Tag Archives: Philistines

Article: Hope or Judgment in Ezekiel 25:12-17

Yay! My very first journal article is now out on the Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZAW) website (Germany-based). A four-page preview is available on my academia.edu. If you do not have the subscription or institutional access to this journal, you are very welcome to message me for an e-offprint (lydia.lee.siqi@gmail.com).

Special thanks go to Dr. Carla Sulzbach. I have never met her in person, but through the introduction of a teacher, I am able to communicate with her via emails. She provided me unconditional help in proofreading this paper and offered me plenty of encouragement along the way. Very grateful for this true act of kindness! 😀

Fun fact #1: If you were at one of my OAN lectures, you will understand the surprise I have hidden at the end of this article (Hint: Quentin Tarantino, https://aroundtheworldinmorethaneightydays.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/i-love-teaching/)

Fun fact #2: Due to the word limit set by ZAW (38000 characters, including spaces), this is actually the shortest journal article I have written so far. The word limit does help me keep to the point, so I hope. 😉

Hope you enjoy reading this article!

Abstract:

Ezekiel 25:12-17 depicts one conflict zone peppered with violence and bloodshed, where Edom and Philistia took bitter vengeance against the house of Judah, and in turn incurred the divine retaliations. This essay argues that the oracles against Edom and Philistia in Ezekiel 25:12-17 contain highly significant semantic parallels with other biblical texts narrating the divine judgment executed against Jerusalem. Utilizing those semantic parallels in the literary context of Ezekiel 25:12-17, the oracles against Edom and Philistia create a radical rhetorical impact, such that the house of Judah, though victimized, is not compensated materially. Instead, the oracles peculiarly form an oblique rhetoric, affirming not only the dispossession of belligerent Edom and Philistia, but also that of Judah.

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The publisher generously sent every author one copy of the journal 🙂

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Look, my name is finally printed on an academic journal!

 

 

 

 

Resource: College de France Lecture on the Philistines by Aren Maeir

According to the biblical materials, the Philistines emerge primarily as an opponent, an archetype whom Israel should never emulate or get close to (see the multiple examples cited in P. Machinist, “Biblical Traditions: The Philistines and Israelite History,” in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment [ed. E. D. Oren; Philadelphia: University of Pennysylvania Museum, 2000], 53-83, esp. 67-69).

But things can be a little bit more complicated from an archaeological point of view! In the stimulating lecture held at the College de France in paris on 25.02.2015, Prof. Aren Maeir shows us how entangled the Philistine culture can be with the Israelite and other cultures in the surrounding world. You can check out the lecture in the following video, which does remind me of my summer adventure at the 2013 Tel Burna archaeological excavation:

Three things from the video amaze me in particular:

1. On the basis of the ancient DNA tests, the Philistines were responsible for importing pigs from Europe into the Levant! (25:15 onwards)

2. There are oraganic residue of incenses from Sri Lanka in the Philistine Iron Age IIA chalices! (43:15 onwards)

3. Some Jerusalemites might have been attracted to the Philistine religion, such that a jar made in the Jerusalem area and inscribed with an Israelite name was found in a Philistine temple precinct! (51:38 onwards)

Interesting mixture of cultures, isn’t it? 🙂