I counted the seeds of a pomegranate (and then ate them). There were 509. (roughly)
It was a smallish pomegranate too. A big one might indeed have close to 613 seeds.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Deterrence
I try to avoid making political posts, but I couldn't get out of the way of this one.
One main Israeli goal of the recent Lebanon war was to restore its deterrent power. It has been claimed that since many Arabs think that Hizbullah won, thus Israel's deterrence has actually decreased. But of course, Israel does not need to deter the average Arab - the Syrian goat-herder or the taxi driver from Qatar - because no matter how much they hate Israel, they can't do much to effect it. Only governments, militaries, and major terrorist groups need to be deterred from fighting. Specifically, without the support of either Lebanon or Iran, Hizbullah could not continue its activities. It is not a country or people after all, it is just a militia which needs funding and territory from which to operate.
I'm sure few Lebanese, no matter how much they hate Israel, would choose to see the destruction of the last month repeated. Iran, on the other hand, has lost nothing over the past month. And Iran has more influence over Hizbullah than the Lebanese government or society do. Lebanon has probably been deterred, but some other method will have to be found to deter Iran.
Right now Israel is faced with Hizbullah and Hamas on its borders, and the US is fighting an insurgency in Iraq. The common denominator in these destabilizing situations (possibly including Hamas) is Iranian funding. Take away the funding, and the terrorists will not be able to afford bombs or rockets or salaries. And Iran's wealth would seem to be easily attackable.
Since Ahmadinejad came to power and began making blood-curdling threats, nearly all foreign investment has left Iran in a hurry. The economy as a whole has been pretty weak since the Islamic Revolution, but this was the last straw. Apparently the Tehran stock market has all but ceased to exist. Of course, Iran survives because of oil revenue. But take away the oil, and Iran would not be able to fund Hizbullah or Hamas. In fact, the Islamic government - not especially popular in its own country - might even fall altogether. And oil is easily targeted.
If the US or Israel ends up at war with Iran, their first strike should eliminate every source of oil in Iran. This would cripple the country very quickly. Instead of being like Saudi Arabia's, Iran's economy would become more like Afghanistan's. Oil infrastructure could be rebuilt afterwards if the US allowed it, but probably not before then - no funds would be available, and who would be willing to invest? Of course, such a strike would only be possible as part of a major war; if undertaken in peacetime it would almost certainly cause war to begin.
Assuming we do not immediately want to wage war with Iran, there is another possibility. Iranian proxies have effectively used asymmetric warfare and terrorism. To fight Iran, the US or Israel must also begin to use "asymmetric warfare and terrorism". Of course, because we are moral, this does not mean targeting civilians. It does mean targeting oil pipelines and refineries. There should be bands of special agents infiltrating Iran and sabotaging oil infrastructure. If Iranian agents do this in Iraq, we can do it in Iran. To the extent Iran sows trouble in its neighbors, we would sow trouble in Iran.
If Iran tries to blame us, we can simply deny it, or else present conclusive evidence that they do the same and much worse. Even better, we could blame the sabotage on Iranian pro-democracy activists or whomever we choose. Thus, violence against a government would provide publicity and legitimacy for the violent party. Terrorists learned the value of this approach long ago, Yasser Arafat being the first and best example. It's time for the civilized world to apply it in one of the rare circumstances in which it is moral.
Though not as overpowering as a full military strike, organized sabotage can severely constrict a country's oil production capacity, as recent Iraqi experience has shown. For oil-dependant Iran this could quickly become a major strategic problem. Hundreds of millions of dollars would no longer be available to terror organizations around the world, or even to fund Iran's own army. As the country's economy went downhill, the leadership would lose domestic popularity and international prestige and might even be overthrown and replaced by a secular government. At the very least, faced with violence on its own soil, Iran could be intimidated into a following more restrained foreign policy. All this, at virtually no risk, except to a handful of special agents carrying out the attacks. (World oil prices would go up significantly, but that is the inevitable cost of any approach which hopes to change Iranian policy.)
Such an approach would not solve the Iranian nuclear problem. Nuclear weapons are so incredible valuable to a rogue state that their development could continue even as much of the country starves to death. That's what happened in North Korea, and Iran's mindset may be no different. Thus, some sort of formal military action would be necessary even as sabotage to oil infrastructure continues. The good news is that the two strategies are complementary. An attack on nuclear facilities would add to the economic pressure caused by sabotage. And damage to oil would make it harder to continue nuclear production, and much harder to rebuild nuclear facilities after an American attack. If the attack manages to destroy only part of the nuclear program, as many experts predict, then the delay in rebuilding would be even more valuable.
In fact, it seems to me that any vaguely sensible policy regarding Iran - sanctions, limited military action, or all-out war in the future, could be made more effective by surreptitious attacks on the country's oil production, even if carried out by a third party.
Right now no Western country seems to have a good idea of how to deal with Iran and its influence in the Middle East. Each of the available options seems to have significant drawbacks, to the point that Europe, for example, seems to have given up on the situation entirely. A program of sabotage, however, could make each of the options into a much more defensible option. Then a coherent and coordinated policy would be much more likely to emerge. The Iranian threat could be dealt with, and the biggest threat to peace in today's world could be neutralized.
One main Israeli goal of the recent Lebanon war was to restore its deterrent power. It has been claimed that since many Arabs think that Hizbullah won, thus Israel's deterrence has actually decreased. But of course, Israel does not need to deter the average Arab - the Syrian goat-herder or the taxi driver from Qatar - because no matter how much they hate Israel, they can't do much to effect it. Only governments, militaries, and major terrorist groups need to be deterred from fighting. Specifically, without the support of either Lebanon or Iran, Hizbullah could not continue its activities. It is not a country or people after all, it is just a militia which needs funding and territory from which to operate.
I'm sure few Lebanese, no matter how much they hate Israel, would choose to see the destruction of the last month repeated. Iran, on the other hand, has lost nothing over the past month. And Iran has more influence over Hizbullah than the Lebanese government or society do. Lebanon has probably been deterred, but some other method will have to be found to deter Iran.
Right now Israel is faced with Hizbullah and Hamas on its borders, and the US is fighting an insurgency in Iraq. The common denominator in these destabilizing situations (possibly including Hamas) is Iranian funding. Take away the funding, and the terrorists will not be able to afford bombs or rockets or salaries. And Iran's wealth would seem to be easily attackable.
Since Ahmadinejad came to power and began making blood-curdling threats, nearly all foreign investment has left Iran in a hurry. The economy as a whole has been pretty weak since the Islamic Revolution, but this was the last straw. Apparently the Tehran stock market has all but ceased to exist. Of course, Iran survives because of oil revenue. But take away the oil, and Iran would not be able to fund Hizbullah or Hamas. In fact, the Islamic government - not especially popular in its own country - might even fall altogether. And oil is easily targeted.
If the US or Israel ends up at war with Iran, their first strike should eliminate every source of oil in Iran. This would cripple the country very quickly. Instead of being like Saudi Arabia's, Iran's economy would become more like Afghanistan's. Oil infrastructure could be rebuilt afterwards if the US allowed it, but probably not before then - no funds would be available, and who would be willing to invest? Of course, such a strike would only be possible as part of a major war; if undertaken in peacetime it would almost certainly cause war to begin.
Assuming we do not immediately want to wage war with Iran, there is another possibility. Iranian proxies have effectively used asymmetric warfare and terrorism. To fight Iran, the US or Israel must also begin to use "asymmetric warfare and terrorism". Of course, because we are moral, this does not mean targeting civilians. It does mean targeting oil pipelines and refineries. There should be bands of special agents infiltrating Iran and sabotaging oil infrastructure. If Iranian agents do this in Iraq, we can do it in Iran. To the extent Iran sows trouble in its neighbors, we would sow trouble in Iran.
If Iran tries to blame us, we can simply deny it, or else present conclusive evidence that they do the same and much worse. Even better, we could blame the sabotage on Iranian pro-democracy activists or whomever we choose. Thus, violence against a government would provide publicity and legitimacy for the violent party. Terrorists learned the value of this approach long ago, Yasser Arafat being the first and best example. It's time for the civilized world to apply it in one of the rare circumstances in which it is moral.
Though not as overpowering as a full military strike, organized sabotage can severely constrict a country's oil production capacity, as recent Iraqi experience has shown. For oil-dependant Iran this could quickly become a major strategic problem. Hundreds of millions of dollars would no longer be available to terror organizations around the world, or even to fund Iran's own army. As the country's economy went downhill, the leadership would lose domestic popularity and international prestige and might even be overthrown and replaced by a secular government. At the very least, faced with violence on its own soil, Iran could be intimidated into a following more restrained foreign policy. All this, at virtually no risk, except to a handful of special agents carrying out the attacks. (World oil prices would go up significantly, but that is the inevitable cost of any approach which hopes to change Iranian policy.)
Such an approach would not solve the Iranian nuclear problem. Nuclear weapons are so incredible valuable to a rogue state that their development could continue even as much of the country starves to death. That's what happened in North Korea, and Iran's mindset may be no different. Thus, some sort of formal military action would be necessary even as sabotage to oil infrastructure continues. The good news is that the two strategies are complementary. An attack on nuclear facilities would add to the economic pressure caused by sabotage. And damage to oil would make it harder to continue nuclear production, and much harder to rebuild nuclear facilities after an American attack. If the attack manages to destroy only part of the nuclear program, as many experts predict, then the delay in rebuilding would be even more valuable.
In fact, it seems to me that any vaguely sensible policy regarding Iran - sanctions, limited military action, or all-out war in the future, could be made more effective by surreptitious attacks on the country's oil production, even if carried out by a third party.
Right now no Western country seems to have a good idea of how to deal with Iran and its influence in the Middle East. Each of the available options seems to have significant drawbacks, to the point that Europe, for example, seems to have given up on the situation entirely. A program of sabotage, however, could make each of the options into a much more defensible option. Then a coherent and coordinated policy would be much more likely to emerge. The Iranian threat could be dealt with, and the biggest threat to peace in today's world could be neutralized.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Dear Abby Shebashamayim
Want proof that Shir Hashirim really is a metaphor for the God/Jewish people relationship, not "just" a love song? Here's what convinced me. (credit to R' Yoni Grossman)
השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלם, בצבאות, או באילות השדה, אם-תעירו ואם-תעוררו את האהבה עד שתחפץ
(verse 2:7)
Crudely translated: "I make you swear, daughters of Jerusalem, by gazelles, or by the deer of the field, lest you awaken or arouse the love until is desired."
Now, people usually swear by God, their life, their soul, their honor, Satan - there is a short list of entities whom it is worth swearing to. Needless to say, gazelles and the deer of the field are not on that list. The phrasing is thus utterly incomprehensible...
Until you notice the pun. Gazelles - "tzevaot" - sounds a lot like "Hashem Tzevaot". And deer of the field - "ayalot hasadeh" - sounds a lot like "El Shadai". The verse is none other than a disguised oath in God's name, which would make perfect sense, and not in the name of a wild animal. If you didn't get it the first time, the pun is repeated with a different name of God. The choice of gazelles and deer to make the pun is in line with Shir Hashirim's general tendency to use metaphors from nature.
If two references to God in Shir Hashirim are in fact disguised through natural metaphors (and there is no other way to understand the verse), then perhaps there are others. Perhaps the entire book is such a disguised reference?
השבעתי אתכם בנות ירושלם, בצבאות, או באילות השדה, אם-תעירו ואם-תעוררו את האהבה עד שתחפץ
(verse 2:7)
Crudely translated: "I make you swear, daughters of Jerusalem, by gazelles, or by the deer of the field, lest you awaken or arouse the love until is desired."
Now, people usually swear by God, their life, their soul, their honor, Satan - there is a short list of entities whom it is worth swearing to. Needless to say, gazelles and the deer of the field are not on that list. The phrasing is thus utterly incomprehensible...
Until you notice the pun. Gazelles - "tzevaot" - sounds a lot like "Hashem Tzevaot". And deer of the field - "ayalot hasadeh" - sounds a lot like "El Shadai". The verse is none other than a disguised oath in God's name, which would make perfect sense, and not in the name of a wild animal. If you didn't get it the first time, the pun is repeated with a different name of God. The choice of gazelles and deer to make the pun is in line with Shir Hashirim's general tendency to use metaphors from nature.
If two references to God in Shir Hashirim are in fact disguised through natural metaphors (and there is no other way to understand the verse), then perhaps there are others. Perhaps the entire book is such a disguised reference?
Kivud Av Ve'em
You might assume that honoring your parents is the kind of natural good deed which should apply equally to Jews and non-Jews, like not committing adultery or establishing a fair court system. But interestingly, there are sources which seem to indicate otherwise. The mitzvah of kivud av ve'em appears in the first half of the Ten Commandments. The normal division of five and five would thus place this command among the mitzvot bein adam lemakom, not those bein adam lechavero. And out of the Ten Commandments, only kivud av ve'em and Shabbat do not find parallels in the seven commandments to non-Jews, which are often identified with natural morality. Why?
Perhaps one important aspect of kivud av ve'em is the preservation the covenant. A main function of the Jewish parent/child relationship would be to transmit religious beliefs and behavior to the next generation, and respecting your parents would facilitate this. Since non-Jews do not need to transmit Judaism to their kids, a lesser degree of parental respect would be required of them.
Certainly one of the major roles of a Jewish parent is to provide the children with religious knowledge and consciousness. In several places (shema, sipur yetziat mitzrayim), we find the parent specifically is commanded to teach Torah to his children. Many Biblical verses testify that this is not an occasional obligation, but rather the parent should be the primary source of religious knowledge. "Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will say to you" (Devarim 32:7). "Hear, my son, the guidance of your father; do not dismiss your mother's Torah" (Mishlei 1:8). God is often referred to as "the God of your fathers" - without revelation to the fathers (parents) and transmission to their offspring we would not have a relationship with God. Religious people (Melachim 2 2:12) and even kings (Melachim 2 6:21) refer to prophets as "father" - this particular term of respect being chosen in reference to the prophet's role as a religious teacher.
Halachically, the verse "Mipnei seivah takum" is interpreted as not just the older generation in general, but specifically Torah scholars, those who transmit the covenant. Many of the laws of honoring your rabbi are similar to those honoring your parents, hinting to a common reason for the respect. And perhaps, the punishment for cursing your parents is death, because it means cursing the source of your religion, and thus is tantamount to blasphemy. In each case, the parent's special position in the commandment comes about in connection to the teaching of Torah and transmission of Judaism.
More speculatively, we might go a step further and suggest that something is fundamentally lacking in parenthood which does not involve the teaching of Judaism. Halachically, the laws of inheritance do not apply to converts to Judaism. Is this because, as usually explained, converts are "born anew" and thus are in some sense not related to their biological families? Or more radically, perhaps the Torah does not fully recognize non-Jewish parenthood at all (since it cannot contribute to transmission of Judaism) and thus non-Jews fundamentally have no inheritance whatsoever? (Admittedly, there are major problems with this hypothesis.)
In any case, even if kivud av ve'em is counted one of the mitzvot bein adam lemakom in the Ten Commandments, it is also the very last one of them, immediately adjoining the mitzvot bein adam lechavero and apparently serving as a bridge between the two groups. Whatever the ritual dimensions of the commandment may be, you may not neglect the natural moral sensibility which should go into your relationship with your parents.
Perhaps one important aspect of kivud av ve'em is the preservation the covenant. A main function of the Jewish parent/child relationship would be to transmit religious beliefs and behavior to the next generation, and respecting your parents would facilitate this. Since non-Jews do not need to transmit Judaism to their kids, a lesser degree of parental respect would be required of them.
Certainly one of the major roles of a Jewish parent is to provide the children with religious knowledge and consciousness. In several places (shema, sipur yetziat mitzrayim), we find the parent specifically is commanded to teach Torah to his children. Many Biblical verses testify that this is not an occasional obligation, but rather the parent should be the primary source of religious knowledge. "Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will say to you" (Devarim 32:7). "Hear, my son, the guidance of your father; do not dismiss your mother's Torah" (Mishlei 1:8). God is often referred to as "the God of your fathers" - without revelation to the fathers (parents) and transmission to their offspring we would not have a relationship with God. Religious people (Melachim 2 2:12) and even kings (Melachim 2 6:21) refer to prophets as "father" - this particular term of respect being chosen in reference to the prophet's role as a religious teacher.
Halachically, the verse "Mipnei seivah takum" is interpreted as not just the older generation in general, but specifically Torah scholars, those who transmit the covenant. Many of the laws of honoring your rabbi are similar to those honoring your parents, hinting to a common reason for the respect. And perhaps, the punishment for cursing your parents is death, because it means cursing the source of your religion, and thus is tantamount to blasphemy. In each case, the parent's special position in the commandment comes about in connection to the teaching of Torah and transmission of Judaism.
More speculatively, we might go a step further and suggest that something is fundamentally lacking in parenthood which does not involve the teaching of Judaism. Halachically, the laws of inheritance do not apply to converts to Judaism. Is this because, as usually explained, converts are "born anew" and thus are in some sense not related to their biological families? Or more radically, perhaps the Torah does not fully recognize non-Jewish parenthood at all (since it cannot contribute to transmission of Judaism) and thus non-Jews fundamentally have no inheritance whatsoever? (Admittedly, there are major problems with this hypothesis.)
In any case, even if kivud av ve'em is counted one of the mitzvot bein adam lemakom in the Ten Commandments, it is also the very last one of them, immediately adjoining the mitzvot bein adam lechavero and apparently serving as a bridge between the two groups. Whatever the ritual dimensions of the commandment may be, you may not neglect the natural moral sensibility which should go into your relationship with your parents.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Shiloh
The Mishkan was located in Shiloh for hundreds of years. According to the Gemara (Megillah 9b, Zevachim 112b), Shiloh had almost the status that Jerusalem would later have: the mishkan was given stone walls; pilgrimage from the entire country came to Shiloh; sacrifices in other places were prohibited. But early in the life of Shmuel haNavi, Shiloh was sacked by Philistines and the mishkan destroyed. This was a momentous event, perhaps similar to the destructions of the two Temples. Israel's first request for a king came shortly after the destruction, presumably due to the terrible military weakness which they thought was caused by disunity and lack of a strong leader.
Sefer Shmuel Alef, chapter 4, describes how Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant which had been taken into battle, and how high priest Eli's family was almost wiped out. But for some reason, the destruction of Shiloh is omitted. Later in Tanach (for example Yirmiyahu 26:6) we find passing references to the great destruction which took place. It is from these sources and archaeology that we know that there in fact was a destruction. But there is no mention whatsoever in Shmuel Alef. Chapter 4 spends a lot of time saying how each of Eli's children died, and how contemporary events are reflected in the name of his grandson ("I-chavod"), while omitting the most important of those events. Why?
To answer this, I think we have to look at the overall focus of Sefer Shmuel. I would argue that the book deals not with the history of Israel per se, but particularly with several of Israel's leaders. Most of the book focuses on Shaul and David. We hear how Shaul was selected, his potential as king, and how he then blew his chance and had the royalty taken from him. After that the book focuses solely on David: how he became king and how he was a better, though perhaps flawed, king than Shaul had been. It would not be farfetched to say that the entire purpose of Sefer Shmuel is to justify the choice of David's dynasty and confirm that the Mashiach will eventually come from his offspring, not Shaul's.
In the first few chapters of Sefer Shmuel, Shaul and David and their rivalry have not yet been presented. But a very similar dispute over authority does appear. Eli, the established priest in Shiloh, loses his position as spiritual leader to the charismatic Shmuel. Just as the bulk of the book focuses on justifying David's political authority in place of Shaul, I think these first chapters focus on justifying Shmuel's place as spiritual leader in place of Eli.
Thus, since the purpose of the book is to present personalities and not national history, events which do not directly relate to the personalities can be omitted. It is necessary to tell about the battle in which the Ark is captured, not only because it shows how low Israel has sunk under Eli's tenure, but also because it directly leads the death of Eli and his children. Their death, of course, must be mentioned for the same reasons.
But once we know the fate of Eli's family, there is no need to recount events which took place afterwards. We already know that Eli led the nation to defeat. If the destruction of Shiloh were to be mentioned once the focus of the book had shifted from Eli to Shmuel, we might mistakenly think that Shmuel was responsible for that misfortune. In order to avoid such an impression, the destruction of Shiloh is left out entirely. There is no danger of over-justifying Eli (apparently a nice guy, but a terrible leader), because enough negative events have already been mentioned that we know he was a failure.
Sefer Shmuel Alef, chapter 4, describes how Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant which had been taken into battle, and how high priest Eli's family was almost wiped out. But for some reason, the destruction of Shiloh is omitted. Later in Tanach (for example Yirmiyahu 26:6) we find passing references to the great destruction which took place. It is from these sources and archaeology that we know that there in fact was a destruction. But there is no mention whatsoever in Shmuel Alef. Chapter 4 spends a lot of time saying how each of Eli's children died, and how contemporary events are reflected in the name of his grandson ("I-chavod"), while omitting the most important of those events. Why?
To answer this, I think we have to look at the overall focus of Sefer Shmuel. I would argue that the book deals not with the history of Israel per se, but particularly with several of Israel's leaders. Most of the book focuses on Shaul and David. We hear how Shaul was selected, his potential as king, and how he then blew his chance and had the royalty taken from him. After that the book focuses solely on David: how he became king and how he was a better, though perhaps flawed, king than Shaul had been. It would not be farfetched to say that the entire purpose of Sefer Shmuel is to justify the choice of David's dynasty and confirm that the Mashiach will eventually come from his offspring, not Shaul's.
In the first few chapters of Sefer Shmuel, Shaul and David and their rivalry have not yet been presented. But a very similar dispute over authority does appear. Eli, the established priest in Shiloh, loses his position as spiritual leader to the charismatic Shmuel. Just as the bulk of the book focuses on justifying David's political authority in place of Shaul, I think these first chapters focus on justifying Shmuel's place as spiritual leader in place of Eli.
Thus, since the purpose of the book is to present personalities and not national history, events which do not directly relate to the personalities can be omitted. It is necessary to tell about the battle in which the Ark is captured, not only because it shows how low Israel has sunk under Eli's tenure, but also because it directly leads the death of Eli and his children. Their death, of course, must be mentioned for the same reasons.
But once we know the fate of Eli's family, there is no need to recount events which took place afterwards. We already know that Eli led the nation to defeat. If the destruction of Shiloh were to be mentioned once the focus of the book had shifted from Eli to Shmuel, we might mistakenly think that Shmuel was responsible for that misfortune. In order to avoid such an impression, the destruction of Shiloh is left out entirely. There is no danger of over-justifying Eli (apparently a nice guy, but a terrible leader), because enough negative events have already been mentioned that we know he was a failure.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Truly prophetic
Habakuk 1:9 is clearly a statement on the Israeli political situation over the last month. (Or at least until the moment Hizbullah got involved.)
Read it in Hebrew and see.
Read it in Hebrew and see.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The real issue
"[Moshe] saw the calf and the dancing..." (Shemot 32:19)
"If Moshe thought it was serious enough to break the tablets, it definitely wasn't because of the golden calf. There must have been mixed dancing too." -R' Medan
"If Moshe thought it was serious enough to break the tablets, it definitely wasn't because of the golden calf. There must have been mixed dancing too." -R' Medan
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tolerance
There are two kinds of tolerance. You can tolerate because you see value in many things, or at least value the creativity and effort that went into making those things. Or you can tolerate because you see value in nothing.
Unfortunately, too many of the people who talk about tolerance these days are in the latter category.
Cf. R' Kook (Ein Aya Brachot 58, Letter 384)
Unfortunately, too many of the people who talk about tolerance these days are in the latter category.
Cf. R' Kook (Ein Aya Brachot 58, Letter 384)
Sedom
Where were the biblical Sedom and Amora located? South of the Dead Sea? Or north of it? I'll try to present arguments for both sides and to find a resolution. Keep in mind that I know nothing of archaeological finds or other such information which would affect the conclusions. In fact, my only resources are Tanach, a single journal article, and my geographic knowledge. But even within those sources, there's plenty to work with.
Arguments for the North
1. The initial description of Sedom (13:10) indicates very strongly that it is in the north. At this point, Abraham seems to be in the Beit El region. When he has to split up from Lot, Lot scans the horizon, notices Sedom, and decides to go east to there instead of north or south as Abraham suggested. From Beit El, the north end of the Dead Sea is easily visible and is directly to the east. In contrast, the south end of the sea is much further away to the southeast, and probably impossible to see from Beit El. Thus, the northern end seems a much better fit.
2. Even more convincingly, Lot's vision of the area can only correspond to the north end. The phrases "kulo mashkeh" and "kegan Hashem keeretz mitzrayim" bring up images of a lush forested area. Scientifically, it's hard to believe that the Dead Sea area ever looked nice and forested, or that a single rain-down of fire could permanently change the climate. Of course, if you read the verse carefully, you realize that that's not what it says. Egypt would be an uninhabitable desert if not for the river which flows through it. The Dead Sea area is also uninhabitable desert, but it too has a river flowing through it - the Jordan. The north end of the Dead Sea is "keeretz mitzrayim" - a desert with a life-sustaining river flowing through it, and "kulo mashkeh" - entirely irrigated from this river. This fits Lot's description perfectly, while the south end has no river, could never have been fertile, and thus is very hard to imagine as a setting for the story.
3. Not only that, but Lot specifically sets out for "kikar hayarden" - the plain of the Jordan river, which of course is in the north. Later on, "the kikar" is mentioned repeatedly as the site of Sedom, and presumably we are still talking about "kikar hayarden" in the north.
4. Biblical cross-references are ambiguous, with one exception. Breishit 19:22 tells us that Tzoar is a city close to Sedom. Devarim 34:3 seems to indicate that Tzoar is close to Jericho. If so, Tzoar and Sedom would be at the north end.
Arguments for the South
While the modern-day Sedom is south of the Dead Sea and most people assume that the ancient Sedom was there too, I'll ignore this widespread perception and try to focus on textual and geographic clues. Some are more conclusive, some less so.
1. The war between Chedarlaomer and Sedom was preceded (14:5-7) with a military campaign which took Chedarlaomer to a series of places. Several of these - Seir, Paran, Kadesh - seem to be south of the Dead Sea, while others are hard to locate. Nevertheless, if Sedom and its neighbors are north of the Dead Sea, this campaign seems rather out of the way and unrelated. If Sedom and company are to the south, then Sedom was located right in the middle of the campaign. The Sedom war and the previous campaign would then seem to fit together as parts of one larger conflict, which would explain why the Torah bothers to mention the campaign.
2. When Chedarlaomer finally battles Sedom, the king of Sedom is forced to flee, soon encountering the "be'erot chemar". Based on likely meanings of "chemar" and the geography of the Dead Sea area, it seems clear that the king of Sedom ran across and fell into a sinkhole created where the Dead Sea retreated and left behind salty terrain, unstable and prone to collapse. Many such sinkholes are common now at the south end of the Dead Sea, where due to human water use, the whole bottom third of the sea has dried up. Presumably such was also the case in Abraham's time (later on I'll present strong evidence for this). It thus makes sense to say the king of Sedom was fleeing near the southern end of the sea, when he fell into a sinkhole, and was later rescued.
3. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and nowadays pillars and whole mountains of salt can be found south of the sea. This seems to indicate that she was "pilloried" in the south; though miracles by definition don't have to conform to nature.
4. The strongest argument for a southern Sedom may come from an article published in the Al Atar periodical, issue 12 (2003). The authors (Yoel Elitzur and Amos Frumkin) used geological data to calculate what the water level of the Dead Sea has been at each point over the last 4000 or so years. It turns out that there have been extensive variations in the water level. Most interestingly, in roughly 1200 B.C.E. the sea was at an unusual high peak of about 385 meters below sea level, while in 1600 B.C.E. the water level was much lower - perhaps 400 meters below, or comparable to the level today. As noted above, in the last century a similar change in water level has caused the bottom third of the sea to dry up entirely. Since the terrain was the same then as now, it's very probably that between 1600 and 1200 the southern third of the sea re-flooded as the water level rose.
This allows us to nicely explain a phrase which otherwise seems redundant and problematic. The battle takes place (14:3) in "the valley of Shidim, which is the salt sea". Why give both names? It seems that in Abraham's time (~1600 B.C.E.), the sea level was low and the area was a dry valley - "the valley of Shidim". By the time the Torah was given (~1200), the area had flooded. What was once a valley now became part of the Dead Sea. After giving the valley's original name, the Torah provides the "modern" name of the now flooded area, "the salt sea", so that readers in Moshe's time would know what is being referred to.
(Bible critics should note that the valley was once again dry from roughly 1000 to 100 B.C.E. :) )
In order for this re-flooding explanation to work, we must assume that the entire valley in question will flood and dry up again based on normal changes in the Dead Sea's level. This phenomenon has, of course, been observed in recent times at the southern area of the Dead Sea. But on the north, east, and west sides of the Dead Sea, the marine slopes are much steeper and only a sliver of land has been exposed as the water level has dropped. It's hard to imagine an entire valley with cities and agriculture fitting into this sliver. Thus, according to this theory, "emek hashidim" must be located at the southern end of the Dead Sea.
Possible Reconciliation
1. Most of the reasons I gave for placing Sedom (or at least the battle) in the south - the salty terrain, sinkholes, and the repeated flooding and drying of large areas of land - imply a southern location because similar phenomena are observed today only in the south. Nevertheless, if in ancient times a similar process had occurred at the northern end of the sea, then a northern location would be just as plausible. In fact, according to the Al Atar article previously quoted, if the Dead Sea were to rise to 380 meters below see level (an elevation not seen in modern times), then a substantial sliver of the Jordan river valley - roughly 6 by 3 kilometers - would become flooded. Were the water level to drop again, presumably the sliver would become salty and develop sinkholes. This area would then become an reasonable setting for the battle. Then it would be logical to say that both the city and the battle were located in the north.
2. All the reasons favoring the north relate to the city of Sedom, while all the reasons favoring the south (except one) relate to the battle with Chedarlaomer. If we assume that the battle took place some distance away from the city, then nearly all the of the arguments would be reconciled perfectly. I can think of no reason why the battle would have to be next to the city; the military action both immediately before and after our battle took place over a quite wide area and there is no reason to assume this battle must have been an exception. Thus, the city of Sedom would be at the north end of the Dead Sea, and the battle with Chedarlaomer would have taken place at the south end. Overall this seems like the best solution. Lot's wife, the only dissenting piece of evidence, can be explained by the obvious argument that miracles take place in whatever manner God desires.
Arguments for the North
1. The initial description of Sedom (13:10) indicates very strongly that it is in the north. At this point, Abraham seems to be in the Beit El region. When he has to split up from Lot, Lot scans the horizon, notices Sedom, and decides to go east to there instead of north or south as Abraham suggested. From Beit El, the north end of the Dead Sea is easily visible and is directly to the east. In contrast, the south end of the sea is much further away to the southeast, and probably impossible to see from Beit El. Thus, the northern end seems a much better fit.
2. Even more convincingly, Lot's vision of the area can only correspond to the north end. The phrases "kulo mashkeh" and "kegan Hashem keeretz mitzrayim" bring up images of a lush forested area. Scientifically, it's hard to believe that the Dead Sea area ever looked nice and forested, or that a single rain-down of fire could permanently change the climate. Of course, if you read the verse carefully, you realize that that's not what it says. Egypt would be an uninhabitable desert if not for the river which flows through it. The Dead Sea area is also uninhabitable desert, but it too has a river flowing through it - the Jordan. The north end of the Dead Sea is "keeretz mitzrayim" - a desert with a life-sustaining river flowing through it, and "kulo mashkeh" - entirely irrigated from this river. This fits Lot's description perfectly, while the south end has no river, could never have been fertile, and thus is very hard to imagine as a setting for the story.
3. Not only that, but Lot specifically sets out for "kikar hayarden" - the plain of the Jordan river, which of course is in the north. Later on, "the kikar" is mentioned repeatedly as the site of Sedom, and presumably we are still talking about "kikar hayarden" in the north.
4. Biblical cross-references are ambiguous, with one exception. Breishit 19:22 tells us that Tzoar is a city close to Sedom. Devarim 34:3 seems to indicate that Tzoar is close to Jericho. If so, Tzoar and Sedom would be at the north end.
Arguments for the South
While the modern-day Sedom is south of the Dead Sea and most people assume that the ancient Sedom was there too, I'll ignore this widespread perception and try to focus on textual and geographic clues. Some are more conclusive, some less so.
1. The war between Chedarlaomer and Sedom was preceded (14:5-7) with a military campaign which took Chedarlaomer to a series of places. Several of these - Seir, Paran, Kadesh - seem to be south of the Dead Sea, while others are hard to locate. Nevertheless, if Sedom and its neighbors are north of the Dead Sea, this campaign seems rather out of the way and unrelated. If Sedom and company are to the south, then Sedom was located right in the middle of the campaign. The Sedom war and the previous campaign would then seem to fit together as parts of one larger conflict, which would explain why the Torah bothers to mention the campaign.
