Class notes

These are primarily from Th 10/26 -

Know the opening of Ecclesiastes for the test.

The Hebrew word for vanity is "Hebel," meaning fog, vapor or breath and this has created confusion because the Hebrew word "Hevel" means meaningless, absurd, emptiness and useless. The definition of Hevel tends to be the one most people think of when hearing the word "vanity."

Eccl 3 is a refrain often used in weddings; however, it's really a comment on how everything is all vanity (breath).

Eccl 6 - "Eat, drink and be merry . . . " Epicureanism - I can't remember how that all tied together

Some bits of wisdom and sayings that all come from Ecclesiastes:
"Cast your bread upon the waters"
"The sun also rises"
"There is nothing new under the sun"

Conventional wisdom vs complex wisdom (this is from 10/24) -
Conventional wisdom is the proverbial stuff - it's typically passed from father to son and can be traced back to before the Bible. Ancient Egyptian texts have them and it's usually the father to son tradition there too.

Polonius in Hamlet speaks in platitudes and he is an archetype of the dispenser of conventional wisdom, someone who is steeped in oral wisdom and sayings and has the answers. Of course, Polonius doesn't follow his own advice of "to thine own self be true" as he is the least true to himself.

Hamlet is an example of the complex, non-traditional wisdom purveyor; he has more questions than answers ("to be or not to be").

The greatest passage in the Bible, according to Dr. Sexson, is Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 - this is a link to a contemporary language interpretation.

Also, according to Dr. S, the music you listen to at age 14 will stay with you always. Dr. S listened to This Ole House by Rosemary Clooney, which ties to Eccl 12 because it's about aging and meeting your maker.

Another musical note (no pun intended) - Joni Mitchell's song about Job is called The Sire of Sorrow

And speaking of our man Job - remember the oreo cookie analogy. The book of Job has 3 parts: a prologue, the body and an epilogue. The prologue and the epilogue are prose and have a different writer. The body, which details the afflictions to Job's own body, is a poem.

The expression "The patience of Job" rings true only for the beginning and end; Job is not patient in the middle.

Mercy me

On page 262, in a scene that gave me chills, Jacob sees the emissary, a man who he knew "had been sent to him." Jacob, who has lost Sarah and left his son in the care of another at this point, tells the emissary his whole story and at the end the emissary tells him that his son is a gentile because it is the law. But, "behind the law, there is mercy." (265).

The connection of law and mercy brought to mind Portia's quote from Merchant of Venice:

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. . . .. . .
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. (IV.i.179–197)

Coincidentally (and ironically?), Portia is speaking to a Jew (Shylock) and implying that mercy is a Christian concept.

The Slave and Zanzibar

I have delaying writing this blog even though I finished the book a week ago and, as I mentioned in class, I have a bunch of pink sticky notes in the book outlining some of my ideas. Why the delay? I have no foggy clue; I just (oops, don't say "just," Teresa)have not been able to make myself do it.

Have you heard of Bill Harley? He's a performer and he focuses primarily on childrens' songs and stories. He has a story called "Zanzibar" that tells about his experience in having to write a report on Zanzibar when he was in, I believe, 6th grade. He can't make himself do it; although, everytime he thinks about the report, he breaks into a Zanzibar song he made up. Anyway, the point is that everytime I'm putting off doing something, I end up humming the "Zanzibar" tune. So, in order to get the blasted song out of my head, here's the blog.

Wanda's people believe in (among others) Baba Yaga who according to Wikipedia is, "in Slavic mythology, the wild old woman, the dark lady, and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits."

Wanda comes from a, for lack of a better term, pagan/Christian background and she converts to Judaism. While he is having an internal debate about Wanda’s conversion to Judaism, Jacob says, “something done selfishly may end up as a godly act.” (127) So I pondered, is conversion a selfish or a selfless act? Jacob wants Wanda to convert so that he may marry her (selfish) but his faith and belief are so strong that he is certain he is bringing a pagan peasant closer to God (selfless).

During her conversion and after, Wanda/Sarah questions Jacob unendingly. A predominant question of hers is a predominant issue throughout the book (and throughout time immemorial): why does God allow evil and sin to occur? Jacob doesn't seem to have a definitive answer for this question; his thoughts on pg 82 are that man must choose for himself between good and evil. Jacob told her (Sarah) repeatedly he couldn't solve all the world's riddles (158).

Lady Theresa Pilitzky had her own definitions of sin: ". . . everything comes from God - including lust" and ". . . a secret sin where there is no sacrilege injures no one." (189) Her rationale was rooted in her desire for Jacob and in defense of her past actions. And she defends her past in a heated argument with her husband as well, telling him that she came to him as an innocent girl (211). Interestingly enough, Theresa's husband blames her for all his troubles (210) - another case of Adam blaming the woman.

Class notes Tuesday 10/10

We need to meet in groups during our class time Thursday. Andrew and I talked and we're thinking the Acts group can meet in the classroom and if it's too noisy, we'll go elsewhere from there.

The class average on our first test was 82%, but Dr Sexson stressed that he places more emphasis on our e-journals and our writing in those. Next test - November 14th

On to Moses -
Exodus 1 is the voice of J b/c it's not a list but a narrative, but the voices of the authors do get mixed up in Exodus

There is no historical record in Egypt to suggest a huge group of Hebrews left Egypt b/c it is important to the Israelites, but not the Egyptians. It is not A piece of Hebrew history; it is THE piece of history.

German word heilsgeschichte (holy history) - history that is imbued with mythical import

Even the Hebrew women are of mythic strength - the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, cannot kill the babies b/c the (Hebrew) women deliver them without need of help.

The classic mythology is the male ruler fears someone will challenge his rule; he doesn't want a male stronger than him to be born. Example of wild west and the gunslinger, such as High Noon - the old dude challenged by the young whippersnapper (Dr. S's words!)

Lord Raglan wrote The Hero: a collection of people's stories from around the world. Lord R found that no matter where he went, the stories were the same and based upon heroes, so he compiled 22 main points about heroes. Moses, among many others, fits this pattern. Moses also becomes the archetype of the fugitive when he commits murder. Moses escapes to Midian, sits by a well (there's that water imagery again!) and meets a beautiful woman, Zipporah, who becomes his wife and they have a child, Gershom.

And speaking of heroes, according to Wikipedia, Smallville (Superman's hometown) was never designated as belonging in a certain state; it was merely an idyllic American, Norman Rockwell-esque city. However, the Superman movies of the 1970's and 80's placed Smallville in Kansas.

Be sure to read Frye Chapter 9: The Double Mirror: Exodus and Gospel. Pharoah's wanting to kill all baby boys mirrors the Gospels with Herod's killing all boys. AKA "Massacre/Slaughter of the Innocents."

More heroic names: Homer and Jethro, which was also the name of a country group when Dr. Sexon was growing up. H&J, in a weird coincidence, wrote the lyrics to "I'm My Own Grandpa," which ties in nicely with another hero we have spoken of often in class: Oedipus. Freud explains that a father and son rival for the mother - totem and taboo - and the father doesn't want to give up his authority so he kills the son.

Definitions: epiphany and theophany In Exodus 34, we have the question of whether or not you can look at God's face - Moses sees the "backside of God as he streaks on by" (Dr. S's words)

One last note: Maria is from Whitefish, MT, born November 17, 1981, to Robert and Nancy.

The Bride of Christ

Here's a story about a woman who has become a "consecrated virgin."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15172758/?GT1=8618

Test Questions

1. (Frye) What is the Gk translation of the Hebrew texts that became the OT? Septuagint (70 or LXX)

2. In order, what are the 7 stages of the Bible? Creation, Revolution, Law, Wisdom, Prophecy (1st 5 are OT), Gospel and Apocalypse (last 2 are NT)

3. The U shape structure Frye refers to as what literary type? Comedy (traditional definition)

4. What does Frye say about the word whore/harlot? It is a theological, not sexual, term

5. What 3 things is biblical writing antagonistic toward? Women, snakes and nature

6. Dr. Sexson will craft the question based on Frye and recurring themes, and trees and water will be the answer

7. Again, Dr. S will write the ? relating to snakes/Yahweh as trixter, but answer will be trixter (remember the word "smooth")

8. Define archetype? Fundamental or primary image, symbol or story

9. Look at Frye pg 63 - idea of a "dying" and resurrecting god appears in many stories throughout history

10. 3 phases Hebrew people went through? Pastoral, agricultural and urban

11. What, according to Bloom, is J's most prominent literary feature? irony

12. (Bloom) What is the documentary hypothesis? Multiple authorship of 1st 5 books of Moses

13. What are mortal crimes in the OT? The top of the list was apostacy - worshipping other gods

14. Look at Frye Chapter 5 - ideas & metaphors of bride/groom/marriage - Dr. Sexson will draw a ? from this

15. There will be a list of attributes and we will assign them to P or J

16. Which one of these is not a traditional patriarch? David

17. Rebecca, not Leah, waters the camels.

18. What is theodicy? the question of the justice of a god who appears to permit bad things to happen to good people

19. T or F - Bloom argues that J is a moralist - False

20. What is lacuna(e)? Gap(s) in text

21. Henotheism? One's own god is stronger than another's god (implies multiple gods) - opposite of monotheism

22. Gnosticism? Nurturing a spark of divine knowledge within the self

23. Patriarchy? In a patriarchy, even the men who are not fathers are considered women, patriarchy marginalized people, including women, blacks and Indians

24. Exodus in Bible is comparable to what story in Gk mythology? Trojan War - know date of 1200 BCE

25. Bloom's definition of blessing? "more life," "wholeness of being"

26. Know 2 big dates of 1200 BCE and 500 (approx) BCE - look at timeline in beginning of Bloom

27. Who are the 5 authors of the Penteteuch? J,E,D,P,R - Jehovist, Elohist, Deutoronomist, Priestly, Redactor - Jed Eats Dates, Prunes, Raisins

28. 2 sins of women (biblically speaking!)? sexuality and deceit

29. Know Essau's association with wild game

30. Know Frye's chapter on types/antitypes

31. Define etiology and provide examples: mythological or metaphorical explanation of why we do things - example: why we speak different languages (Tower of Babel) or why we have rainbows (Noah's Ark)

32. Look at the ambiguity/contradictions/confusions in the Bible - sorry, I don't have an example for that one