reading of this is that Moses fell ill during his Journey to Egypt, almost died (from maybe an infection in his feet?), but when his son's peepee parts were touched to his feet he magically recovered.

Is this an accurate interpretation of this, or is there some other explanation? For example, did other cultures ascribe some healing power to a child's foreskin? I've searched the archive and internet but couldn't find anything that satisfies my feeling that I'm missing something here.

Sarpedon

Or it could mean that God was angry at moses for marrying a canaanite, and her circumcision of her son confirmed herself and the son as israelites.

This is one of the weird bible moments. I'd also like to hear your explanation of the naked man who followed after jesus was arrested.

Anat

Moses broke the law by delaying the circumcision of his son, maybe because he feared for his health during the journey. This is a sign of doubt, not a good idea for someone who is about to confront Pharoah in God's name. For this Moses was punished. Tziporah took the matters in her hands to make things right, thus Moses was spared.

There is no point seeking a naturalistic or quasi-naturalistic explanation for Moses' illness and recovery, as the story is a legend that is meant to teach a moral - the one moral of TaNaKh - the fate of Israel is tied intimately with obedience to the Law. It isn't a story about beliefs regarding folk medicine.

But if you want to make more of "and cast it at his feet" remember that often when TaNaKh talks about feet, legs, thighs they can be euphemisms for male genitalia, so it could be a case of 'curing like with like', which is common in folklore in many cultures.

Anat

This story serves the basis of the halachic ruling that while the responsibility for circumcising an infant is on the father, if he neglects the duty it transfers to the mother.

BTW the root het-taw-nun which in Hebrew has to do with wedding in Arabic is related to circumcision.

douglas

I have none. This has always puzzled me. I've wondered if this was Mark's symbolic way of showing his disgust with how the early Christians scattered and shed any knowledge of Jesus once he was arrested, but I have no sources to back me up on this other than my logic, which (as my wife will attest to) is highly suspect at times.

And please don't read anything into the fact that I'm on the carm.org website. I enjoy reading all sides and opinions. (It's kind of a Yin Yang thing)

douglas

This helps. I'm struck by the odd visual of Moses' wife bending down and touching her child's bloody foreskin to her husbands feet. As a parent struggling to raise and educate four kids, I can understand how oddity can sometimes aide the memorization process, but from what you've said, this act would not have sounded "odd" to the original intended hearers of this story.

Sarpedon

I don't know what the carm.org website is. I've just always wondered about that incident and wondered if you had any thoughts.

My friend and I once joked about starting a cult called the 'naked swordsmen' by using that incident and the bit where Jesus commands his disciples to sell their clothes to buy swords.

douglas

"Christian Apologetics Research Ministery." Compared to the posters on II, most posters knowledge of Biblical criticism is ...um... shallow, but it's fun to read the wacked out opinions that are expressed. It's a bit like slowing down to look at a car wreck on a highway - I enjoy looking but feel strangely dirty after the fact.

fta

If you accept Morton Smith's "Secret Gospel of Mark" then the naked youth is probably supposed to be Lazarus.

For those who think Secret Mark is bogus, some conservative scholars have contended that the mysterious streaker was St Mark himself, making an anonymous cameo appearance in his gospel.

Hmm, puts an interesting spin on the story of Ruth throwing herself at Boaz's feet, huh?:devil1:

Anat

Indeed, chapter 3 of Ruth is saturated with sexual language. Naomi is basically pimping Ruth to Boaz,

and the fact that there is a closer kinsman who might have ended up marrying Ruth does nothing to deter Boaz from making the most of the situation.
Another sexual expression is found in Ruth's marriage proposal to Boaz: