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# Backplane
## `{{Anchor|STORAGE|Backplanes in storage}}`{=mediawiki}Backplanes in storage {#backplanes_in_storage}
Servers commonly have a backplane to attach hot swappable hard disk drives and solid state drives; backplane pins pass directly into hard drive sockets without cables. They may have single connector to connect one disk array controller or multiple connectors that can be connected to one or more controllers in arbitrary way. Backplanes are commonly found in disk enclosures, disk arrays, and servers.
Backplanes for SAS and SATA HDDs most commonly use the SGPIO protocol as means of communication between the host adapter and the backplane. Alternatively SCSI Enclosure Services can be used. With Parallel SCSI subsystems, SAF-TE is used.
## Platforms
### PICMG
A single-board computer meeting the PICMG 1.3 specification and compatible with a PICMG 1.3 backplane is referred to as a System Host Board.
In the Intel Single-Board Computer world, PICMG provides standards for the backplane interface: PICMG 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 provide ISA and PCI support, with 1.2 adding PCIX support. PICMG 1.3 provides PCI-Express support
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# Book of Nehemiah
The **Book of Nehemiah** in the Hebrew Bible largely takes the form of a first-person memoir by Nehemiah, a Hebrew prophet and high official at the Persian court, concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and the dedication of the city and its people to God\'s laws (Torah).
Since the 16th century, Nehemiah has generally been treated as a separate book within the Bible. Before then, it had been combined with the Book of Ezra; but in Latin Christian Bibles from the 13th century onwards, the Vulgate\'s Book of Ezra was divided into two texts called the First and Second Books of Ezra, respectively. This separation became canonised with the first printed Bibles in Hebrew and Latin. Mid-16th century Reformed Protestant Bible translations produced in Geneva, such as the Geneva Bible, were the first to introduce the title \"Book of Nehemiah\" for the text formerly called the \"Second Book of Ezra\".
The historicity of Nehemiah, his objectives, and the \"Nehemiah memoir\" have recently become very controversial in biblical scholarship, with maximalists viewing it as a historical account and minimalists doubting whether Nehemiah existed.
## Summary
The events take place in the second half of the 5th century BC. Listed together with the Book of Ezra as Ezra--Nehemiah, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.
The original core of the book, the first-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BC. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era.
The book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls, and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of Judah and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel\'s enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Hebrew wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.
*Chapters*
1. In the 20th year of Artaxerxes I of Persia, Nehemiah, cup-bearer to the king in Susa (the Persian capital), learns that the wall of Jerusalem is destroyed. He prays to God, confessing the sins of Israel, then reminding God of His promise to restore the Promised Land. He asks God for success in asking King Artaxerxes for permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall.
2. While Nehemiah is serving wine the king notices his sadness. Nehemiah humbly confesses it is because the city of his ancestors is in ruins and asks permission to rebuild the city wall. The king agrees. Nehemiah then asks for letters of safe-conduct and for permission to obtain timber from the royal forest. The king agrees to these requests and additionally dispatches a military escort to accompany Nehemiah to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah arrives he secretly inspects the wall before encouraging the local leaders to join him in rebuilding. However, when Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab hear about it they mock the Israelites and accused them of rebelling against the king.
3. The families and leaders of Jerusalem each take a gate or a section of wall and begin rebuilding.
4. The leaders of the opposing tribes -- Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, Geshem the Arab, and the men of Ashdod -- plot together to attack Jerusalem, which forces the Hebrews rebuilding the wall to work with weapons in their hands.
5. Nehemiah, having seen the Hebrew nobles oppressing the poor, orders the cancellation of all debt and mortgages; previous governors have been corrupt and oppressive, but he has been righteous and just.
6. Sanballat accuses Nehemiah of planning rebellion against Artaxerxes, and Nehemiah is opposed even by Hebrew nobles and prophets, but the wall is completed.
7. Nehemiah appoints officials and sets guards on the wall and gates; he plans to register the Hebrews, and finds the census of those who had returned earlier.
8. Nehemiah assembles the people and has Ezra read to them the law-book of Moses; Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites institute the Feast of Booths, in accordance with the Law.
9. The Hebrews assemble in penance and prayer, recalling their past sins, God\'s help to them, and his promise of the land.
10. The priests, Levites and the Israelite people enter into a covenant, agreeing to separate themselves from the surrounding peoples and to keep the Law.
11. Jerusalem is repopulated by the Hebrews living in the towns and villages of Judah and Benjamin.
12. A list of priests and Levites who returned in the days of Cyrus (the first returnees from Babylon) is presented; Nehemiah, aided by Ezra, oversees the dedication of the walls and the rebuilt city.