2. When Chedarlaomer finally battles Sedom, the king of Sedom is forced to flee, soon encountering the "be'erot chemar". Based on likely meanings of "chemar" and the geography of the Dead Sea area, it seems clear that the king of Sedom ran across and fell into a sinkhole created where the Dead Sea retreated and left behind salty terrain, unstable and prone to collapse. Many such sinkholes are common now at the south end of the Dead Sea, where due to human water use, the whole bottom third of the sea has dried up. Presumably such was also the case in Abraham's time (later on I'll present strong evidence for this). It thus makes sense to say the king of Sedom was fleeing near the southern end of the sea, when he fell into a sinkhole, and was later rescued.
3. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt, and nowadays pillars and whole mountains of salt can be found south of the sea. This seems to indicate that she was "pilloried" in the south; though miracles by definition don't have to conform to nature.
4. The strongest argument for a southern Sedom may come from an article published in the Al Atar periodical, issue 12 (2003). The authors (Yoel Elitzur and Amos Frumkin) used geological data to calculate what the water level of the Dead Sea has been at each point over the last 4000 or so years. It turns out that there have been extensive variations in the water level. Most interestingly, in roughly 1200 B.C.E. the sea was at an unusual high peak of about 385 meters below sea level, while in 1600 B.C.E. the water level was much lower - perhaps 400 meters below, or comparable to the level today. As noted above, in the last century a similar change in water level has caused the bottom third of the sea to dry up entirely. Since the terrain was the same then as now, it's very probably that between 1600 and 1200 the southern third of the sea re-flooded as the water level rose.
This allows us to nicely explain a phrase which otherwise seems redundant and problematic. The battle takes place (14:3) in "the valley of Shidim, which is the salt sea". Why give both names? It seems that in Abraham's time (~1600 B.C.E.), the sea level was low and the area was a dry valley - "the valley of Shidim". By the time the Torah was given (~1200), the area had flooded. What was once a valley now became part of the Dead Sea. After giving the valley's original name, the Torah provides the "modern" name of the now flooded area, "the salt sea", so that readers in Moshe's time would know what is being referred to.
(Bible critics should note that the valley was once again dry from roughly 1000 to 100 B.C.E. :) )
In order for this re-flooding explanation to work, we must assume that the entire valley in question will flood and dry up again based on normal changes in the Dead Sea's level. This phenomenon has, of course, been observed in recent times at the southern area of the Dead Sea. But on the north, east, and west sides of the Dead Sea, the marine slopes are much steeper and only a sliver of land has been exposed as the water level has dropped. It's hard to imagine an entire valley with cities and agriculture fitting into this sliver. Thus, according to this theory, "emek hashidim" must be located at the southern end of the Dead Sea.
Possible Reconciliation
1. Most of the reasons I gave for placing Sedom (or at least the battle) in the south - the salty terrain, sinkholes, and the repeated flooding and drying of large areas of land - imply a southern location because similar phenomena are observed today only in the south. Nevertheless, if in ancient times a similar process had occurred at the northern end of the sea, then a northern location would be just as plausible. In fact, according to the Al Atar article previously quoted, if the Dead Sea were to rise to 380 meters below see level (an elevation not seen in modern times), then a substantial sliver of the Jordan river valley - roughly 6 by 3 kilometers - would become flooded. Were the water level to drop again, presumably the sliver would become salty and develop sinkholes. This area would then become an reasonable setting for the battle. Then it would be logical to say that both the city and the battle were located in the north.
2. All the reasons favoring the north relate to the city of Sedom, while all the reasons favoring the south (except one) relate to the battle with Chedarlaomer. If we assume that the battle took place some distance away from the city, then nearly all the of the arguments would be reconciled perfectly. I can think of no reason why the battle would have to be next to the city; the military action both immediately before and after our battle took place over a quite wide area and there is no reason to assume this battle must have been an exception. Thus, the city of Sedom would be at the north end of the Dead Sea, and the battle with Chedarlaomer would have taken place at the south end. Overall this seems like the best solution. Lot's wife, the only dissenting piece of evidence, can be explained by the obvious argument that miracles take place in whatever manner God desires.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
The Draft
There has been much discussion in Israel about modifying the draft. The main problem is a surplus in manpower. With the country's population approaching seven million, there simply are more young people than the army needs to carry out all its responsibilities cost-effectively. Unofficially, you can already avoid military service rather easily. In a sense, nobody should protest the charedi refusal to serve, because the army doesn't need them. What motivates anti-charedi protest, as well as the broad opposition to switching to a volunteer army, is the justified feeling that the army must include everyone for fairness and for socialization.
An obvious suggestion is to decrease the length of service. But for every problem this would solve, another would be created. Soldiers who serve a shorter period spend more of their service in training and thus are more expensive. And while there are too many soldiers overall, there is still a shortage in combat and professional positions. These training-intensive positions, as well as leadership positions, would still require an extended period of service. Shortening the basic period of service would further discourage people from choosing positions which the army really needs.
If the draft cannot be made voluntary and service cannot be shortened, the only option is to categorically exclude certain groups. There are two main concerns in such exclusion: fairness and efficacy. A lottery system would be fair, but not efficacious, because many of the best candidates would not be selected. Excluding the charedim is unfair, but efficacious - due to the political and social difficulty of including them, and because they might not make good soldiers anyway. Perhaps any system which preferences certain groups for practical reasons will necessarily be unfair. What is left is to aim for a system which maximizes gain and minimizes unfairness.
I think the best selection method is to draft all men for a full three years, but to excuse women from the draft. This implies discrimination on an individual level. But unlike all other possible selection methods, on a broad level it is perfectly equitable. Since every family on average contains an equal number of men and women, all social, economic, and ethnic groups would be treated equally. Furthermore, because families normally share resources among their members, the time and money burden would in fact be spread among every member of society. Men already serve longer than women and dominate combat units, so the areas of current shortage would not lose out. But the overall pool of manpower would be much smaller, and the army would no longer have to find work for many soldiers it does not need.
This approach also has several incidental but significant benefits for Israeli society. With women marrying and entering the workforce two years earlier, the country would gain economically, women would come closer to professional equality with men, and the birthrate in population groups loyal to the state would rise. Removing women from the army is desirable from a religious perspective (or from the perspective of appeasing the religious), both intrinsically and due to the freedom of behavior common in the current, mixed army. Such a removal could be paired with a large-scale induction of charedi men, resulting in perhaps an acceptable trade-off from the charedi perspective, along with the equal sharing of the defense burden among the entire Jewish population.
Weaknesses of the plan include the large gap in time commitment between men and women, and the loss by women of the socialization obtained in the army. These concerns could be addressed by requiring a year of national service from women, which might conceivably be extended to Arabs as well. Also, while women would presumably still be able to volunteer for military service, those few who do would probably have a harder time than at present. But this seems a small price to pay, when all other women would be entirely released from their current obligations.
There are currently demands in Israel to reduce the army's size, to privatize non-essential army services, to draft all populations on an equal basis, to crack down on draft and miluim evaders, to make the army environment more friendly to the religious, to increase enlistment in elite units, to decrease the economic burden caused by extended service, and so on. Unfortunately, many of these demands work at cross-purposes and might seem to be mutually exclusive. But almost all of them could be be reconciled by drafting all Jewish men, but only men. No other plan would come close to helping the areas we would like the army to improve in. Such a plan would indeed have novel side effects, but the probably scope of gain certainly makes them worth bearing.
An obvious suggestion is to decrease the length of service. But for every problem this would solve, another would be created. Soldiers who serve a shorter period spend more of their service in training and thus are more expensive. And while there are too many soldiers overall, there is still a shortage in combat and professional positions. These training-intensive positions, as well as leadership positions, would still require an extended period of service. Shortening the basic period of service would further discourage people from choosing positions which the army really needs.
If the draft cannot be made voluntary and service cannot be shortened, the only option is to categorically exclude certain groups. There are two main concerns in such exclusion: fairness and efficacy. A lottery system would be fair, but not efficacious, because many of the best candidates would not be selected. Excluding the charedim is unfair, but efficacious - due to the political and social difficulty of including them, and because they might not make good soldiers anyway. Perhaps any system which preferences certain groups for practical reasons will necessarily be unfair. What is left is to aim for a system which maximizes gain and minimizes unfairness.
I think the best selection method is to draft all men for a full three years, but to excuse women from the draft. This implies discrimination on an individual level. But unlike all other possible selection methods, on a broad level it is perfectly equitable. Since every family on average contains an equal number of men and women, all social, economic, and ethnic groups would be treated equally. Furthermore, because families normally share resources among their members, the time and money burden would in fact be spread among every member of society. Men already serve longer than women and dominate combat units, so the areas of current shortage would not lose out. But the overall pool of manpower would be much smaller, and the army would no longer have to find work for many soldiers it does not need.
This approach also has several incidental but significant benefits for Israeli society. With women marrying and entering the workforce two years earlier, the country would gain economically, women would come closer to professional equality with men, and the birthrate in population groups loyal to the state would rise. Removing women from the army is desirable from a religious perspective (or from the perspective of appeasing the religious), both intrinsically and due to the freedom of behavior common in the current, mixed army. Such a removal could be paired with a large-scale induction of charedi men, resulting in perhaps an acceptable trade-off from the charedi perspective, along with the equal sharing of the defense burden among the entire Jewish population.
Weaknesses of the plan include the large gap in time commitment between men and women, and the loss by women of the socialization obtained in the army. These concerns could be addressed by requiring a year of national service from women, which might conceivably be extended to Arabs as well. Also, while women would presumably still be able to volunteer for military service, those few who do would probably have a harder time than at present. But this seems a small price to pay, when all other women would be entirely released from their current obligations.
There are currently demands in Israel to reduce the army's size, to privatize non-essential army services, to draft all populations on an equal basis, to crack down on draft and miluim evaders, to make the army environment more friendly to the religious, to increase enlistment in elite units, to decrease the economic burden caused by extended service, and so on. Unfortunately, many of these demands work at cross-purposes and might seem to be mutually exclusive. But almost all of them could be be reconciled by drafting all Jewish men, but only men. No other plan would come close to helping the areas we would like the army to improve in. Such a plan would indeed have novel side effects, but the probably scope of gain certainly makes them worth bearing.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Perspectives on Shavuot
R' Yehuda Amital:
The Magen Avraham questions why we celebrate Shavuot on the fiftieth day of the Omer, while in fact the Torah was given on Shabbat – which was the 51st day. The Maharal answers that what we are in fact celebrating is God's desire to give us the Torah, and to obligate us to receive it, even though perhaps Bnei Yisrael may have hesitated and faltered a little when they saw the great fire. When Bnei Yisrael were exposed to the great power of the Torah, it frightened them and caused them to have second thoughts about their commitment. Yet God nevertheless desired to give them the Torah, and even to force it upon them. It is God's readiness to give, and not Bnei Yisrael's readiness to receive, that we celebrate on Shavuot.
R' Aharon Lichtenstein:
What this teaches us is that after the sin [of the Golden Calf], the significance of matan Torah was greatly and seriously diminished. The nation had taken a step backwards, in a negative direction. We may compare the situation to that of a bride who was unfaithful under the very chuppa - it would have been better had she never entered the chuppa at all.
We originally posed the question of why the Torah hides the festival of matan Torah from us. Now the significance of the textual 'gap' is clear. Even Chazal refer to Shavuot as "zeman matan torateinu" (the time of the giving of the Torah) rather than as "zeman kabalat torateinu" (the time of the receiving of the Torah), because there was a giving of the Torah at the time, but not a proper receiving.
In summary: The Torah was given on what would have been the 50th day of the Omer, i.e. our holiday of Shavuot. It was only received by the Jewish people the next day, the day after Shavuot. This receiving was nullified (at least in our memories) by the sin of the Golden Calf. In its place, we try anew to receive and accept the Torah on each anniversary of the giving, which is to say each year on Shavuot.
The Magen Avraham questions why we celebrate Shavuot on the fiftieth day of the Omer, while in fact the Torah was given on Shabbat – which was the 51st day. The Maharal answers that what we are in fact celebrating is God's desire to give us the Torah, and to obligate us to receive it, even though perhaps Bnei Yisrael may have hesitated and faltered a little when they saw the great fire. When Bnei Yisrael were exposed to the great power of the Torah, it frightened them and caused them to have second thoughts about their commitment. Yet God nevertheless desired to give them the Torah, and even to force it upon them. It is God's readiness to give, and not Bnei Yisrael's readiness to receive, that we celebrate on Shavuot.
R' Aharon Lichtenstein:
What this teaches us is that after the sin [of the Golden Calf], the significance of matan Torah was greatly and seriously diminished. The nation had taken a step backwards, in a negative direction. We may compare the situation to that of a bride who was unfaithful under the very chuppa - it would have been better had she never entered the chuppa at all.
We originally posed the question of why the Torah hides the festival of matan Torah from us. Now the significance of the textual 'gap' is clear. Even Chazal refer to Shavuot as "zeman matan torateinu" (the time of the giving of the Torah) rather than as "zeman kabalat torateinu" (the time of the receiving of the Torah), because there was a giving of the Torah at the time, but not a proper receiving.
In summary: The Torah was given on what would have been the 50th day of the Omer, i.e. our holiday of Shavuot. It was only received by the Jewish people the next day, the day after Shavuot. This receiving was nullified (at least in our memories) by the sin of the Golden Calf. In its place, we try anew to receive and accept the Torah on each anniversary of the giving, which is to say each year on Shavuot.
Stupid Name Department
I saw a charedi yeshiva advertising for a "Yom Shekulo Torah" with shiurim from various rabbis. Is that meant to imply that every other day in that yeshiva is NOT full of torah? I mean, even at Gush we learn torah all day long. When we want to study one subject in-depth on an exceptional basis, we call it a "Yom Iyun". As it should be called. Not "A day which is all Torah just like every other day in this yeshiva." Of course, we ask for a "yom shekulo shabbat" on a day which is itself completely Shabbat. I guess I never was sure how to read that one literally either.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
A Quick Shiur Komah
Thoughts after reading Scholem's "Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism".
The basic chakira (set of possible conceptual frameworks) for (Jewish) mysticism is as follows:
The point of mysticism is to experience God's presence. There are two philosophies which allow this presence to be approached.
1) You can believe that God is already present in the world
2) You can believe God is about to enter the world, through the coming of the Messiah
The problem with #1 is that it is almost inherently pantheistic, and very quickly brings you close to heresy. Perhaps the Zohar itself has already crossed the line in this regard.
The problem with #2 is that messianic movements very easily get out of control in both the social and religious senses. Thus the Ari's messianic philosophy became the basis for that of Shabbetai Tzvi.
The restrictions on learning kabbalah (be over age 40, be married, etc.) are attempts to avoid these inherent problems. Often, it seems, these restrictions haven't been enough.
The basic chakira (set of possible conceptual frameworks) for (Jewish) mysticism is as follows:
The point of mysticism is to experience God's presence. There are two philosophies which allow this presence to be approached.
1) You can believe that God is already present in the world
2) You can believe God is about to enter the world, through the coming of the Messiah
The problem with #1 is that it is almost inherently pantheistic, and very quickly brings you close to heresy. Perhaps the Zohar itself has already crossed the line in this regard.
The problem with #2 is that messianic movements very easily get out of control in both the social and religious senses. Thus the Ari's messianic philosophy became the basis for that of Shabbetai Tzvi.
The restrictions on learning kabbalah (be over age 40, be married, etc.) are attempts to avoid these inherent problems. Often, it seems, these restrictions haven't been enough.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
Critical Approach
The "documentary hypothesis" was a monumental step forward in our understanding of the historic process which led to the development of the Biblical text. However, in light of recent research, we are forced to conclude that the documentary hypothesis is insufficient to explain the Bible's unique characteristics. The most reliable evidence now indicates that the Pentateuch was actually written not by 4, but by 22 different authors.
The superiority of the 22-source theory is demonstrated by the fact that every single section of the Bible can be broken down into segments, each of which bears the characteristics of one of the 22 sources and of no others. Even among traditional theologians, the existence of 22 different styles used within the text has always been tacitly acknowledged. But until recently nobody had followed to the logical conclusion, that each of the 22 styles corresponds to a separate author. The failure of every scholar up to the present day to discern these variants as 22 distinct sources of the Bible can only be ascribed to theistically induced prejudice.
One example, from the beginning of the Bible, will suffice to show the strength of the 22-source theory. The book of Genesis begins with an excerpt from an especially early text, which we will refer to as "bet". (Following the lead of Israeli scholars, the various sources are referred to by Hebrew letters.) Immediately following this is an excerpt from a later source, "reish". The next section can be unmistakably identified as coming from the "alef" account of the Biblical story. Following this are short excerpts from the authors "shin", "yud", and "taf".
Next, the redacted story returns to the "bet" account. This section is then followed by selections from "reish" and "alef", and so on. The sequence of independently written sections continues throughout the Pentateuch, as can be verified by even a cursory reading.
The careful reader will notice that the source sequence "bet"-"reish"-"alef" appears multiple times within the small portion of Genesis which has been discussed so far. It is theorized that an early redactor, who had access to only these three sources, assembled them into a composite narrative detailing the beginning of the creation story. Later on, the final redactor inserted other selections, such as "shin" and "yud" and "taf", while leaving the intermediate redacted narrative mostly intact.
Current investigation focuses on the possible influence of a 23rd author, "space". Dispute centers on whether the longer and shorter quotations from this author are indicative of redactive intent and purpose. It is also unclear whether excerpts from "space" were meant to be part of the redacted narrative at all or were just added to make the scroll look prettier and easier to read. The fact that all other authors' texts are included within a framework of "space" is sure to lead to exciting further discoveries.
The superiority of the 22-source theory is demonstrated by the fact that every single section of the Bible can be broken down into segments, each of which bears the characteristics of one of the 22 sources and of no others. Even among traditional theologians, the existence of 22 different styles used within the text has always been tacitly acknowledged. But until recently nobody had followed to the logical conclusion, that each of the 22 styles corresponds to a separate author. The failure of every scholar up to the present day to discern these variants as 22 distinct sources of the Bible can only be ascribed to theistically induced prejudice.
One example, from the beginning of the Bible, will suffice to show the strength of the 22-source theory. The book of Genesis begins with an excerpt from an especially early text, which we will refer to as "bet". (Following the lead of Israeli scholars, the various sources are referred to by Hebrew letters.) Immediately following this is an excerpt from a later source, "reish". The next section can be unmistakably identified as coming from the "alef" account of the Biblical story. Following this are short excerpts from the authors "shin", "yud", and "taf".
Next, the redacted story returns to the "bet" account. This section is then followed by selections from "reish" and "alef", and so on. The sequence of independently written sections continues throughout the Pentateuch, as can be verified by even a cursory reading.
The careful reader will notice that the source sequence "bet"-"reish"-"alef" appears multiple times within the small portion of Genesis which has been discussed so far. It is theorized that an early redactor, who had access to only these three sources, assembled them into a composite narrative detailing the beginning of the creation story. Later on, the final redactor inserted other selections, such as "shin" and "yud" and "taf", while leaving the intermediate redacted narrative mostly intact.
Current investigation focuses on the possible influence of a 23rd author, "space". Dispute centers on whether the longer and shorter quotations from this author are indicative of redactive intent and purpose. It is also unclear whether excerpts from "space" were meant to be part of the redacted narrative at all or were just added to make the scroll look prettier and easier to read. The fact that all other authors' texts are included within a framework of "space" is sure to lead to exciting further discoveries.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Great Legal Systems...
"This book is an introduction to the vast body of law that governs real estate transactions in California. It will not, however, qualify you to give legal advice, which would be the unauthorized practice of law. Rather, it will help you recognize situations in which legal counsel should be sought and help you understand rights and obligations under the law."
-A random textbook I ran across
Sounds a lot like the common and cliched halachic warning: "Do not use this sefer as a practical guide; in any real situation you must first consult your posek and he will tell you what to do."
Apparently, great legal systems work alike.
-A random textbook I ran across
Sounds a lot like the common and cliched halachic warning: "Do not use this sefer as a practical guide; in any real situation you must first consult your posek and he will tell you what to do."
Apparently, great legal systems work alike.
Esther and Batsheva
Megillat Esther states (2:7) that after the death of Esther's parents, Mordechai took and raised Esther "as a daughter". According to the well-known midrash, Esther in fact become Mordechai's wife, not stepdaughter. I would like to examine the background and message of this midrash.
There is (at least) one other place in Tanach where the a man's wife is referred to as his daughter - the episode of David and Batsheva (Shmuel 2 12). When the prophet Natan wants to castigate King David for adulterizing with Uriyah's wife Batsheva, Natan tells a parable of a poor man who owns just "one small [female] sheep" which he dutifully and lovingly raises, so much so that "it was like a daughter to him." Then, a rich man who owns many flocks of sheep steals the poor man's single sheep and slaughters and eats it. David, hearing the story, is outraged and demands that the rich man be punished. Natan replies that David has just condemned himself. In the parable, David represented the rich man, Uriyah the poor man, and his wife Batsheva the female sheep whom the poor man considered almost a "daughter".
When the midrash says that Mordechai's "daughter" was actually his "wife", I think it is hinting to Batsheva, the other wife who was called a daughter. Further parallels between the stories are clear-cut. Mordechai would take the place of Uriyah. More importantly, King Ahashverosh would take the place of King David. Just as King David was guilty of adulterously forcing Batsheva, King Ahashverosh was guilty of forcing an intermarriage with Esther.
The interesting thing is that David and Batsheva's wrongly started relationship later became quite legitimate. After Uriyah's death, David legally took her as a wife. Their child was Shlomo, who brought Israel to its greatest power ever, who built the first Temple, and through whom the royal Davidic line was then traced. The midrash suggests that much the same thing happened between Ahashverosh and Esther. While their relationship certainly had an improper beginning, in the end it was responsible for the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's decree. What's more, this parallel may be the source of another midrash, which says that King Daryavesh (who allowed the second Temple to be built) was Ahashverosh's and Esther's son.
According to our midrash, the shared message of Esther and Batsheva is that when involved a problematic moral situation, one should not abandon hope or dissociate and avert one's eyes from the situation. Rather, one should react as did Esther and David: fast, pray, admit one's guilt, and work with all one's intensity to save the situation and reverse the decree. Thus, deadly sins and pending annihilation can be turned into national deliverance and the building of the Temple. With the proper attitude and effort, from the greatest crisis can come the most total salvation.
There is (at least) one other place in Tanach where the a man's wife is referred to as his daughter - the episode of David and Batsheva (Shmuel 2 12). When the prophet Natan wants to castigate King David for adulterizing with Uriyah's wife Batsheva, Natan tells a parable of a poor man who owns just "one small [female] sheep" which he dutifully and lovingly raises, so much so that "it was like a daughter to him." Then, a rich man who owns many flocks of sheep steals the poor man's single sheep and slaughters and eats it. David, hearing the story, is outraged and demands that the rich man be punished. Natan replies that David has just condemned himself. In the parable, David represented the rich man, Uriyah the poor man, and his wife Batsheva the female sheep whom the poor man considered almost a "daughter".
When the midrash says that Mordechai's "daughter" was actually his "wife", I think it is hinting to Batsheva, the other wife who was called a daughter. Further parallels between the stories are clear-cut. Mordechai would take the place of Uriyah. More importantly, King Ahashverosh would take the place of King David. Just as King David was guilty of adulterously forcing Batsheva, King Ahashverosh was guilty of forcing an intermarriage with Esther.
The interesting thing is that David and Batsheva's wrongly started relationship later became quite legitimate. After Uriyah's death, David legally took her as a wife. Their child was Shlomo, who brought Israel to its greatest power ever, who built the first Temple, and through whom the royal Davidic line was then traced. The midrash suggests that much the same thing happened between Ahashverosh and Esther. While their relationship certainly had an improper beginning, in the end it was responsible for the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's decree. What's more, this parallel may be the source of another midrash, which says that King Daryavesh (who allowed the second Temple to be built) was Ahashverosh's and Esther's son.
According to our midrash, the shared message of Esther and Batsheva is that when involved a problematic moral situation, one should not abandon hope or dissociate and avert one's eyes from the situation. Rather, one should react as did Esther and David: fast, pray, admit one's guilt, and work with all one's intensity to save the situation and reverse the decree. Thus, deadly sins and pending annihilation can be turned into national deliverance and the building of the Temple. With the proper attitude and effort, from the greatest crisis can come the most total salvation.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Moshe's Hands
Israel and Amalek fight a war at the end of Parshat Beshalach. Israel's success in the battle is dictated by the position of Moshe's hands - when they are raised to the sky, Israel prevails, but when he gets tired and lowers them, Amalek begins to win. This of course is very strange and begs for an explanation.
The Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 3:6) states that Moshe's hands simply reflected Israel's attitude towards God. When the Jews looked "up" and trusted in God they prevailed; when they looked "down" and ignored God they lost. This is a nice explanation of the normal workings of reward and punishment, but it's not the simple meaning of the passage. I'll come back to the Mishna, but we must look elsewhere for the pshat.
In the paragraph immediately before the Amalek war, Israel journeyed to Refidim. There was no water available, and the people accused Moshe of bringing them to the desert in order to die. Moshe complained that the people were about to stone him to death, and God instructed Moshe to hit a rock (with the staff he used in Egypt) in order to miraculously obtain water. In the conclusion, it is mentioned that the people "tried God, saying, 'Is God among us or not?' " But reading the whole passage, you see that the people never mention God; they only complain about their thirst and accuse Moshe of scheming to kill them.
One major purpose of the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea was to make God's existence and presence known - to Egypt and to the Jews. It must have been hard to deny that God took a part in those miraculous events. But now that the Jews were alone in the desert, without water, and without any miracles taking place - the thought arose, perhaps God had left them, and their current situation was only a personal initiative of Moshe? If so, then Moshe should be removed from power, and the people should either look directly for God or else find a practical way of obtaining water and other needs. Reading this mood, Moshe feared that the people were about to stone him.
At this point, the people needed to be made to recognize that Moshe's leadership was in fact God's leadership - that even if at some particular moment no miracles were being performed, God nevertheless was in charge and had retained Moshe as His earthly representative. The first opportunity to demonstrate this was the production of water in Horev. Moshe was told to hit the rock specifically with the staff he used in Egypt, to demonstrate that nothing had changed since Egypt - God was still performing miracles for Moshe.
But the miracle of the water was performed only in front of seventy elders. While the people's complaint was temporarily silenced by the quenching of their thirst, they had not really absorbed the lesson that God was still with Moshe. The battle with Amalek followed immediately after the water was produced. In order demonstrate the Moshe/God connection to the entire people, the success of the battle was to miraculously depend entirely the positioning of Moshe's hands.
There are several obscure details about the battle which make perfect sense when it is seen as a public demonstration of Moshe's connection to God. Why did Moshe have to be on top of a hill? (To make the lesson public.) Why did he need to hold the "staff of God" - apparently the same staff used in Egypt and at Horev? (To demonstrate that God was performing miracles for Moshe just as in Egypt.) Why did Moshe's hands need to get really heavy before his aides arrived to hold them up? (If there wasn't a period in which Moshe's hands had fallen and the people had suffered in battle, they might have thought his hands had nothing to do with their success.)
In this vein, the Mishna can still be understood, though slightly differently from its simple reading. In Refidim the people demonstrated a serious lack of faith in God's protection. As punishment they had to fight a war with Amalek. But during the battle, due to the visible connection between Moshe's behavior and their success, they regained faith that God was still with Moshe and with them. With this regained faith, the Israelites were now worthy of the next event the Torah records involving them: the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
[Update: The article "Mei Meriva" by Shmuel Cohen (Alon Shvut Bogrim 3, 1994) similarly argues that the people tend to believe that Moshe rather than God is responsible for their situation, even in the 40th year.]
The Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 3:6) states that Moshe's hands simply reflected Israel's attitude towards God. When the Jews looked "up" and trusted in God they prevailed; when they looked "down" and ignored God they lost. This is a nice explanation of the normal workings of reward and punishment, but it's not the simple meaning of the passage. I'll come back to the Mishna, but we must look elsewhere for the pshat.
In the paragraph immediately before the Amalek war, Israel journeyed to Refidim. There was no water available, and the people accused Moshe of bringing them to the desert in order to die. Moshe complained that the people were about to stone him to death, and God instructed Moshe to hit a rock (with the staff he used in Egypt) in order to miraculously obtain water. In the conclusion, it is mentioned that the people "tried God, saying, 'Is God among us or not?' " But reading the whole passage, you see that the people never mention God; they only complain about their thirst and accuse Moshe of scheming to kill them.
One major purpose of the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea was to make God's existence and presence known - to Egypt and to the Jews. It must have been hard to deny that God took a part in those miraculous events. But now that the Jews were alone in the desert, without water, and without any miracles taking place - the thought arose, perhaps God had left them, and their current situation was only a personal initiative of Moshe? If so, then Moshe should be removed from power, and the people should either look directly for God or else find a practical way of obtaining water and other needs. Reading this mood, Moshe feared that the people were about to stone him.
At this point, the people needed to be made to recognize that Moshe's leadership was in fact God's leadership - that even if at some particular moment no miracles were being performed, God nevertheless was in charge and had retained Moshe as His earthly representative. The first opportunity to demonstrate this was the production of water in Horev. Moshe was told to hit the rock specifically with the staff he used in Egypt, to demonstrate that nothing had changed since Egypt - God was still performing miracles for Moshe.
But the miracle of the water was performed only in front of seventy elders. While the people's complaint was temporarily silenced by the quenching of their thirst, they had not really absorbed the lesson that God was still with Moshe. The battle with Amalek followed immediately after the water was produced. In order demonstrate the Moshe/God connection to the entire people, the success of the battle was to miraculously depend entirely the positioning of Moshe's hands.
There are several obscure details about the battle which make perfect sense when it is seen as a public demonstration of Moshe's connection to God. Why did Moshe have to be on top of a hill? (To make the lesson public.) Why did he need to hold the "staff of God" - apparently the same staff used in Egypt and at Horev? (To demonstrate that God was performing miracles for Moshe just as in Egypt.) Why did Moshe's hands need to get really heavy before his aides arrived to hold them up? (If there wasn't a period in which Moshe's hands had fallen and the people had suffered in battle, they might have thought his hands had nothing to do with their success.)
In this vein, the Mishna can still be understood, though slightly differently from its simple reading. In Refidim the people demonstrated a serious lack of faith in God's protection. As punishment they had to fight a war with Amalek. But during the battle, due to the visible connection between Moshe's behavior and their success, they regained faith that God was still with Moshe and with them. With this regained faith, the Israelites were now worthy of the next event the Torah records involving them: the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
[Update: The article "Mei Meriva" by Shmuel Cohen (Alon Shvut Bogrim 3, 1994) similarly argues that the people tend to believe that Moshe rather than God is responsible for their situation, even in the 40th year.]
