Nimrod is a descendant of Noah and is considered to be a "mighty one on the earth. 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). Smashing Jewish Idols | My Jewish Learning Abraham responds that water puts out fire. Please support us. Instead, the text of the Torah should be understood on its own terms; the Torah itself is the matter being studied. [22], Getting accustomed to this kind of thinking about the Torah is required, in my opinion, if a person wishes to acquire the ability to raise his or her faith in Torah from a peripheral attachment to an essential attachment to its contents. ! [Terah] took him and brought him before Nimrod (. Abraham, Cursed by His Own Father and Banished Again Destruction of Idols | Daiyah Wiki | Fandom Later, a woman walked into the store and wanted to make an offering to the idols. 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. then he. 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. 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. Genesis 11:31 - Terah's Descendants - Bible Hub Intuitive attachment to our inherited traditions is common to all people, regardless of education. See also Ravads commentad loc. Rabbi Amit Kulaisthe rabbi of Kibbutz Alumim as well as of Beit Midrash Daroma at Ben Gurion University. F. Gibbs. 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. 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. The giving of the Torah at Sinai turns a story or mitzvah included in it into the barometer for proper religious behavior. Deuteronomy 9:13-14, "Let me alone that I may destroy them." Does the story become less powerful, less complete, less true? Although I felt able to push the first question into the sidelines, the second question seemed to me more problematic. Bible. A woman enters to offer food to the idols. Abraham is known to have done something similar. The later life of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis Chapters 1125. 8When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and (J)His people Israel. So Nimrod declares they worship clouds. My gods cannot fight; they have legs, but they cannot walk; they have arms, but they cannot use them; they have eyes and ears, but they cannot see nor hear. Why, father, said Abraham, is it possible that you worship a god that cannot hear or see, walk or use himself at all? The god of the Christians, according to their own description of him, being a god without body, parts or passions, would be as unlikely to hear them when they called upon him, as were the gods of Terah, Abrahams father, when he called upon them. 30 And Abram viewed them, and behold they had neither voice nor hearing, nor did one of them stretch forth his hand to the meat to eat. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. Christian Standard Bible Berean Standard Bible Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. These were the feelings of Abraham, and he taught his fathers house, and all around him, as far as he had the privilege. And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. [13]Even if its conclusions will, in the end, be rejectednot always and not necessarilyby practical halacha. An event with significant import to the wider population that is never reported will end up being known by only a handful of people who witnessed it.[12]. See:The Complete Works of Achad Ha-Am(Tel Aviv, 1947), p. 342 [Hebrew]. Regarding this, seePinkasei Ha-Raayahvol. [15]With regard to the sciatic nerve, the Mishna states (m.Chullin7:6): The rule applies to clean animals but not to unclean ones. 12-26 [Hebrew] and afterwards in his book.Pirkei Moadot(Jerusalem, 5746), p. 22 [Hebrew]. However, see Rambams comments inThe Guide of the Perplexed(3:50) as well as chapter 5 of my book. 35 And Terah, having heard the noise of the hatchet in the room of images, ran to the room to the images, and he met Abram going out. And Terah answered his son Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. His analysis deals with how in modern times, Abraham came to be seen as the only monotheist. Rijksmuseum 1 The Midrashic Abraham Rabbi Chiyya said: Terah was an idol worshiper. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. When Terah. 56 0 foolish, simple, and ignorant king, woe unto thee forever. 6The sons of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and (I)the tithe of [d]sacred gifts which were consecrated to the Lord their God, and placed them in heaps. This story is taken from The Book of Jasher 11:21-49, Terah, in response to Abrahams question to him about who the God was that had created heaven and earth and the children of men, took him to the hall wherein stood twelve great idols and a large number of little idols, and pointing to them he said, Here are they who have made all thou seest on earth, they who have created also me and thee and all men on the earth, and he bowed down before his gods, and left the hall with his son. [5]A lot has been written about the principle of the slippery slope. See, for example, the essay by Yuval Cherlow, Halacha and the Slippery Slope,Akdamut23 (5769): 33-48 [Hebrew]. All rights reserved worldwide. Why did Abraham destroy the idols? - Answers 41 And Terahs anger was kindled against his son Abram, when he spoke this; and Terah said to Abram his son in his anger, What is this tale that thou hast told? The Gods Are Broken! - University of Nebraska-Lincoln [b](P) 23Then Abraham approached him and said: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 50:2); 11 they entail the desolation of altars, the breaking of statues, the The worshipping of idols is forbidden under the word . Will Gods story be diminished if we do not connect it with the actions of specific people, as great as they may have been? You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. 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. 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. 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. 50 And Terah, seeing all that Abram had done, hastened to go from his house, and he went to the king and he came before Nimrod and stood before him, and he bowed down to the king; and the king said, What dost thou want? 49 And Abram hastened and sprang from before his father, and took the hatchet from his fathers largest idol, with which Abram broke it and ran away. Such a perspective does not diminish the connection between humanity and God; it strengthens it.