13. After 12 years Nehemiah returns to Susa; he later comes back to Jerusalem, and finds that there has been backsliding in his absence. He takes measures to enforce his earlier reforms and asks for God\'s favour.
## Historical background {#historical_background}
The book is set in the 5th century BC. Judah is one of several provinces within a larger satrapy (a large administrative unit) within the Achaemenid Empire. The capital of the empire is at Susa. Nehemiah is a cup-bearer to king Artaxerxes I of Persia -- an important official position.
At his own request Nehemiah is sent to Jerusalem as governor of Yehud, the official Persian name for Judah. Jerusalem had been conquered and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and Nehemiah finds it still in ruins. His task is to rebuild the walls and to re-populate the city. He faces opposition from three powerful neighbours, the Samaritans, the Ammonites, and the Arabs, as well as the city of Ashdod, but manages to rebuild the walls. He then purifies the Hebrew community by enforcing its segregation from its neighbours and enforces the laws of Moses.
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# Book of Nehemiah
## Textual history {#textual_history}
The single Hebrew book Ezra--Nehemiah, with title \"Ezra\", was translated into Greek around the middle of the 2nd century BC. Slightly later a second, and very different Greek translation was made, in the form of 1 Esdras, from which the deeds of Nehemiah are entirely absent, those sections either being omitted or re-attributed to Ezra instead; and initially early Christians reckoned this later translation as their biblical \'Book of Ezra\', as had the 1st century Jewish writer Josephus. From the third century the Christian Old Testament in Greek supplemented the text of 1 Esdras with the older translation of Ezra--Nehemiah, naming the two books Esdras A and Esdras B respectively; and this usage is noted by the 3rd century Christian scholar Origen, who remarked that the Hebrew \'book of Ezra\' might then be considered a \'double\' book. Jerome, writing in the early 5th century, noted that this duplication had since been adopted by Greek and Latin Christians. Jerome himself rejected the duplication in his Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin from the Hebrew; and consequently all early Vulgate manuscripts present Ezra--Nehemiah as a single book, as too does the 8th century commentary of Bede, and the 9th century bibles of Alcuin and Theodulf of Orleans. However, sporadically from the 9th century onwards, Latin bibles are found that separate the Ezra and Nehemiah sections of Ezra--Nehemiah as two distinct books, then called the first and second books of Ezra; and this becomes standard in the Paris Bibles of the 13th century. It was not until 1516/17, in the first printed Rabbinic Bible of Daniel Bomberg that the separation was introduced generally in Hebrew Bibles.
In later medieval Christian commentary, this book is referred to as the \'second book of Ezra\', and never as the \'Book of Nehemiah\"; equally citations from this book are always introduced as \"Ezra says \...\", and never as \'Nehemiah says \...\".
## Composition and date {#composition_and_date}
The combined book Ezra--Nehemiah of the earliest Christian and Hebrew period was known as Ezra and was probably attributed to Ezra himself; according to a rabbinic tradition, however, Nehemiah was the real author but was forbidden to claim authorship because of his bad habit of disparaging others.
The Nehemiah Memorial, chapters 1--7 and 11--13, may have circulated as an independent work before being combined with the Ezra material to form Ezra--Nehemiah. Determining the composition of the Memorial depends on the dates of Nehemiah\'s mission: It is commonly accepted that \"Artaxerxes\" was Artaxerxes I (there were two later kings of the same name), and that Nehemiah\'s first period in Jerusalem was therefore 445--433 BC; allowing for his return to Susa and second journey to Jerusalem, the end of the 5th century BC is therefore the earliest possible date for the Memorial. The Nehemiah Memorial is interrupted by chapters 8--10, which concern Ezra. These have sometimes been identified as another, separate work, the Ezra Memorial (EM), but other scholars believe the EM to be fictional and heavily altered by later editors. Both the Nehemiah and Ezra material are combined with numerous lists, Censuses and other material.
The first edition of the combined Ezra--Nehemiah may date from the early 4th century BC; further editing continued well into the following centuries
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# Book of Jeremiah
The **Book of Jeremiah** (*ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ*) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1--3 identifies the book as \"the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah\". Of all the prophets, Jeremiah comes through most clearly as a person, ruminating to his scribe Baruch about his role as a servant of God with little good news for his audience.
