Zephaniah Essay
The book of Zephaniah contains messages of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, as well as against other nations. It addresses a rare concentration of references to central issues in the history of ancient Israel. Idolatry, violence, and deception abound in Judah when Zephaniah began prophesying. Zephaniah's prophesying made it clear that Yahweh would execute vengeance upon unrepentant wrongdoers. His adverse judgments would be visited not only upon Judah and Jerusalem, but also upon other peoples: the Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians. Significantly, Zephaniah, the prophet, never stands at the center of the book of Zephaniah; the word of Yahweh is at the center of the book. Zephaniah is mentioned only insofar as he is necessary for the interpretation of the text.
Zephaniah neither performs miracles nor claims that his prayers may influence or even change the expected course of events, he does not perform any symbolic acts, and is not related to the Temple. Instead, he is a speaker who delivered a sophisticated speech concerning the future and called for repentance (Zvi). Relatively little is known about the prophet Zephaniah, whose name in Hebrew, Tsephan-Yah' means, "Jehovah has concealed (Freedman). In contrast with other prophets, however, Zephaniah provided his genealogy to the fourth generation, back to Hezekiah. (Zephaniah:1:1, Jeremiah: 1:1, Ezekiel:1:3) Most commentators agree that his great-great grandfather was King Hezekiah. Therefore, Zephaniah was of royal descent and this would have added to his harsh condemnation of the princes of Judah and have shown that he was a courageous prophet of Yahweh. (Zvi)
In Zephaniah 1:1 the "Word of Yahweh" came to Zephaniah at a certain historical time, in the days of Josiah. Thus, the days of Josiah are set as a background against which the text is read. (Zvi) Josiah ruled from 640-609 B.C.(Mason) However, when in the days of Josiah, whether it was before or after the reform is a question that does not have a definite answer. The arguments brought on behalf of the idea that he prophesied before the reformation are that the kings are not mentioned in Zephaniah 1:4-9, and especially in verse 8 where the officers and "the sons of the king" are mentioned. Therefore one may infer that the king had no real influence and power. An additional argument supporting his prophesy before the reformation was that the cultic notice in Zephaniah 1:5 reflects the situation before the reform but not after.
Not only does the book relate to the movement of the Israelites, but also to the legendary man who lead them: Moses. Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider Moses a great prophet. One reference to Moses comes when Uncle John puts Rose of Sharon’s baby in the river. This is much like the life of Moses, when he is sent down the Nile River as a child.
ZEDEKIAH (m) "justice of the Lord" (Hebrew). The name of several characters in the Bible.
Themistocles contribution to the defence of Greece was more significant than any other Greek individual. To what extent do you agree?
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole; Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an
Studying the Old Testament is not as straightforward as some may think. Being able to recall stories of the Bible does not necessarily mean you have a thorough grasp on the history of Israel and the surrounding nations. Some people read and discuss the Bible without a solid understanding of the history and social issues that were going on at the time. Being able to relate to the stories in the Bible and struggle with some of the same problems faced by the people in the Bible gives you a greater appreciation for the works in the Bible. I feel that having a firm understanding of all the related history of Israel gives a student of the Old Testament a far greater understanding of why these stories are in the Bible and what was meant to be learned from them. In this paper I give brief, yet significant, explanations of the Old Testament from the death of King David to the Maccabean revolt.
While the validity of his narrative is to this day widely debated, The interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano provides “insight into the dynamics of slavery, the slave trade, and the abolition movement” Traveling back into the 17th century the reader gets a firsthand experience of a life of a young slave who has opened the worlds eye’ and provides reasonable supportive arguments into the abolition of slavery in the aspects of human acceptance and morality, commerce economy, and the freedom of religion which all he has shared with his white owner counterparts.
Given the relative lack of primary resources and archeological remains, the events of Ancient Jerusalem are often difficult to study and tend to rely on biblical accounts and what primary sources have been preserved. For this reason there has been much uncertainty and discussion over the rule of Hezekiah. Among the debate over the exact years of his reign (i.e., whether it was from 727 - 698 BC or from 715 - 686 BC), there too exists disagreements as to whether Hezekiah was in fact one of the great Davidic Kings as he is often portrayed in the Bible (Na'aman, 29). Some researchers have argued that since historians, such as Josephus, speak very little of Hezekiah's reign, wisdom, temperance, or courage, then he must not have been one of the Great Judean rulers as his predecessors: David, and Solomon (Feldman, 598-607). However, upon further analysis of the on goings in Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah as well as his accomplishments as king, the argument arises that Hezekiah was in fact one of the greatest kings of Judah since the time of Solomon. Furthermore, the accomplishments of Hezekiah prove to be evidence that Hezekiah is viewed as the messianic king of 8th century BC Jerusalem due to his reforms to strengthen Judean religion, his developmental changes to improve the infrastructure of Jerusalem, and through his leadership that allowed Jerusalem to withstand the destruction of the Assyrian siege.