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Nach narrative summary 2007.2.11
Sefer Yehoshua
1-5:12 Entering the land
5:13-12 Conquering the land (and Mount Eval)
13-21 Dividing up the land
21-24 Remaining loyal to God
1:1-1:9 After Moshe's death, God tells Yehoshua to be courageous and keep the law, in order to conquer successfully
1:10-1:11 Yehoshua tells Israel to prepare food for after the crossing into Canaan
1:12-1:18 Yehoshua tells the two-and-a-half tribes to keep their promise to fight with Israel; the tribes agree
2:1-2:24 Yehoshua sends spies to Yericho; Rahav hosts them; they report Yehoshua that Israel will win
3:1-3:4 Yehoshua commands the people to follow the ark, but to keep a distance
3:5-3:6 Yehoshua tells the people to sanctify themselves; the priests carry the ark
3:7-3:8 God tells Yehoshua to have the priest stop the ark in the middle of the Jordan river
3:9-4:1 The Jordan stops flowing with the ark in the middle, and all Israel crosses
4:2-4:3 Yehoshua is to select one person per tribe to pick up a stone from the Jordan bed
4:4-4:13 They take stones; twelve other stones are erected in the river; the people and warriors from the 2 1/2 tribes cross over
4:14 The people fear Yehoshua as they feared Moshe
4:15-4:24 The ark leaves the Jordan; it flows again; the twelve stones are erected in Gilgal as remembrance of the crossing
5:1 The peoples of Canaan are afraid
5:2-5:8 Yehoshua circumcises the people
5:9-5:12 God: shame of Egypt has been removed; Israel observes Pesach, eats produce of the land; manna stops falling
5:13-6:1 God's "war minister" angel confronts Yehoshua; Jericho besieged
6:2-6:11 Angel tells them to circle Jericho for seven days, after which its wall will collapse
6:12-6:25 They do so; the wall collapses; they conquer and massacre the city; Rahav's family is saved; the city is burnt
6:26 Yehoshua curses anyone who rebuilds Jericho
6:27-7:1 Achan took booty from Jericho, against Yehoshua's command
7:2-7:26 Part of the army attacks Ai, is defeated; God blames it on sin and identifies Achan; Achan is stoned
8:1-8:17 God gives Yehoshua a battle plan; a small force attacks Ai then flees; Ai's army pursues
8:18-8:29 While the army is gone; Israel attacks and burns the city Ai, then traps and massacres its army outside the city
8:30-9:2 Israel goes to Mount Eval; sacrifices; Yehoshua reads from the Torah; Canaanites ally and gather to fight Israel
9:3-9:27 Residents of Givon pretend to be travelers; make peace with Joshua; Israel finds out, makes them into manual laborers
10:1-10:7 Five Canaanite kings prepare for war against Givon; Givon asks Israel to help
10:8-10:11 Joshua defeats the kings in battle; God helps by raining hailstones
10:12-10:14 Joshua commands the sun to stand still, giving more time to win the battle
10:15-10:27 The kings are captured at Makedah and Joshua publicly kills them
10:28 Israel massacres Makedah
10:29-10:30 Israel battles and massacres Livnah
10:31-10:32 Israel besieges, conquers, and massacres Lachish
10:33-10:35 Israel destroys the army of Gezer (which helped Lachish) and conquers and massacres Eglon
10:36-10:37 Israel conquers and massacres Hevron
10:38-10:43 Israel conquers and massacres Devir; after conquering the entire south of the land, the army returns to Gilgal
11:1-11:5 Many northern kings, led by Hatzor, ally against Israel
11:6-11:9 Israel ambushes their camp and destroys their army
11:10-11:20 Israel conquers and massacres Hatzor, then gradually conquers and massacres the other northern kingdoms
11:21-11:23 Israel destroys the Anakim, except from Philistine lands; the whole land is conquered and peaceful
12:1-12:6 Moshe had conquered the kingdoms of Sichon and Og
12:7-12:8 The kings Yehoshua conquered on the west side of the Jordan:
12:9-12:24 List of 31 kings
13:1-13:14 God commands Yehoshua to allot the land to tribes; 2.5 tribes remain on the east bank; Levi gets no land
13:15-13:23 Territory of Reuven
13:24-13:28 Territory of Gad
13:29-13:32 Territory of eastern Menashe
13:33 Levi gets no territory
14:1-14:5 9.5 tribes get territory on the west bank
14:6-14:15 Kalev ben Yefuneh asks for and gets Hevron as his territory
15:1-15:19 Territory of Yehudah; Kalev gets Hevron; his nephew conquers and gets Devir
15:20-15:32 Cities of Yehudah in the south
15:33-15:36,15:37-15:41,15:42-15:44,15:45,15:46,15:47 Cities of Yehudah in the plain
15:48-15:49,15:50-15:51,15:52-15:54,15:55-15:57,15:58-15:59,15:60 Cities of Yehudah in the mountains
15:61-15:63 Cities of Yehudah in the desert; Jerusalem remains unconquered
16:1-16:10 Territory of Efraim and Menashe; Gezer is not massacred by Efraim
17:1-17:13 Territory of Menashe; cities on the northern border were not massacred
17:14-17:18 Efraim and Menashe complain they don't have enough land; Yehoshua tells them to cut down the mountain forest and defeat the Canaanites
18:1-18:10 Seven tribes remain; tribal messengers researches the land; Yehoshua casts lots in Shiloh and divides the land
18:11-18:20 Territory of Binyamin
18:21-18:27 Cities of Binyamin
19:1-19:9 Territory of Shimon, within Yehudah
19:10-19:16 Territory of Zevulun
19:17-19:23 Territory of Yissachar
19:24-19:31 Territory of Asher
19:32-19:39 Territory of Naftali
19:40-19:48 Territory of Dan; they also conquered Leshem in the north and renamed it Dan
19:49-19:51 End of territorial division; Yehoshua gets land in Efraim
20:1-20:9 Cities of refuge are picked as the Torah requires
21:1-21:2 Tribe of Levi requests cities from Yehoshua (in Shiloh)
21:3-21:4,21:5,21:6,21:7,21:8 Levi is given cities across Israel
21:9-21:12 Kohanim take Hevron, but give its surroundings (back) to Kalev
21:13-21:16 Other cities given to Kohanim from Yehudah
21:17-21:19 Cities given to Kohanim from Binyamin
21:20-21:22 Family of Kehat gets cities from Efraim
21:23-21:26 Family of Kehat gets cities from Dan and Menashe
21:27 Family of Gershon gets cities from Menashe in the Golan
21:28-21:29 Family of Gershon gets cities from Yissachar
21:30-21:31 Family of Gershon gets cities from Asher
21:32-21:33 Family of Gershon gets cities from Naftali
21:34-21:35 Family of Merari gets cities from Zevulun
21:36-21:40 Family of Merari gets cities from Gad; overall tribe of Levi gets 48 cities
21:41-21:43 God's promise to give Israel the land has been fulfilled
22:1-22:6 Yehoshua lets the eastern tribes go home
22:7-22:8 Yehoshua tells eastern Menashe to share with western Menashe any spoil they capture in war
22:9-22:12 Eastern tribes go home, but on the way build an altar at the Jordan; the rest of Israel prepares to fight them
22:12-22:20 Western tribes send emissaries condemning the altar building
22:21-22:29 Eastern tribes protest that it is just a symbol (that worshiping God is not limited to the western tribes)
22:30-22:34 Western tribes are satisfied
23:1-23:16 Yehoshua is old; he preaches to all Israel to obey God and not intermarry, or else they will lose the land
24:1-24:15 Yehoshua gathers Israel to Shechem; reviews their history and asks them to choose God-worship or idolatry
24:16-24:26 The people choose God-worship; Yehoshua makes a formal covenant and records the decision
24:27-24:28 Yehoshua sets up a memorial stone by the Mishkan
24:29-24:33 Yehoshua dies; Israel serves God in his lifetime and for some time afterwards
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Shoftim
1-2:10 Introduction
2:11-5 The cycle of sin, defeat, prayer, victory by a judge
6-16 Flawed judges
17-21 Moral depravity in the absence of a king
1:1-1:7 After Yehoshua's death; Yehudah fights the Canaanites at God's command; they win in Bezek
1:8-1:15 Yehudah conquers Jerusalem, Hevron, Devir
1:16-1:21 Yehudah conquers Hormah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron; drives out the mountain but not the valley residents or Jebusites
1:22-1:26 Efraim/Menashe conquer and massacre Beit-El with the help of a resident
1:27-1:28,1:29,1:30 Menashe, Efraim, Zevulun do not drive out various cities
1:31-1:32 Asher dwells among the Canaanites of its territory
1:33-1:36 Naftali does not drive out some cities. Amorites do not let Dan enter the coastal plain
2:1-2:5 God's messenger castigates them for not driving out the Canaanites; the people weep
2:6-2:10 Yehoshua has died; a new generation does not remember God's miracles
2:11-2:23 Historical summary: Israelites worship idols; God punishes them; judges rescue them; God does not let the Canaanites be entirely subjugated
3:1-3:6 The remaining peoples, which Israel married with and served idols with
3:7-3:11 Israel worships idols; Aram subjugates them; Israel prays to God; judge Otniel rescues them
3:12-3:30 Israel sins again; Moav subjugates them; Israel prays; Ehud kills Moav's king then defeats their army
3:31 Shamgar also saves Israel
4:1-4:3 Israel sins; Yavin of Hatzor rules them; Israel prays
4:4-4:24 Devorah leads Israel to a victory over Hatzor
5:1-5:31 Devorah's song after the victory
6:1-6:6 Israel sins; Midian subjugates and oppresses them
6:7-6:10 A prophet castigates them for idol worship
6:11-6:19 An angel tells Gideon to save Israel; Gideon protests he is too weak and asks for a sign
6:20-6:24 The angel causes Gideon's sacrifice to spontaneously combust
6:25-6:32 God commands Gideon to destroy the local Baal altar; and Ashera; Gideon does so; not punished because Baal if real would punish
6:33-6:40 Midian and Amalek approach; Gideon raises an army; asks for two more Divine signs before battle and gets them
7:1 Gideon's forces encamp
7:2-7:3 God wants fewer warriors so the victory will be miraculous; Gideon sends home the fearful
7:4-7:6 God wants still fewer warriors; Gideon sends home everyone who does not drink a certain way; only 300 left
7:7-7:8 Gideon keeps the 300; God promises victory
7:9-7:14 God commands Gideon to eavesdrop on the enemy; he hears them predicting defeat at Gideon's hands based on a dream
7:15-7:18 Gideon spreads the battle plan
7:19-8:9 The 300 warriors blow shofars and break jugs; Midian panics and flees; Gideon threatens local leaders who don't aid his chase
8:10-8:21 Gideon captures the Midianite kings and remaining army; punishes the local leaders; and kills the kings
8:22-8:28 The people wants Gideon as king; he refuses; he makes a gold "ephod" from the spoils, but it is later used for idol worship
8:29-8:32 Gideon has 70 sons, including Avimelech whose mother is from Shechem, and dies
8:33-8:36 After his death, Israelites worship idols again and don't show kindness to Gideon's family
9:1-9:5 Avimelech offers Shechem to get rid of the 70 sons; people of Shechem agree; Avimelech kills all sons except one, Yotam
9:6-9:21 Shechem crowns Avimelech; Yotam tells Shechem they will suffer consequences if their intentions are bad; Yotam flees
9:22-9:25 Avimelech rules 3 years; God makes Shechem and Avimelech quarrel as punishment for the killings
9:26-9:41 Gaal ben Eved incites Shechem against Avimelech; Avimelech defeat's Gaal's forces
9:42-9:45 Avimelech conquers and massacres Shechem
9:46-9:49 Avimelech's men cut down trees and make a fire which kills the rest of Shechem
9:50-9:57 Avimelech attacks Tevetz; a woman throws a millstone from the wall, killing him
10:1-10:2 Tola judges Israel
10:3-10:5 Yair judges Israel
10:6-10:10 Israel sins; Ammon oppresses them; Israel cries out to God
10:11-10:16 God tells Israel to rely on its false gods; Israel removes the false gods; God sympathizes
10:17-10:18 Ammon and Israel (Gilad) assemble to fight; Israel searches for a war commander
11:1-11:3 Yiftach was a mighty warrior but illegitimately born and expelled from his family
11:4-11:11 Gilad asks Yiftach to lead the army; he agrees
11:12-11:28 Ammon asks for land; Yiftach replies that it was legitimately obtained in Moses' wars
11:29-11:31 Yiftach gets God's spirit; vows to sacrifice whatever leaves his house first on his return (presumably an animal)
11:32-11:33 Yiftach wins the war
11:34-11:39 Yiftach returns home; his daughter leaves the house first; he feels forced to sacrifice her; she consents and he does it
12:1-12:7 Efraim complains about being left out of the Ammon war; Efraim and Gilad fight a civil war; Gilad wins
12:8-12:10 Ibzan judges Israel
12:11-12:12 Elon judges Israel
12:13-12:15 Abdon judges Israel
13:1 Israel sins; Philistines oppress them
13:2-13:7 Angel appears to Manoach's wife saying she will have a son who must be a Nazir from before birth
13:8-13:14 Manoach asks God for the angel's return; the angel repeats to Manoach what he told her
13:15-13:18 The angel refuses food and to reveal his name
13:19-13:25 The angel miraculously leaves; a son Shimshon is born
14:1-14:20 Shimshon marries a Philistine; he bets Philistines over a riddle; his wife tells them the answer; Shimshon plunders Ashkelon to pay the bet
15:1-15:8 Shimshon's wife given to another man; in anger Shimson burns Philistine fields; Philistines kill his wife; he slaughters them
15:9-15:20 Philistine army comes for Shimshon; Israelites deliver him to Philistines; he breaks his ropes and kills Philistines with a jawbone
16:1-16:3 Shimshon visits a prostitute in Gaza; Philistines lay in wait for him; he destroys the city gate on his way out
16:4-16:22 Shimshon marries Delilah; she coaxes out the secret of his strength (uncut hair); she shaves him; Philistines capture and blind him
16:23-16:31 Philistines prepare to sacrifice to their god over Shimshon's capture; Shimshon, hair regrown, destroys the temple and all inside
17:1-17:6 Michah returns stolen money to his mother; she gives part back to him to make an idol; he builds a temple around it
17:7-17:13 Michah enlists a traveling Levite as his priest
18:1 Tribe of Dan searching for land to live on
18:2-18:6 Dan's spies visit the temple
18:7-18:31 Dan plunders the temple on its way north, sets up the idol in the city of Dan when they get there
19:1-19:30 A Levite's concubine flees; he brings her back; only one person in Givah hosts them; a mob gathers and is appeased by raping and killing her; the Levite sends pieces of her body around the country
20:1-20:2 All of Israel assembles for war
20:3-20:11 Israel hears the Levite's story and vows revenge against Givah
20:12-20:16 Tribe of Benjamin refuses to deliver the men of Givah; Benjamin prepares for war
20:17-20:23 With God's consent, Israel fights Benjamin, but loses
20:24-20:29 On the second day of battle Israel loses again; God tells them to fight one more day
20:30-20:34 Israel draws Benjamin away from the cities
20:35-20:48 Israel wins the battle; massacres all the warriors and civilians of Benjamin, except 600 warriors who escape
21:1-21:4 Israel swore not to intermarry with Benjamin, but now regret wiping out a whole tribe
21:5-21:12 Israel also swore to kill whoever did not come to battle; Yavesh Gilad had not come, so they are massacred, except for young virgins
21:13-21:18 Israel makes peace with the 600 warriors; gives them the virgins of Yavesh Gilad as wives
21:19-21:22 There weren't enough virgins, so Israel arranges for Benjamin to take Israelite women by force, technically not breaking the vow
21:23-21:24 Benjamin does so and rebuilds their tribe
21:25 In the absence of a king, every person did as they think appropriate
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Shmuel
(Parts written by Shmuel, Gad, Natan - see Divrei haYamim I 29:29)
1-7 Shmuel's authority (Shmuel)
8-12 Shmuel appoints a king (Shmuel)
13-15 Shaul's failure as king (Shmuel)
16-18:5 David's rise to prominence (Shmuel 16, Gad 17-18:5)
18:6-26 David as challenger to Shaul (Gad)
27-1 Shaul's death (Gad)
2-8 David's success as king (Gad 2-4, Natan 5-8)
9-20 David's failings and challengers (Natan)
21-24 Postscript (Gad?)
1:1-1:28 Hannah is barren; she prays to God in Shilo; a son Shmuel is birth
2:1-2:10 Hannah's song praising God
2:11-2:21 Shmuel serves in Shilo, Eli's sons are corrupt
2:22-2:26 Eli castigates his sons; they don't listen; Shmuel liked by God and men
2:27-2:36 Man of God curses Eli, predicting a "faithful priest" and temple and king
3:1-3:3 Shmuel serves before God; prophecy is rare. Shmuel and Eli sleep in Shilo
3:4-3:10 Shmuel hears God but thinks it's Eli, three times
3:11-3:18 God confirms the curse on Eli's family to Shmuel; Shmuel tells Eli
3:18-3:20 Shmuel is a famous and successful prophet to all Israel
3:21 Shmuel receives more prophecies in Shilo
4:1-4:22 Philistines win war in Afek, capture the ark; Eli and his sons die (a baby remains)
5:1-5:5 Ark taken to Ashdod; the Philistine idol next to the ark miraculously falls over and later breaks
5:6-5:12 Disease in Ashdod; ark taken out to countryside
6:1-6:14 Philistines return ark to Beit Shemesh with offerings
6:15-6:16 Levites in Beit Shemesh accept ark
6:17 The offerings the Philistines brought (1 per city)
6:18-7:1 Beit Shemesh people die for seeing ark; ark taken to a house in Kiryat Yaarim
7:2 While ark in Kiryat Yaarim (20 years), Israel drawn after God
7:3-7:4 Shmuel calls for monotheism in order to win a war against Philistines; Israelites destroy idols
7:5-7:17 Shmuel gathers Israel in Mitzpah; Israel beats Philistines in war. Shmuel judges all his life
8:1-8:3 Shmuel is old; his sons are corrupt
8:4-8:6 Israel asks Shmuel for a king
8:7-8:9 God to Shmuel: give them a king; they're rejecting God not you
8:10 Shmuel repeats God's message to them
8:11-8:21 Shmuel tries to discourage them from wanting a king; they insist
8:22 God tells Shmuel to give them a king; Shmuel disperses the crowd
9:1-9:14 Shaul introduced; looks for Shmuel to help with finding his animals
9:15-9:20 Shaul arrives; God points him out; Shmuel tells him he will have "kol chemdat yisrael"
9:21 Shaul protests that he's from the weakest family of the weakest tribe
9:22-9:27 Shmuel and Shaul eat and are seen together
10:1-10:9 Shmuel anoints Shaul; gives him signs that he's chosen, which come true. Shaul gets "new heart"
10:10-10:11 Shaul gets "spirit of God" and prophesizes with the prophets
10:12-10:16 Shaul goes home
10:17-10:24 Shmuel criticizes people's motives; picks out Shaul publicly as king
10:25-10:27 Shmuel writes "mishpat hamelucha" in a book; some people challenge/ridicule Shaul
11:1-11:10 Amon threatens city of Yavesh Gilad; Shaul hears and raises an army
11:11-11:13 Shaul's army wins; Shaul prevents the massacre of his challengers
11:14-11:15 Shaul officially crowned
12:1-12:5 Shmuel protests he has not abused his position; the people agrees
12:6-12:17 Shmuel gives Shoftim history; says that welfare depends on righteousness and not on the king
12:18-12:19 Divine sign that it was wrong to ask for a king; people afraid
12:20-12:25 Shmuel: serve God and it will be OK
13:1-13:12 Philistines encamp for war; many Israelites desert; Shaul offers sacrifices at public demand
13:13-13:14 Shmuel says Shaul's kingdom won't endure because he has disobeyed God's command
13:15-13:18 Shaul and 600 men prepare for war
13:19-13:23 Israelites had no iron, including swords/spears, except Shaul and Yonatan
14:1-14:5 Yonatan leaves the camp with his weapon bearer
14:6-14:7 Yonatan proposes to enter the Philistine camp
14:8-14:12 Yonatan suggests they enter the camp if the Philistines tell him to "come in" - an omen
14:12-14:16 They enter the camp and kill 20 people surrounding them; the Philistines panic
14:17-14:19 Shaul notices the panic and that Yonatan has gone
14:20-14:24 Israel defeats Philistines; Shaul curses anyone who eats during the battle
14:25-14:35 Yonatan eats; after the battle the famished Israelites eat meat with blood; Shaul arranges "kosher" food
14:36 Shaul proposes to chase the Philistines at night, Israelites agree
14:37-14:40 They consult God but receive no answer; apparently somebody sinned; Shaul promises to kill the sinner
14:41-14:43 Lots are cast; Yonatan revealed as having eaten during the battle
14:44-14:45 Israelites convince Shaul not to kill Yonatan
14:46-14:48 Shaul fought and won battles against his enemies on every side
14:49-14:51 Shaul's family and officers
14:52 Shaul fought continuously against the Philistines, and enlisted every mighty man he could find
15:1 Shmuel speaks to Shaul in God's name:
15:2-15:3 Shmuel commands Shaul to exterminate Amalek
15:4-15:9 Shaul defeats Amalek, but takes with him their king Agag and the high-quality animals
15:10-15:15 God regrets making Shaul king; Shmuel castigates Shaul regarding the animals
15:16 Shmuel tells Shaul he has a Divine message
15:17-15:19 Shmuel: as a king you have responsibilities, so why did you disobey God?
15:20-15:21 Shaul blames the people, and says the animals are for sacrifices
15:22-15:23 Shmuel: Obedience is better than sacrifices, and God has rejected Shaul's kingship
15:24-15:26 Shaul admits guilt; asks Shmuel to join him at the sacrifice; Shmuel refuses
15:27 As Shmuel turns to leave, Shaul grabs his robe and tears it
15:28 Shmuel: Similarly, God has torn away Shaul's kingdom
15:29-15:31 Shaul asks that Shmuel join him at the sacrifice, to honor Shaul; Shmuel agrees
15:32 Agag is brought to Shmuel
15:33 Shmuel kills Agag
15:34-15:35 Shaul and Shmuel go home and never see each other again, because Shaul is rejected
16:1-16:6 God commands Shmuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king
16:7-16:12 Shmuel finds Yishai's family; David is brought in
16:13-16:16 Shmuel anoints David. Shaul suffers from evil spirits; his servants suggest finding a harp player to cure him
16:17-16:23 David is sent for; he plays and relieves Shaul's symptoms; Shaul loves him (this is after the Goliath story, see 17:55)
17:1-17:11 Israel and Philistines prepare for battle; Goliath offers a one-on-one match to settle everything
17:12-17:14 David's family
17:15-17:16 David was going between Shaul and his flock in Bethlehem
17:17-17:19 David returns to the army camp with food
17:20-17:25 David reaches the battle and hears Goliath's challenge
17:26-17:33 David offers to fight; nobody takes him seriously
17:34-17:36 David tells of killing a lion and bear as a shepherd
17:37 David says that with God's help the same will happen to Goliath
17:38-17:44 Shaul consents; offers his armor; it doesn't fit and David goes with his sling. Goliath mocks him
17:45-17:47 David: I will win because that will prove God's power
17:48-17:54 David kills Goliath; Philistines flee
17:55-17:56 Shaul asks who David's father is (perhaps because he promised to reward the father of Goliath's killer)
17:57-18:5 Shaul enlists David; Yonatan loves David; David successful in war; everyone likes him
18:6-18:9 Women praise David's battle exploits more than Shaul's; Shaul suspects David's motives
18:10-18:13 Shaul tries and fails to kill David in the palace, then sends him away to the army
18:14-18:16 David very successful and liked; Shaul in awe
18:17 Shaul plots to get David killed by Philistines
18:18-18:27 Shaul offers his daughter Michal to David, if David kills 100 Philistines. David does this, survives, gets Michal
18:28-18:29 Shaul sees God is with David, and fears him more
18:30 David wins many battles and is even better regarded
19:1-19:3 Shaul encourages his intimates to kill David; Yonatan tells David to flee
19:4-19:7 Yonatan convinces Shaul not to kill David; Shaul brings him back to his home
19:8-19:10 David wins another battle; David plays the harp; Shaul tries to impale him, but he escapes
19:11-19:13 Shaul's messengers watch David's house; Michal lets him down through the window and he flees
19:14 Michal to Shaul: David is sick in bed
19:15-19:16 Shaul discovers David has left
19:17-19:21 David escapes to Shmuel; Shaul sends messengers to take him; messengers begin "prophesizing"
19:22-19:24 Shaul goes himself to take David, but he too "prophesizes" and can't finish the mission
20:1-20:4 David complains to Yonatan about the attempts to kill him; Yonatan offers to help
20:5-20:8 David proposes to flee and ask Yonatan to tell him Shaul's response
20:9,10,11 They make arrangements
20:12-20:17 They make a mutual oath of loyalty
20:18-20:23 Yonatan proposes a code (arrows) to tell David whether he is safe or must flee
20:24-20:26 David skips Shaul's meal on the first day of Rosh Chodesh; Shaul assumes David is unclean
20:27 David skips the second day too; Shaul asks Yonatan why
20:28-20:29 Yonatan says that David is at a family meal in Bethlehem
20:30-20:31 Shaul commands Yonatan to bring David, saying that Yonatan and David's welfare are mutually exclusive
20:32-20:33 Yonatan protests David's innocence; Shaul throws spear at Yonatan
20:34 Yonatan leave the meal in anger and shame
20:35-20:39 Yonatan does the arrow code for David to leave
20:40-20:42 Yonatan and David meet and embrace
21:1-21:5 David flees to Nov; asks for food
21:6-21:9 David gets holy food from the priest; Doeg the Edomite (Shaul's servant) notices him
21:10 The priest in Nov possesses Goliath's sword and offers it to David
21:11-21:14 David flees with the sword to Achish king of Gat; his identity is discovered and he feigns insanity
21:15-21:16 Achish expels the presumed madman
22:1-22:4 David flees to Adulam, gathers hundreds of discontented people; flees to Moab border; David's family to Moab
22:5 Prophet Gad tells David to go back to Yehudah
22:6-22:8 Shaul asks for information about David
22:9-22:11 Doeg tells Shaul that David visited and was helped by Nov
22:12-22:13 Shaul asks the priest of Nov why he helped David, i.e. treason
22:14-22:17 The priest justifies himself; Shaul tells his guards to kill the priests; the guards refuse
22:18-22:23 Doeg kills everyone in Nov; David hears from the fleeing Evyatar
23:1-23:2 Philistines attacking Keilah; David asks God whether to go rescue them
23:3 God says yes; his men object that they will be in even more danger
23:4-23:5 God says go anyway; they go and defeat the Philistines
23:6-23:9 Shaul finds out where David is and besieges him
23:10-23:11 Using Evyatar's "ephod", David asks if Shaul will besiege him; God says yes
23:12 David asks if Keilah will expel him; God says yes
23:13-23:15 David and his men flee to the wilderness of Zif
23:16-23:18 Jonathan visits David, encourages him, and says David will be king
23:19-23:29 Zif residents tell Shaul David is there; Shaul comes; David flees to wilderness of Maon, then to Ein Gedi
24:1 Shaul is told David is in Ein Gedi
24:2-24:7 Shaul pursues David with troops; Shaul rests in cave; David cuts his garment but feels guilty about it
24:8 As Shaul leaves, David calls after him
24:9-24:15 David tells Shaul that he could have killed him and didn't; asks Shaul to stop trying to kill him
24:16-24:22 Shaul admits David's righteousness; David swears that when he is king he won't hurt Shaul's family; Shaul goes home
25:1 Shmuel dies; David goes to wilderness of Paran
25:2-25:31 David asks Naval for provisions; he refuses; Naval's wife Abigail meets David with provisions and begs forgiveness
25:32-25:43 David thanks Abigail, at home Naval gets drunk and soon dies; David marries Abigail and Achinoam
25:44-26:7 Shaul takes Michal from David to another man; Shaul chases to the hill of Hachila; David and Avishai enter Shaul's camp
26:8-26:9 Avishai offers to kill Shaul; David says no
26:10-26:14 David hopes God will kill Shaul; they flee with Shaul's spear and water jug; David calls out to Avner (with Shaul)
26:15-26:24 David mocks Avner's poor guarding; David asks Shaul to stop chasing; Shaul promises to stop
26:25 Shaul blesses David
27:1-27:4 David and company flee to Gat; Shaul despairs of finding him
27:5-27:6 David asks Achish king of Gat for a place to live; gets Ziklag as an Israelite city
27:7-27:12 David defeats and exterminates Amalekites etc.; tells Achish he fought Israelites; Achish trusts him
28:1-28:2 Philistines prepare to fight Israel; Achish brings David with him
28:3-28:14 Shmuel has died; Shaul fears the coming battle; Shaul finds a witch, who raises Shmuel's ghost
28:15 Shaul asks the ghost for guidance
28:16-28:25 Ghost: Shaul has been rejected as king, and will die in the battle and Israel will be defeated
29:1-29:3 Achish justifies David's presence in the camp to the other Philistines
29:4-29:5 The Philistines tell Achish get rid of David
29:6-29:7 Achish tells David to leave
29:8-29:11 David leaves; Philistines move to Yizrael
30:1-30:6 Amalekites raid Ziklag, take captives including David's wives
30:7-30:12 David asks God, then pursues Amalekites; finds a hungry Egyptian
30:13-30:21 The Egyptian locates the Amalekites; David counterattacks, wins, and returns the captives and booty
30:22 David's more evil warriors refuse to share the booty with those who stayed behind
30:23-30:24 David insists that everyone share equally
30:25 David's suggestion has been accepted until this day
30:26-30:31 David sends part of the spoils as gifts to his friends across the tribe of Yehudah
31:1-31:7 Philistines win battle; Israelites flee; Shaul's sons killed; Shaul in danger; commits suicide when his aides refuse to kill him
31:8-31:13 Philistines take Shaul's head and hang the remainder in Beit Shean; people of Yavesh Gilad take the body and bury it
1:1-1:12 A refugee from the battle tells that Israel lost, that Yonatan died, and that he killed Shaul on request
1:13-1:16 The refugee says he's an Amalekite; David kills him because he admits to having killed the king
1:17-1:27 David laments the defeat and Shaul and Yonatan's death
2:1-2:4 God tells David to go to Hevron; there he is anointed king of Yehudah
2:5-2:7 David praises Yavesh Gilad for burying Shaul; suggests they accept him as king
2:8-2:9 Avner makes Ish-Boshet son of Shaul king over everything except Yehudah
2:10-2:11 David rules Yehudah; Ish-Boshet everything else
2:12-3:1 Yoav and Avner meet; battle breaks out between their men; long war begins with David's side gradually winning
3:2-3:5 David has sons in Hevron
3:6-3:8 During the war, Avner sleeps with Shaul's concubine; Ish-Boshet protests; Avner says he is responsible for Ish-Boshet's rule
3:9-3:11 Avner threatens to make David ruler over all Israel; Ish-Boshet afraid
3:12-3:13 Avner offers alliance to David; David: First bring me Michal
3:14-3:30 Avner returns Michal; Avner meets with David and leaves; Yoav kills Avner in revenge; David curses Yoav
3:31-3:32 David cries at Avner's funeral
3:33-3:37 David laments Avner and refuses to eat; the people realize he wasn't part of the murder plot
3:38-3:39 David complains about Yoav's power
4:1-4:3 Ish-Boshet afraid now that Avner is dead
4:4-4:12 Two of Shaul's old officers decapitate Ish-Boshet and send his head to David; David kills the officers as with Shaul's killer
5:1-5:3 All of Israel crowns David
5:4-5:10 David rules; conquers Jerusalem and lives there; succeeds and God is with him
5:11-5:12 Hiram builds a palace for David
5:13-5:16 David has more sons in Jerusalem
5:17-5:19 Philistines hear David is king; march to Emek Refaim; David asks God whether to fight
5:20-5:21 God says to fight; Israelites win
5:22-5:25 Philistines approach again; David fights and wins again; Philistines flee
6:1-6:20 David moves the Ark; Uzah touches it and dies; they stop and only later bring it to Jerusalem; David dances in front of it
6:21-6:23 Michal protests David's "indecent" dancing; David justifies himself; Michal never has a child
7:1-7:3 David says to prophet Natan that David has a palace, but God doesn't
7:4,7:5-7:17 God to Natan: David won't build a temple but his son will, and David's dynasty will last forever
7:18-7:24 David thanks and praises God
7:25-7:29 David continues and asks for God's promise to Natan to come true
8:1-8:8 David conquers all the surrounding nations
8:9-8:18 David dedicates tribute and spoils to God; David reigns justly
9:1-9:13 David searches for Shaul's descendants to show kindness to, finds Mepiboshet son of Yonatan, privileges him
10:1-10:16 Ammon mistreats David's messengers; Ammon and Aram fight Israel; Aram and Ammon flee, but Aram regroups in Helam
10:17-10:19 Israel defeats Aram; Aram makes peace
11:1 Yoav was attacking Ammon and besieging the capital, Rabbah
11:2-11:15 David sees and then impregnates Batsheva; husband Uriyah returns but refuses to enter his house; David orders Uriyah killed
11:16-11:24 Yoav arranges for Uriyah to die in battle; Yoav sends confirmation of his death
11:25-11:27 David tells Yoav to attack Rabbah; Batsheva laments Uriyah, then marries David and bears a son; God angry
12:1-12:6 Natan tells David a parable of a poor man's sheep; David condemns the rich man in the story
12:7 Natan says David is the rich man
12:8-12:10 Natan: David has disobeyed God regarding Uriyah and Batsheva; thus "the sword will not leave his family"
12:11-12:12 Natan: As further punishment David's wives will be publicly violated
12:13 David admits to sinning
12:14-12:25 David gets to live but Batsheva's son must die; David prays for the son but doesn't mourn after he dies; Batsheva bears Shlomo
12:26-12:31 David goes to Ammon to finish the victory there
13:1-13:22 David's son Amnon lusts for and rapes his half-sister Tamar; Avshalom (Tamar's full brother) and David are angry
13:23-13:27 Avshalom plans a sheep-shearing, invites Amnon and David's other sons
13:28-13:30 Avshalom gets Amnon killed; David hears a rumor that Avshalom killed all the sons
13:31 David tears his clothes
13:32-13:33 It is revealed that only Amnon was killed, because of Tamar
13:34-13:39 Avshalom flees to Geshur; David misses him
14:1-14:4 Yoav notices David's longing; finds a woman from Tekoa who pretends to be a widow
14:5-14:7 The woman pretends that one of her sons killed the other and asks help in sparing the killer's life
14:8-14:9 David promises to reply
14:10-14:12 David promises that her second son will be spared
14:13-14:17 The woman suggests that, on that logic, Avshalom should be allowed home
14:18-14:20 David asks if Yoav told her what to do; she admits it
14:21-14:23 David tells Yoav to bring back Avshalom
14:24 David prohibits Avshalom from seeing him
14:25-14:27 Avshalom is beautiful, has lots of hair, and also has several children
14:28-14:30 Avshalom doesn't get to see the king; sends for Yoav who doesn't see him; then burns Yoav's field
14:31-14:33 Avshalom says he wanted to get Yoav's attention in order to meet David; Avshalom meets David
15:1-15:6 Avshalom denigrates David's judgment to the people and says he would judge better, thus willing their hearts
15:7-15:9 David lets Avshalom go to Hevron on the excuse of fulfilling a vow
15:10-15:18 Avshalom declares himself king; David flees
15:19-15:24 Itai the Gittite insists on leaving with David; the Levites bring the Ark
15:25-15:26 David tells them to return the ark to Jerusalem
15:27-15:37 They return the ark; David recommends that his friend Hushai serve Avshalom, in order to defeat Achitofel's counsel
16:1-16:9 Mepiboshet against David; David removes his privilege; Shimei ben Gera (of Shaul's family) curses David as a "man of blood"
16:10 David rejects Avishai's proposal to kill Shimei
16:11-16:12 David says that God caused Shimei to curse, and perhaps David deserves it
16:13 Shimei leaves, continues cursing
16:14-16:19 Hushai declares loyalty to Avshalom because he is currently king
16:20-16:23 Achitofel recommends Avshalom to sleep with David's concubines publicly; Achitofel's counsel is highly regarded
17:1-17:4 Achitofel also suggests raising 12000 men, attacking David's camp, and killing David alone; Avshalom likes the idea
17:5-17:6 Avshalom asks Hushai about Achitofel's advice
17:7-17:13 Hushai suggests including the entire people in the army to attack David
17:14 Due to God's manipulation, Avshalom likes Hushai's counsel better
17:15-17:20 Hushai sends messengers to David to flee; the messengers are seen but not captured
17:21-17:23 Messengers reach David; David flees across the Jordan; Achitofel kills himself because his advice was not followed
17:24-17:26 Avshalom crosses the Jordan in chase
17:27-17:29 David in Machanaim; Shobi, Machir, and Barzilai bring his camp supplies
18:1-18:2 David prepares for battle
18:3 The people convince David himself to stay out of the battle
18:4-18:18 David commands his forces not to kill Avshalom; in the battle his side wins, but Yoav kills Avshalom
18:19-18:27 Achimaaz ben Tzadok and a Kushite run to David to tell him the news
18:28 Achimaaz reports victory in battle
18:29-18:31 David asks about Avshalom; Achimaaz says he does not know; the Kushite arrives
18:32 The Kushite reports Avshalom's death
19:1-19:5 David mourns Avshalom's death
19:6-19:8 Yoav complains that David is not showing gratitude to those who won the battle
19:9 David appears publicly
19:10-19:11 Israelites suggest reinstituting David as king
19:12-19:21 David's servants convince Yehudah to reaccept him; David returns; Shimei begs forgiveness
19:22 Avishai calls for Shimei's death
19:23-19:24 David spares Shimei
19:25-19:29 Mepiboshet makes excuses for not following David
19:30-19:31 David forgives him
19:32-19:38 David offers to bring Barzilai to Jerusalem and privilege him; Barzilai suggests his servant Chimham instead
19:39-19:40 David agrees
19:41-19:42 All of Yehudah and some of Israel helps David cross the Jordan; Israel resents Yehudah's perceived privilege
19:43 Yehudah justifies themselves
19:44 Israel retorts
20:1-20:3 Sheva ben Bichri of Benjamin declares himself king; Israel follows him; David returns with Yehudah; shuts off his concubines
20:4-20:5 David instructs Amasa (Avshalom's ex-commander) to assemble all of Yehudah
20:6-20:8 David sends Yoav and Avishai to chase Sheva ben Bichri; Amasa meets them in Givon
20:9-20:14 Yoav kills Amasa by trickery; they continue chasing
20:15-20:19 They besiege Avel Beit Maachah; a wise woman there asks Yoav not to destroy the city
20:20-20:22 Yoav says it is only because of Sheva ben Bichri; the city kills him; Yoav returns
20:23-20:25 David's officers
21:1 Three-year famine; David asks God why
21:2-21:6 God says it is because of Shaul's massacre in Givon; Givonites request the death of 7 of Shaul's descendants in return
21:7-21:14 David picks and hangs 7; David buries them and Shaul and Yonatan in their family tomb; God appeased
21:15-21:17 Israel fights Philistines; David almost dies; David's men prevent him from entering further battles
21:18,21:19,21:20-21:22 In various wars, David's warriors kill all four sons of the Philistine giant
22:1-22:51 David's song upon being saved from Shaul and his enemies
23:1-23:7 David's last words
23:8,23:9-23:10,23:11-23-12,23:13-23:15,23:16-23:17,23:18-23:19,23:20-23:39 David's warriors and their exploits
24:1-24:2 God again angry at Israel; God induces David to ask Yoav for a census
24:3-24:9 Yoav argues against but then performs the census; David regrets it
24:10 David asks God for forgiveness in ordering the census
24:11-24:13 Gad asks David whether punishment should be by famine, war, or disease
24:14-24:16 David chooses disease; God stops the angel of destruction at Aranuah's threshing floor
24:17 David sees the angel, asks God to punish only his family and not the people
24:18-24:22 On Gad's command, David buys Aranuah's threshing floor to build an altar; Aranuah offers supplies
24:23-24:25 David insists on buying everything; builds the altar and sacrifices; God appeased
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Melachim
(Authorship: see Divrei Hayamim 2 9:29 - "Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Jedo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?"; also 2 13:22; 2 20:34; 2 25:26; and so on)
1-2:10 End of David's life
2:11-11 Shlomo
12-16:28 Shlomo's successors in Israel and Yehudah
16:29-1:18 Achav and Eliyahu
2:1-13:21 Elisha [sections correspond to the Elisha, Hazael and Yehu commands to Eliyahu]
13:22-17 Ensuing kings and Israel's destruction
18-25 Ensuing kings and Yehudah's destruction
1:1-1:19 David old; Avishag brought to service him; son Adoniyah proclaims himself king and gathers men; Batsheva speaks to David
1:20-1:27 Batsheva asks David to reaffirm that their son Shlomo will be king; Natan enters the room
1:28-1:31 David reaffirms Shlomo will be king
1:32-1:52 David has his men declare Shlomo king; Adoniyah's men desert him; he runs to the altar for refuge; Shlomo sends him home
2:1-2:10 David advises Shlomo to serve God and kill certain enemies; David dies
2:11-2:12 Shlomo rules
2:13-2:22 Through Batsheva, Adoniyah asks for Avishag as wife; Shlomo refuses, seeing this as aspiration for the throne
2:23-2:25 Shlomo has Adoniyah killed
2:26-2:27 Shlomo expels Evyatar from the priesthood, since he is descended from Eli
2:28-2:38 Yoav (who helped Adoniyah) is put to death; Shimei ben Gera forbidden to leave Jerusalem
2:39-2:40 Shimei goes to Gat to retrieve two runaway servants of his
2:41-3:2 Shlomo has Shimei killed for what he did to David; Shlomo's kingdom secure; Shlomo marries Pharaoh's daughter
3:3-3:14 In a dream after a sacrifice, God offers Shlomo a favor; Shlomo asks for wisdom to judge; God promises this and riches and honor
3:15 Shlomo awakes from the dream; offers more sacrifices
3:16-3:23 Two prostitutes come to Shlomo arguing whose baby is alive and whose is dead
3:24-3:27 Shlomo suggests dividing the baby; gives the baby to the woman who is horrified by the idea
3:28 Israel hears about the case, recognizes Shlomo's possession of God's wisdom
4:1-4:18 Shlomo's officers
4:19-5:1 Israel is populous; Shlomo rules from Egypt to the Euphrates
5:2-5:5 Shlomo has lots of food each day; Israel has peace
5:6-5:8 Shlomo has lots of horses; Shlomo's officers provide food for those who eat at his table and for the horses
5:9-5:14 Shlomo is wiser than anyone else; he speaks proverbs; people from around the world come to hear him
5:15 Hiram sends his servants to Shlomo
5:16-5:25 Shlomo proposes to Hiram to cooperate in building the Temple; Hiram agrees; they make a contract
5:26-5:28 Shlomo and Hiram at peace; Shlomo raises 30000 men to work in Lebanon
5:29-5:30 Shlomo's workers
5:31-5:32 The workers prepare timber and stones for the Temple
6:1-6:10 Shlomo builds the Temple building; its measurements
6:11-6:13 God to Shlomo: If you keep the laws, I will dwell in this temple
6:14-7:12 Temple construction details; Shlomo also builds fancy palaces for himself and Pharaoh's daughter
7:13-7:26 Hiram makes pillars and a large basin for the Temple
7:27-7:37 Hiram makes bases for the Temple
7:38-7:39 Hiram makes washing stations for the Temple
7:41-7:50 Hiram makes pots, shovels, basins for the Temple. Shlomo makes vessels for use within the Temple
7:51 Shlomo's work is finished; Shlomo brings David's contributions to the Temple treasury
8:1-8:11 The ark is brought into the new Temple; sacrifices are performed; the cloud of God's glory fills the Temple
8:12-8:21 Shlomo speaks to the people saying that God chose David and he is fulfilling David's desire to build a Temple
8:22-8:34 Shlomo asks God to accept prayers for forgiveness towards the Temple - by individuals, or the nation after military defeat...
