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Showing posts from July, 2022

The Destruction of Shiloh, Pt. 1

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This will be a two-post series on the subject of the destruction of Shiloh. More precisely, on the destruction of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. The Tabernacle at Shiloh was constructed already in the days of Yehoshua ( idem. 18:1 ). There it remained until mysteriously disappearing circa the Israelite-Plishtite War in Shmuel 1:4:1-22 . After this war, we do not hear of people coming to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Instead they go to places such as Nov and Giv'on. The reason was only reported centuries later, in Yirmiyahu 26:1-6  where Hashem tells Yirmiyahu to pass on a prophecy that if the people of the Kingdom of Yehudah do not fix their ways, the Temple will be destroyed just like the Tabernacle in Shiloh (similarly mentioned in ibid. 7:13-15 ). Subsequently, people get angry at Yirmiyahu for having the gall to threaten them with a destruction on par of that of Shiloh ( ibid. 8-9 ). Wait, destroyed? When did that happen?! Actually, this was hinted at already in a Tehillim chapter writt

The meaning of Khiram's name

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This is an idea I thought of some time last year, when I was doing some research into the Phoenician calendar. The Phoenician calendar - back when the Phoenicians were still known as Tzidonim, Tzori'im, Gevalim, etc (i.e., named after their land and/or city-states) - was a twelve-month calendar with each month having a name. To the best of my knowledge, a full list of names has not been found yet, but the list was restored by Prof. Robert Stieglitz in his essay "the Phoenician-Punic Calendar". Here's his list with my notes on the meaning of each name: זבח שמש - Zevach Shemesh - sacrifice to the sun מרפא - Merapeh - after Baal Merapeh, a Canaanite god חיר - Khir - per the name Khiram (Hiram), it may be deduced that Khir is the name of a god (as it seems the name means "Khir [is] great") בול - Bul - clump or rain פעלת - Po'elet or Pe'ulot - [fem.] acting or acts פגרם - Pegarim -  probably  referring to cultic stelae (and there  might have also been  a