[23]. When he or she reads the accounts of our father Abraham in the Torah and wishes to understand their significance, what he or she wants is not to find out more about the (possible) historical character behind the story but to encounter the protagonist of the narrative, i.e. 19 And Abram asked his father, saying, Father, tell me where is God who created heaven and earth, and all the sons of men upon earth, and who created thee and me. [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. What if only thirty can be found there?, He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there., 31Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?, He said, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it., 32Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 14 - English Standard Version Many in Maimonides generation believed that the existence of God was coterminous with Gods physical existence. Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. I cannot thank them enough for the happy homelife they created for me and my siblings. 31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. Deuteronomy 12:3 - One Place for Worship - Bible Hub Sons were born to them after the flood. What are they if not dry historical descriptions? In order for such values to find a permanent place in the spiritual life of individuals, they must be narrated. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of SeeIggrot Raayahvol. Idolatry, in this sense, means abandoning the way of God for another aim. Terah responded by saying that they are only statues and have no knowledge. This Midrash can be interpreted as an example of persecution against those of monotheistic beliefs during a time when polytheism dominated.[8]. 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. Abraham responds that clouds hold water. Abraham asked him how old he was and the man responded 50 years old. Abraham then said, You are 50 years old and would worship a day old statue! At this point the man left, ashamed. Nevertheless, such an opportunity would be limited. 15 And Terah his father was in those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods. These events occurred at some point in the past, and the Holy Author (God) describes them from the unique perspective of the divine. Seeing the Torah as the story of God establishes a persons faith in Torah from Heaven at its highest and purist level. [27]See Rambam,Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentence, 3:7. To me, it seems likely that the par between those who criticize the ahistorical paradigm and those who embrace it can be traced to the par between the correspondence theory of truth and the coherence theory of truth, but a full analysis along these lines would take us too far afield. I am not surprised, therefore, at the literary prowessvery much like human literary prowessdemonstrated in Torah by its author. 53 And the king said to Abram, What is this that thou hast done to thy father and to his gods? that there is a real God, then that God will save him. Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver thee? [13] The sacred written Torah is the teaching of God and it is forbidden to learn it indifferently. There is also a third option, of course, that the Abraham who lived in Ur continued to live in the hearts of Israel. The second approach, however, is rather surprising. , was an idol-maker and merchant in Ur.1 Terah. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." What does the Bible say about idolatry? A divinely originated narrative has no need for real historical events in order to grow sinews and flesh and become something substantial. Abraham, Smasher of Idols, and the Question of the Torah's Historicity [2]For a discussion of the phenomenon of filling the gaps see Yonah Frankel,Midrash ve-Aggada, (5753), 41 [Hebrew]. 11, p. 68. Abraham and the Idol Shop - Wikipedia But the Lord inspired Abraham to leave there. Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Powered by WordPress. It is thou that didst place the hatchet in his hands, and then sayest he smote them all. In essence, we exchange a conversation about God for an encounter with God. According to Genesis Rabbah 38.13, iyya b. Abba, a third-generation Amora, told following story: Terah was an idol manufacturer who once went away and left Abraham in charge of the store. And wilt thou and thy people rise up now and do like unto this work, in order to bring down the anger of the Lord God of the universe, and to bring evil upon thee and the whole earth? Now, believing it is safe, Abram leaves Noah's home and returns to his father Terah. My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. 59 Now therefore put away this evil deed which thou doest, and serve the God of the universe, as thy soul is in his hands, and then it will be well with thee. 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. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, 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.". 21Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in the Law and in the commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and (X)prospered. At this point, Terah took Abraham to Nimrod. why dost thou worship . [19]InThe Guide of the Perplexed(3:31), Rambam sharply criticizes people who believe that it would be best not to ascribe positive human characteristics to God. 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. 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. A man walked in and wished to buy an idol. [26]It would be wrong to simplify the dichotomy by trying to distinguish between the simple person, who would wish to hide from contradictions since answering them would be beyond this persons ability, and the learned person, who, ostensibly, can deal with such tensions. He was looking forward. 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. Exodus 20:3 - Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The Midrash has also been discussed in the contexts of complete, unquestioned faith.