8:35-8:36 ... or in time of drought...
8:37-8:53 ... or during other calamities, and also to accept prayers of non-Jewish pilgrims, or exiled Jews
8:54-9:1 Shlomo blesses God before the people and reminds them to obey God; then offers sacrifices
9:2-9:9 God appears to Shlomo; promises reward for obedience, but destruction and exile for disobedience
9:10-9:13 Shlomo rewards Hiram for his contributions with territory in the north
9:14-9:22 Shlomo enlisted Canaanite labor to build the Temple, his palace, and other large projects in Israel
9:23-9:28 Shlomo was successful; he sent ships out of Eilat to get gold
10:1-10:13 Queen of Sheva visits; is impressed by Shlomo's wisdom in ruling; gives gifts
10:14-10:17 Shlomo's gold
10:18-10:25 Shlomo's expensive throne and gold vessels, possible due to gifts from kings inquiring of his wisdom
10:26-10:29 Shlomo's chariots
11:1-11:6 Shlomo has hundreds of wives; they entice him to idol worship
11:7-11:10 Shlomo builds altars for his wives' gods; God angry
11:11-11:13 God tells Shlomo he will remove the kingdom from his family, except one tribe, for David's sake
11:14-11:25 Hadad (an Edomite who fled David's conquests) and Rezon ben Eliada (king in Damascus) cause Shlomo trouble
11:26-11:28 Yeravam ben Navat also fights Shlomo; he started as a construction leader for Shlomo
11:29-11:39 Prophet Achiyah the Shilonite promises Yeravam kingdom over 10 tribes due to Shlomo's sins
11:40 Shlomo tries to kill Yeravam; Yeravam flees to Egypt
11:41-11:43 Shlomo dies; his son Rechavam rules
12:1-12:17 Rechavam refuses to lighten the people's labor duties; all except Yehudah reject his kingship
12:18-12:19 Israelites kill Rechavam's labor collector; Rechavam flees to Jerusalem; the kingdom is split
12:20-12:21 Israel crowns Yeravam; Rechavam raises an army for reconquest
12:22-12:24 Prophet Shemayah tells Rechavam not to fight; he doesn't
12:25-12:33 Yeravam sets up idols in Beit-El and Dan to replace Jerusalem; invents a new holiday
13:1-13:10 Man of God condemns the altar in Beit-El; miraculously destroys it as Yeravam is sacrificing; man of God leaves without eating
13:11-13:19 An old prophet in Beit-El hears; invites the man of God to eat, saying that God now permits him to eat; he eats
13:20-13:32 God condemns the man of God to the prophet for eating; man of God is killed on his way home; prophet laments him
13:33-13:34 Yeravam continues sinning, causing the end of his dynasty
14:1-14:4 Yeravam's son Aviyah sick; Aviyah's mother visits Achiyah in disguise for guidance
14:5-14:20 Achiyah predicts the son's death, end of Yeravam's line, and Israel's expulsion to Mesopotamia, because of the idolatry
14:21-14:24 Rechavam rules Yehudah; Yehudah sins
14:25-14:31 Shishak king of Egypt raids Jerusalem; Israel was continually at war with Yehudah; Rechavam dies
15:1-15:8 Aviam ben Rechavam rules Yehudah; sins but gets to rule for David's sake; Aviam dies
15:9-15:14 Asa rules Yehudah; removes most idolatry
15:15-15:24 Asa losing the war against Israel; bribes Aram to attack; Israel withdraws. Asa dies
15:25-15:32 Nadav ben Yeravam rules Israel; he sins; Baasha kills him and rules, fulfilling Achiyah's prophecy
15:33-15:34 Baasha rules; sins
16:1-16:7 Prophet Yehu promises the end of Baasha's household; Baasha dies
16:8-16:14 Elah ben Baasha rules Israel; Zimri kills him and his family
16:15-16:20 Zimri rules one week; Omri kills him
16:21-16:22 Israel splits between Omri and Tivni; Omri's camp prevails
16:23-16:28 Omri rules Israel; builds a new capital Shomron; he sins; he dies
16:29-16:34 Achav son of Omri rules; sins more than his predecessors; imports Baal worship and wife Jezebel from Tzidon; Jericho rebuilt
17:1 (Prophet) Eliyahu declares a drought to Achav
17:2-17:7 On God's command, Eliyahu flees to the Cherit river; drinks from it and eats raven-brought food, until it dries up in the drought
17:8-17:16 On God's command, Eliyahu flees to a widow in Tzidon; in return for hosting him, her food magically does not run out
17:17-17:24 Widow's son gets very sick; she blames Eliyahu; Eliyahu revives him; she knows he is a man of God
18:1-18:14 Achav and his God-fearing assistant Ovadiah split up; Eliyahu meets Ovadiah, tells him to announce his return to Achav
18:15-19:14 Achav meets Eliyahu; Eliyahu proposes and wins a God/Baal showdown on Mount Carmel; Jezebel chases Eliyahu; he flees to the desert; an angel feeds him and sends him to Sinai; God appears scarily but then as a small still voice; Eliyahu still insists on acting "jealously"
19:15-19:21 **** God tells Eliyahu to appoint Hazael and Yehu as kings and Elisha as prophet; Elisha meets and follows Eliyahu
20:1-20:22 Ben-Hadad king of Aram besieges Shomron; a prophet predicts Israel's success to Achav; Achav's army wins
20:23-20:25 Aram prepares for war in the valley, thinking God only controls hilly areas
20:26-20:34 Aram fights; Israel wins; Ben-Hadad sues for peace
20:35-20:43 A prophet condemns Achav for sparing Ben-Hadad
21:1-21:16 Navot owns a vineyard; refuses to sell to Achav; Jezebel gets Navot falsely executed for blasphemy; Achav takes the vineyard
21:17-21:26 Eliyahu meets Achav, promises his death and the end of his line, due to his evilness
21:27 Achav mourns Eliyahu's decree
21:28-22:1 Due to Achav's mourning, God delays his punishment until his son's days
22:2-22:18 Yehoshafat king of Yehudah and the king of Israel consult about war on Aram; all prophets except Michiyahu recommend war
22:19-22:40 Michiyahu prophesies defeat; he is thrown in jail; Achav killed in battle; his son Achazyahu rules
22:41-22:51 Yehoshafat son of Asa ruled Yehudah; is righteous; died
22:52-1:2 Achazyahu rules Israel; does evil; get sick; seeks guidance from a Philistine deity
1:3-1:14 Eliyahu condemns Achazyahu and predicts his death; Eliyahu brings down heavenly fire on troops trying to capture him
1:15-1:16 Eliyahu goes to Achazyahu and repeats the prediction; Achazyahu dies
1:17,1:18 Yehoram rules in Achazyahu's place
2:1-2:18 Eliyahu, Elisha and prophets cross the Jordan; a whirlwind takes Eliyahu to heaven; prophets recognize Elisha as his successor
2:19-2:22 Elisha miraculously cures poisonous water in Jericho
2:23-2:25 "Children" (derisive euphemism?) mock Elisha; Elisha induces bears to kill them; Elisha visits Mount Carmel and Shomron
3:1-3:3 Yehoram son of Achav rules Israel; sins like Yeravam but not like Achav
3:4-3:10 Moav rebels against Yehoram; Israel and Yehudah and Edom ally against Moav
3:11-3:27 Elisha predicts success; Moav attacks and is destroyed; king of Moav survives by killing (his?) son and incurring wrath on Israel
4:1-4:7 (Yehu rules?) A prophet's widow complains to Elisha about her poverty; Elisha causes her last pot of oil not to run out, so she can pay her debt
4:8-4:37 Shunamite woman provides for Elisha; Elisha promises her a son; son born but later dies; woman complains; Elisha revives the son
4:38-4:41 Elisha miraculously neutralizes poisonous food eaten by accident during a famine
4:42-4:44 Elisha causes a small gift of bread not to run out when the people eat it
5:1-5:19 Naaman general of Aram seeks out Elisha to cure his leprosy; Elisha does so and refuses payment; Naaman recognizes God
5:20-6:7 Elisha's servant asks Naaman for payment and keeps it; Elisha gives the servant leprosy; Elisha miraculously retrieves an ax head from the Jordan River
6:8-6:23 (Yehoachaz rules?) Aram encamps against Israel but Elisha provides prophetic intelligence for Israel; Aram surrounds Elisha; God blinds the entire army; Elisha leads them to Shomron, returns their sight, sets them free; Aram stops invading Israel
6:24-6:33 Ben-Hadad besieges Shomron; the city starves; the king sends messengers to arrest Elisha
7:1-7:2 Elisha predicts the starvation to end within a day
7:3-7:20 God scares Aram into fleeing their camp; lepers from Shomron discover the deserted camp; Shomron raids the camp and gets food
8:1-8:4 (Yoash rules?) Elisha tells the Shunamite to flee Israel due to a coming famine; afterwards she returns to petition the king for her land
8:5-8:6 Elisha's servant tells the king about his miracles; the Shunamite gets her land back
8:7-8:15 Ben-Hadad sickens; Hazael asks Elisha whether he will recover; Elisha says he will die and Hazael will be king; Hazael kills Ben-Hadad and rules
8:16-8:24 Yehoram son of Yehoshafat rules Yehudah; does evil; Edom rebels; he dies
8:25-8:29 Achazyahu son of Yehoram rules Yehudah; does evil; fights Aram with Yehoram king of Israel; Yehoram wounded; Achazyahu visits
9:1-9:28 Elisha has his servant anoint Yehu king of Israel; Yehu kills Yehoram and Achazyahu together
9:29-9:37 Yehu kills Jezebel and dogs eat her body
10:1-10:14 The rest of Achav's family and friends are killed; Yehu kills relatives of Achazyahu king of Yehudah who were in the area
10:15-10:17 Yehu shows Yehonadav his zeal for God in killing everyone connected to Achav
10:18-10:29 Yehu promises a holiday for Baal; massacres all who show up; destroys the Baal temple, but keeps Yeravam's golden calves
10:30-10:36 God promises Yehu 4 generations of kingship; he still sins as did Yeravam; Hazael defeats them in battle; Yehu dies
11:1-11:3 Atalyahu (daughter of Omri, mother of Achazyahu) kills the royal family; Yoash son of Achazyahu escapes; she rules Yehudah
11:4-11:12 Yehoyada the priest appoints bodyguards for Yoash; Yoash is publicly made king at the Temple
11:13-11:16 Atalyahu arrives, is killed once she leaves the Temple
11:17-11:20 Yehoyada eradicates Baal worship and makes a new covenant with God
12:1 Yoash rules Yehudah
12:2-12:6 Yoash of Yehudah is righteous, but does not destroy local altars; he collects money for Temple repair
12:7-12:17 The Temple is repaired
12:18-12:22 Hazael conquers Gat; Yoash appeases him with the Temple's treasures; Yoash of Yehudah dies; his son Amatzyahu rules
13:1-13:9 Yehoachaz son of Yehu rules Israel; sins; Hazael oppresses Israel; Yechoachaz prays and a "deliverer" saves Israel; Yehoachaz dies
13:10-13:13 Yoash son of Yehoachaz rules Israel; sins; dies
13:14-13:19 Elisha is sick; Yoash king of Israel visits; Elisha predicts success against Aram
13:20-13:21 Elisha dies; later, a corpse which touches his bones suddenly comes back to life
13:22-13:25 Hazael defeated Israel; he dies and his son Ben-Haddad rules; Yoash defeats Ben-Haddad
14:1-14:7 Amatzyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; kills his father's assassins but not their kids; defeats Edom
14:8-14:16 Under Yoash, Israel defeats Yehudah and raids Jerusalem; Yoash dies
14:17-14:22 Amatzyahu assassinated; his son Azaryahu rules Yehudah
14:23-14:29 Yeravam son of Yoash rules Israel; sins like the first Yeravam; conquers territory through God's help; dies
15:1-15:7 Azaryahu/Uziyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; gets leprosy; dies
15:8-15:12 Zecharyahu son of Yeravam rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; is killed, ending four generations of Yehu's family as predicted
15:13-15:15 Shalum rules Israel; Menachem kills him and rules
15:16 Menachem annihilates Tifsach because they did not help him
15:17-15:22 Menachem rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; pays tribute to prevent Assyrian attack; dies
15:23-15:26 Pekachyahu son of Menachem rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; Pekach kills him
15:27-15:31 Pekach rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; Assyria conquers the Galilee; Hoshea kills Pekach
15:32-15:38 Yotam son of Uziyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; attacked by Israel and Aram; dies
16:1-16:6 Achaz son of Yotam rules Yehudah; is evil and idolatrous; Aram and Israel besiege Jerusalem; Aram expels Yehudah from Eilat
16:7-16:20 Achaz asks Assyria to help against Aram and Israel; Assyria conquers Aram; Achaz makes an Aram-like altar in Jerusalem
17:1-17:6 Hoshea rules Israel; allies with Egypt; Assyria conquers and expels Israel
17:7-17:23 Israel's destruction was due to persistent idolatry, imitating other nations, and disobedience of God
17:24-17:41 Assyria moved other nations to Shomron; they are attacked by lions, and begin to worship God in addition to their deities
18:1-18:8 Hizkiyahu son of Achaz rules Yehudah; righteous; removes local altars; trusts God; succeeds against Assyria and Philistines
18:9-18:12 Assyria had conquered and expelled Israel
18:13-18:16 Assyria attacks Yehudah; Hizkiyahu pays tribute
18:17-19:14 Assyria besieges Jerusalem, says God won't help any more than other nations' deities did; prophet Yeshayahu says not to worry
19:15-19:19 Hizkiyahu prays to God to save them, to publicize God's authority
19:20-19:31 Yeshayahu predicts Assyria's defeat
19:32-19:37 Yeshayahu predicts Jerusalem's survival; a plague (?) decimates the Assyrian army; Assyria leaves
20:1-20:3 Hizkiyahu sick; Yeshayahu predicts his death; Hizkiyahu prays to God
20:4-20:11 Yeshayahu returns; predicts Hizkiyahu's and Jerusalem's survival; performs a miracle to prove it will happen
20:12-20:21 Babylonian ambassadors come; Hizkiyahu shows them his treasures; Yeshayahu predicts expulsion to Babylon; Hizkiyahu dies
21:1-21:11 Menashe son of Hizkiyahu rules; does evil; spreads idolatry across the country and in the Temple
21:12-21:18 God predicts expulsion, as with Achav and Israel; Menashe dies
21:19-21:26 Amon son of Menashe rules; does evil; is assassinated
22:1-22:2 Yoshiyahu son of Amon rules; is righteous
22:3-23:30 Yoshiyahu repairs Temple; a "book of Torah" is found; Yoshiyahu reads it; prophetess Hulda says the curse in it will come true but not to Yoshiyahu; Yoshiyahu makes a public covenant to God; idolatry completely removed; Pesach fully celebrated; but Yoshiyahu killed in battle at Meggido
23:31-23:35 Yehoachaz son of Yoshiyahu rules; sins; Egypt captures him; Yehoyakim rules as an Egyptian puppet
23:36-24:7 In Yehoyakim's time, many nations attack Yehudah, as punishment for Menashe's sins; Yehoyakim dies
24:8-24:17 Yehoyachin rules; sins; Babylonia attacks and exiles him and the country's elite
24:18-24:20 Tzidkiyahu rules; sins; rebels against Babylonia
25:1-25:7 Babylonia besieges Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured and exiled
25:8-25:24 Babylonia captures and burns Jerusalem; people exiled; Gedalyahu governs those who remain
25:25-25:26 Gedalyahu assassinated; remaining Jews flee to Egypt
25:27-25:30 New king of Babylonia privileges Yehoyachin
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Divrei Hayamim [Parallel passages in Shmuel and Melachim]
1-9:1 Genealogy from Adam (to the Babylonian exile)
9:2-20 David's rise to power (and moving the Ark)
21-29 David's preparations to build the Temple
1-9 Shlomo and the Temple
10-36 Kingdom of Yehudah from Rechavam until the destruction; Koresh's call to return
1:1-1:4 Generations from Adam to Noach's sons - Shem, Ham, Yefet
1:5,1:6,1:7 Descendants of Yefet
1:8-1:9,1:10,1:11-1:12,1:13-1:16 Descendents of Ham
1:17,1:18-1:23 Descendents of Shem
1:24-1:27 Generations from Shem to Avraham
1:28 Sons of Avraham - Yitzchak, Yishmael
1:29-1:31 Descendants of Yishmael
1:32,1:33 Descendants of Keturah, Avraham's concubine
1:34 Yitzchak and his sons - Esav and Yaakov
1:35,1:36,1:37,1:38,1:39,1:40,1:41-1:42 Esav's descendants
1:43-1:51 Kings who ruled in Edom before Israel had a king
1:51-1:54 Chiefs of Edom
2:1-2:2 Sons of Yaakov
2:3,2:4,2:5,2:6,2:7,2:8 Descendants of Yehudah son of Yaakov
2:9-2:20 Descendants of Hetzron son of Yehuda, traced to David [king] and Betzalel [artist]
2:21-2:22 Hetzron's grandson, Yair of Gilad
2:23-2:24,2:25-2:26,2:27-2:32,2:33-2:41,2:42-2:46,2:47-2:49,2:50-2:53,2:54-2:55 More descendants of Hetzron; cities in which some of their families lived
3:1-3:4 David's sons born in Hevron
3:5-3:9 David's sons and daughter born in Jerusalem
3:10-3:23,3:24 Kings of Yehudah from Shlomo to Yoshiyahu; Yoshiyahu's descendants including Zerubavel
4:1-4:2,4:3-4:10,4:11-4:12,4:13-4:14 Descendants of Shoval son of Yehudah, and in which cities some of their families lived; including Yavez and Otniel
4:15-4:18 Descendants of Kalev ben Yefuneh
4:19-4:23 Other descendants; descendants of Shelah son of Yehudah
4:24-4:27 Descendants of Shimon
4:28-4:33 Cities where Shimon's descendants lived
4:34-4:43 Some of Shimon's descendants conquer and live in southern or eastern pasture land
5:1-5:2 Reuven (who lost the birthright by defiling Yaakov's bed)
5:3-5:10 Descendants of Reuven and where some of them lived
5:11-5:13 Descendants of Gad and where they lived
5:14-5:17 Inhabitants of Bashan (from Menasheh?); the above genealogies date from the time of kings Yotam (Yehudah) and Yeravam (Israel)
5:18-5:22 The 2.5 eastern tribes conquer various eastern peoples and live in their place
5:23-5:26 Descendants of Eastern Menashe and where they lived; due to their sins the eastern tribes were exiled by Assyria
5:27-5:28,5:29 Generations from Levi to Moshe, Aharon, Miriam
5:30-5:41 Generations of priests from Aharon to Yehotzadak (at the Babylonian exile)
6:1-6:3,6:4-6:13,6:14-6:15 Descendants of Levi
6:16-6:23,6:24-6:28,6:29-6:32 Leviim picked by David to sing in the Temple
6:33-6:34 Other Leviim serve in the Temple, but only Aharon's descendants offer sacrifices and incense
6:35-6:38 Descendants of Aharon
6:39-6:41,6:42-6:44,6:45 Cities given to descendants of Aharon, from Yehudah and Binyamin
6:46 Cities are given to other descendants of Kehat son of Levi, from Menashe
6:47 Cities are given to descendants of Gershom son of Levi, from Yissachar, Naftali, Asher, and eastern Menashe
6:48 Cities are given to descendants of Merari son of Levi, from Reuven, Gad, and Zevulun
6:49-6:50 The aforementioned cities are given to Levi out of Yehudah, Shimon, Binyamin
6:51-6:55 Cities given to descendants of Kehat out of Efraim and western Menashe
6:56-6:58,6:59-6:60,6:61 Cities given to descendants of Gershom out of eastern Menashe, Yissachar, Asher, Naftali
6:62-6:66 Cities given to descendants of Merari out of Zevulun, Reuven, Gad
7:1,7:2,7:3-7:5 Descendants of Yissachar
7:6-7:13 Descendants of Binyamin; descendants of Naftali
7:14-7:19 Descendants of Menashe
7:20-7:29 Descendants of Efraim; where Menashe and Efraim lived
7:30-7:40 Descendants of Asher
8:1-8:32 Descendants of Binyamin including Kish
8:33-8:40 Descendants of Shaul (son of Kish) and his family
9:1 Summary of genealogy; but Yehudah had been exiled to Bavel
9:2-9:4,9:5-9:9,9:10-9:11,9:12-9:34 Israelites in Jerusalem; Kohanim in Jerusalem chosen by David and Shmuel, and their jobs
9:35-9:38,9:39-9:44 Descendants of Binyamin, including Shaul
10:1-10:4 Philistines defeated Israel at Gilboa; Shaul asks his armor-bearer to kill him, but is refused [Shmuel A 31:1-31:4]
10:5 Shaul kills himself; the armor-bearer follows [31:5-31:6]
10:6-10:7 The people flee after seeing Shaul and his sons have died [31:7]
10:8-10:10 Philistines find Shaul's body and bring his armor to their idolatrous temple [31:8-31:10]
10:11-10:14 People of Yavesh-Gilad recover and bury the bodies of Shaul and his sons; Shaul died as punishment for disobeying God [ShA 31:11-31:13]
11:1-11:3 Israel makes David king in Hevron [Shmuel B 5:1-5:3]
11:4-11:9 David conquers and builds Jerusalem; David succeeds and God is with him [5:4-5:10]
11:10,11:11-11:21,11:22-11:25,11:26-11:47 David's top warriors and their exploits [23:8-23:39]
12:1-12:5,12:6-12:14,12:15-12:16 Other warriors of David, who joined him in Tziklag
12:17-12:18 People from Binyamin and Yehudah join David; David threatens Divine punishment if they betray him
12:19 Their leader Amasai declares loyalty to David; David accepts them
12:20-12:23 People from Menashe join David
12:24...12:41 The numbers of warriors from each tribe of Israel who came to Hevron to crown David
13:1-13:14 David calls the whole people to move the ark to Jerusalem, but in transit Uzza touches it and dies; ark remains in Oved-Edom's house [6:1-6:11]
14:1-14:2 King of Tzur sends David building materials for a house [his?]; David's kingdom is very successful [5:11-5:12]
14:3-14:7 David has children in Jerusalem [5:13-5:16]
14:8-14:12 Philistines attack via Emek Refaim; David consults with God and defeats them [5:17-5:21]
14:13-15:2 Philistines attack again; God gives David a battle plan which succeeds; David builds himself a palace and a tent for the ark [5:22-5:25]
15:3-15:4,15:5,15:6,15:7,115:8,15:9,15:10 Leviim whom David gathers to bring the ark to Jerusalem
15:11,15:12-15:15 David tells the Leviim to carry the ark in the commanded way, to avoid more death in transit
15:16 David instructs the Leviim to sing and play instruments
15:17,15:18-15:25 List of Leviim who sing and play instruments
15:26-15:29 Ark is brought to Jerusalem with sacrifices, singing, and dancing; David's wife Michal sees him dancing and is disgusted [6:12-6:23]
16:1-16:4 Ark is rested in the tent David made; bread and cake are provided for the people
16:5-16:7 David gives certain Leviim jobs as singers and praisers [Tehilim?]
