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Clarifying Nergal-sharezer in Jeremiah 39:3

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    Julius A. Bewer wrote for Union Theological Seminary, NY, in 1907: Nergalsharezer Samgar in Jer. 39:3 on JSTOR     NERGALSHAREZER SAMGAR IN JER. 39:3   In the inscription of Nebuchadrezzar II, published by Eckhard Unger in the Theologische Literaturzeitung 50 , No. 21 (Oct. 17, 1925), we find the name of the Babylonian general Nebuzaradan who carried the Jews into captivity in 586 B.C. (Jer. 39:9, 11, 40:1; II Kings 25:8, 10ff.) = Nabuzêriddinam with his title rab nu ḫ timmu , “chief baker”, corresponding to רַב ־ טַבָּחִ֛ים in the Bible at the head of the list of the high-court officials ( mašennum ). This is in itself an item of such historical importance that it makes the inscription very valuable for the Old Testament student. There is, however, another name mentioned in the list which not only authenticates an Old Testament name but solves an old crux interpretum in Jer 39:3. Nergalšarriu ṣ ur, one of the rabûti šar mât Akkadim ,...
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Following Middle Bronze I Israel after the Exodus from cruel Egypt

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    by   Damien F. Mackey     The people of Israel had witnessed the miraculous and had the miraculous ever before them in the form of the Glory Cloud (popularly known as the Shekinah ).     Introduction   After the miraculous Exodus from Egypt, a sign that was meant to be remembered down through the generations ( cf. Deuteronomy 6:6-7), Moses and his people sang of the Lord’s power and glory (Exodus 15:1-21).   Moses, so eager when in Egypt to free his people - but having succumbed to the comforts of married life during his long sojourn in Midian, hoping that the Lord might consider someone else for the daunting task - was now fully reconciled again to what the Lord was asking from him. Family life seems to have become a matter of secondary importance – though there will soon be a moment of controversy regarding his Midianite wife, Zipporah.   But it would not be long before the people of Moses, the Israel...
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Esther drama is not about a final showdown between Amalek and tribe of Benjamin

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    by   Damien F. Mackey     Haman , formerly an apostate King of Judah, was not out to annihilate the entire Jewish race. He was bent upon destroying only those like his Yahwistic foe, Mordecai, who were working towards the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem.     The standard view goes something like this:   Hundreds of years later, Saul nearly fulfills the command by killing all Amalekite men, women, and children. But he spares their king, who keeps his people barely alive by having a child. Many more generations later, one of his descendants, the villain Haman, goes on to develop a plot to kill all the Jews living in exile under a Persian ruler. The lesson, when read literally, is clear: Saul’s failure to kill every Amalekite posed an existential threat to the Jewish people.   We have just read that King Saul of Israel, defying the terrible herem ( חֵרֶם cherem ) command of the Lord to wipe out the Am...
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Zakir Stele in an historical context

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  by   Damien F. Mackey   Proposed king and setting   Here it will be tentatively suggested that the hitherto unknown Zakir (or Zaccur), king of Hamath and Lu'ash (Laish/Dan?), was the very last ruler of the Jehu-ide dynasty, King Zechariah (or Zachariah) of Israel (c. 750 BC, conventional dating: Thiele).   This scenario immediately fits in various convincing ways.   The name Zakir (Zaccur) is a very good match for the Hebrew Zechariah (Zachariah): Zechariah | The amazing name Zechariah: meaning and etymology “ The name Zechariah: Summary …. Related names • Via  זכר  ( zakar ):  Zaccai ,  Zaccheus ,  Zaccur ,  Zacharias ,  Zecher ,  Zichri ….   The roughly estimated date for the Zakir Stele accords tolerably well with c. 750 BC, the conventional date for King Zechariah: Stele of Zakkur - Wikipedia “The  Stele of Zakkur  (or  Zakir ) is a royal  stele  o...
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King Jehoash of Israel archaeologically verified

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    “Jehoash was known for “his might” (2 Kings 14:15), and his kingdom expanded northward with his victory over the Aramaeans and to the south with his victory over Judah. Evidence for this expansion was discovered at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, a fortress that acted as a cultic site on the southern border of Judah”. Bryan Windle     Bryan Windle wrote (August 13, 2021): King Jehoash: An Archaeological Biography – Bible Archaeology Report   King Jehoash: An Archaeological Biography   Jehoash was the second of four kings who descended from  Jehu  to reign as king of Israel (Jehoahaz, Jehoash,  Jeroboam II , and Zechariah); he ruled from ca. 798-782 BC. 1  The Bible summarizes his reign this way:   In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from a...
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