Reflections on Biblical Histories

“And this shall be the sign that this will come to pass. When the descendants of error are shut in, wickedness will depart from before righteousness as darkness departs from before the light, and as smoke is destroyed and is no longer, so will wickedness be destroyed forever. And righteousness will be revealed like the sun, the fixed order of the world; and all who hold back the wondrous mysteries will be no longer. Knowledge will fill the world, and folly will be there no more forever.” - The Book of Mysteries, Dead Sea Scrolls.

For the most part the history of the Hebrews is considered to be wrapped in mystery. The story of Creation, Adam and Eve, and of Noah in the book of Genesis is thought of as being more allegorical narratives rather than being historical. Perhaps the reasoning of the interpreters is the true fault of the first portion of this narrative of the Hebrew origins being placed more towards myth. The ancient Hebrews themselves within the last five and twenty hundred years may have misinterpreted their own writings, due to the change of understanding of the original words. This is something which is done all too often when people read books containing words and phrases that have been written just a few decades before, to a few hundred. For the most part this is done continually on a daily basis in today’s world. This is one of the reasons that standard instruction is so important in the schools of our age.

Strangely enough, it was just as important to the Hebrews throughout their history, from the time of their origins to the present. Somewhere along the way though parts of their history suffered. However, the scraps that remain still are intact overall. The (Old) Testament contains the most important parts of their history and gives examples of their literature from ancient times, which became a religious and ethical tool for the priests to teach even the simplest of the people, the Hebrew heritage and the relationship with the Almighty God.

The origin of the Hebrews to many is still a puzzling problem. For those who are familiar with their history, as it has been traditionally taught, there are many problems that arise. Many archaeologists within the past two hundred years with their excavations throughout the Near and Middle East of numerous ancient cities from Biblical times, have found both artifacts that seem to confirm and yet confuse the scholar’s thoughts on the traditional history as known. Many finds of the 19^th century, in fact, that were controversial and shed light against the traditionally accepted history have been altered or down played. The name of an ancient country near Mt. Ararat, in the area of Turkey and Armenia, which bordered the Black Sea, called Chaldea was changed to Van. An Egyptian record of the Hebrew Exodus was translated and published in a book dealing with Egyptian Myths because its date was too ancient and it was not recognized as the Hebrew Exodus because it did not specifically mention them within the group of slaves. This also would go against the traditionally taught time for the famous occurrence. These monumental finds are examples of to what extent some institutions went to in order to kept the traditions regarding the Hebrews as they are.

Of all of the peoples of the ancient civilizations around the world that we have come to know about, from the time of the 3^rd millennium BCE, none has had a greater role at the shaping of the modern world than that of the Hebrews. It was the Hebrews that came up with and perfected an Alphabet of twenty-two, or so, letters, sometime in the third millennium BCE, which is the basis of almost all languages used in today’s world.