16:8-16:22 David's praise - historical overview
16:23-16:36 David's praise - praise of God; people answer Amen
16:37-16:38,16:39-16:43 David establishes permanent musical jobs in Jerusalem and at the Mishkan in Givon
17:1-17:2 David notes to Natan that he has a palace but the ark is kept in a tent [7:1-7:3]
17:3-17:7 God tells Natan that no Temple is needed now... [7:4-7:7]
17:8-17:15 ...but that David's son will build a Temple and his dynasty will last forever, unlike Shaul's [7:8-7:17]
17:16-17:27 David thanks God and prays that these promises will come true [7:18-7:29]
18:1-18:8 David conquers the Philistines, Moav, Tzobah, and Aram; some spoil is later used by Shlomo to build the Temple [8:1-8:8]
18:9-18:17 Hamat sends David tribute; tribute and spoils are dedicated to God; David conquers Edom and succeeds; list of officers [8:9-8:18]
19:1-19:5 Ammon mistreats David's messengers [10:1-10:5]
19:6-19:7 Ammon and Aram ally to fight Israel [10:6-10:8]
19:8-19:12 David assigns Yoav to organize the army [10:9-10:12]
19:13-19:15 Aram and Ammon flee [10:13-10:16]
19:16-19:19 Israel defeats Aram; Aram makes peace [10:17-10:19]
20:1-20:3 Yoav attacks Ammon; David arrives later and they conquer Ammon [11:1,12:26-12:31]
20:4-20:5,20:6-20:8 Israel defeats the Philistines in several wars
21:1-21:7 Satan induces David to perform a census over Yoav's objections; God attacks Israel [24:1-24:9]
21:8 David asks God for forgiveness in ordering the census [24:10]
21:9-21:12 Gad asks David whether punishment should be by famine, war, or disease [24:11-24:13]
21:13-21:15 David chooses disease; God stops the angel of destruction at Aranuah's threshing floor [24:14-24:16]
21:16-21:17 David sees the angel; asks God to punish only his family and not the people [24:17]
21:18-21:26 On Gad's command, David buys Aranuah's threshing floor, builds an altar and offers sacrifices [24:18-24:25]
21:27-21:30 David sacrifices at the threshing floor because he is still afraid to go to the Mishkan in Givon [ShB 24:25]
22:1 David declares the threshing floor to be a house for God
22:2-22:4 David prepares stone, metal, and wood for the Temple
22:5-22:6 David prepares for Shlomo's building of the Temple and instructs him to build it
22:7-22:17 David explains to Shlomo why he cannot build the Temple and so Shlomo must
22:18-22:19 David tells the people's princes to help Shlomo build the Temple
23:1-23:5 David is old; he gathers the Levites; census of Levites
23:6,23:7,23:8,23:9,23:10-23:11,23:12,23:13-23:14,23:15;23:17,23:18-23:23 Families of Levi
23:24-23:32 New list of Levite tasks now that there will be a Temple and they won't need to carry stuff any more
24:1-24:5 Priestly families
24:6 The lists of priestly and Levite families are written down
24:7-24:18,24:19 The 24 priestly divisions in the order they will serve in the Temple
24:20-24:31 Descendants of Levi
25:1-25:3,25:4-25:8 Levites assigned to play music in the Temple
25:9-25:31 The 24 divisions of musicians
26:1-26:5,26:6;26:9,26:10-26:13 Levites who will be doorkeepers
26:14-26:16,26:17,26:18-26:20,26:21,26:22,26:23-26:24,26:25-26:28 Levite assignments as doorkeepers and treasury guards
26:29-26:32 Levites who oversee the people
27:1 Israel serves the king in monthly divisions of 24000 people
27:2-27:15 Chiefs of each division
27:16-27:34 Chiefs of each tribe; officers over agricultural activities and other officials
28:1-28:10 David tells Israel's leaders and officials that Shlomo will be king and build the Temple, and tells the people and Shlomo to follow God
28:11-28:19 David gives Shlomo blueprints and measurements of the future Temple and its vessels
28:20-28:21 David encourages Shlomo to build the Temple and lists the groups of people who will help Shlomo to build
29:1-29:9 David publicly gives his treasures to the Temple building fund; many people follow his example
29:10-29:19 David prays publicly; telling God that the treasure is really His, and asking God's help in remaining righteous
29:20-29:25 The people bow down and offer sacrifices; Shlomo is anointed and accepted as king
29:26-29:30 David dies [Melachim A 2:11-2:12]
1:1-1:10 Shlomo rules and sacrifices at Givon; in a dream he asks God for wisdom [3:4-3:9]
1:11-1:13 God promises Shlomo wisdom, and wealth and honor too [3:10-3:13]
1:14-2:1 Shlomo has abundant chariots, silver, gold, horses; he gathers workers to the build the Temple [10:26-10:29,5:29-5:30]
2:2-2:9 Shlomo asks Hiram for artisans and supplies, and offers to pay in food [5:17-5:20]
2:10-2:15 Hiram agrees [5:21-5:23]
2:16-3:7 Shlomo's non-Jewish labor force; outer dimensions of the Temple [5:29-5:30,6:2-6:3,6:22,6:29]
3:8-3:13 Details of the inner chamber and the keruvim [6:23-6:28]
3:14 Details of the parochet
3:15,3:16-3:17 Details of pillars [7:15-7:22]
4:1 Details of brass altar
4:2-4:5 Details of the large basin [7:23-7:26]
4:6,4:7,4:8 Details of washing stations, candlesticks, tables, basins [7:27-7:39]
4:9-4:18 Details of doors and utensils [7:40-7:46]
4:19-4:22 Details of more utensils [7:47-7:51]
5:1 Shlomo brings the vessels David made to the Temple treasury [7:51]
5:2-5:10 Shlomo and the people move the ark to the now-finished Temple [8:1-8:9]
5:11-5:14 Levites sing praises to God; the cloud of God's glory fills the Temple [8:10-8:11]
6:1-6:13 Shlomo speaks to the people saying that God chose David and he is fulfilling David's desire to build a Temple [8:12-8:21]
6:14-6:23 Shlomo asks God to accept prayers for forgiveness towards the Temple - by individuals... [8:22-8:32]
6:24-6:25 ... or by the nation after military defeat... [8:33-8:34]
6:26-6:27 ... or in time of drought... [8:35-8:36]
6:28-6:31 ... or during other calamities... [8:37-8:40]
6:32-6:40 ... and also to accept prayers of non-Jewish pilgrims, or exiled Jews [8:41-8:50]
6:41-6:42 Conclusion to the prayer - a general request for God's presence
7:1-7:4 Fire from heaven consumes the sacrifices; the people thank God
7:5-7:6 Thousands of animals are sacrificed; the priests and Levites give thanks [8:62-8:63]
7:7-7:11 Additional space must be consecrated for all the offerings in the ceremony; the whole people is present [8:64-8:66]
7:12-7:22 God appears to Shlomo; promises reward for obedience, but destruction and exile for disobedience [9:1-9:9]
8:1-8:9 Shlomo builds many cities with Canaanite labor [9:17-9:22]
8:10-8:11 Shlomo's officers; he builds a palace for Pharaoh's daughter so she won't live in David's palace (which is holy since the ark was there) [9:23-9:24]
8:12-8:16 Shlomo sets a routine for Torah-required sacrifices and for personnel assignments [9:25]
8:17-8:18 Shlomo sends ships out of Eilat to get gold [9:26-9:28]
9:1-9:12 Queen of Sheva visits; is impressed by Shlomo's wisdom in ruling; gives gifts [10:1-10:13]
9:13-9:21 Shlomo's gold, throne, and vessels [10:14-10:22]
9:22-9:24 Shlomo receives gifts from kings who come to seek his wisdom [10:23-10:25]
9:25-9:30 Shlomo's army, territory, wealth, and horses; Shlomo dies [5:6,5:4,10:26-10:29,11:42-11:43]
10:1-10:5 Rechavam goes to Schem to be made king; the people ask for a lightening of their labor duties [12:1-12:5]
10:6-10:11 Rechavam's old advisors tell him to agree to their demand; the young advisors tell him not to [12:6-12:11]
10:12-10:16 Rechavam refuses their demand; all except Yehudah reject his kingship [12:12-12:17]
10:17-10:18 Rechavam still rules over Yehudah; Israelites kill Rechavam's labor collector; Rechavam flees to Jerusalem [12:18]
10:19-11:1 Kingdom is split; Rechavam raises an army for reconquest [12:19,12:21]
11:2-11:4 Prophet Shemayah tells Rechavam not to fight; he doesn't [12:22-12:24]
11:5-11:12 Rechavam builds defense cities in Yehudah
11:13-12:1 Levites and others flee Israel and strengthen Yehudah; Rechavam's kids; Rechavam and all Israel leave the Torah [14:22-14:24]
12:2-12:4 Shishak king of Egypt invades Yehudah [14:25]
12:5-12:8 Shemayah ascribes the invasion to their leaving God; the people confess; God limits Shishak's success
12:9-12:12 Shishak takes the royal and Temple treasuries and leaves; Rechavam visits the Temple [14:26-14:28]
12:13-12:14,12:15-12:17 Rechavam rules 17 years and does evil; Israel was continually at war with Yehudah; Rechavam dies [14:29-14:31]
13:1-13:3 Aviam rules Yehudah; he and Yeravam raise armies and prepare for war with each other [15:1-15:2,15:6]
13:4-13:5,13:6-13:9,13:10-(13:12) Aviam gives a speech saying that God is on Yehudah's side
(13:13)-13:20 Yehudah crushes Israel in the battle and conquers some territory; Yeravam never recovers [15:6]
13:21-13:23 Aviam's children; Aviam dies [15:7-15:8]
14:1-14:6 Asa rules, is righteous, removes idolatry, and builds fortified cities [15:11-15:12,15:14]
14:7,14:8-14:10 Asa's army; an (Egyptian) army invades, Asa prays to God for help
14:11-14:14 Asa defeats the army and despoils (Egyptian-allied?) cities around Gerar
15:1-15:2,15:3-15:7 Prophet Azaryahu encourages Asa to follow God, since God helped them in war
15:8-15:9 Asa takes the opportunity to remove idolatry and renew the Temple
15:10-15:19 Yehudah gathers in Jerusalem and swears loyalty to God; idolatry is removed but high places remain; there is peace for 20 years [15:14-15:15]
16:1-16:5 Israel builds Ramah to disrupt Yehudah's travel; Yehudah pays Aram to attack Israel; Israel withdraws [15:16-15:21]
16:6 Yehudah builds Geva and Mitzpah nearby in place of Ramah [15:22]
16:7-16:14 Prophet Hanani condemns Asa for relying on Aram; Asa imprisons him; Asa's foot diseased but he relies on (witch) doctors; Asa dies [15:23-15:24]
17:1-17:6 Yehoshafat rules; is righteous and successful; removes idolatry and positions army units across Yehudah [22:41,22:43-22:44]
17:6-17:11 Yehoshafat sends Levites to teach Torah to the people; the surrounding kingdoms are afraid to attack and bring tribute
17:12-17:14,17:15,17:16,17:17,17:18,17:19 Yehoshafat's military officers
18:1-18:17 Achav and Yehoshafat consult about war on Aram; all prophets except Michiyahu recommend war [22:2-22:18]
18:18-18:22 Michiyahu prophesies defeat [22:19-22:23]
18:23-19:1 Michiyahu is thrown in jail; Achav killed in battle [22:24-22:35]
19:2-19:11 Prophet Yehu attributes the defeat to injustice in Yehudah; Yehoshafat appoints new judges and warns them and the old ones to be just
20:1-20:13 Moav, Ammon, Edom ally against Yehudah; Yehoshafat proclaims a fast and prays to God for help
20:14-20:30 Yachaziel prophesizes success without fighting a battle; Moav and Ammon begin fighting Edom and wipe each other out; there is peace
20:31-21:3 Yehoshafat is righteous (a summary); he and Achazyahu of Israel send ships to Tarshish but they fail; all his sons get gifts but only Yehoram rules after Asa dies [MeA 22:42-22:44,22:48-22:51]
21:4-21:11 Yehoram rules; kills all his brothers; does evil; Edom rebels and becomes independent [Melachim B 8:16-8:24]
21:12-22:1 Eliyahu sends a letter condemning Yehoram; Yehoram's family dies except for one son (Achazyahu) and Yehoram suffers; Yehoram dies
22:2-22:12 Achazyahu rules; does evil; Yehu kills Achazyahu; his mother Atalyahu kills the royal family except Yoash and rules [9:16,9:27-9:28,11:1-11:3]
23:1-23:11 Yehoyada the priest appoints bodyguards for Yoash; Yoash is publicly made king at the Temple [11:4-11:12]
23:12-23:13 Atalyahu arrives; declares that the coronation is treason [11:13-11:14]
23:14-23:15 Atalyahu is killed once she leaves the Temple [11:15-11:16]
23:16-24:2 Yehoyada eradicates Baal worship and makes a new covenant with God; Yoash rules [11:17-12:1]
24:3-24:14 Yoash raises a tax and uses it to repair the Temple and its vessels [12:5-12:15]
24:15-24:16 Yehoyada dies and is buried with the kings of Yehudah
24:17-24:19 After his death, the princes of Yehudah worship idols and ignore prophetic condemnation
24:20-24:22 Zecharyahu son of Yehoyada condemns the idolatry; Yoash has him killed
24:23-24:27 Aram attacks Yehudah, takes spoil and kills the princes; Yoash is assassinated [12:18-12:22]
25:1-25:10 Amatzyahu rules Yehudah; is mostly righteous; kills his father's assassins but not their kids; hires Israel to help fight Edom but sends their army home on a prophet's orders [14:1-14:6]
25:11-25:13 Yehudah defeats Edom and massacres 10000; returning Israel army feels snubbed and attacks cities of Yehudah [14:7]
25:14-25:16 Amatzyahu brings back and worships Edomite idols; a prophet condemns him; he ignores it
25:17-25:24 Amatzyahu offers friendship with Israel; Israel rebuffs them; war breaks out and Israel despoils Yehudah and captures Amatzyahu [14:8-14:14]
25:25-26:2 Amatzyahu [returned home?] is eventually assassinated; his son Uziyahu (=Azaryahu) rules [14:17-14:22]
26:3-26:10 Uziyahu rules; is righteous; defeats the Philistines and other nations; builds fortifications [15:1,15:3]
26:11-26:23 Uziyahu's army and war machines; Uziyahu wrongly offers incense in the Temple; is punished with leprosy; dies [15:5-15:7]
27:1-27:9 Yotam rules; he is righteous but the people are not; defeats Ammon; dies [15:32-15:36,15:38]
28:1-28:5 Achaz rules; he does all kinds of idolatry; Aram and Israel defeat Yehudah [16:1-16:5]
28:6-28:7,28:8 Israel kills many people in Yehudah and takes many captives
28:9-28:11 Prophet Oded condemns Israel for taking captives and calls for their release, or God will punish them
28:12-28:13,28:14-28:15 Israel releases the captives
28:16-28:27 Edom and Philistines defeat Yehudah; Achaz invites Ashur but they don't help; he does more idolatry and closes the Temple; dies [16:7-16:20]
29:1-29:11 Hizkiyahu rules; is righteous; gathers the priests to cleanse the Temple [18:1-18:3]
29:12,29:13,29:14-29:17 Levites cleanse the Temple; finishing on 16th of Nisan
29:18-29:19 Levites announce to Hizkiyahu that they have finished
29:20-29:26 Hizkiyahu has the priests offer sacrifices
29:27-29:30 Along with the sacrifices, music is played and the people bow down
29:31-29:36 The people bring in and offer offerings; there are too many animals so the Levites help slaughter
30:1-30:9 Hizkiyahu sends letters to the northern tribes asking them to come celebrate Pesach (in Iyar)
30:10-20:19 Many people from the north come and celebrate Pesach, though some of them are impure; idolatrous altars are removed [18:4]
30:20,30:21;30:22,30:23-30:24,30:25-30:26,30:27 The people celebrate Pesach seven days
31:1 Returning celebrants destroy idols and altars in all of Yehudah and in Efraim and Menashe
31:2,31:3-31:6,31:7,31:8 Hizkiyahu appoints priestly rotation; Yehudah brings tithes to the priests
31:9-39:10 Hizkiyahu notices heaps of tithes which were contributed but which the Levites and priests do not need
39:11-39:21 Temple chambers are built to hold the tithes; list of priests; Hezekiah is righteous and successful
32:1-32:8 Ashur besieges Jerusalem; Hizkiyahu institutes defense measures and encourages the people [18:13]
32:9-32:19 Ashur's general taunts Jerusalem, saying that it cannot resist Ashur [18:17,18:19-18:20,18:23,18:28,18:33-18:35]
32:20 Hizkiyahu and Yeshayahu pray to God [19:15-19:19]
32:21-32:23 Ashur's army officers die; Ashur has to retreat; their king is killed when he returns home; nations respect Hizkiyahu [19:35-19:37]
32:24-32:33 Hizkiyahu is sick but prays and recovers; is rich and successful; fails God's test with the ambassadors; dies [20:1-20:21]
33:1-33:9 Menashe rules; does evil; spreads idolatry across the country and in the Temple [21:1-21:9]
33:10-33:20 Menashe ignores calls to repent; is taken captive by Ashur; repents; is returned; removes idolatry [21:17-21:18]
33:21-33:25 Amon rules; does evil; is assassinated [21:19-21:26]
31:1-34:7 Yoshiyahu rules, is righteous; removes idolatry from Yehudah and the north [22:1-22:2,23:4-23:6]
34:8-34:11 Yoshiyahu hires workmen to rebuild the Temple [22:3-22:6]
34:12-34:23 List of work overseers; a "book of Torah" is found; Yoshiyahu reads it; prophetess Hulda is sent for [22:8-22:14]
34:24-34:25 Hulda says the curse in the book will come true, due to Yehudah's sins... [22:15-22:17]
34:26-34:28 ...but not to Yoshiyahu, because he is righteous [22:18-22:20]
34:29-34:33 Yoshiyahu makes a public covenant to God; the people follow it throughout his lifetime [23:1-23:3]
35:1-35:2 Yoshiyahu celebrates Pesach
35:3-35:6 Yoshiyahu tells the Levites to prepare for the celebration of Pesach
35:7 Yoshiyahu provides animals for the people to use as Pesach offerings
35:8-35:18 The sacrifice is carried out; no Pesach has been celebrated like this since the time of Shmuel [23:22-23:22]
35:19-35:24 Egyptian army passes Yehudah to fight Ashur; Yoshiyahu insists on fighting Egypt but is killed in battle at Meggido [23:29-23:30]
35:25-36:4 Yoshiyahu is mourned; Yehoachaz rules but Egypt captures him; his brother Yehoyakim rules [23:31,23:34-23:36]
36:5-36:8 Yehoyakim rules; does evil; Bavel takes him captive [24:1-24:2,24:5-24:6]
36:9-36:10 Yehoyachin rules; does evil; Bavel takes him too captive [24:8-24:10,24:12-24:13,24:15]
36:11-36:21 Tzidkiyahu rules; does evil and ignores prophets; Bavel conquers Yehudah, destroys Temple, and exiles the people [MeB 24:18-24:20,25:8-25:21]
36:22-36:23 Koresh declares that Yehudah can return to rebuild the Temple
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Ezra/Nechemyah
1-4 The return in Koresh' reign
5-6 Temple finished in Daryavesh' reign
7-10 Ezra's return and leadership
1-13 Nechemyah's return and leadership
1:1-1:6 Koresh declares that Jews can return to rebuild the Temple; many of them collect vessels and valuables and prepare to go
1:7-1:9,1:10,1:11 Koresh returns the vessels from the first Temple to Jerusalem
2:1...2:67 List of returnees by family
2:68,2:69,2:70 List of gold, silver, clothing contributed; everyone moves into their cities
3:1 In Tishrei the people gather in Jerusalem
3:2-3:7 They build an altar and offer sacrifices starting the first of Tishrei; they pay workmen and buy cedars from Lebanon
3:8 Levites oversee the Temple construction
3:9,3:10-3:11 Temple foundation is laid; Levites and people praise God
3:12-3:13 But those who had seen the first Temple cry
4:1-4:6 Jews' enemies offer to help construction, are refused; they frustrate the building from Koresh's rule until Daryavesh's and in Ahashverosh's reigns
4:7 A complaint by the enemies to emperor Artachshashta:
4:8-4:11 [Begin Aramaic] Introduction to the complaint
4:12-4:16 Enemies complain that Jerusalem is rebellious and thus cannot be allowed to build a city wall
4:17,4:18-4:22 Artachshashta replies, forbidding Jerusalem to be built
4:23,4:24 Jews are shown the response, forced to stop building the Temple until Daryavesh' reign
5:1,5:2 Prophets Hagai and Zecharyah prophesize; with their help Zerubavel begins building the Temple again
5:3,5:4-5:5 Non-Jews complain that Jews have no authority to build; building continues until a response from Daryavesh is received
5:6...5:17 These non-Jews ask Daryavesh whether Koresh gave them permission to build
6:1-6:2 Daryavesh finds Koresh's declaration
6:3-6:5 Restatement of Koresh's declaration
6:6-6:12 Daryavesh confirms the declaration and asks the non-Jews to contribute sacrifices to the new Temple
6:13-6:15 The non-Jews consent; the Temple is finished
6:16-6:18 Temple is dedicated with sacrifices [End Aramaic]
6:19-6:22 [Begin Hebrew] Jews celebrate Pesach
7:1-7:6 The scribe Ezra returns to Yehudah in Artachshashta's reign
7:7-7:10 Ezra reaches Jerusalem, hoping to make the Jews religious
7:11 Ezra's letter of introduction from Artachshashta:
7:12-7:26 [Aramaic] Ezra is granted authority over Jews of Yehudah, access to royal money for sacrifices, and tax exemptions for priests and Levites
7:27-7:28 [Now in first person] Ezra thanks God for the king's favor; he gathered people to go with him from Bavel
8:1-8:14 List of Jews who come with Ezra
8:15-8:19 Ezra and his group gather at the river Ahva; there are no Levites among them, so some are sent for
8:20-8:30 Having refused a royal escort, they fast and pray for protection on the journey; they dedicate vessels to the Temple
8:31-8:34 Ezra's group arrives safely in Jerusalem
8:35,8:36 Sacrifices are made to God; the king's command is distributed to local officials
9:1-9:2 Princes tell Ezra that the people has intermarried
9:3-9:9,9:10-9:14,9:15 Ezra fasts and prays, confessing the people's guilt to God
10:1 [Now in third person] The people gather with Ezra and cry
10:2-10:4 One of the people suggests to Ezra to make a covenant with God and get rid of the foreign wives
10:5-10:6 Ezra makes the people swear they will do this
10:7-10:8 Ezra makes the entire people come to Jerusalem, or else lose their property and communal standing
10:9 The people come to Jerusalem
10:10-10:14 Ezra calls on the people to confess and divorce their foreign wives; they offer to do so, but only over time in a rotation
10:15-10:17 The wives are divorced
10:18...10:44 List of people who had married foreign women
1:1-1:11 [In first person] Nechemyah (in Shushan) is informed that Jerusalem is poor and unwalled; he prays to God for success
2:1-2:3 Nechemyah serves as King Artachshashta's cupbearer; when asked he tells the king he is sad because of Jerusalem's continued destruction
2:4-2:9 Nechemyah asks to go rebuild Jerusalem; the king agrees and gives him letters of passage and guards
2:10-2:18 Nechemyah arrives, tours the destroyed wall at night, and encourages the people to rebuild
2:19-3:32 Non-Jews mock the rebuilding; list of people and the parts of the wall they rebuild
3:33-3:35 Non-Jews are angry and mock the rebuilding
3:36-3:38 Nechemyah's prayer that God punish the mockers; wall is rebuilt to half its height
4:1-4:8 Non-Jews gather an army to disrupt building; Nechemyah gathers a defense force
4:9-4:17 Building continues under heavy guard
5:1-5:8 The people complain that they are bankrupt and forced to sell their children as slaves; Nechemyah tells the rich to loan to the poor
5:9-5:19 Nechemyah makes the rich promise to return the fields and property to the poor; Nechemyah has refused to tax the people
6:1-6:4 Non-Jews try to lure Nechemyah to a meeting (at which he would be killed?); Nechemyah refuses
6:5-6:7 Non-Jews try to lure him again, saying that he is seen is a rebel king
6:8-6:13 Nechemyah ignores this call, and refuses a false prophet's call to hide in the Temple
6:14-6:15 Wall is finished
6:16-7:5 Non-Jews are afraid; Toviah plots against Nechemyah; Jerusalem is guarded; Nechemyah finds Ezra's genealogy and wants to add to it
7:6...7:38 Ezra's list of returnees by family [Ezra 2:1-2:35]
7:39...7:42 List of returnees by family - priests [2:36-2:39]
7:43...7:45 List of returnees by family - Levites [2:40-2:42]
7:46...7:60 List of returnees by family - Netinim [2:43-2:58]
7:61-7:62,7:63-7:68 List of returnees - those of uncertain family [2:59-2:67]
7:69-7:71 List of gold, silver, clothing contributed [2:68-2:69]
7:72-8:4 Ezra gathers the people on Rosh Hashanah in order to read the Torah to them
8:5-8:8 Ezra reads and the Levites help the people understand
8:9-8:12 Ezra, Nechemyah, and the Levites tell the people to celebrate and not cry
8:13-8:15 The next day they find and publicize the laws of Sukkot
8:16-8:18 Sukkot is celebrated according to its laws
9:1-9:3 Later that month, the Jews fast and confess intermarriage
9:4-9:37 Levites pray, thanking God for past protection, admitting the people's past rebellion, and making a covenant to obey God
10:1-10:9,10:10-10:14 List of people who sign the covenant
10:15-10:34 More signees; they and the rest of the people commit to obey the Torah - particularly intermarriage, Shabbat, shviit, and Temple contributions
10:35-11:2 More commitments: Temple wood supplies, first-fruits, tithes; lots are cast to see who will live in Jerusalem and who elsewhere
11:3-11:6 List of people living in Jerusalem - from Yehudah
11:7-11:9 List of people living in Jerusalem - from Binyamin
11:10-11:14 List of people living in Jerusalem - priests
11:15-11:18 List of people living in Jerusalem - Levites
11:19-11:21 List of porters in Jerusalem; other Jews and Netinim live elsewhere
11:22-11:36 List of Levite singers; people from Yehudah outside Jerusalem
12:1-12:7 Priests at the time of Yeshua and Zerubavel
12:8-12:22 Levites at the time of Yeshua; priests and Levites a couple generations later (in Daryavesh' reign)
12:23-12:26 Levites at the time of Ezra and Nechemyah (still later)
12:27-12:34,12:35-12:47 Levites and princes present at the dedication of Jerusalem's wall; the people celebrate; officers are appointed over tithes
13:1-13:9 Ammonites and Moavites are ostracized (by Torah law); in Nechemyah's absence Toviah moves into the Temple; Nechemyah returns and expels him
13:10-13:13 Tithes have not been distributes; Nechemyah appoints more reliable overseers
13:14-13:18 Nechemyah condemns people who are breaking Shabbat
13:19-13:21 Nechemyah has the city gates closed for Shabbat, and scares away non-Jewish merchants outside the gates
13:22 Levites guard the gates on Shabbat
13:23-13:29 Nechemyah condemns intermarriers, and expels a prominent one
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Yeshayahu 36-39
36:1-36:10 Assyria attacks Yehudah; general Ravshakeh says Egypt cannot help Yehudah [Melachim B 18:13,18:17-18:25]
36:11-36:15 Ravshakeh is asked to speak in Aramaic not Hebrew; refuses and keeps speaking [18:26-18:30]
36:16-36:22 Ravshakeh offers exile, says God won't help any more than other nations' deities helped them [18:31-18:37]
37:1-37:14 Hizkiyahu mourns; Yeshayahu says not to worry; Assyria fights in Livnah but promises to return to fight Yehudah [19:1-19:14]
37:15-37:32 Hizkiyahu prays to God to save them; Yeshayahu predicts Assyria's defeat [19:15-19:32]
37:33-37:35 Yeshayahu predicts Jerusalem's survival [19:33-19:34]
37:36-37:38 A plague (?) decimates the Assyrian army; Assyria leaves; king of Assyria killed on his return [19:35-19:37]
38:1-38:3 Hizkiyahu sick; Yeshayahu predicts his death; Hizkiyahu prays to God [20:1-20:3]
38:4-38:8 Yeshayahu returns; predicts Hizkiyahu's and Jerusalem's survival; performs a miracle to prove it will happen [20:4-20:6,20:9-20:11]
38:9-38:22 A psalm Hizkiyahu wrote about his sickness; how Yeshayahu healed him [20:7-20:8]
39:1-39:2 Babylonian ambassadors come; Hizkiyahu shows them his treasures [20:12-20:13]
39:3-39:8 Yeshayahu predicts expulsion to Babylonia [20:14-20:19]
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Yirmiyahu 37-44,52
(Historical events, not those centering on Yirmiyahu)
37:1-37:5 Tzidkiyahu rules in place of Yehoyachin; does evil; Egyptian army breaks Babylonian siege on Jerusalem [Melachim B 24:19]
37:6-37:8,37:9-37:11 Yirmiyahu prophesizes Babylonia will still conquer Jerusalem
37:12-38:2 Yirmiyahu arrested (for treason), imprisoned
38:3-38:6 The people call for his execution; he is thrown in a pit
38:7-38:13 The officer Eved-melech intercedes and Yirmiyahu is taken out of the pit
38:14-38:16 Tzidkiyahu asks Yirmiyahu for the truth about the future
38:17-38:18 Yirmiyahu predicts destruction if Tzidkiyahu does not surrender first
38:19-38:23 Tzidkiyahu refuses to surrender out of a sense of honor; Yirmiyahu predicts greater dishonor
38:24-28:26 Tzidkiyahu tells Yirmiyahu not to report their conversation
38:27-38:28 Yirmiyahu reports the conversation to the princes, but they do not repeat it further, so Yirmiyahu survives
39:1-39:14 Babylonia besieges, Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured and exiled; Jerusalem captured and destroyed; people exiled [25:1-25:12]
39:15-39:18 After Yirmiyahu's arrest and releast to Gedalyahu, Yirmiyahu prophesizes good for Eved-melech
40:7-40:12 Gedalyahu appointed governor by Babylonia; promises protection to remaining Jews; some return from neighboring areas [25:23-25:24]
40:13-40:16 Yochanan tells Gedalyahu of a plot on Gedalyahu's life by Yishmael, offers to kill Yishmael; Gedalyahu refuses
41:1-41:10 Yishmael kills Gedalyahu, takes Gedalyahu officers and household with him, flees to Ammon
41:11-41:15 Yochanan raises an army against Yishmael; Yishmael's forces desert him but he flees to Ammon
41:16-41:18 Yochanan's forces flee towards Egypt, fearing Babylonia
42:1-42:6 Yochanan's forces meet Yirmiyahu and swear loyalty to God
42:7-42:22 Yirmiyahu, in God's name, warns them not to flee to Egypt but to stay in Yehudah
43:1-43:7 Yochanan's forces, and those who returned, disobey and flee to Egypt
43:8-43:13 Yirmiyahu predicts a Babylonian conquest of Egypt
44:1-44:6 Yirmiyahu prophesizes: Just as Yehudah disobeyed God and was punished...
44:7-44:10 ...and the people still disobey God...
44:11-44:14 ...they, who went to Egypt, will all die there.
44:15-44:19 The people respond that they will continue with idolatry, blaming exile on a stop in idolatry
44:20-44:23 Yirmiyahu responds that exile was because of the idolatry
44:24-44:25 Yirmiyahu notes their commitment to idolatry...
44:26-44:29 ...predicts their total destruction...
44:30 ...and Egypt's defeat
...
