Thataway (The Other Side, Part 2)

August 17, 2014

The Baalist Bible, 2 Kings 19

The story of Hezekiah son of Ahaz as told by a priest of Baal continues. So far, I don’t see anything controversial in it, except perhaps the priest’s characterization of the God of Israel (and Judah), the One God, as a God of war. Then, there is the recurring refrain that by contrast the gods of the lands around, including (especially) Baal, “have nothing to do with war. They don’t sow seeds of discord; they plant farms. What these gods want is that their people be fed, that they have grain and wine, olives and figs, milk and honey, fresh flowing water. Let their stomachs never rumble and their heads swim always sweetly.”

          But I haven’t looked at the last two “chapters” of the story (based on 2 Kings 20 and 21); so there may be more stuff of controversy in those.

In the meantime, a brief summary of “the story so far”:

          At the end of Part One of the story of Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, Hezekiah’s legates to Sennacherib’s officer, the Rabshakeh, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah (the one that ran the king’s household), Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, another scribe, come back to the king with all they have heard, and their garments rent. They are in mourning because Senacherib appears to be more powerful than Jerusalem, even if it contains Yahweh’s temple.

          To pick it up from the beginning, click here. To plunge right in, click below:

 

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