His book is intended as a message to the Jews in exile in Babylon, explaining the disaster of exile as God\'s response to Israel\'s pagan worship: the people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children, their infidelity and rebelliousness made judgment inevitable, although restoration and a new covenant are foreshadowed. Authentic oracles of Jeremiah are probably to be found in the poetic sections of chapters 1 through 25, but the book as a whole has been heavily edited and added to by the prophet\'s followers (including, perhaps, his companion, the scribe Baruch) and later generations of Deuteronomists.
It has come down in two distinct though related versions, one in Hebrew, the other known from the Septuagint Greek translation. The dates of the two (Greek and Hebrew) can be suggested by the fact that the Greek shows concerns typical of the early Persian period, while the Masoretic (i.e., Hebrew) shows perspectives which, although known in the Persian period, did not reach their realisation until the 2nd century BCE.
## Structure
: (Taken from Michael D. Coogan\'s *A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament*; other sources will give slightly different divisions)
It is difficult to discern any structure in Jeremiah, probably because the book had such a long and complex composition history. It can be divided into roughly six sections:
- Chapters 1--25 (The earliest and main core of Jeremiah\'s message)
- Chapters 26--29 (Biographic material and interaction with other prophets)
- Chapters 30--33 (God\'s promise of restoration including Jeremiah\'s \"new covenant\" which is interpreted differently in Judaism than it is in Christianity)
- Chapters 34--45 (Mostly interaction with Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem)
- Chapters 46--51 (Divine punishment to the nations surrounding Israel)
- Chapter 52 (Appendix that retells 2 Kings)
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# Book of Jeremiah
## Summary
### Historical background {#historical_background}
The background to Jeremiah is briefly described in the superscription to the book: Jeremiah began his prophetic mission in the thirteenth year of king Josiah (about 627 BC) and continued after the eleventh year of king Zedekiah (586 BC), \"when Jerusalem went into exile in the sixth month\". During this period, Josiah instituted religious reforms, Babylon destroyed Assyria, Egypt briefly imposed vassal status on Judah, Babylon defeated Egypt and made Judah a Babylonian vassal (605 BC), Judah revolted but was subjugated again by Babylon (597 BC), and Judah revolted once more.
This revolt was the final one: Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple and exiled its king and many of the leading citizens in 586 BC, ending Judah\'s existence as an independent or quasi-independent kingdom and inaugurating the Babylonian exile.
### Overview
The book can be conveniently divided into biographical, prose and poetic strands, each of which can be summarised separately. The biographical material is to be found in chapters 26--29, 32, and 34--44, and focuses on the events leading up to and surrounding the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 BCE; it provides precise dates for the prophet\'s activities beginning in 609 BCE. The non-biographical prose passages, such as the Temple sermon in chapter 7 and the covenant passage in `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|11:1–17|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, are scattered throughout the book; they show clear affinities with the Deuteronomists, the school of writers and editors who shaped the series of history books from Judges to Kings, and while it is unlikely they come directly from Jeremiah, they may well have their roots in traditions about what he said and did.
The poetic material is found largely in chapters 1--25 and consists of oracles in which the prophet speaks as God\'s messenger. These passages, dealing with Israel\'s unfaithfulness to God, the call to repentance, and attacks on the religious and political establishment, are mostly undated and have no clear context, but it is widely accepted that they represent the teachings of Jeremiah and are the earliest stage of the book. Allied to them, and also probably a reflection of the authentic Jeremiah, are further poetic passages of a more personal nature, which have been called Jeremiah\'s confessions or spiritual diary. In these poems the prophet agonises over the apparent failure of his mission, is consumed by bitterness at those who oppose or ignore him, and accuses God of betraying him.
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# Book of Jeremiah
## Composition
### Texts and manuscripts {#texts_and_manuscripts}
Jeremiah exists in two versions: a Greek translation, called the Septuagint, dating from the last few centuries BCE and found in the earliest Christian manuscripts, and the Masoretic Hebrew text of traditional Jewish bibles. The Greek version is shorter than the Hebrew by about one eighth, and arranges the material differently. Equivalents of both versions were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so it is clear that the differences mark important stages in the transmission of the text.
Most scholars hold that the Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint version is older than the Masoretic text, and that the Masoretic evolved either from this or from a closely related version. The shorter version ultimately became canonical in Greek Orthodox churches, while the longer was adopted in Judaism and in Western Christian churches.
### Composition history {#composition_history}
It is generally agreed that the three types of material interspersed through the book -- poetic, narrative, and biographical -- come from different sources or circles. Authentic oracles of Jeremiah are probably to be found in the poetic sections of chapters 1--25, but the book as a whole has been heavily edited and added to by followers (including perhaps the prophet\'s companion, the scribe Baruch) and later generations of Deuteronomists. The date of the final versions of the book (Greek and Hebrew) can be suggested by the fact that the Greek shows concerns typical of the early Persian period, while the Masoretic (i.e., Hebrew) shows perspectives which, although known in the Persian period, did not reach their realisation until the 2nd century BCE.