52:1-52:23 Tzidkiyahu rules; sins; Babylonia besieges Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured; Jerusalem captured and burnt; people exiled [24:18-25:17]
52:24-52:27 Leaders of Yehudah killed by Babylonia [25:18-25:21]
52:28-52:30 Total number of captives taken
52:31-52:34 New king of Babylonia privileges Yehoyachin [25:27-25:30]
1-5:12 Entering the land
5:13-12 Conquering the land (and Mount Eval)
13-21 Dividing up the land
21-24 Remaining loyal to God
1:1-1:9 After Moshe's death, God tells Yehoshua to be courageous and keep the law, in order to conquer successfully
1:10-1:11 Yehoshua tells Israel to prepare food for after the crossing into Canaan
1:12-1:18 Yehoshua tells the two-and-a-half tribes to keep their promise to fight with Israel; the tribes agree
2:1-2:24 Yehoshua sends spies to Yericho; Rahav hosts them; they report Yehoshua that Israel will win
3:1-3:4 Yehoshua commands the people to follow the ark, but to keep a distance
3:5-3:6 Yehoshua tells the people to sanctify themselves; the priests carry the ark
3:7-3:8 God tells Yehoshua to have the priest stop the ark in the middle of the Jordan river
3:9-4:1 The Jordan stops flowing with the ark in the middle, and all Israel crosses
4:2-4:3 Yehoshua is to select one person per tribe to pick up a stone from the Jordan bed
4:4-4:13 They take stones; twelve other stones are erected in the river; the people and warriors from the 2 1/2 tribes cross over
4:14 The people fear Yehoshua as they feared Moshe
4:15-4:24 The ark leaves the Jordan; it flows again; the twelve stones are erected in Gilgal as remembrance of the crossing
5:1 The peoples of Canaan are afraid
5:2-5:8 Yehoshua circumcises the people
5:9-5:12 God: shame of Egypt has been removed; Israel observes Pesach, eats produce of the land; manna stops falling
5:13-6:1 God's "war minister" angel confronts Yehoshua; Jericho besieged
6:2-6:11 Angel tells them to circle Jericho for seven days, after which its wall will collapse
6:12-6:25 They do so; the wall collapses; they conquer and massacre the city; Rahav's family is saved; the city is burnt
6:26 Yehoshua curses anyone who rebuilds Jericho
6:27-7:1 Achan took booty from Jericho, against Yehoshua's command
7:2-7:26 Part of the army attacks Ai, is defeated; God blames it on sin and identifies Achan; Achan is stoned
8:1-8:17 God gives Yehoshua a battle plan; a small force attacks Ai then flees; Ai's army pursues
8:18-8:29 While the army is gone; Israel attacks and burns the city Ai, then traps and massacres its army outside the city
8:30-9:2 Israel goes to Mount Eval; sacrifices; Yehoshua reads from the Torah; Canaanites ally and gather to fight Israel
9:3-9:27 Residents of Givon pretend to be travelers; make peace with Joshua; Israel finds out, makes them into manual laborers
10:1-10:7 Five Canaanite kings prepare for war against Givon; Givon asks Israel to help
10:8-10:11 Joshua defeats the kings in battle; God helps by raining hailstones
10:12-10:14 Joshua commands the sun to stand still, giving more time to win the battle
10:15-10:27 The kings are captured at Makedah and Joshua publicly kills them
10:28 Israel massacres Makedah
10:29-10:30 Israel battles and massacres Livnah
10:31-10:32 Israel besieges, conquers, and massacres Lachish
10:33-10:35 Israel destroys the army of Gezer (which helped Lachish) and conquers and massacres Eglon
10:36-10:37 Israel conquers and massacres Hevron
10:38-10:43 Israel conquers and massacres Devir; after conquering the entire south of the land, the army returns to Gilgal
11:1-11:5 Many northern kings, led by Hatzor, ally against Israel
11:6-11:9 Israel ambushes their camp and destroys their army
11:10-11:20 Israel conquers and massacres Hatzor, then gradually conquers and massacres the other northern kingdoms
11:21-11:23 Israel destroys the Anakim, except from Philistine lands; the whole land is conquered and peaceful
12:1-12:6 Moshe had conquered the kingdoms of Sichon and Og
12:7-12:8 The kings Yehoshua conquered on the west side of the Jordan:
12:9-12:24 List of 31 kings
13:1-13:14 God commands Yehoshua to allot the land to tribes; 2.5 tribes remain on the east bank; Levi gets no land
13:15-13:23 Territory of Reuven
13:24-13:28 Territory of Gad
13:29-13:32 Territory of eastern Menashe
13:33 Levi gets no territory
14:1-14:5 9.5 tribes get territory on the west bank
14:6-14:15 Kalev ben Yefuneh asks for and gets Hevron as his territory
15:1-15:19 Territory of Yehudah; Kalev gets Hevron; his nephew conquers and gets Devir
15:20-15:32 Cities of Yehudah in the south
15:33-15:36,15:37-15:41,15:42-15:44,15:45,15:46,15:47 Cities of Yehudah in the plain
15:48-15:49,15:50-15:51,15:52-15:54,15:55-15:57,15:58-15:59,15:60 Cities of Yehudah in the mountains
15:61-15:63 Cities of Yehudah in the desert; Jerusalem remains unconquered
16:1-16:10 Territory of Efraim and Menashe; Gezer is not massacred by Efraim
17:1-17:13 Territory of Menashe; cities on the northern border were not massacred
17:14-17:18 Efraim and Menashe complain they don't have enough land; Yehoshua tells them to cut down the mountain forest and defeat the Canaanites
18:1-18:10 Seven tribes remain; tribal messengers researches the land; Yehoshua casts lots in Shiloh and divides the land
18:11-18:20 Territory of Binyamin
18:21-18:27 Cities of Binyamin
19:1-19:9 Territory of Shimon, within Yehudah
19:10-19:16 Territory of Zevulun
19:17-19:23 Territory of Yissachar
19:24-19:31 Territory of Asher
19:32-19:39 Territory of Naftali
19:40-19:48 Territory of Dan; they also conquered Leshem in the north and renamed it Dan
19:49-19:51 End of territorial division; Yehoshua gets land in Efraim
20:1-20:9 Cities of refuge are picked as the Torah requires
21:1-21:2 Tribe of Levi requests cities from Yehoshua (in Shiloh)
21:3-21:4,21:5,21:6,21:7,21:8 Levi is given cities across Israel
21:9-21:12 Kohanim take Hevron, but give its surroundings (back) to Kalev
21:13-21:16 Other cities given to Kohanim from Yehudah
21:17-21:19 Cities given to Kohanim from Binyamin
21:20-21:22 Family of Kehat gets cities from Efraim
21:23-21:26 Family of Kehat gets cities from Dan and Menashe
21:27 Family of Gershon gets cities from Menashe in the Golan
21:28-21:29 Family of Gershon gets cities from Yissachar
21:30-21:31 Family of Gershon gets cities from Asher
21:32-21:33 Family of Gershon gets cities from Naftali
21:34-21:35 Family of Merari gets cities from Zevulun
21:36-21:40 Family of Merari gets cities from Gad; overall tribe of Levi gets 48 cities
21:41-21:43 God's promise to give Israel the land has been fulfilled
22:1-22:6 Yehoshua lets the eastern tribes go home
22:7-22:8 Yehoshua tells eastern Menashe to share with western Menashe any spoil they capture in war
22:9-22:12 Eastern tribes go home, but on the way build an altar at the Jordan; the rest of Israel prepares to fight them
22:12-22:20 Western tribes send emissaries condemning the altar building
22:21-22:29 Eastern tribes protest that it is just a symbol (that worshiping God is not limited to the western tribes)
22:30-22:34 Western tribes are satisfied
23:1-23:16 Yehoshua is old; he preaches to all Israel to obey God and not intermarry, or else they will lose the land
24:1-24:15 Yehoshua gathers Israel to Shechem; reviews their history and asks them to choose God-worship or idolatry
24:16-24:26 The people choose God-worship; Yehoshua makes a formal covenant and records the decision
24:27-24:28 Yehoshua sets up a memorial stone by the Mishkan
24:29-24:33 Yehoshua dies; Israel serves God in his lifetime and for some time afterwards
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Shoftim
1-2:10 Introduction
2:11-5 The cycle of sin, defeat, prayer, victory by a judge
6-16 Flawed judges
17-21 Moral depravity in the absence of a king
1:1-1:7 After Yehoshua's death; Yehudah fights the Canaanites at God's command; they win in Bezek
1:8-1:15 Yehudah conquers Jerusalem, Hevron, Devir
1:16-1:21 Yehudah conquers Hormah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron; drives out the mountain but not the valley residents or Jebusites
1:22-1:26 Efraim/Menashe conquer and massacre Beit-El with the help of a resident
1:27-1:28,1:29,1:30 Menashe, Efraim, Zevulun do not drive out various cities
1:31-1:32 Asher dwells among the Canaanites of its territory
1:33-1:36 Naftali does not drive out some cities. Amorites do not let Dan enter the coastal plain
2:1-2:5 God's messenger castigates them for not driving out the Canaanites; the people weep
2:6-2:10 Yehoshua has died; a new generation does not remember God's miracles
2:11-2:23 Historical summary: Israelites worship idols; God punishes them; judges rescue them; God does not let the Canaanites be entirely subjugated
3:1-3:6 The remaining peoples, which Israel married with and served idols with
3:7-3:11 Israel worships idols; Aram subjugates them; Israel prays to God; judge Otniel rescues them
3:12-3:30 Israel sins again; Moav subjugates them; Israel prays; Ehud kills Moav's king then defeats their army
3:31 Shamgar also saves Israel
4:1-4:3 Israel sins; Yavin of Hatzor rules them; Israel prays
4:4-4:24 Devorah leads Israel to a victory over Hatzor
5:1-5:31 Devorah's song after the victory
6:1-6:6 Israel sins; Midian subjugates and oppresses them
6:7-6:10 A prophet castigates them for idol worship
6:11-6:19 An angel tells Gideon to save Israel; Gideon protests he is too weak and asks for a sign
6:20-6:24 The angel causes Gideon's sacrifice to spontaneously combust
6:25-6:32 God commands Gideon to destroy the local Baal altar; and Ashera; Gideon does so; not punished because Baal if real would punish
6:33-6:40 Midian and Amalek approach; Gideon raises an army; asks for two more Divine signs before battle and gets them
7:1 Gideon's forces encamp
7:2-7:3 God wants fewer warriors so the victory will be miraculous; Gideon sends home the fearful
7:4-7:6 God wants still fewer warriors; Gideon sends home everyone who does not drink a certain way; only 300 left
7:7-7:8 Gideon keeps the 300; God promises victory
7:9-7:14 God commands Gideon to eavesdrop on the enemy; he hears them predicting defeat at Gideon's hands based on a dream
7:15-7:18 Gideon spreads the battle plan
7:19-8:9 The 300 warriors blow shofars and break jugs; Midian panics and flees; Gideon threatens local leaders who don't aid his chase
8:10-8:21 Gideon captures the Midianite kings and remaining army; punishes the local leaders; and kills the kings
8:22-8:28 The people wants Gideon as king; he refuses; he makes a gold "ephod" from the spoils, but it is later used for idol worship
8:29-8:32 Gideon has 70 sons, including Avimelech whose mother is from Shechem, and dies
8:33-8:36 After his death, Israelites worship idols again and don't show kindness to Gideon's family
9:1-9:5 Avimelech offers Shechem to get rid of the 70 sons; people of Shechem agree; Avimelech kills all sons except one, Yotam
9:6-9:21 Shechem crowns Avimelech; Yotam tells Shechem they will suffer consequences if their intentions are bad; Yotam flees
9:22-9:25 Avimelech rules 3 years; God makes Shechem and Avimelech quarrel as punishment for the killings
9:26-9:41 Gaal ben Eved incites Shechem against Avimelech; Avimelech defeat's Gaal's forces
9:42-9:45 Avimelech conquers and massacres Shechem
9:46-9:49 Avimelech's men cut down trees and make a fire which kills the rest of Shechem
9:50-9:57 Avimelech attacks Tevetz; a woman throws a millstone from the wall, killing him
10:1-10:2 Tola judges Israel
10:3-10:5 Yair judges Israel
10:6-10:10 Israel sins; Ammon oppresses them; Israel cries out to God
10:11-10:16 God tells Israel to rely on its false gods; Israel removes the false gods; God sympathizes
10:17-10:18 Ammon and Israel (Gilad) assemble to fight; Israel searches for a war commander
11:1-11:3 Yiftach was a mighty warrior but illegitimately born and expelled from his family
11:4-11:11 Gilad asks Yiftach to lead the army; he agrees
11:12-11:28 Ammon asks for land; Yiftach replies that it was legitimately obtained in Moses' wars
11:29-11:31 Yiftach gets God's spirit; vows to sacrifice whatever leaves his house first on his return (presumably an animal)
11:32-11:33 Yiftach wins the war
11:34-11:39 Yiftach returns home; his daughter leaves the house first; he feels forced to sacrifice her; she consents and he does it
12:1-12:7 Efraim complains about being left out of the Ammon war; Efraim and Gilad fight a civil war; Gilad wins
12:8-12:10 Ibzan judges Israel
12:11-12:12 Elon judges Israel
12:13-12:15 Abdon judges Israel
13:1 Israel sins; Philistines oppress them
13:2-13:7 Angel appears to Manoach's wife saying she will have a son who must be a Nazir from before birth
13:8-13:14 Manoach asks God for the angel's return; the angel repeats to Manoach what he told her
13:15-13:18 The angel refuses food and to reveal his name
13:19-13:25 The angel miraculously leaves; a son Shimshon is born
14:1-14:20 Shimshon marries a Philistine; he bets Philistines over a riddle; his wife tells them the answer; Shimshon plunders Ashkelon to pay the bet
15:1-15:8 Shimshon's wife given to another man; in anger Shimson burns Philistine fields; Philistines kill his wife; he slaughters them
15:9-15:20 Philistine army comes for Shimshon; Israelites deliver him to Philistines; he breaks his ropes and kills Philistines with a jawbone
16:1-16:3 Shimshon visits a prostitute in Gaza; Philistines lay in wait for him; he destroys the city gate on his way out
16:4-16:22 Shimshon marries Delilah; she coaxes out the secret of his strength (uncut hair); she shaves him; Philistines capture and blind him
16:23-16:31 Philistines prepare to sacrifice to their god over Shimshon's capture; Shimshon, hair regrown, destroys the temple and all inside
17:1-17:6 Michah returns stolen money to his mother; she gives part back to him to make an idol; he builds a temple around it
17:7-17:13 Michah enlists a traveling Levite as his priest
18:1 Tribe of Dan searching for land to live on
18:2-18:6 Dan's spies visit the temple
18:7-18:31 Dan plunders the temple on its way north, sets up the idol in the city of Dan when they get there
19:1-19:30 A Levite's concubine flees; he brings her back; only one person in Givah hosts them; a mob gathers and is appeased by raping and killing her; the Levite sends pieces of her body around the country
20:1-20:2 All of Israel assembles for war
20:3-20:11 Israel hears the Levite's story and vows revenge against Givah
20:12-20:16 Tribe of Benjamin refuses to deliver the men of Givah; Benjamin prepares for war
20:17-20:23 With God's consent, Israel fights Benjamin, but loses
20:24-20:29 On the second day of battle Israel loses again; God tells them to fight one more day
20:30-20:34 Israel draws Benjamin away from the cities
20:35-20:48 Israel wins the battle; massacres all the warriors and civilians of Benjamin, except 600 warriors who escape
21:1-21:4 Israel swore not to intermarry with Benjamin, but now regret wiping out a whole tribe
21:5-21:12 Israel also swore to kill whoever did not come to battle; Yavesh Gilad had not come, so they are massacred, except for young virgins
21:13-21:18 Israel makes peace with the 600 warriors; gives them the virgins of Yavesh Gilad as wives
21:19-21:22 There weren't enough virgins, so Israel arranges for Benjamin to take Israelite women by force, technically not breaking the vow
21:23-21:24 Benjamin does so and rebuilds their tribe
21:25 In the absence of a king, every person did as they think appropriate
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Shmuel
(Parts written by Shmuel, Gad, Natan - see Divrei haYamim I 29:29)
1-7 Shmuel's authority (Shmuel)
8-12 Shmuel appoints a king (Shmuel)
13-15 Shaul's failure as king (Shmuel)
16-18:5 David's rise to prominence (Shmuel 16, Gad 17-18:5)
18:6-26 David as challenger to Shaul (Gad)
27-1 Shaul's death (Gad)
2-8 David's success as king (Gad 2-4, Natan 5-8)
9-20 David's failings and challengers (Natan)
21-24 Postscript (Gad?)
1:1-1:28 Hannah is barren; she prays to God in Shilo; a son Shmuel is birth
2:1-2:10 Hannah's song praising God
2:11-2:21 Shmuel serves in Shilo, Eli's sons are corrupt
2:22-2:26 Eli castigates his sons; they don't listen; Shmuel liked by God and men
2:27-2:36 Man of God curses Eli, predicting a "faithful priest" and temple and king
3:1-3:3 Shmuel serves before God; prophecy is rare. Shmuel and Eli sleep in Shilo
3:4-3:10 Shmuel hears God but thinks it's Eli, three times
3:11-3:18 God confirms the curse on Eli's family to Shmuel; Shmuel tells Eli
3:18-3:20 Shmuel is a famous and successful prophet to all Israel
3:21 Shmuel receives more prophecies in Shilo
4:1-4:22 Philistines win war in Afek, capture the ark; Eli and his sons die (a baby remains)
5:1-5:5 Ark taken to Ashdod; the Philistine idol next to the ark miraculously falls over and later breaks
5:6-5:12 Disease in Ashdod; ark taken out to countryside
6:1-6:14 Philistines return ark to Beit Shemesh with offerings
6:15-6:16 Levites in Beit Shemesh accept ark
6:17 The offerings the Philistines brought (1 per city)
6:18-7:1 Beit Shemesh people die for seeing ark; ark taken to a house in Kiryat Yaarim
7:2 While ark in Kiryat Yaarim (20 years), Israel drawn after God
7:3-7:4 Shmuel calls for monotheism in order to win a war against Philistines; Israelites destroy idols
7:5-7:17 Shmuel gathers Israel in Mitzpah; Israel beats Philistines in war. Shmuel judges all his life
8:1-8:3 Shmuel is old; his sons are corrupt
8:4-8:6 Israel asks Shmuel for a king
8:7-8:9 God to Shmuel: give them a king; they're rejecting God not you
8:10 Shmuel repeats God's message to them
8:11-8:21 Shmuel tries to discourage them from wanting a king; they insist
8:22 God tells Shmuel to give them a king; Shmuel disperses the crowd
9:1-9:14 Shaul introduced; looks for Shmuel to help with finding his animals
9:15-9:20 Shaul arrives; God points him out; Shmuel tells him he will have "kol chemdat yisrael"
9:21 Shaul protests that he's from the weakest family of the weakest tribe
9:22-9:27 Shmuel and Shaul eat and are seen together
10:1-10:9 Shmuel anoints Shaul; gives him signs that he's chosen, which come true. Shaul gets "new heart"
10:10-10:11 Shaul gets "spirit of God" and prophesizes with the prophets
10:12-10:16 Shaul goes home
10:17-10:24 Shmuel criticizes people's motives; picks out Shaul publicly as king
10:25-10:27 Shmuel writes "mishpat hamelucha" in a book; some people challenge/ridicule Shaul
11:1-11:10 Amon threatens city of Yavesh Gilad; Shaul hears and raises an army
11:11-11:13 Shaul's army wins; Shaul prevents the massacre of his challengers
11:14-11:15 Shaul officially crowned
12:1-12:5 Shmuel protests he has not abused his position; the people agrees
12:6-12:17 Shmuel gives Shoftim history; says that welfare depends on righteousness and not on the king
12:18-12:19 Divine sign that it was wrong to ask for a king; people afraid
12:20-12:25 Shmuel: serve God and it will be OK
13:1-13:12 Philistines encamp for war; many Israelites desert; Shaul offers sacrifices at public demand
13:13-13:14 Shmuel says Shaul's kingdom won't endure because he has disobeyed God's command
13:15-13:18 Shaul and 600 men prepare for war
13:19-13:23 Israelites had no iron, including swords/spears, except Shaul and Yonatan
14:1-14:5 Yonatan leaves the camp with his weapon bearer
14:6-14:7 Yonatan proposes to enter the Philistine camp
14:8-14:12 Yonatan suggests they enter the camp if the Philistines tell him to "come in" - an omen
14:12-14:16 They enter the camp and kill 20 people surrounding them; the Philistines panic
14:17-14:19 Shaul notices the panic and that Yonatan has gone
14:20-14:24 Israel defeats Philistines; Shaul curses anyone who eats during the battle
14:25-14:35 Yonatan eats; after the battle the famished Israelites eat meat with blood; Shaul arranges "kosher" food
14:36 Shaul proposes to chase the Philistines at night, Israelites agree
14:37-14:40 They consult God but receive no answer; apparently somebody sinned; Shaul promises to kill the sinner
14:41-14:43 Lots are cast; Yonatan revealed as having eaten during the battle
14:44-14:45 Israelites convince Shaul not to kill Yonatan
14:46-14:48 Shaul fought and won battles against his enemies on every side
14:49-14:51 Shaul's family and officers
14:52 Shaul fought continuously against the Philistines, and enlisted every mighty man he could find
15:1 Shmuel speaks to Shaul in God's name:
15:2-15:3 Shmuel commands Shaul to exterminate Amalek
15:4-15:9 Shaul defeats Amalek, but takes with him their king Agag and the high-quality animals
15:10-15:15 God regrets making Shaul king; Shmuel castigates Shaul regarding the animals
15:16 Shmuel tells Shaul he has a Divine message
15:17-15:19 Shmuel: as a king you have responsibilities, so why did you disobey God?
15:20-15:21 Shaul blames the people, and says the animals are for sacrifices
15:22-15:23 Shmuel: Obedience is better than sacrifices, and God has rejected Shaul's kingship
15:24-15:26 Shaul admits guilt; asks Shmuel to join him at the sacrifice; Shmuel refuses
15:27 As Shmuel turns to leave, Shaul grabs his robe and tears it
15:28 Shmuel: Similarly, God has torn away Shaul's kingdom
15:29-15:31 Shaul asks that Shmuel join him at the sacrifice, to honor Shaul; Shmuel agrees
15:32 Agag is brought to Shmuel
15:33 Shmuel kills Agag
15:34-15:35 Shaul and Shmuel go home and never see each other again, because Shaul is rejected
16:1-16:6 God commands Shmuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king
16:7-16:12 Shmuel finds Yishai's family; David is brought in
16:13-16:16 Shmuel anoints David. Shaul suffers from evil spirits; his servants suggest finding a harp player to cure him
16:17-16:23 David is sent for; he plays and relieves Shaul's symptoms; Shaul loves him (this is after the Goliath story, see 17:55)
17:1-17:11 Israel and Philistines prepare for battle; Goliath offers a one-on-one match to settle everything
17:12-17:14 David's family
17:15-17:16 David was going between Shaul and his flock in Bethlehem
17:17-17:19 David returns to the army camp with food
17:20-17:25 David reaches the battle and hears Goliath's challenge
17:26-17:33 David offers to fight; nobody takes him seriously
17:34-17:36 David tells of killing a lion and bear as a shepherd
17:37 David says that with God's help the same will happen to Goliath
17:38-17:44 Shaul consents; offers his armor; it doesn't fit and David goes with his sling. Goliath mocks him
17:45-17:47 David: I will win because that will prove God's power
17:48-17:54 David kills Goliath; Philistines flee
17:55-17:56 Shaul asks who David's father is (perhaps because he promised to reward the father of Goliath's killer)
17:57-18:5 Shaul enlists David; Yonatan loves David; David successful in war; everyone likes him
18:6-18:9 Women praise David's battle exploits more than Shaul's; Shaul suspects David's motives
18:10-18:13 Shaul tries and fails to kill David in the palace, then sends him away to the army
18:14-18:16 David very successful and liked; Shaul in awe
18:17 Shaul plots to get David killed by Philistines
18:18-18:27 Shaul offers his daughter Michal to David, if David kills 100 Philistines. David does this, survives, gets Michal
18:28-18:29 Shaul sees God is with David, and fears him more
18:30 David wins many battles and is even better regarded
19:1-19:3 Shaul encourages his intimates to kill David; Yonatan tells David to flee
19:4-19:7 Yonatan convinces Shaul not to kill David; Shaul brings him back to his home
19:8-19:10 David wins another battle; David plays the harp; Shaul tries to impale him, but he escapes
19:11-19:13 Shaul's messengers watch David's house; Michal lets him down through the window and he flees
19:14 Michal to Shaul: David is sick in bed
19:15-19:16 Shaul discovers David has left
19:17-19:21 David escapes to Shmuel; Shaul sends messengers to take him; messengers begin "prophesizing"
19:22-19:24 Shaul goes himself to take David, but he too "prophesizes" and can't finish the mission
20:1-20:4 David complains to Yonatan about the attempts to kill him; Yonatan offers to help
20:5-20:8 David proposes to flee and ask Yonatan to tell him Shaul's response
20:9,10,11 They make arrangements
20:12-20:17 They make a mutual oath of loyalty
20:18-20:23 Yonatan proposes a code (arrows) to tell David whether he is safe or must flee
20:24-20:26 David skips Shaul's meal on the first day of Rosh Chodesh; Shaul assumes David is unclean
20:27 David skips the second day too; Shaul asks Yonatan why
20:28-20:29 Yonatan says that David is at a family meal in Bethlehem
20:30-20:31 Shaul commands Yonatan to bring David, saying that Yonatan and David's welfare are mutually exclusive
20:32-20:33 Yonatan protests David's innocence; Shaul throws spear at Yonatan
20:34 Yonatan leave the meal in anger and shame
20:35-20:39 Yonatan does the arrow code for David to leave
20:40-20:42 Yonatan and David meet and embrace
21:1-21:5 David flees to Nov; asks for food
21:6-21:9 David gets holy food from the priest; Doeg the Edomite (Shaul's servant) notices him
21:10 The priest in Nov possesses Goliath's sword and offers it to David
21:11-21:14 David flees with the sword to Achish king of Gat; his identity is discovered and he feigns insanity
21:15-21:16 Achish expels the presumed madman
22:1-22:4 David flees to Adulam, gathers hundreds of discontented people; flees to Moab border; David's family to Moab
22:5 Prophet Gad tells David to go back to Yehudah
22:6-22:8 Shaul asks for information about David
22:9-22:11 Doeg tells Shaul that David visited and was helped by Nov
22:12-22:13 Shaul asks the priest of Nov why he helped David, i.e. treason
22:14-22:17 The priest justifies himself; Shaul tells his guards to kill the priests; the guards refuse
22:18-22:23 Doeg kills everyone in Nov; David hears from the fleeing Evyatar
23:1-23:2 Philistines attacking Keilah; David asks God whether to go rescue them
23:3 God says yes; his men object that they will be in even more danger
23:4-23:5 God says go anyway; they go and defeat the Philistines
23:6-23:9 Shaul finds out where David is and besieges him
23:10-23:11 Using Evyatar's "ephod", David asks if Shaul will besiege him; God says yes
23:12 David asks if Keilah will expel him; God says yes
23:13-23:15 David and his men flee to the wilderness of Zif
23:16-23:18 Jonathan visits David, encourages him, and says David will be king
23:19-23:29 Zif residents tell Shaul David is there; Shaul comes; David flees to wilderness of Maon, then to Ein Gedi
24:1 Shaul is told David is in Ein Gedi
24:2-24:7 Shaul pursues David with troops; Shaul rests in cave; David cuts his garment but feels guilty about it
24:8 As Shaul leaves, David calls after him
24:9-24:15 David tells Shaul that he could have killed him and didn't; asks Shaul to stop trying to kill him
24:16-24:22 Shaul admits David's righteousness; David swears that when he is king he won't hurt Shaul's family; Shaul goes home
25:1 Shmuel dies; David goes to wilderness of Paran
25:2-25:31 David asks Naval for provisions; he refuses; Naval's wife Abigail meets David with provisions and begs forgiveness
25:32-25:43 David thanks Abigail, at home Naval gets drunk and soon dies; David marries Abigail and Achinoam
25:44-26:7 Shaul takes Michal from David to another man; Shaul chases to the hill of Hachila; David and Avishai enter Shaul's camp
26:8-26:9 Avishai offers to kill Shaul; David says no
26:10-26:14 David hopes God will kill Shaul; they flee with Shaul's spear and water jug; David calls out to Avner (with Shaul)
26:15-26:24 David mocks Avner's poor guarding; David asks Shaul to stop chasing; Shaul promises to stop
26:25 Shaul blesses David
27:1-27:4 David and company flee to Gat; Shaul despairs of finding him
27:5-27:6 David asks Achish king of Gat for a place to live; gets Ziklag as an Israelite city
27:7-27:12 David defeats and exterminates Amalekites etc.; tells Achish he fought Israelites; Achish trusts him
28:1-28:2 Philistines prepare to fight Israel; Achish brings David with him
28:3-28:14 Shmuel has died; Shaul fears the coming battle; Shaul finds a witch, who raises Shmuel's ghost
28:15 Shaul asks the ghost for guidance
28:16-28:25 Ghost: Shaul has been rejected as king, and will die in the battle and Israel will be defeated
29:1-29:3 Achish justifies David's presence in the camp to the other Philistines
29:4-29:5 The Philistines tell Achish get rid of David
29:6-29:7 Achish tells David to leave
29:8-29:11 David leaves; Philistines move to Yizrael
30:1-30:6 Amalekites raid Ziklag, take captives including David's wives
30:7-30:12 David asks God, then pursues Amalekites; finds a hungry Egyptian
30:13-30:21 The Egyptian locates the Amalekites; David counterattacks, wins, and returns the captives and booty
30:22 David's more evil warriors refuse to share the booty with those who stayed behind
30:23-30:24 David insists that everyone share equally
30:25 David's suggestion has been accepted until this day
30:26-30:31 David sends part of the spoils as gifts to his friends across the tribe of Yehudah
31:1-31:7 Philistines win battle; Israelites flee; Shaul's sons killed; Shaul in danger; commits suicide when his aides refuse to kill him
31:8-31:13 Philistines take Shaul's head and hang the remainder in Beit Shean; people of Yavesh Gilad take the body and bury it
1:1-1:12 A refugee from the battle tells that Israel lost, that Yonatan died, and that he killed Shaul on request
1:13-1:16 The refugee says he's an Amalekite; David kills him because he admits to having killed the king
1:17-1:27 David laments the defeat and Shaul and Yonatan's death
2:1-2:4 God tells David to go to Hevron; there he is anointed king of Yehudah
2:5-2:7 David praises Yavesh Gilad for burying Shaul; suggests they accept him as king
2:8-2:9 Avner makes Ish-Boshet son of Shaul king over everything except Yehudah
2:10-2:11 David rules Yehudah; Ish-Boshet everything else
2:12-3:1 Yoav and Avner meet; battle breaks out between their men; long war begins with David's side gradually winning
3:2-3:5 David has sons in Hevron
3:6-3:8 During the war, Avner sleeps with Shaul's concubine; Ish-Boshet protests; Avner says he is responsible for Ish-Boshet's rule
3:9-3:11 Avner threatens to make David ruler over all Israel; Ish-Boshet afraid
3:12-3:13 Avner offers alliance to David; David: First bring me Michal
3:14-3:30 Avner returns Michal; Avner meets with David and leaves; Yoav kills Avner in revenge; David curses Yoav
3:31-3:32 David cries at Avner's funeral
3:33-3:37 David laments Avner and refuses to eat; the people realize he wasn't part of the murder plot
3:38-3:39 David complains about Yoav's power
4:1-4:3 Ish-Boshet afraid now that Avner is dead
4:4-4:12 Two of Shaul's old officers decapitate Ish-Boshet and send his head to David; David kills the officers as with Shaul's killer
5:1-5:3 All of Israel crowns David
5:4-5:10 David rules; conquers Jerusalem and lives there; succeeds and God is with him
5:11-5:12 Hiram builds a palace for David
5:13-5:16 David has more sons in Jerusalem
5:17-5:19 Philistines hear David is king; march to Emek Refaim; David asks God whether to fight
5:20-5:21 God says to fight; Israelites win
5:22-5:25 Philistines approach again; David fights and wins again; Philistines flee
6:1-6:20 David moves the Ark; Uzah touches it and dies; they stop and only later bring it to Jerusalem; David dances in front of it
6:21-6:23 Michal protests David's "indecent" dancing; David justifies himself; Michal never has a child
7:1-7:3 David says to prophet Natan that David has a palace, but God doesn't
7:4,7:5-7:17 God to Natan: David won't build a temple but his son will, and David's dynasty will last forever
7:18-7:24 David thanks and praises God
7:25-7:29 David continues and asks for God's promise to Natan to come true
8:1-8:8 David conquers all the surrounding nations
8:9-8:18 David dedicates tribute and spoils to God; David reigns justly
9:1-9:13 David searches for Shaul's descendants to show kindness to, finds Mepiboshet son of Yonatan, privileges him
10:1-10:16 Ammon mistreats David's messengers; Ammon and Aram fight Israel; Aram and Ammon flee, but Aram regroups in Helam