A most interesting film detailing the history and role of the prophet in the Jewish tradition. The first question we must explore is what a prophet is. A prophet by definition is a person who speaks by divine inspiration. Others will say that a prophet is one whose eye is open. A person who can see things that others cannot. In order to understand the prophets and their appearance in history we must first understand the politics of the times.
Ezekiel meaning the strength of God, is one of the four greater prophets in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was the son of a priest named Buzi. Not much is known about Ezekiel’s childhood; much more is know after the age of twenty-five. Ezekiel was taken captive in the captivity of Jehoiachin, about eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He was one of the many members of a community of Jewish people who settled on the banks of the Chebar, a river of Babylon. Ezekiel began prophesying in 595 B.C, and finished prophesying in 573 B.C. Ezekiel prophesied for a period that lasted about twenty-two years. Ezekiel was a married man but little else is known about his family life, he also had a house in his place of exile. His wife died a sudden death during the siege of Jerusalem. He lived among the top of his companions in exile, and their elders consulted with him on all matters.
While the Jews were still trying to find the holy land, the brother of Moses, Aaron, established a priesthood. They build the tabernacle, a large tent, it became the center for Jewish worship. In 1077 B.C. a member of the tribe of Judah, David, became King of the Israelites. He firmly established kingship and priesthood in the nation's capital of Jerusalem. Solomon, David's son, built a large temple in Jerusalem. The messiah would come from David's line. There were three prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, each warned of punishment from god.
William Zinsser’s essay “College Pressures” emphasizes the struggles students have in trying to conquer the college milestone in life. Zinsser believes that college has lost the authenticity of the overall goal of gaining knowledge for one’s own interest, rather than the overall need of going. He sympathizes with struggles college kids go through and hopes to provide insight on the overall situation. One of his major points are that succeeding the first time is not always the best way in learning, and that sometimes students need to fail in order to properly learn. The author mentions the “Four pressures, economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” and how there are “No villains; only victims” that fall
The Book of Hosea is one among the several books of the Hebrew scripture and appears as the first in the order of the twelve Minor Prophets. The term ‘minor’ refers to the length and not the importance of the books when compared to the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. All the twelve minor books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai & Malachi (Feinberg, 1990). Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute, by the name of Gomer, who symbolized covenantal relationship between Israel and him (God). Hosea’s prophesies were unique in the sense that they were relayed through the names given to his children. This paper seeks to give an illustrative description on the first chapter of the book of Hosea.
The Torah tells the Jewish people the law, which contains 613 commandments (not all still apply today), the freeing of the people from Egypt as well as creation. According to an article on Kings Watch, a prophet is someone who is a spokesperson of G-d, someone who brings G-d’s word, way etc. to the world (role of a prophet 1). A prophet may have several roles such as prayer, worship, receiving the word or the L-rd(Lord) suffering, and about 21 other roles. Not all prophets will have all of the same roles they may differ from person to person, but all would most likely share one or two roles such as worship, and prayer. Prophets may minister and there are different levels on which they minster such as to a group of people, to a church or to a nation. According to Jewish history.org there are many kings of Israel starting with King David and ending with kind Zedekiah (Jewish history 1). Some of the kings did more important and more significant things than other such as King
Rashomon is a Japanese film that that was produced in 1950 by the director, Akira Kurosawa, which is considered one of the most important filmmaker in the history of cinema. Since early age, Akira Kurosawa had interest in samurai stories because his father was and shared his samurai experiences with Akira. In addition, writers such as Kanze Nobumitsu have said that Rashomon is an interpretation of the everyday life of the accident Japanese society. The old temple represents the ancient Raseimon gate, which fell in the 12th century and became a hiding places for thieves, individuals abandoned corpses and unwanted babies. In the film, a samurai is murdered and his wife is raped by a bandit, Tajumaro. The film follows the trial of the assassination
I have read the book ‘Face’ by Benjamin Zephaniah, a Jamaican author and poet. He grew up in east London where he decided the book should be set. His previous experiences from being a victim of racial discrimination and prejudice and being a teenage rebel, involved in theft and drug crimes gave him a stimulus to write the book. The author himself having been discriminated upon found himself using previous burn victims like Simon Weston, who was badly burnt in the Falklands war, to help his book seem more realistic. This story is about Martin. He's the leader of the Gang of Three, and the classroom joker. He lives in the East End of London. You have to be careful what you say and who you say it to on the streets of Martin's neighborhood - not that Martin is particularly racist.