Week 4 Discussion: Tiglath-Pileser…
1081 words by Khaira Weber
Tiglath-Pileser I was the king of Assyria (1115-1076 BCE). He exaggerated a bit too much for me. For instance, he went on about how great he was, then he said that he defeated 20,000 men and their 5 kings, and that the ranks of the other fighting individuals were beaten down. Then he even had the nerve to say to say that he cut off their heads. You see what I mean now? That’s why biblical scholars are needed in order to reveal the truth about things as to if they are actually factual or not. But, Tiglath-Pileser I was one of the greatest Assyrian conquerors. He even had a record of his victories engraved on copper plates inside of a fortress that he had built. He was also a great builder; in fact, he had restored he temple of Assur and Hadad at Assur is also one of his works.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is similar to the account of Noah in Genesis. Gilgamesh was the king of Uruk who desired immortality after a bad death experience with his best friend. So he sought of someone that he knew had been granted immortality, a man named Utnaishtim. Utnapishtim and Noah both survived a flood, in which they were warned early enough in order to build a form of floating device so that they would be able to get to safety. They brought their families and pairs of animals that would be able to reproduce after the storm. The storm lasted for six days and nights, but on the seventh it stopped. His shows how significant the seventh day is because in Genesis God created everything He wanted and on the seventh day He rested. Throughout the storm, they both sent out birds in order to see if it was water or land around and then sacrificed to their god when they got off the boat. Utnapishtim offered libation and Noah built an altar. So Utnapishtim revealed to Gilgamesh that immortality was a one time thing, but sends him on a voyage in search of a magic plant to live long. When Gilgamesh retrieved the plant, he fell asleep from exhaustion when a snake came and ate it. Gilgamesh is now still a mortal and just decides to rebuild the walls of Uruk instead.
There are many etiologies that are found in Genesis today. The most common ones would be something that has to do with the sins of Adam and Eve. They clearly disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree in which they were specifically told not to, so we are all now born with sin. Because of their mistakes, we are all now punished for their sins. How about the fact that we all die because of this, also. Then, the one about why snakes don’t have legs, which is because of the sins, their punishment is that they have to slither around on their bellies. Also, it is claimed that this is why women have pain in childbirth. Another fine example would be the circumstances between Cain and Abel and farmers and Shepard’s. It is said that because Abel, who was a Shepard, offered God something better than Cain, who was a farmer, God appreciated Abel more. This act made Cain mad, forcing him to kill his brother; therefore, this is suppose to be why farmers and Shepard’s don’t get along today. Theology is a mandatory course at Xavier because we are a Catholic institution. I have been in Catholic schools my whole life and religion has always been required. Therefore, I understand why I must take this course.
Auerbach’s “Odysseus’s Scar” was a literary criticism because it used flashbacks and a description about how Odysseus got the scar from the boar. It also used suspense when Odysseus’s scar was revealed to Euryclea instead of Penelope. You begin to think, well when will his identity be revealed to everyone. That’s just it there are so many distractions within this story. This story is compared to the Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22:1, but only it showed suspense, mystery, and only vital information was revealed to the reader. In “Odysseus’s Scar,” the author relates this story to any different stories within the Old Testament.
Friedman’s “Deception for Deception” is also a literary criticism because of the deception between Jacob and his family. All of the deceivers are punished. Jacob robbed Esau of his first born child and was punished by not being allowed to marry Rachael because Laban told him that it was not traditional to give the younger daughter before the first born daughter. Jacob heated Esau of Isaac’s blessing also, so his sons deceived him of Joseph’s death. Joseph ended the sequence by not retaining revenge on his brothers, in which made them feel wrong so they repented. When Joseph had outgrown his deception, he changed his name to Israel, which means the one who struggled with God. Everyone were able to realize their mistakes and the deceptions were ceased.
Literary Criticism is the analysis of literature which is then applied to the Bible. Basically, this means that it is how the author tells the story. In fact, it is brought about by historical and source criticisms. Literary Criticism focuses on the final form of the Bible, its literary methods, and its biblical authors. Bible scholars examine concepts so that they can learn about the way of life as to when the story was written. Genre, symbolism, metaphor, simile, and symbolism are relevant words related to Literary Criticism. On the other hand, Historical Criticism is the investigation of how the events in the story actually fit into the time frame in which it was supposed. It examines when the story takes place and when it was written. It familiarizes times that were common and took place at that time. Biblical scholars try to make sense of the past by using incomplete pieces of evidence. It is harder because it requires more work as it is very complex and difficult. Many times the conclusion is tentative and the process never ends. It often involves collecting information from written sources, as well as archaeological remains. If I were a biblical scholar I would prefer Historical Criticism because I would like to resolve and verify what really happened.