10:17-10:19 Israel defeats Aram; Aram makes peace
11:1 Yoav was attacking Ammon and besieging the capital, Rabbah
11:2-11:15 David sees and then impregnates Batsheva; husband Uriyah returns but refuses to enter his house; David orders Uriyah killed
11:16-11:24 Yoav arranges for Uriyah to die in battle; Yoav sends confirmation of his death
11:25-11:27 David tells Yoav to attack Rabbah; Batsheva laments Uriyah, then marries David and bears a son; God angry
12:1-12:6 Natan tells David a parable of a poor man's sheep; David condemns the rich man in the story
12:7 Natan says David is the rich man
12:8-12:10 Natan: David has disobeyed God regarding Uriyah and Batsheva; thus "the sword will not leave his family"
12:11-12:12 Natan: As further punishment David's wives will be publicly violated
12:13 David admits to sinning
12:14-12:25 David gets to live but Batsheva's son must die; David prays for the son but doesn't mourn after he dies; Batsheva bears Shlomo
12:26-12:31 David goes to Ammon to finish the victory there
13:1-13:22 David's son Amnon lusts for and rapes his half-sister Tamar; Avshalom (Tamar's full brother) and David are angry
13:23-13:27 Avshalom plans a sheep-shearing, invites Amnon and David's other sons
13:28-13:30 Avshalom gets Amnon killed; David hears a rumor that Avshalom killed all the sons
13:31 David tears his clothes
13:32-13:33 It is revealed that only Amnon was killed, because of Tamar
13:34-13:39 Avshalom flees to Geshur; David misses him
14:1-14:4 Yoav notices David's longing; finds a woman from Tekoa who pretends to be a widow
14:5-14:7 The woman pretends that one of her sons killed the other and asks help in sparing the killer's life
14:8-14:9 David promises to reply
14:10-14:12 David promises that her second son will be spared
14:13-14:17 The woman suggests that, on that logic, Avshalom should be allowed home
14:18-14:20 David asks if Yoav told her what to do; she admits it
14:21-14:23 David tells Yoav to bring back Avshalom
14:24 David prohibits Avshalom from seeing him
14:25-14:27 Avshalom is beautiful, has lots of hair, and also has several children
14:28-14:30 Avshalom doesn't get to see the king; sends for Yoav who doesn't see him; then burns Yoav's field
14:31-14:33 Avshalom says he wanted to get Yoav's attention in order to meet David; Avshalom meets David
15:1-15:6 Avshalom denigrates David's judgment to the people and says he would judge better, thus willing their hearts
15:7-15:9 David lets Avshalom go to Hevron on the excuse of fulfilling a vow
15:10-15:18 Avshalom declares himself king; David flees
15:19-15:24 Itai the Gittite insists on leaving with David; the Levites bring the Ark
15:25-15:26 David tells them to return the ark to Jerusalem
15:27-15:37 They return the ark; David recommends that his friend Hushai serve Avshalom, in order to defeat Achitofel's counsel
16:1-16:9 Mepiboshet against David; David removes his privilege; Shimei ben Gera (of Shaul's family) curses David as a "man of blood"
16:10 David rejects Avishai's proposal to kill Shimei
16:11-16:12 David says that God caused Shimei to curse, and perhaps David deserves it
16:13 Shimei leaves, continues cursing
16:14-16:19 Hushai declares loyalty to Avshalom because he is currently king
16:20-16:23 Achitofel recommends Avshalom to sleep with David's concubines publicly; Achitofel's counsel is highly regarded
17:1-17:4 Achitofel also suggests raising 12000 men, attacking David's camp, and killing David alone; Avshalom likes the idea
17:5-17:6 Avshalom asks Hushai about Achitofel's advice
17:7-17:13 Hushai suggests including the entire people in the army to attack David
17:14 Due to God's manipulation, Avshalom likes Hushai's counsel better
17:15-17:20 Hushai sends messengers to David to flee; the messengers are seen but not captured
17:21-17:23 Messengers reach David; David flees across the Jordan; Achitofel kills himself because his advice was not followed
17:24-17:26 Avshalom crosses the Jordan in chase
17:27-17:29 David in Machanaim; Shobi, Machir, and Barzilai bring his camp supplies
18:1-18:2 David prepares for battle
18:3 The people convince David himself to stay out of the battle
18:4-18:18 David commands his forces not to kill Avshalom; in the battle his side wins, but Yoav kills Avshalom
18:19-18:27 Achimaaz ben Tzadok and a Kushite run to David to tell him the news
18:28 Achimaaz reports victory in battle
18:29-18:31 David asks about Avshalom; Achimaaz says he does not know; the Kushite arrives
18:32 The Kushite reports Avshalom's death
19:1-19:5 David mourns Avshalom's death
19:6-19:8 Yoav complains that David is not showing gratitude to those who won the battle
19:9 David appears publicly
19:10-19:11 Israelites suggest reinstituting David as king
19:12-19:21 David's servants convince Yehudah to reaccept him; David returns; Shimei begs forgiveness
19:22 Avishai calls for Shimei's death
19:23-19:24 David spares Shimei
19:25-19:29 Mepiboshet makes excuses for not following David
19:30-19:31 David forgives him
19:32-19:38 David offers to bring Barzilai to Jerusalem and privilege him; Barzilai suggests his servant Chimham instead
19:39-19:40 David agrees
19:41-19:42 All of Yehudah and some of Israel helps David cross the Jordan; Israel resents Yehudah's perceived privilege
19:43 Yehudah justifies themselves
19:44 Israel retorts
20:1-20:3 Sheva ben Bichri of Benjamin declares himself king; Israel follows him; David returns with Yehudah; shuts off his concubines
20:4-20:5 David instructs Amasa (Avshalom's ex-commander) to assemble all of Yehudah
20:6-20:8 David sends Yoav and Avishai to chase Sheva ben Bichri; Amasa meets them in Givon
20:9-20:14 Yoav kills Amasa by trickery; they continue chasing
20:15-20:19 They besiege Avel Beit Maachah; a wise woman there asks Yoav not to destroy the city
20:20-20:22 Yoav says it is only because of Sheva ben Bichri; the city kills him; Yoav returns
20:23-20:25 David's officers
21:1 Three-year famine; David asks God why
21:2-21:6 God says it is because of Shaul's massacre in Givon; Givonites request the death of 7 of Shaul's descendants in return
21:7-21:14 David picks and hangs 7; David buries them and Shaul and Yonatan in their family tomb; God appeased
21:15-21:17 Israel fights Philistines; David almost dies; David's men prevent him from entering further battles
21:18,21:19,21:20-21:22 In various wars, David's warriors kill all four sons of the Philistine giant
22:1-22:51 David's song upon being saved from Shaul and his enemies
23:1-23:7 David's last words
23:8,23:9-23:10,23:11-23-12,23:13-23:15,23:16-23:17,23:18-23:19,23:20-23:39 David's warriors and their exploits
24:1-24:2 God again angry at Israel; God induces David to ask Yoav for a census
24:3-24:9 Yoav argues against but then performs the census; David regrets it
24:10 David asks God for forgiveness in ordering the census
24:11-24:13 Gad asks David whether punishment should be by famine, war, or disease
24:14-24:16 David chooses disease; God stops the angel of destruction at Aranuah's threshing floor
24:17 David sees the angel, asks God to punish only his family and not the people
24:18-24:22 On Gad's command, David buys Aranuah's threshing floor to build an altar; Aranuah offers supplies
24:23-24:25 David insists on buying everything; builds the altar and sacrifices; God appeased
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Melachim
(Authorship: see Divrei Hayamim 2 9:29 - "Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Jedo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?"; also 2 13:22; 2 20:34; 2 25:26; and so on)
1-2:10 End of David's life
2:11-11 Shlomo
12-16:28 Shlomo's successors in Israel and Yehudah
16:29-1:18 Achav and Eliyahu
2:1-13:21 Elisha [sections correspond to the Elisha, Hazael and Yehu commands to Eliyahu]
13:22-17 Ensuing kings and Israel's destruction
18-25 Ensuing kings and Yehudah's destruction
1:1-1:19 David old; Avishag brought to service him; son Adoniyah proclaims himself king and gathers men; Batsheva speaks to David
1:20-1:27 Batsheva asks David to reaffirm that their son Shlomo will be king; Natan enters the room
1:28-1:31 David reaffirms Shlomo will be king
1:32-1:52 David has his men declare Shlomo king; Adoniyah's men desert him; he runs to the altar for refuge; Shlomo sends him home
2:1-2:10 David advises Shlomo to serve God and kill certain enemies; David dies
2:11-2:12 Shlomo rules
2:13-2:22 Through Batsheva, Adoniyah asks for Avishag as wife; Shlomo refuses, seeing this as aspiration for the throne
2:23-2:25 Shlomo has Adoniyah killed
2:26-2:27 Shlomo expels Evyatar from the priesthood, since he is descended from Eli
2:28-2:38 Yoav (who helped Adoniyah) is put to death; Shimei ben Gera forbidden to leave Jerusalem
2:39-2:40 Shimei goes to Gat to retrieve two runaway servants of his
2:41-3:2 Shlomo has Shimei killed for what he did to David; Shlomo's kingdom secure; Shlomo marries Pharaoh's daughter
3:3-3:14 In a dream after a sacrifice, God offers Shlomo a favor; Shlomo asks for wisdom to judge; God promises this and riches and honor
3:15 Shlomo awakes from the dream; offers more sacrifices
3:16-3:23 Two prostitutes come to Shlomo arguing whose baby is alive and whose is dead
3:24-3:27 Shlomo suggests dividing the baby; gives the baby to the woman who is horrified by the idea
3:28 Israel hears about the case, recognizes Shlomo's possession of God's wisdom
4:1-4:18 Shlomo's officers
4:19-5:1 Israel is populous; Shlomo rules from Egypt to the Euphrates
5:2-5:5 Shlomo has lots of food each day; Israel has peace
5:6-5:8 Shlomo has lots of horses; Shlomo's officers provide food for those who eat at his table and for the horses
5:9-5:14 Shlomo is wiser than anyone else; he speaks proverbs; people from around the world come to hear him
5:15 Hiram sends his servants to Shlomo
5:16-5:25 Shlomo proposes to Hiram to cooperate in building the Temple; Hiram agrees; they make a contract
5:26-5:28 Shlomo and Hiram at peace; Shlomo raises 30000 men to work in Lebanon
5:29-5:30 Shlomo's workers
5:31-5:32 The workers prepare timber and stones for the Temple
6:1-6:10 Shlomo builds the Temple building; its measurements
6:11-6:13 God to Shlomo: If you keep the laws, I will dwell in this temple
6:14-7:12 Temple construction details; Shlomo also builds fancy palaces for himself and Pharaoh's daughter
7:13-7:26 Hiram makes pillars and a large basin for the Temple
7:27-7:37 Hiram makes bases for the Temple
7:38-7:39 Hiram makes washing stations for the Temple
7:41-7:50 Hiram makes pots, shovels, basins for the Temple. Shlomo makes vessels for use within the Temple
7:51 Shlomo's work is finished; Shlomo brings David's contributions to the Temple treasury
8:1-8:11 The ark is brought into the new Temple; sacrifices are performed; the cloud of God's glory fills the Temple
8:12-8:21 Shlomo speaks to the people saying that God chose David and he is fulfilling David's desire to build a Temple
8:22-8:34 Shlomo asks God to accept prayers for forgiveness towards the Temple - by individuals, or the nation after military defeat...
8:35-8:36 ... or in time of drought...
8:37-8:53 ... or during other calamities, and also to accept prayers of non-Jewish pilgrims, or exiled Jews
8:54-9:1 Shlomo blesses God before the people and reminds them to obey God; then offers sacrifices
9:2-9:9 God appears to Shlomo; promises reward for obedience, but destruction and exile for disobedience
9:10-9:13 Shlomo rewards Hiram for his contributions with territory in the north
9:14-9:22 Shlomo enlisted Canaanite labor to build the Temple, his palace, and other large projects in Israel
9:23-9:28 Shlomo was successful; he sent ships out of Eilat to get gold
10:1-10:13 Queen of Sheva visits; is impressed by Shlomo's wisdom in ruling; gives gifts
10:14-10:17 Shlomo's gold
10:18-10:25 Shlomo's expensive throne and gold vessels, possible due to gifts from kings inquiring of his wisdom
10:26-10:29 Shlomo's chariots
11:1-11:6 Shlomo has hundreds of wives; they entice him to idol worship
11:7-11:10 Shlomo builds altars for his wives' gods; God angry
11:11-11:13 God tells Shlomo he will remove the kingdom from his family, except one tribe, for David's sake
11:14-11:25 Hadad (an Edomite who fled David's conquests) and Rezon ben Eliada (king in Damascus) cause Shlomo trouble
11:26-11:28 Yeravam ben Navat also fights Shlomo; he started as a construction leader for Shlomo
11:29-11:39 Prophet Achiyah the Shilonite promises Yeravam kingdom over 10 tribes due to Shlomo's sins
11:40 Shlomo tries to kill Yeravam; Yeravam flees to Egypt
11:41-11:43 Shlomo dies; his son Rechavam rules
12:1-12:17 Rechavam refuses to lighten the people's labor duties; all except Yehudah reject his kingship
12:18-12:19 Israelites kill Rechavam's labor collector; Rechavam flees to Jerusalem; the kingdom is split
12:20-12:21 Israel crowns Yeravam; Rechavam raises an army for reconquest
12:22-12:24 Prophet Shemayah tells Rechavam not to fight; he doesn't
12:25-12:33 Yeravam sets up idols in Beit-El and Dan to replace Jerusalem; invents a new holiday
13:1-13:10 Man of God condemns the altar in Beit-El; miraculously destroys it as Yeravam is sacrificing; man of God leaves without eating
13:11-13:19 An old prophet in Beit-El hears; invites the man of God to eat, saying that God now permits him to eat; he eats
13:20-13:32 God condemns the man of God to the prophet for eating; man of God is killed on his way home; prophet laments him
13:33-13:34 Yeravam continues sinning, causing the end of his dynasty
14:1-14:4 Yeravam's son Aviyah sick; Aviyah's mother visits Achiyah in disguise for guidance
14:5-14:20 Achiyah predicts the son's death, end of Yeravam's line, and Israel's expulsion to Mesopotamia, because of the idolatry
14:21-14:24 Rechavam rules Yehudah; Yehudah sins
14:25-14:31 Shishak king of Egypt raids Jerusalem; Israel was continually at war with Yehudah; Rechavam dies
15:1-15:8 Aviam ben Rechavam rules Yehudah; sins but gets to rule for David's sake; Aviam dies
15:9-15:14 Asa rules Yehudah; removes most idolatry
15:15-15:24 Asa losing the war against Israel; bribes Aram to attack; Israel withdraws. Asa dies
15:25-15:32 Nadav ben Yeravam rules Israel; he sins; Baasha kills him and rules, fulfilling Achiyah's prophecy
15:33-15:34 Baasha rules; sins
16:1-16:7 Prophet Yehu promises the end of Baasha's household; Baasha dies
16:8-16:14 Elah ben Baasha rules Israel; Zimri kills him and his family
16:15-16:20 Zimri rules one week; Omri kills him
16:21-16:22 Israel splits between Omri and Tivni; Omri's camp prevails
16:23-16:28 Omri rules Israel; builds a new capital Shomron; he sins; he dies
16:29-16:34 Achav son of Omri rules; sins more than his predecessors; imports Baal worship and wife Jezebel from Tzidon; Jericho rebuilt
17:1 (Prophet) Eliyahu declares a drought to Achav
17:2-17:7 On God's command, Eliyahu flees to the Cherit river; drinks from it and eats raven-brought food, until it dries up in the drought
17:8-17:16 On God's command, Eliyahu flees to a widow in Tzidon; in return for hosting him, her food magically does not run out
17:17-17:24 Widow's son gets very sick; she blames Eliyahu; Eliyahu revives him; she knows he is a man of God
18:1-18:14 Achav and his God-fearing assistant Ovadiah split up; Eliyahu meets Ovadiah, tells him to announce his return to Achav
18:15-19:14 Achav meets Eliyahu; Eliyahu proposes and wins a God/Baal showdown on Mount Carmel; Jezebel chases Eliyahu; he flees to the desert; an angel feeds him and sends him to Sinai; God appears scarily but then as a small still voice; Eliyahu still insists on acting "jealously"
19:15-19:21 **** God tells Eliyahu to appoint Hazael and Yehu as kings and Elisha as prophet; Elisha meets and follows Eliyahu
20:1-20:22 Ben-Hadad king of Aram besieges Shomron; a prophet predicts Israel's success to Achav; Achav's army wins
20:23-20:25 Aram prepares for war in the valley, thinking God only controls hilly areas
20:26-20:34 Aram fights; Israel wins; Ben-Hadad sues for peace
20:35-20:43 A prophet condemns Achav for sparing Ben-Hadad
21:1-21:16 Navot owns a vineyard; refuses to sell to Achav; Jezebel gets Navot falsely executed for blasphemy; Achav takes the vineyard
21:17-21:26 Eliyahu meets Achav, promises his death and the end of his line, due to his evilness
21:27 Achav mourns Eliyahu's decree
21:28-22:1 Due to Achav's mourning, God delays his punishment until his son's days
22:2-22:18 Yehoshafat king of Yehudah and the king of Israel consult about war on Aram; all prophets except Michiyahu recommend war
22:19-22:40 Michiyahu prophesies defeat; he is thrown in jail; Achav killed in battle; his son Achazyahu rules
22:41-22:51 Yehoshafat son of Asa ruled Yehudah; is righteous; died
22:52-1:2 Achazyahu rules Israel; does evil; get sick; seeks guidance from a Philistine deity
1:3-1:14 Eliyahu condemns Achazyahu and predicts his death; Eliyahu brings down heavenly fire on troops trying to capture him
1:15-1:16 Eliyahu goes to Achazyahu and repeats the prediction; Achazyahu dies
1:17,1:18 Yehoram rules in Achazyahu's place
2:1-2:18 Eliyahu, Elisha and prophets cross the Jordan; a whirlwind takes Eliyahu to heaven; prophets recognize Elisha as his successor
2:19-2:22 Elisha miraculously cures poisonous water in Jericho
2:23-2:25 "Children" (derisive euphemism?) mock Elisha; Elisha induces bears to kill them; Elisha visits Mount Carmel and Shomron
3:1-3:3 Yehoram son of Achav rules Israel; sins like Yeravam but not like Achav
3:4-3:10 Moav rebels against Yehoram; Israel and Yehudah and Edom ally against Moav
3:11-3:27 Elisha predicts success; Moav attacks and is destroyed; king of Moav survives by killing (his?) son and incurring wrath on Israel
4:1-4:7 (Yehu rules?) A prophet's widow complains to Elisha about her poverty; Elisha causes her last pot of oil not to run out, so she can pay her debt
4:8-4:37 Shunamite woman provides for Elisha; Elisha promises her a son; son born but later dies; woman complains; Elisha revives the son
4:38-4:41 Elisha miraculously neutralizes poisonous food eaten by accident during a famine
4:42-4:44 Elisha causes a small gift of bread not to run out when the people eat it
5:1-5:19 Naaman general of Aram seeks out Elisha to cure his leprosy; Elisha does so and refuses payment; Naaman recognizes God
5:20-6:7 Elisha's servant asks Naaman for payment and keeps it; Elisha gives the servant leprosy; Elisha miraculously retrieves an ax head from the Jordan River
6:8-6:23 (Yehoachaz rules?) Aram encamps against Israel but Elisha provides prophetic intelligence for Israel; Aram surrounds Elisha; God blinds the entire army; Elisha leads them to Shomron, returns their sight, sets them free; Aram stops invading Israel
6:24-6:33 Ben-Hadad besieges Shomron; the city starves; the king sends messengers to arrest Elisha
7:1-7:2 Elisha predicts the starvation to end within a day
7:3-7:20 God scares Aram into fleeing their camp; lepers from Shomron discover the deserted camp; Shomron raids the camp and gets food
8:1-8:4 (Yoash rules?) Elisha tells the Shunamite to flee Israel due to a coming famine; afterwards she returns to petition the king for her land
8:5-8:6 Elisha's servant tells the king about his miracles; the Shunamite gets her land back
8:7-8:15 Ben-Hadad sickens; Hazael asks Elisha whether he will recover; Elisha says he will die and Hazael will be king; Hazael kills Ben-Hadad and rules
8:16-8:24 Yehoram son of Yehoshafat rules Yehudah; does evil; Edom rebels; he dies
8:25-8:29 Achazyahu son of Yehoram rules Yehudah; does evil; fights Aram with Yehoram king of Israel; Yehoram wounded; Achazyahu visits
9:1-9:28 Elisha has his servant anoint Yehu king of Israel; Yehu kills Yehoram and Achazyahu together
9:29-9:37 Yehu kills Jezebel and dogs eat her body
10:1-10:14 The rest of Achav's family and friends are killed; Yehu kills relatives of Achazyahu king of Yehudah who were in the area
10:15-10:17 Yehu shows Yehonadav his zeal for God in killing everyone connected to Achav
10:18-10:29 Yehu promises a holiday for Baal; massacres all who show up; destroys the Baal temple, but keeps Yeravam's golden calves
10:30-10:36 God promises Yehu 4 generations of kingship; he still sins as did Yeravam; Hazael defeats them in battle; Yehu dies
11:1-11:3 Atalyahu (daughter of Omri, mother of Achazyahu) kills the royal family; Yoash son of Achazyahu escapes; she rules Yehudah
11:4-11:12 Yehoyada the priest appoints bodyguards for Yoash; Yoash is publicly made king at the Temple
11:13-11:16 Atalyahu arrives, is killed once she leaves the Temple
11:17-11:20 Yehoyada eradicates Baal worship and makes a new covenant with God
12:1 Yoash rules Yehudah
12:2-12:6 Yoash of Yehudah is righteous, but does not destroy local altars; he collects money for Temple repair
12:7-12:17 The Temple is repaired
12:18-12:22 Hazael conquers Gat; Yoash appeases him with the Temple's treasures; Yoash of Yehudah dies; his son Amatzyahu rules
13:1-13:9 Yehoachaz son of Yehu rules Israel; sins; Hazael oppresses Israel; Yechoachaz prays and a "deliverer" saves Israel; Yehoachaz dies
13:10-13:13 Yoash son of Yehoachaz rules Israel; sins; dies
13:14-13:19 Elisha is sick; Yoash king of Israel visits; Elisha predicts success against Aram
13:20-13:21 Elisha dies; later, a corpse which touches his bones suddenly comes back to life
13:22-13:25 Hazael defeated Israel; he dies and his son Ben-Haddad rules; Yoash defeats Ben-Haddad
14:1-14:7 Amatzyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; kills his father's assassins but not their kids; defeats Edom
14:8-14:16 Under Yoash, Israel defeats Yehudah and raids Jerusalem; Yoash dies
14:17-14:22 Amatzyahu assassinated; his son Azaryahu rules Yehudah
14:23-14:29 Yeravam son of Yoash rules Israel; sins like the first Yeravam; conquers territory through God's help; dies
15:1-15:7 Azaryahu/Uziyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; gets leprosy; dies
15:8-15:12 Zecharyahu son of Yeravam rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; is killed, ending four generations of Yehu's family as predicted
15:13-15:15 Shalum rules Israel; Menachem kills him and rules
15:16 Menachem annihilates Tifsach because they did not help him
15:17-15:22 Menachem rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; pays tribute to prevent Assyrian attack; dies
15:23-15:26 Pekachyahu son of Menachem rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; Pekach kills him
15:27-15:31 Pekach rules Israel; sins like Yeravam; Assyria conquers the Galilee; Hoshea kills Pekach
15:32-15:38 Yotam son of Uziyahu rules Yehudah; is righteous but does not destroy local altars; attacked by Israel and Aram; dies
16:1-16:6 Achaz son of Yotam rules Yehudah; is evil and idolatrous; Aram and Israel besiege Jerusalem; Aram expels Yehudah from Eilat
16:7-16:20 Achaz asks Assyria to help against Aram and Israel; Assyria conquers Aram; Achaz makes an Aram-like altar in Jerusalem
17:1-17:6 Hoshea rules Israel; allies with Egypt; Assyria conquers and expels Israel
17:7-17:23 Israel's destruction was due to persistent idolatry, imitating other nations, and disobedience of God
17:24-17:41 Assyria moved other nations to Shomron; they are attacked by lions, and begin to worship God in addition to their deities
18:1-18:8 Hizkiyahu son of Achaz rules Yehudah; righteous; removes local altars; trusts God; succeeds against Assyria and Philistines
18:9-18:12 Assyria had conquered and expelled Israel
18:13-18:16 Assyria attacks Yehudah; Hizkiyahu pays tribute
18:17-19:14 Assyria besieges Jerusalem, says God won't help any more than other nations' deities did; prophet Yeshayahu says not to worry
19:15-19:19 Hizkiyahu prays to God to save them, to publicize God's authority
19:20-19:31 Yeshayahu predicts Assyria's defeat
19:32-19:37 Yeshayahu predicts Jerusalem's survival; a plague (?) decimates the Assyrian army; Assyria leaves
20:1-20:3 Hizkiyahu sick; Yeshayahu predicts his death; Hizkiyahu prays to God
20:4-20:11 Yeshayahu returns; predicts Hizkiyahu's and Jerusalem's survival; performs a miracle to prove it will happen
20:12-20:21 Babylonian ambassadors come; Hizkiyahu shows them his treasures; Yeshayahu predicts expulsion to Babylon; Hizkiyahu dies
21:1-21:11 Menashe son of Hizkiyahu rules; does evil; spreads idolatry across the country and in the Temple
21:12-21:18 God predicts expulsion, as with Achav and Israel; Menashe dies
21:19-21:26 Amon son of Menashe rules; does evil; is assassinated
22:1-22:2 Yoshiyahu son of Amon rules; is righteous
22:3-23:30 Yoshiyahu repairs Temple; a "book of Torah" is found; Yoshiyahu reads it; prophetess Hulda says the curse in it will come true but not to Yoshiyahu; Yoshiyahu makes a public covenant to God; idolatry completely removed; Pesach fully celebrated; but Yoshiyahu killed in battle at Meggido
23:31-23:35 Yehoachaz son of Yoshiyahu rules; sins; Egypt captures him; Yehoyakim rules as an Egyptian puppet
23:36-24:7 In Yehoyakim's time, many nations attack Yehudah, as punishment for Menashe's sins; Yehoyakim dies
24:8-24:17 Yehoyachin rules; sins; Babylonia attacks and exiles him and the country's elite
24:18-24:20 Tzidkiyahu rules; sins; rebels against Babylonia
25:1-25:7 Babylonia besieges Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured and exiled
25:8-25:24 Babylonia captures and burns Jerusalem; people exiled; Gedalyahu governs those who remain
25:25-25:26 Gedalyahu assassinated; remaining Jews flee to Egypt
25:27-25:30 New king of Babylonia privileges Yehoyachin
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Divrei Hayamim [Parallel passages in Shmuel and Melachim]
1-9:1 Genealogy from Adam (to the Babylonian exile)
9:2-20 David's rise to power (and moving the Ark)
21-29 David's preparations to build the Temple
1-9 Shlomo and the Temple
10-36 Kingdom of Yehudah from Rechavam until the destruction; Koresh's call to return
1:1-1:4 Generations from Adam to Noach's sons - Shem, Ham, Yefet
1:5,1:6,1:7 Descendants of Yefet
1:8-1:9,1:10,1:11-1:12,1:13-1:16 Descendents of Ham
1:17,1:18-1:23 Descendents of Shem
1:24-1:27 Generations from Shem to Avraham
1:28 Sons of Avraham - Yitzchak, Yishmael
1:29-1:31 Descendants of Yishmael
1:32,1:33 Descendants of Keturah, Avraham's concubine
1:34 Yitzchak and his sons - Esav and Yaakov
1:35,1:36,1:37,1:38,1:39,1:40,1:41-1:42 Esav's descendants
1:43-1:51 Kings who ruled in Edom before Israel had a king
1:51-1:54 Chiefs of Edom
2:1-2:2 Sons of Yaakov
2:3,2:4,2:5,2:6,2:7,2:8 Descendants of Yehudah son of Yaakov
2:9-2:20 Descendants of Hetzron son of Yehuda, traced to David [king] and Betzalel [artist]
2:21-2:22 Hetzron's grandson, Yair of Gilad
2:23-2:24,2:25-2:26,2:27-2:32,2:33-2:41,2:42-2:46,2:47-2:49,2:50-2:53,2:54-2:55 More descendants of Hetzron; cities in which some of their families lived
3:1-3:4 David's sons born in Hevron
3:5-3:9 David's sons and daughter born in Jerusalem
3:10-3:23,3:24 Kings of Yehudah from Shlomo to Yoshiyahu; Yoshiyahu's descendants including Zerubavel
4:1-4:2,4:3-4:10,4:11-4:12,4:13-4:14 Descendants of Shoval son of Yehudah, and in which cities some of their families lived; including Yavez and Otniel
4:15-4:18 Descendants of Kalev ben Yefuneh
4:19-4:23 Other descendants; descendants of Shelah son of Yehudah
4:24-4:27 Descendants of Shimon
4:28-4:33 Cities where Shimon's descendants lived
4:34-4:43 Some of Shimon's descendants conquer and live in southern or eastern pasture land
5:1-5:2 Reuven (who lost the birthright by defiling Yaakov's bed)
5:3-5:10 Descendants of Reuven and where some of them lived
5:11-5:13 Descendants of Gad and where they lived
5:14-5:17 Inhabitants of Bashan (from Menasheh?); the above genealogies date from the time of kings Yotam (Yehudah) and Yeravam (Israel)
5:18-5:22 The 2.5 eastern tribes conquer various eastern peoples and live in their place
5:23-5:26 Descendants of Eastern Menashe and where they lived; due to their sins the eastern tribes were exiled by Assyria
5:27-5:28,5:29 Generations from Levi to Moshe, Aharon, Miriam
5:30-5:41 Generations of priests from Aharon to Yehotzadak (at the Babylonian exile)
6:1-6:3,6:4-6:13,6:14-6:15 Descendants of Levi
6:16-6:23,6:24-6:28,6:29-6:32 Leviim picked by David to sing in the Temple
6:33-6:34 Other Leviim serve in the Temple, but only Aharon's descendants offer sacrifices and incense
6:35-6:38 Descendants of Aharon
6:39-6:41,6:42-6:44,6:45 Cities given to descendants of Aharon, from Yehudah and Binyamin
6:46 Cities are given to other descendants of Kehat son of Levi, from Menashe
6:47 Cities are given to descendants of Gershom son of Levi, from Yissachar, Naftali, Asher, and eastern Menashe
6:48 Cities are given to descendants of Merari son of Levi, from Reuven, Gad, and Zevulun
6:49-6:50 The aforementioned cities are given to Levi out of Yehudah, Shimon, Binyamin
6:51-6:55 Cities given to descendants of Kehat out of Efraim and western Menashe
6:56-6:58,6:59-6:60,6:61 Cities given to descendants of Gershom out of eastern Menashe, Yissachar, Asher, Naftali
6:62-6:66 Cities given to descendants of Merari out of Zevulun, Reuven, Gad
7:1,7:2,7:3-7:5 Descendants of Yissachar
7:6-7:13 Descendants of Binyamin; descendants of Naftali
7:14-7:19 Descendants of Menashe
7:20-7:29 Descendants of Efraim; where Menashe and Efraim lived
7:30-7:40 Descendants of Asher
8:1-8:32 Descendants of Binyamin including Kish
8:33-8:40 Descendants of Shaul (son of Kish) and his family
9:1 Summary of genealogy; but Yehudah had been exiled to Bavel
9:2-9:4,9:5-9:9,9:10-9:11,9:12-9:34 Israelites in Jerusalem; Kohanim in Jerusalem chosen by David and Shmuel, and their jobs
9:35-9:38,9:39-9:44 Descendants of Binyamin, including Shaul
10:1-10:4 Philistines defeated Israel at Gilboa; Shaul asks his armor-bearer to kill him, but is refused [Shmuel A 31:1-31:4]
10:5 Shaul kills himself; the armor-bearer follows [31:5-31:6]
10:6-10:7 The people flee after seeing Shaul and his sons have died [31:7]
10:8-10:10 Philistines find Shaul's body and bring his armor to their idolatrous temple [31:8-31:10]
10:11-10:14 People of Yavesh-Gilad recover and bury the bodies of Shaul and his sons; Shaul died as punishment for disobeying God [ShA 31:11-31:13]
11:1-11:3 Israel makes David king in Hevron [Shmuel B 5:1-5:3]
11:4-11:9 David conquers and builds Jerusalem; David succeeds and God is with him [5:4-5:10]
11:10,11:11-11:21,11:22-11:25,11:26-11:47 David's top warriors and their exploits [23:8-23:39]
12:1-12:5,12:6-12:14,12:15-12:16 Other warriors of David, who joined him in Tziklag
12:17-12:18 People from Binyamin and Yehudah join David; David threatens Divine punishment if they betray him
12:19 Their leader Amasai declares loyalty to David; David accepts them
12:20-12:23 People from Menashe join David
12:24...12:41 The numbers of warriors from each tribe of Israel who came to Hevron to crown David
13:1-13:14 David calls the whole people to move the ark to Jerusalem, but in transit Uzza touches it and dies; ark remains in Oved-Edom's house [6:1-6:11]
14:1-14:2 King of Tzur sends David building materials for a house [his?]; David's kingdom is very successful [5:11-5:12]
14:3-14:7 David has children in Jerusalem [5:13-5:16]
14:8-14:12 Philistines attack via Emek Refaim; David consults with God and defeats them [5:17-5:21]
14:13-15:2 Philistines attack again; God gives David a battle plan which succeeds; David builds himself a palace and a tent for the ark [5:22-5:25]
15:3-15:4,15:5,15:6,15:7,115:8,15:9,15:10 Leviim whom David gathers to bring the ark to Jerusalem
15:11,15:12-15:15 David tells the Leviim to carry the ark in the commanded way, to avoid more death in transit
15:16 David instructs the Leviim to sing and play instruments
15:17,15:18-15:25 List of Leviim who sing and play instruments
15:26-15:29 Ark is brought to Jerusalem with sacrifices, singing, and dancing; David's wife Michal sees him dancing and is disgusted [6:12-6:23]
16:1-16:4 Ark is rested in the tent David made; bread and cake are provided for the people
16:5-16:7 David gives certain Leviim jobs as singers and praisers [Tehilim?]
