Day 32 The Maccabean books end with two bizarre installments. Third Maccabees has nothing to do with Judas Maccabeus or his relatives and Fourth Maccabees is a ponderous philosophical treatise on the merits of martyrdom. Third Maccabees deals with the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt, specifically the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator. Now, before reading this […]
Day 31 If First Maccabees was Braveheart…then Second Maccabees is Braveheart + Monty Python + Gladiator. This book pulls out all the stops. It basically tells the same story as 1 Maccabees with a few additions and embellishments. Some of the characters change, but the basic structure remains: action packed warfare. The interesting thing here, […]
Day 30 I present to you, the Braveheart of the Apocrypha. That’s really what this book felt like. The main character, at least for the first 3/4 of it, is Judas Maccabeus — a warrior who, with his brothers, helps lead a revolt against the foreign powers occupying Israel and defiling their temple. The story […]
Day 29 Or Tobias. Another apocryphal book that is a short story. This time it involves blindness, demons, angels, giant fish (not as giant as in Jonah), a dog-masquerading-as-the-Lord, and avoiding the destruction of Nineveh. I really enjoy these Hebrew Bible short stories, including the apocryphal texts. Esther, Job, Judith…I would even argue Daniel counts. […]
Day 28 So begins the minor prophets and the final stretch of the Hebrew Bible. I have a handful of apocryphal books to finish up and then I’ll get to end with the remaining nine minor prophets. Hosea, Joel, and Amos provide different perspectives and different time periods for their prophesying. They’re also deeply personal. […]
Day 27 This was a fantastic read. I felt like it prophetic book I’d been waiting for. Again, Isaiah and Jeremiah were just fine, Ezekiel was a wild fever dream of a ride…but with Daniel, it was a delight to turn each page — including the three extra chapters in the apocrypha: The Prayer of […]
Day 26 Whaaaaaaaat is happening here?! This has got to be the weirdest book of the Bible (and I say that knowing there’s many more to go!) This book doesn’t mess around. It begins with an absolutely otherworldly vision of God (see image below) with spinning circles, domes, winged beasts, a sapphire throne, rainbows, fire, […]
Day 25 The Wisdom of Yeshua son of Eleazar son of Sira. The Book of Jesus, Son of Sirach. Ecclesiasticus. The Instruction of Ben Sira. Sirach. I don’t think I’ve seen a bible book with so many names, but, well, there you have it. Sirach is a wisdom book collecting the sayings of Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) […]
Day 24 The book of Lamentations is just as the title suggests. Other impressions are that it is grief-laden, bereft of hope, or even jeremiad — a word derived from the supposed author of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah. I could feel the pain in these verses. Despite this, Lamentations also has some of the most […]
Day 23 Today is the halfway point of this experiment: Reading the entirety of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures in 45 days. I’m astonished at the stories I’ve learned, the peculiarities and esoterica I’ve gleaned, and the progress I’ve made. Here’s to the remaining 22 days! Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah and a prominent figure […]