Day 30 ~ Common-lands, blah blah blah, common-lands...

We've left the divided kingdom in suspended animation in captivity - I know from the timeline I've been using that they will return, but I don't think that has been obvious from what we've read. Let's go back to the beginning to our favorite type of reading...geneaology! This is a short reading, and I know why. The readings were based on about 350 verses each, with each reading ending at the end of a chapter. The verses in this section were really short.

• 1:10 - Nimrod began to be a "mighty one." Was that name used in reference to giants? I don't think so - he was described as a mighty hunter in Genesis 10
• 1:14 - in the "begot" of Canaan, why does it switch from proper names to "ites"
• 1:19 - in the days of Peleg the earth was divided. This was before Abram but after the flood. Was it Babel that divided them?
• Lots of names are used over and over - Sheba and Dedan popped out to me in 1:9 & 32
• 1:38 - who is Seir? It doesn't list him as being a child of anyone, but gives his descendants. Seir is only listed other places as a location in Edom (named after Esau). Genesis 36:21 lists Seir the Horite. I'm assuming he comes from Esau. Why is he singled out in this list?
• 2:4 - Tamar - what was her story - why is she listed here? Oh yea, she was the widowed daughter-in-law of Judah who posed as a prostitute and got Judah to impregnate her. Their son Perez (Genesis 38) is in the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:3, Luke 3:33)
• The names of king David's brothers are supplied in 2:13-14
• Prayer of Jabez is found in 4:10: "And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested."
• Geez, I want to see a big family tree!
• 5:26 - Pul, King of Assyria, carried off Reuben, Gad and 1/2 Manasseh way before the two kingdoms fell.
• 6:31 - Did David instituted tabernacle musicians? I don't recall anyone being assigned these tasks when the Levites were given specific jobs.

common-lands, blah blah blah, common-lands, blah blah blah, common-lands...

• 7:13 - one whole verse for Naphtali. What is the story there?

Beth Shean 7:29 - one of my favorite places to visit was the site of Beth Shean. Most of the ruins that we saw were from the Roman periods in first century AD, at the foot of the "tel" ( a mound where ancient cities built on top of one another), but there were also ruins there from the time of King David and before at the tel. This is where the dead bodies of king Saul and his son Jonathan were hund (1 Samuel 31:10). Here's some info: http://www.jewishmag.com/39mag/shean/shean.htm or better pictures at http://www.bibleplaces.com/bethshean.htm

• Benjamin is listed both in 7:6-12 and 8:1-28, but the lists don't match. Why? (7:6 "The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, and Jediael—three in all"; 8:1 "Now Benjamin begot Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah[a] the third, 2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth"). And why is there no mention that Benjamin is practially wiped out when teh concubine of the Levite is raped?