16:8-16:22 David's praise - historical overview
16:23-16:36 David's praise - praise of God; people answer Amen
16:37-16:38,16:39-16:43 David establishes permanent musical jobs in Jerusalem and at the Mishkan in Givon
17:1-17:2 David notes to Natan that he has a palace but the ark is kept in a tent [7:1-7:3]
17:3-17:7 God tells Natan that no Temple is needed now... [7:4-7:7]
17:8-17:15 ...but that David's son will build a Temple and his dynasty will last forever, unlike Shaul's [7:8-7:17]
17:16-17:27 David thanks God and prays that these promises will come true [7:18-7:29]
18:1-18:8 David conquers the Philistines, Moav, Tzobah, and Aram; some spoil is later used by Shlomo to build the Temple [8:1-8:8]
18:9-18:17 Hamat sends David tribute; tribute and spoils are dedicated to God; David conquers Edom and succeeds; list of officers [8:9-8:18]
19:1-19:5 Ammon mistreats David's messengers [10:1-10:5]
19:6-19:7 Ammon and Aram ally to fight Israel [10:6-10:8]
19:8-19:12 David assigns Yoav to organize the army [10:9-10:12]
19:13-19:15 Aram and Ammon flee [10:13-10:16]
19:16-19:19 Israel defeats Aram; Aram makes peace [10:17-10:19]
20:1-20:3 Yoav attacks Ammon; David arrives later and they conquer Ammon [11:1,12:26-12:31]
20:4-20:5,20:6-20:8 Israel defeats the Philistines in several wars
21:1-21:7 Satan induces David to perform a census over Yoav's objections; God attacks Israel [24:1-24:9]
21:8 David asks God for forgiveness in ordering the census [24:10]
21:9-21:12 Gad asks David whether punishment should be by famine, war, or disease [24:11-24:13]
21:13-21:15 David chooses disease; God stops the angel of destruction at Aranuah's threshing floor [24:14-24:16]
21:16-21:17 David sees the angel; asks God to punish only his family and not the people [24:17]
21:18-21:26 On Gad's command, David buys Aranuah's threshing floor, builds an altar and offers sacrifices [24:18-24:25]
21:27-21:30 David sacrifices at the threshing floor because he is still afraid to go to the Mishkan in Givon [ShB 24:25]
22:1 David declares the threshing floor to be a house for God
22:2-22:4 David prepares stone, metal, and wood for the Temple
22:5-22:6 David prepares for Shlomo's building of the Temple and instructs him to build it
22:7-22:17 David explains to Shlomo why he cannot build the Temple and so Shlomo must
22:18-22:19 David tells the people's princes to help Shlomo build the Temple
23:1-23:5 David is old; he gathers the Levites; census of Levites
23:6,23:7,23:8,23:9,23:10-23:11,23:12,23:13-23:14,23:15;23:17,23:18-23:23 Families of Levi
23:24-23:32 New list of Levite tasks now that there will be a Temple and they won't need to carry stuff any more
24:1-24:5 Priestly families
24:6 The lists of priestly and Levite families are written down
24:7-24:18,24:19 The 24 priestly divisions in the order they will serve in the Temple
24:20-24:31 Descendants of Levi
25:1-25:3,25:4-25:8 Levites assigned to play music in the Temple
25:9-25:31 The 24 divisions of musicians
26:1-26:5,26:6;26:9,26:10-26:13 Levites who will be doorkeepers
26:14-26:16,26:17,26:18-26:20,26:21,26:22,26:23-26:24,26:25-26:28 Levite assignments as doorkeepers and treasury guards
26:29-26:32 Levites who oversee the people
27:1 Israel serves the king in monthly divisions of 24000 people
27:2-27:15 Chiefs of each division
27:16-27:34 Chiefs of each tribe; officers over agricultural activities and other officials
28:1-28:10 David tells Israel's leaders and officials that Shlomo will be king and build the Temple, and tells the people and Shlomo to follow God
28:11-28:19 David gives Shlomo blueprints and measurements of the future Temple and its vessels
28:20-28:21 David encourages Shlomo to build the Temple and lists the groups of people who will help Shlomo to build
29:1-29:9 David publicly gives his treasures to the Temple building fund; many people follow his example
29:10-29:19 David prays publicly; telling God that the treasure is really His, and asking God's help in remaining righteous
29:20-29:25 The people bow down and offer sacrifices; Shlomo is anointed and accepted as king
29:26-29:30 David dies [Melachim A 2:11-2:12]
1:1-1:10 Shlomo rules and sacrifices at Givon; in a dream he asks God for wisdom [3:4-3:9]
1:11-1:13 God promises Shlomo wisdom, and wealth and honor too [3:10-3:13]
1:14-2:1 Shlomo has abundant chariots, silver, gold, horses; he gathers workers to the build the Temple [10:26-10:29,5:29-5:30]
2:2-2:9 Shlomo asks Hiram for artisans and supplies, and offers to pay in food [5:17-5:20]
2:10-2:15 Hiram agrees [5:21-5:23]
2:16-3:7 Shlomo's non-Jewish labor force; outer dimensions of the Temple [5:29-5:30,6:2-6:3,6:22,6:29]
3:8-3:13 Details of the inner chamber and the keruvim [6:23-6:28]
3:14 Details of the parochet
3:15,3:16-3:17 Details of pillars [7:15-7:22]
4:1 Details of brass altar
4:2-4:5 Details of the large basin [7:23-7:26]
4:6,4:7,4:8 Details of washing stations, candlesticks, tables, basins [7:27-7:39]
4:9-4:18 Details of doors and utensils [7:40-7:46]
4:19-4:22 Details of more utensils [7:47-7:51]
5:1 Shlomo brings the vessels David made to the Temple treasury [7:51]
5:2-5:10 Shlomo and the people move the ark to the now-finished Temple [8:1-8:9]
5:11-5:14 Levites sing praises to God; the cloud of God's glory fills the Temple [8:10-8:11]
6:1-6:13 Shlomo speaks to the people saying that God chose David and he is fulfilling David's desire to build a Temple [8:12-8:21]
6:14-6:23 Shlomo asks God to accept prayers for forgiveness towards the Temple - by individuals... [8:22-8:32]
6:24-6:25 ... or by the nation after military defeat... [8:33-8:34]
6:26-6:27 ... or in time of drought... [8:35-8:36]
6:28-6:31 ... or during other calamities... [8:37-8:40]
6:32-6:40 ... and also to accept prayers of non-Jewish pilgrims, or exiled Jews [8:41-8:50]
6:41-6:42 Conclusion to the prayer - a general request for God's presence
7:1-7:4 Fire from heaven consumes the sacrifices; the people thank God
7:5-7:6 Thousands of animals are sacrificed; the priests and Levites give thanks [8:62-8:63]
7:7-7:11 Additional space must be consecrated for all the offerings in the ceremony; the whole people is present [8:64-8:66]
7:12-7:22 God appears to Shlomo; promises reward for obedience, but destruction and exile for disobedience [9:1-9:9]
8:1-8:9 Shlomo builds many cities with Canaanite labor [9:17-9:22]
8:10-8:11 Shlomo's officers; he builds a palace for Pharaoh's daughter so she won't live in David's palace (which is holy since the ark was there) [9:23-9:24]
8:12-8:16 Shlomo sets a routine for Torah-required sacrifices and for personnel assignments [9:25]
8:17-8:18 Shlomo sends ships out of Eilat to get gold [9:26-9:28]
9:1-9:12 Queen of Sheva visits; is impressed by Shlomo's wisdom in ruling; gives gifts [10:1-10:13]
9:13-9:21 Shlomo's gold, throne, and vessels [10:14-10:22]
9:22-9:24 Shlomo receives gifts from kings who come to seek his wisdom [10:23-10:25]
9:25-9:30 Shlomo's army, territory, wealth, and horses; Shlomo dies [5:6,5:4,10:26-10:29,11:42-11:43]
10:1-10:5 Rechavam goes to Schem to be made king; the people ask for a lightening of their labor duties [12:1-12:5]
10:6-10:11 Rechavam's old advisors tell him to agree to their demand; the young advisors tell him not to [12:6-12:11]
10:12-10:16 Rechavam refuses their demand; all except Yehudah reject his kingship [12:12-12:17]
10:17-10:18 Rechavam still rules over Yehudah; Israelites kill Rechavam's labor collector; Rechavam flees to Jerusalem [12:18]
10:19-11:1 Kingdom is split; Rechavam raises an army for reconquest [12:19,12:21]
11:2-11:4 Prophet Shemayah tells Rechavam not to fight; he doesn't [12:22-12:24]
11:5-11:12 Rechavam builds defense cities in Yehudah
11:13-12:1 Levites and others flee Israel and strengthen Yehudah; Rechavam's kids; Rechavam and all Israel leave the Torah [14:22-14:24]
12:2-12:4 Shishak king of Egypt invades Yehudah [14:25]
12:5-12:8 Shemayah ascribes the invasion to their leaving God; the people confess; God limits Shishak's success
12:9-12:12 Shishak takes the royal and Temple treasuries and leaves; Rechavam visits the Temple [14:26-14:28]
12:13-12:14,12:15-12:17 Rechavam rules 17 years and does evil; Israel was continually at war with Yehudah; Rechavam dies [14:29-14:31]
13:1-13:3 Aviam rules Yehudah; he and Yeravam raise armies and prepare for war with each other [15:1-15:2,15:6]
13:4-13:5,13:6-13:9,13:10-(13:12) Aviam gives a speech saying that God is on Yehudah's side
(13:13)-13:20 Yehudah crushes Israel in the battle and conquers some territory; Yeravam never recovers [15:6]
13:21-13:23 Aviam's children; Aviam dies [15:7-15:8]
14:1-14:6 Asa rules, is righteous, removes idolatry, and builds fortified cities [15:11-15:12,15:14]
14:7,14:8-14:10 Asa's army; an (Egyptian) army invades, Asa prays to God for help
14:11-14:14 Asa defeats the army and despoils (Egyptian-allied?) cities around Gerar
15:1-15:2,15:3-15:7 Prophet Azaryahu encourages Asa to follow God, since God helped them in war
15:8-15:9 Asa takes the opportunity to remove idolatry and renew the Temple
15:10-15:19 Yehudah gathers in Jerusalem and swears loyalty to God; idolatry is removed but high places remain; there is peace for 20 years [15:14-15:15]
16:1-16:5 Israel builds Ramah to disrupt Yehudah's travel; Yehudah pays Aram to attack Israel; Israel withdraws [15:16-15:21]
16:6 Yehudah builds Geva and Mitzpah nearby in place of Ramah [15:22]
16:7-16:14 Prophet Hanani condemns Asa for relying on Aram; Asa imprisons him; Asa's foot diseased but he relies on (witch) doctors; Asa dies [15:23-15:24]
17:1-17:6 Yehoshafat rules; is righteous and successful; removes idolatry and positions army units across Yehudah [22:41,22:43-22:44]
17:6-17:11 Yehoshafat sends Levites to teach Torah to the people; the surrounding kingdoms are afraid to attack and bring tribute
17:12-17:14,17:15,17:16,17:17,17:18,17:19 Yehoshafat's military officers
18:1-18:17 Achav and Yehoshafat consult about war on Aram; all prophets except Michiyahu recommend war [22:2-22:18]
18:18-18:22 Michiyahu prophesies defeat [22:19-22:23]
18:23-19:1 Michiyahu is thrown in jail; Achav killed in battle [22:24-22:35]
19:2-19:11 Prophet Yehu attributes the defeat to injustice in Yehudah; Yehoshafat appoints new judges and warns them and the old ones to be just
20:1-20:13 Moav, Ammon, Edom ally against Yehudah; Yehoshafat proclaims a fast and prays to God for help
20:14-20:30 Yachaziel prophesizes success without fighting a battle; Moav and Ammon begin fighting Edom and wipe each other out; there is peace
20:31-21:3 Yehoshafat is righteous (a summary); he and Achazyahu of Israel send ships to Tarshish but they fail; all his sons get gifts but only Yehoram rules after Asa dies [MeA 22:42-22:44,22:48-22:51]
21:4-21:11 Yehoram rules; kills all his brothers; does evil; Edom rebels and becomes independent [Melachim B 8:16-8:24]
21:12-22:1 Eliyahu sends a letter condemning Yehoram; Yehoram's family dies except for one son (Achazyahu) and Yehoram suffers; Yehoram dies
22:2-22:12 Achazyahu rules; does evil; Yehu kills Achazyahu; his mother Atalyahu kills the royal family except Yoash and rules [9:16,9:27-9:28,11:1-11:3]
23:1-23:11 Yehoyada the priest appoints bodyguards for Yoash; Yoash is publicly made king at the Temple [11:4-11:12]
23:12-23:13 Atalyahu arrives; declares that the coronation is treason [11:13-11:14]
23:14-23:15 Atalyahu is killed once she leaves the Temple [11:15-11:16]
23:16-24:2 Yehoyada eradicates Baal worship and makes a new covenant with God; Yoash rules [11:17-12:1]
24:3-24:14 Yoash raises a tax and uses it to repair the Temple and its vessels [12:5-12:15]
24:15-24:16 Yehoyada dies and is buried with the kings of Yehudah
24:17-24:19 After his death, the princes of Yehudah worship idols and ignore prophetic condemnation
24:20-24:22 Zecharyahu son of Yehoyada condemns the idolatry; Yoash has him killed
24:23-24:27 Aram attacks Yehudah, takes spoil and kills the princes; Yoash is assassinated [12:18-12:22]
25:1-25:10 Amatzyahu rules Yehudah; is mostly righteous; kills his father's assassins but not their kids; hires Israel to help fight Edom but sends their army home on a prophet's orders [14:1-14:6]
25:11-25:13 Yehudah defeats Edom and massacres 10000; returning Israel army feels snubbed and attacks cities of Yehudah [14:7]
25:14-25:16 Amatzyahu brings back and worships Edomite idols; a prophet condemns him; he ignores it
25:17-25:24 Amatzyahu offers friendship with Israel; Israel rebuffs them; war breaks out and Israel despoils Yehudah and captures Amatzyahu [14:8-14:14]
25:25-26:2 Amatzyahu [returned home?] is eventually assassinated; his son Uziyahu (=Azaryahu) rules [14:17-14:22]
26:3-26:10 Uziyahu rules; is righteous; defeats the Philistines and other nations; builds fortifications [15:1,15:3]
26:11-26:23 Uziyahu's army and war machines; Uziyahu wrongly offers incense in the Temple; is punished with leprosy; dies [15:5-15:7]
27:1-27:9 Yotam rules; he is righteous but the people are not; defeats Ammon; dies [15:32-15:36,15:38]
28:1-28:5 Achaz rules; he does all kinds of idolatry; Aram and Israel defeat Yehudah [16:1-16:5]
28:6-28:7,28:8 Israel kills many people in Yehudah and takes many captives
28:9-28:11 Prophet Oded condemns Israel for taking captives and calls for their release, or God will punish them
28:12-28:13,28:14-28:15 Israel releases the captives
28:16-28:27 Edom and Philistines defeat Yehudah; Achaz invites Ashur but they don't help; he does more idolatry and closes the Temple; dies [16:7-16:20]
29:1-29:11 Hizkiyahu rules; is righteous; gathers the priests to cleanse the Temple [18:1-18:3]
29:12,29:13,29:14-29:17 Levites cleanse the Temple; finishing on 16th of Nisan
29:18-29:19 Levites announce to Hizkiyahu that they have finished
29:20-29:26 Hizkiyahu has the priests offer sacrifices
29:27-29:30 Along with the sacrifices, music is played and the people bow down
29:31-29:36 The people bring in and offer offerings; there are too many animals so the Levites help slaughter
30:1-30:9 Hizkiyahu sends letters to the northern tribes asking them to come celebrate Pesach (in Iyar)
30:10-20:19 Many people from the north come and celebrate Pesach, though some of them are impure; idolatrous altars are removed [18:4]
30:20,30:21;30:22,30:23-30:24,30:25-30:26,30:27 The people celebrate Pesach seven days
31:1 Returning celebrants destroy idols and altars in all of Yehudah and in Efraim and Menashe
31:2,31:3-31:6,31:7,31:8 Hizkiyahu appoints priestly rotation; Yehudah brings tithes to the priests
31:9-39:10 Hizkiyahu notices heaps of tithes which were contributed but which the Levites and priests do not need
39:11-39:21 Temple chambers are built to hold the tithes; list of priests; Hezekiah is righteous and successful
32:1-32:8 Ashur besieges Jerusalem; Hizkiyahu institutes defense measures and encourages the people [18:13]
32:9-32:19 Ashur's general taunts Jerusalem, saying that it cannot resist Ashur [18:17,18:19-18:20,18:23,18:28,18:33-18:35]
32:20 Hizkiyahu and Yeshayahu pray to God [19:15-19:19]
32:21-32:23 Ashur's army officers die; Ashur has to retreat; their king is killed when he returns home; nations respect Hizkiyahu [19:35-19:37]
32:24-32:33 Hizkiyahu is sick but prays and recovers; is rich and successful; fails God's test with the ambassadors; dies [20:1-20:21]
33:1-33:9 Menashe rules; does evil; spreads idolatry across the country and in the Temple [21:1-21:9]
33:10-33:20 Menashe ignores calls to repent; is taken captive by Ashur; repents; is returned; removes idolatry [21:17-21:18]
33:21-33:25 Amon rules; does evil; is assassinated [21:19-21:26]
31:1-34:7 Yoshiyahu rules, is righteous; removes idolatry from Yehudah and the north [22:1-22:2,23:4-23:6]
34:8-34:11 Yoshiyahu hires workmen to rebuild the Temple [22:3-22:6]
34:12-34:23 List of work overseers; a "book of Torah" is found; Yoshiyahu reads it; prophetess Hulda is sent for [22:8-22:14]
34:24-34:25 Hulda says the curse in the book will come true, due to Yehudah's sins... [22:15-22:17]
34:26-34:28 ...but not to Yoshiyahu, because he is righteous [22:18-22:20]
34:29-34:33 Yoshiyahu makes a public covenant to God; the people follow it throughout his lifetime [23:1-23:3]
35:1-35:2 Yoshiyahu celebrates Pesach
35:3-35:6 Yoshiyahu tells the Levites to prepare for the celebration of Pesach
35:7 Yoshiyahu provides animals for the people to use as Pesach offerings
35:8-35:18 The sacrifice is carried out; no Pesach has been celebrated like this since the time of Shmuel [23:22-23:22]
35:19-35:24 Egyptian army passes Yehudah to fight Ashur; Yoshiyahu insists on fighting Egypt but is killed in battle at Meggido [23:29-23:30]
35:25-36:4 Yoshiyahu is mourned; Yehoachaz rules but Egypt captures him; his brother Yehoyakim rules [23:31,23:34-23:36]
36:5-36:8 Yehoyakim rules; does evil; Bavel takes him captive [24:1-24:2,24:5-24:6]
36:9-36:10 Yehoyachin rules; does evil; Bavel takes him too captive [24:8-24:10,24:12-24:13,24:15]
36:11-36:21 Tzidkiyahu rules; does evil and ignores prophets; Bavel conquers Yehudah, destroys Temple, and exiles the people [MeB 24:18-24:20,25:8-25:21]
36:22-36:23 Koresh declares that Yehudah can return to rebuild the Temple
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Ezra/Nechemyah
1-4 The return in Koresh' reign
5-6 Temple finished in Daryavesh' reign
7-10 Ezra's return and leadership
1-13 Nechemyah's return and leadership
1:1-1:6 Koresh declares that Jews can return to rebuild the Temple; many of them collect vessels and valuables and prepare to go
1:7-1:9,1:10,1:11 Koresh returns the vessels from the first Temple to Jerusalem
2:1...2:67 List of returnees by family
2:68,2:69,2:70 List of gold, silver, clothing contributed; everyone moves into their cities
3:1 In Tishrei the people gather in Jerusalem
3:2-3:7 They build an altar and offer sacrifices starting the first of Tishrei; they pay workmen and buy cedars from Lebanon
3:8 Levites oversee the Temple construction
3:9,3:10-3:11 Temple foundation is laid; Levites and people praise God
3:12-3:13 But those who had seen the first Temple cry
4:1-4:6 Jews' enemies offer to help construction, are refused; they frustrate the building from Koresh's rule until Daryavesh's and in Ahashverosh's reigns
4:7 A complaint by the enemies to emperor Artachshashta:
4:8-4:11 [Begin Aramaic] Introduction to the complaint
4:12-4:16 Enemies complain that Jerusalem is rebellious and thus cannot be allowed to build a city wall
4:17,4:18-4:22 Artachshashta replies, forbidding Jerusalem to be built
4:23,4:24 Jews are shown the response, forced to stop building the Temple until Daryavesh' reign
5:1,5:2 Prophets Hagai and Zecharyah prophesize; with their help Zerubavel begins building the Temple again
5:3,5:4-5:5 Non-Jews complain that Jews have no authority to build; building continues until a response from Daryavesh is received
5:6...5:17 These non-Jews ask Daryavesh whether Koresh gave them permission to build
6:1-6:2 Daryavesh finds Koresh's declaration
6:3-6:5 Restatement of Koresh's declaration
6:6-6:12 Daryavesh confirms the declaration and asks the non-Jews to contribute sacrifices to the new Temple
6:13-6:15 The non-Jews consent; the Temple is finished
6:16-6:18 Temple is dedicated with sacrifices [End Aramaic]
6:19-6:22 [Begin Hebrew] Jews celebrate Pesach
7:1-7:6 The scribe Ezra returns to Yehudah in Artachshashta's reign
7:7-7:10 Ezra reaches Jerusalem, hoping to make the Jews religious
7:11 Ezra's letter of introduction from Artachshashta:
7:12-7:26 [Aramaic] Ezra is granted authority over Jews of Yehudah, access to royal money for sacrifices, and tax exemptions for priests and Levites
7:27-7:28 [Now in first person] Ezra thanks God for the king's favor; he gathered people to go with him from Bavel
8:1-8:14 List of Jews who come with Ezra
8:15-8:19 Ezra and his group gather at the river Ahva; there are no Levites among them, so some are sent for
8:20-8:30 Having refused a royal escort, they fast and pray for protection on the journey; they dedicate vessels to the Temple
8:31-8:34 Ezra's group arrives safely in Jerusalem
8:35,8:36 Sacrifices are made to God; the king's command is distributed to local officials
9:1-9:2 Princes tell Ezra that the people has intermarried
9:3-9:9,9:10-9:14,9:15 Ezra fasts and prays, confessing the people's guilt to God
10:1 [Now in third person] The people gather with Ezra and cry
10:2-10:4 One of the people suggests to Ezra to make a covenant with God and get rid of the foreign wives
10:5-10:6 Ezra makes the people swear they will do this
10:7-10:8 Ezra makes the entire people come to Jerusalem, or else lose their property and communal standing
10:9 The people come to Jerusalem
10:10-10:14 Ezra calls on the people to confess and divorce their foreign wives; they offer to do so, but only over time in a rotation
10:15-10:17 The wives are divorced
10:18...10:44 List of people who had married foreign women
1:1-1:11 [In first person] Nechemyah (in Shushan) is informed that Jerusalem is poor and unwalled; he prays to God for success
2:1-2:3 Nechemyah serves as King Artachshashta's cupbearer; when asked he tells the king he is sad because of Jerusalem's continued destruction
2:4-2:9 Nechemyah asks to go rebuild Jerusalem; the king agrees and gives him letters of passage and guards
2:10-2:18 Nechemyah arrives, tours the destroyed wall at night, and encourages the people to rebuild
2:19-3:32 Non-Jews mock the rebuilding; list of people and the parts of the wall they rebuild
3:33-3:35 Non-Jews are angry and mock the rebuilding
3:36-3:38 Nechemyah's prayer that God punish the mockers; wall is rebuilt to half its height
4:1-4:8 Non-Jews gather an army to disrupt building; Nechemyah gathers a defense force
4:9-4:17 Building continues under heavy guard
5:1-5:8 The people complain that they are bankrupt and forced to sell their children as slaves; Nechemyah tells the rich to loan to the poor
5:9-5:19 Nechemyah makes the rich promise to return the fields and property to the poor; Nechemyah has refused to tax the people
6:1-6:4 Non-Jews try to lure Nechemyah to a meeting (at which he would be killed?); Nechemyah refuses
6:5-6:7 Non-Jews try to lure him again, saying that he is seen is a rebel king
6:8-6:13 Nechemyah ignores this call, and refuses a false prophet's call to hide in the Temple
6:14-6:15 Wall is finished
6:16-7:5 Non-Jews are afraid; Toviah plots against Nechemyah; Jerusalem is guarded; Nechemyah finds Ezra's genealogy and wants to add to it
7:6...7:38 Ezra's list of returnees by family [Ezra 2:1-2:35]
7:39...7:42 List of returnees by family - priests [2:36-2:39]
7:43...7:45 List of returnees by family - Levites [2:40-2:42]
7:46...7:60 List of returnees by family - Netinim [2:43-2:58]
7:61-7:62,7:63-7:68 List of returnees - those of uncertain family [2:59-2:67]
7:69-7:71 List of gold, silver, clothing contributed [2:68-2:69]
7:72-8:4 Ezra gathers the people on Rosh Hashanah in order to read the Torah to them
8:5-8:8 Ezra reads and the Levites help the people understand
8:9-8:12 Ezra, Nechemyah, and the Levites tell the people to celebrate and not cry
8:13-8:15 The next day they find and publicize the laws of Sukkot
8:16-8:18 Sukkot is celebrated according to its laws
9:1-9:3 Later that month, the Jews fast and confess intermarriage
9:4-9:37 Levites pray, thanking God for past protection, admitting the people's past rebellion, and making a covenant to obey God
10:1-10:9,10:10-10:14 List of people who sign the covenant
10:15-10:34 More signees; they and the rest of the people commit to obey the Torah - particularly intermarriage, Shabbat, shviit, and Temple contributions
10:35-11:2 More commitments: Temple wood supplies, first-fruits, tithes; lots are cast to see who will live in Jerusalem and who elsewhere
11:3-11:6 List of people living in Jerusalem - from Yehudah
11:7-11:9 List of people living in Jerusalem - from Binyamin
11:10-11:14 List of people living in Jerusalem - priests
11:15-11:18 List of people living in Jerusalem - Levites
11:19-11:21 List of porters in Jerusalem; other Jews and Netinim live elsewhere
11:22-11:36 List of Levite singers; people from Yehudah outside Jerusalem
12:1-12:7 Priests at the time of Yeshua and Zerubavel
12:8-12:22 Levites at the time of Yeshua; priests and Levites a couple generations later (in Daryavesh' reign)
12:23-12:26 Levites at the time of Ezra and Nechemyah (still later)
12:27-12:34,12:35-12:47 Levites and princes present at the dedication of Jerusalem's wall; the people celebrate; officers are appointed over tithes
13:1-13:9 Ammonites and Moavites are ostracized (by Torah law); in Nechemyah's absence Toviah moves into the Temple; Nechemyah returns and expels him
13:10-13:13 Tithes have not been distributes; Nechemyah appoints more reliable overseers
13:14-13:18 Nechemyah condemns people who are breaking Shabbat
13:19-13:21 Nechemyah has the city gates closed for Shabbat, and scares away non-Jewish merchants outside the gates
13:22 Levites guard the gates on Shabbat
13:23-13:29 Nechemyah condemns intermarriers, and expels a prominent one
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Yeshayahu 36-39
36:1-36:10 Assyria attacks Yehudah; general Ravshakeh says Egypt cannot help Yehudah [Melachim B 18:13,18:17-18:25]
36:11-36:15 Ravshakeh is asked to speak in Aramaic not Hebrew; refuses and keeps speaking [18:26-18:30]
36:16-36:22 Ravshakeh offers exile, says God won't help any more than other nations' deities helped them [18:31-18:37]
37:1-37:14 Hizkiyahu mourns; Yeshayahu says not to worry; Assyria fights in Livnah but promises to return to fight Yehudah [19:1-19:14]
37:15-37:32 Hizkiyahu prays to God to save them; Yeshayahu predicts Assyria's defeat [19:15-19:32]
37:33-37:35 Yeshayahu predicts Jerusalem's survival [19:33-19:34]
37:36-37:38 A plague (?) decimates the Assyrian army; Assyria leaves; king of Assyria killed on his return [19:35-19:37]
38:1-38:3 Hizkiyahu sick; Yeshayahu predicts his death; Hizkiyahu prays to God [20:1-20:3]
38:4-38:8 Yeshayahu returns; predicts Hizkiyahu's and Jerusalem's survival; performs a miracle to prove it will happen [20:4-20:6,20:9-20:11]
38:9-38:22 A psalm Hizkiyahu wrote about his sickness; how Yeshayahu healed him [20:7-20:8]
39:1-39:2 Babylonian ambassadors come; Hizkiyahu shows them his treasures [20:12-20:13]
39:3-39:8 Yeshayahu predicts expulsion to Babylonia [20:14-20:19]
------------------------------------------------------------
Sefer Yirmiyahu 37-44,52
(Historical events, not those centering on Yirmiyahu)
37:1-37:5 Tzidkiyahu rules in place of Yehoyachin; does evil; Egyptian army breaks Babylonian siege on Jerusalem [Melachim B 24:19]
37:6-37:8,37:9-37:11 Yirmiyahu prophesizes Babylonia will still conquer Jerusalem
37:12-38:2 Yirmiyahu arrested (for treason), imprisoned
38:3-38:6 The people call for his execution; he is thrown in a pit
38:7-38:13 The officer Eved-melech intercedes and Yirmiyahu is taken out of the pit
38:14-38:16 Tzidkiyahu asks Yirmiyahu for the truth about the future
38:17-38:18 Yirmiyahu predicts destruction if Tzidkiyahu does not surrender first
38:19-38:23 Tzidkiyahu refuses to surrender out of a sense of honor; Yirmiyahu predicts greater dishonor
38:24-28:26 Tzidkiyahu tells Yirmiyahu not to report their conversation
38:27-38:28 Yirmiyahu reports the conversation to the princes, but they do not repeat it further, so Yirmiyahu survives
39:1-39:14 Babylonia besieges, Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured and exiled; Jerusalem captured and destroyed; people exiled [25:1-25:12]
39:15-39:18 After Yirmiyahu's arrest and releast to Gedalyahu, Yirmiyahu prophesizes good for Eved-melech
40:7-40:12 Gedalyahu appointed governor by Babylonia; promises protection to remaining Jews; some return from neighboring areas [25:23-25:24]
40:13-40:16 Yochanan tells Gedalyahu of a plot on Gedalyahu's life by Yishmael, offers to kill Yishmael; Gedalyahu refuses
41:1-41:10 Yishmael kills Gedalyahu, takes Gedalyahu officers and household with him, flees to Ammon
41:11-41:15 Yochanan raises an army against Yishmael; Yishmael's forces desert him but he flees to Ammon
41:16-41:18 Yochanan's forces flee towards Egypt, fearing Babylonia
42:1-42:6 Yochanan's forces meet Yirmiyahu and swear loyalty to God
42:7-42:22 Yirmiyahu, in God's name, warns them not to flee to Egypt but to stay in Yehudah
43:1-43:7 Yochanan's forces, and those who returned, disobey and flee to Egypt
43:8-43:13 Yirmiyahu predicts a Babylonian conquest of Egypt
44:1-44:6 Yirmiyahu prophesizes: Just as Yehudah disobeyed God and was punished...
44:7-44:10 ...and the people still disobey God...
44:11-44:14 ...they, who went to Egypt, will all die there.
44:15-44:19 The people respond that they will continue with idolatry, blaming exile on a stop in idolatry
44:20-44:23 Yirmiyahu responds that exile was because of the idolatry
44:24-44:25 Yirmiyahu notes their commitment to idolatry...
44:26-44:29 ...predicts their total destruction...
44:30 ...and Egypt's defeat
...
52:1-52:23 Tzidkiyahu rules; sins; Babylonia besieges Jerusalem; Tzidkiyahu flees, is captured; Jerusalem captured and burnt; people exiled [24:18-25:17]
52:24-52:27 Leaders of Yehudah killed by Babylonia [25:18-25:21]
52:28-52:30 Total number of captives taken
52:31-52:34 New king of Babylonia privileges Yehoyachin [25:27-25:30]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)