### Literary development {#literary_development}
The Book of Jeremiah grew over a long period of time. The Greek stage, looking forward to the fall of Babylon and aligning in places with Second Isaiah, had already seen major redaction (editing) in terms of overall structure, the superscriptions (sentences identifying following passages as the words of God or of Jeremiah), the assignment of historical settings, and arrangement of material, and may have been completed by the late Exilic period (last half of the 6th century BCE); the initial stages of the Masoretic Hebrew version may have been written not long afterwards, although chapter 33:14--26 points to a setting in post-exilic times.
### Jeremiah
According to its opening verses the book records the prophetic utterances of the priest Jeremiah son of Hilkia from the town of Anatot, \"to whom the word of YHWH came in the days of king Josiah\" and after. Jeremiah lived during a turbulent period, the final years of the kingdom of Judah, from the death of king Josiah (609 BCE) and the loss of independence that followed, through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of much its population (587/586). The book depicts a remarkably introspective prophet, impetuous and often angered by the role into which he has been thrust, alternating efforts to warn the people with pleas to God for mercy, until he is ordered to \"pray no more for this people.\" He does a number of prophetic symbolic acts, walking about in the streets with a yoke about his neck and engaging in other efforts to attract attention. He is taunted and retaliates, is thrown in jail as the result, and at one point is thrown into a pit to die.
### Jeremiah and the Deuteronomists {#jeremiah_and_the_deuteronomists}
The Deuteronomists were a school or movement who edited the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings into a more or less unified history of Israel (the so-called Deuteronomistic History) during the Jewish exile in Babylon (6th century BCE). It is argued`{{by whom?|date=September 2024}}`{=mediawiki} that the Deuteronomists played an important role in the production of the book of Jeremiah; for example, there is clear Deuteronomistic language in chapter 25, in which the prophet looks back over twenty-three years of unheeded prophecy. From the Deuteronomistic perspective the prophetic role implied, more than anything else, concern with law and covenant after the manner of Moses. On this reading Jeremiah was the last of a long line of prophets sent to warn Israel of the consequences of infidelity to God; unlike the Deuteronomists, for whom the call for repentance was always central, Jeremiah seems at some point in his career to have decided that further intercession was pointless, and that Israel\'s fate was sealed.
### Jeremiah as a new Moses {#jeremiah_as_a_new_moses}
The book\'s superscription claims that Jeremiah was active for forty years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah (627 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem in 587. It is clear from the last chapters of the book, however, that he continued to speak in Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah, in 582. This suggests that the superscription is trying to make a theological point about Jeremiah by comparing him to Moses -- whereas Moses spent forty years leading Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, Jeremiah\'s forty years saw Israel exiled from the land and Jeremiah himself ultimately in exile in Egypt.
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# Book of Jeremiah
## Themes
### Covenant
Much of Jeremiah\'s prophetic preaching is based on the theme of the covenant between God and Israel (God would protect the people in return for their exclusive worship of him); Jeremiah insists that the covenant is conditional, and can be broken by Israel\'s apostasy (worship of gods other than Yahweh, the God of Israel). The people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children: their infidelity and rebelliousness makes judgement inevitable. Interspersed with this are references to repentance and renewal, although it is unclear whether Jeremiah thought that repentance could ward off judgement or whether it would have to follow judgement. The theme of restoration is strongest in chapter 31:32, which looks to a future in which a New Covenant, made with Israel and Judah, will not be broken. This is the theme of the \"New Covenant\" passage at chapter 31:31--34, drawing on Israel\'s past relationship with God through the covenant at Sinai to foresee a new future in which Israel will be obedient to God.
### The \"Confessions\" of Jeremiah {#the_confessions_of_jeremiah}
Scholars from Heinrich Ewald onwards have identified several passages in Jeremiah which can be understood as \"confessions\": they occur in the first section of the book (chapters 1--25) and are generally identified as Jeremiah 11:18--12.6, 15:10--21, 17:14--18, 18:18--23, and 20:7--18. In these five passages, Jeremiah expresses his discontent with the message he is to deliver, but also his steadfast commitment to the divine call despite the fact that he had not sought it out. Additionally, in several of these \"confessions\", Jeremiah prays that the Lord will take revenge on the wicked. (for example, Jeremiah 12:3).
Jeremiah\'s \"confessions\" are a type of individual lament. