[BBC List] worth it - Joseph had more trouble than we often realize - the wife of the chief executioner accused him.

Tue Apr 10 08:44:07 EAST 2007

NAU Genesis 39:1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.

sy“rIs. •rp;yjiAP WhnE³q.YIw: hm'y>r"+c.mi dr:åWh @seÞAyw>  WTT Genesis 39:1

Ah rv,îa] ~yliêa[em.v.YIh; ‘dY:mi yrIêc.mi vyaiä ‘~yxiB'J;h; rf;Û h[oør>P;

Bodyguard:

Hol2998  xB'j; 

xB'j;: pl. ~yxiB'j;: — 1. butcher & cook for meat (who also serves) 1S 923f; — 2. pl. bodyguards & executioners: ´ar ‰abb¹µîm Gn 3736, rab ‰abb¹µim 2K 258-20 provost-marshal. (pg 121)

(786e) x;Bej,m; (ma‰b¢aµ) slaughter. 

The basic nuance of "executioner" lies behind the development of the noun, though both in the Joseph account in Egypt (Gen 37-41) and in the function of Nebuzaradan, the "chief (rab) of the guard" of Nebuchadnezzar in 2Kings 25 and Jer 39-52, , the sense of the term has become that of "chief official." This is supported by the parallel officials mentioned in Jer 39:13- "the chief of the soothsayers" and "the chief of the eunuchs"-and by the cognate Aramaic noun in Dan 2:14 which describes a high court official commissioned to execute the Babylonian wise men. This passage may argue that the function of "execution" is still the duty of officials receiving this title. Whether in Egypt or Babylon, the official with this title is the king's representative to execute discipline, judgment, and leadership. 

From:

\

The primary literal meaning of this root is "to deliberately slaughter or butcher an animal for food," but this concept is most often employed metaphorically to depict the slaying of men, The synonym z¹baµ, though similar in its basic nuance, conveys the additional idea of "slaughter for sacrifice" from which the offerer often partakes. h¹rag (q,v.) and sh¹µa‰ (q.v.) are found in parallelism with ‰¹baµ; h¹rag conveys the sense of killing with violence in war or conflict while sh¹µa‰ emphasizes beating the subject in order to kill it or, since the Akk sha-¹‰u means "flay," "to kill for sacrifice" which often included skinning. 

The central meaning of the root occurs only three times (Gen 43:16; Exo 22:1 [H 21.37]; 1Sam 25:11). The root is predominantly used metaphorically, portraying the Lord's judgment upon Israel and upon Babylon as a slaughter. The emphasis is placed upon Israel's leaders, the "shepherds," who ironically are being slain. This carnage is executed by Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in 586 B.C. (Jer 25:34; Ezek 21:10 [H 15]) which leaves slaughtered corpses in Jerusalem's streets (Lam 2:21). Cursing upon Israel was promised in the Mosaic covenant (Lev 26; ; Deut 28), where God declares that he will ultimately curse Israel's rebellion by depriving her of her own herds which will be confiscated and slaughtered for food by foreigners (Deut 28:26, 31). Though Babylon is the "sword" used by God to "slaughter" Israel in judgment, Babylon too will perish as a lamb led to slaughter through the Lord's wrath (Jer 51:40). This comparison to a lamb brought to slaughter emphasizes two aspects of judgment depicted by this root. First, the slaughtered victim is unaware of the consequences, of the course which he is following, as implied by Jeremiah's self-description as a lamb led by the men of Anathoth to slaughter, unconscious of their plans (Jer 11:19; cf. Jer 51:40). This is vividly portrayed by ‰ebaµ when it is employed to describe a young man who does not realize the consequences of being seduced by a prostitute (Prov 7:22). Second, the element of planning by the executioner is clearly present in contexts where this root is employed (cf. Jer 11:19; Prov 7:22). Psalm 37:14 portrays the wicked plotting to "slay" the upright. 

A unique use of ‰ebaµ and ‰¹baµ is provided in Prov 9:2 when "wisdom" is personified as one preparing "wisdom" as her food (‰¹bµâ ‰ibµ¹h) for foolish mankind to eat. 

‰ebaµ. Slaughter, slaughtering, animal. tibha. Slaughtered meat, flesh, slaughter, meat. matbeah. Slaughter, place of slaughter. 

These three derivatives are employed to represent the slaughtered victim. The sense of an animal being slain is conveyed only by ‰ebaµ in Gen 43:16 and ‰ibµâ in 1Sam 25:11 (as cognate accusatives). Otherwise, ‰ebaµ I s employed primarily to represent people as the slaughter victim, especially by God's judgment (cf. two exceptions discussed above in Prov 7:22; Prov 9:2). All nations will ultimately experience the Lord's vengeance demonstrated in their slaughter (Isa 34:2) through Babylon's campaigns (of 586 B.C. and following) and at the end time. Israel will be slain by the Lord's "sword," Babylon (Ezek 21:10, 15 [H 15,20] -note the relation to h¹rag, "slay" µ¦l¦lîm and reƒaµ "slaughter" In Ezek 21:11, 14, 22 [H 16,19,27]); Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Babylon will be brought down to the slaughter by the Lord (Isa 34:6; Ezek 21:28 [H 33]; Jer 50:27; cf. ma‰b¢aµ in Isa 14:21). ‰ebaµ emphasizes God's justice whereby he purposes to punish those who refuse to respond to his call (Isa 65:12) -those who have failed to understand that the ultimate consequences of failing to listen when God speaks, is physical destruction. 

‰ebaµ is employed to describe the Messiah's death for sin, emphasizing his silence by the comparison to a lamb when it is slaughtered (Isa 53:7). Although a lamb is silent because it is ignorant of its destiny, certainly the Messiah was fully cognizant of the Father's will in his death the horribleness of which is conveyed by the figure of "slaughter. " 

The noun ‰ibµâ is used (in parallel to h¹rag)in Jer 12:3 for the judgment of the wicked and in Psa 44:22 [H 231 for Israel's affliction which the righteous endure because of their stand for the Lord. Apparently °ebµâ (Ezek 20:15 [H 21 ]) is an error of an alternate for ‰ibµâ. 

‰abbaµ. Cook, bodyguard, guardsman. tabbaba. Female cook. These two derivatives convey the idea of a "cook" who slaughters and prepares meat: ‰abbaµ, for a masculine "cook" (only in 1Sam 9:23-24) and ‰abb¹µâ, used only once in 1Sam 8:13 for a female "cook." The normal use of ‰abb¹µ (twenty-nine times) describes a "body guard" or "guardsman." Genesis employs the term with ´ar and s¹rîs to describe Potiphar an the prison warden, chief officials in Egypt. The basic nuance of "executioner" lies behind the development of the noun, though both in the Joseph account in Egypt (Gen 37-41) and in the function of Nebuzaradan, the "chief (rab) of the guard" of Nebuchadnezzar in 2Kings 25 and Jer 39-52, , the sense of the term has become that of "chief official." This is supported by the parallel officials mentioned in Jer 39:13- "the chief of the soothsayers" and "the chief of the eunuchs"-and by the cognate Aramaic noun in Dan 2:14 which describes a high court official commissioned to execute the Babylonian wise men. This passage may argue that the function of "execution" is still the duty of officials receiving this title. Whether in Egypt or Babylon, the official with this title is the king's representative to execute discipline, judgment, and leadership. 

Bibliography: TDNT, VII, pp. 929-33. R.H.A.

787.0 lb;j' (t¹bal) I, dip, plunge. (ASV and RSV similar.)

The verb conveys the immersion of one item into another: bread in vinegar (Ruth 2:14), feet in water (Josh 3:15), a coat in blood (Gen 37:31). baptœ is the common LXX rendering of this root. 

"Dipping" is employed in Israel's religious ritual of cleansing. (See 1Sam 14:7 for dipping in the literal sense). In the sin offering, whereby the sinner's (individual or national) iniquity is atoned, the priest dips his finger into the blood of the sacrificial animal and sprinkles it before the veil or places it upon he altar's horns (Lev 4:6, 17; Lev 9:9). The sinner is identified with the animal's blood shed as a representation of the death paid for the sin. Hebrews 9:19-22 draws on this figure of cleansing by blood. Similarly, blood was placed on the doorposts at Passover, representing the lamb's blood shed substitutionally for the first born (Exo 12:22). Identification is also conveyed in the cleansing ritual for lepers (Lev 14:6, 16, 51; 2Kings 5:14) and the dead (Num 19:18). Hyssop, or the priest's finger, is dipped in water or oil, cleansing agents, and sprinkled upon the unclean object to identify it as cleansed. 

Job 9:31 employs the root to represent Bildad "plunging" Job into the filthy pit of accusations. Blessing is depicted by "dipping" one's feet in oil (Deut 33:24; cf. Job 29:6). 

Bibliography: TDNT, I, pp. 535-36. R.H.A.

Thanks.

Charis,

Mike Abendroth

 <http://www.bbcchurch.org> www.bbcchurch.org

Ephesians 3:21 auvtw/| h` do,xa evn th/| evkklhsi,a| 

2 Tim 1:2b  "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

"Faith is not our physician; it only brings us to the Physician ... Faith is not our saviour. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us, and gave itself for us; that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died and rose again for our sins.  It is a sin-bearer that we need, and our faith cannot be a sin-bearer. Faith can expiate no guilt; can accomplish no propitiation; can pay no penalty; can wash away no stain; can provide no righteousness. It brings us to the cross, … but in itself it has no merit and no virtue.  Faith is not Christ, nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood, nor the sacrifice; … Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between itself and the cross. It is the acknowledgment that the cross alone saves, and that it saves alone. Faith adds nothing to the cross, nor to its healing virtue. It owns the fulness, and sufficiency, and suitableness of the work done there, and bids the toiling spirit cease from its labours and enter into rest. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see the glorious spectacle of all things done, and to accept this completion without a misgiving as to its efficacy. It listens to the “It is finished!” of the Sin-bearer, and says, “Amen.”   

NOT FAITH, BUT CHRIST 

by Horatius Bonar 
(1808-1889) 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bbcchurch.org/pipermail/bbc_list/attachments/20070410/5bb50056/attachment.htm