Improving the Word of God

May 14, 2009, 7:48 am by dc-agape.

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The Last Words of Levi (Part 1)

The Last Words of Levi is rather long and will take four posts to finish.  The opening post will be about his prayer to YHWH, his massacre in Shechem, his first and second visions, and how he goes to meet his grandfather Isaac.  Isaac’s teachings will be the second post.  Levi’s words to his children will be the third post.  The fourth post will consist of numerous fragments that consist of the virtues of wisdom and a future great priest.

What consists of the beginning of this Tractate is how Levi prepares himself to pray.  He purifies himself and his cloths.  He raises his head to heaven, and spreads his hands and fingers in a proper fashion for talking to YHWH’s angels.  The rest of the prayer is identical to what you have heard in church’s around the world (maybe synagogues and masques, as well).  YHWH give this, WHYH give me that, WHYH remember so-and-so, WHYH don’t hurt me, YHWH don’t leave me, and YHWH look after me in all my actions.  I guess this is pretty standard stuff for the usual prayer. 

The first vision of Levi is also standard stuff.  After visiting his father and going to Abel-Main Levi has a vision (as he is about to fall asleep).  In the vision, he sees a mountain under him that reaches heaven.  All that is left of this vision is that the gates open and an angel greets him.  So I guess before Peter was born, some lowly angel was responsible for welcoming souls into heaven.

The next section brags about how he went against his brother’s and father’s will when he massacred the entire city of Shechem.  There is not much to say about this section.  He agrees that the men of Shechem were asked to perform circumcision by his father and brothers.  The twist comes when it seems that all his other brothers “chickened out” from partaking of the massacre.  For while reading this passage it would seem that all the brothers went to Shechem, with plans to kill everyone there.  Yet, in fact, it would almost seem that Judah and Reuben may have been the ones to tell Levi and Simeon to perform the vile act.  Oddly, the penalty for sex outside of marriage in future generations is much less severe.  Not even leaving the Book of Exodus we have these verses:

Exodus 22:16-17 If a man seduces a virgin who is neither pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-pride, and she shall be his wife.  If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for the virgins.

Why do I have the feeling that massacring an entire city is not paying a bride-price, especially when the man involved is also murdered?  And yet somehow this event shows Levi’s devotion to YHWH.

Levi’s second vision is so vague it is worse than any of the soothsayers of today.  He promises that times of strife and times of peace will come.  He promises that times of rest and times sleep will evade the future generations.  He promises that sometime there will be food and other times there will not be enough food.  But Levi decides not to tell anyone about this vision, until his dying last words.

The last section I will cover in this post is quite interesting.  Both Isaac and Jacob make Levi the head of the priesthood.  The reason for this choice is unclear.  But it is of interest because Isaac died when Joseph was 27 years old, this incident occurred while Joseph was still a slave in Egypt.  The other interesting thing about this passage is that after the instillation of Levi as the head priest, the entire family returned to Abraham’s palace!  Did you know that Abraham had a palace?  This is definitely something that the Word of God does not tell you about the first family before the seven year famine.  I wonder who built the “palace”, how long it took and how large it was.

As with many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, when I read them I see how the immutable Word of God is added upon by future generations to make the stories more palatable.  They are also rewritten to show favoritism to specific groups.  As an Atheist, this makes complete sense.  Since there is no YHWH, the Word of God is open to interpretation and can be changed to fit the needs and desires of the individual or the group. 

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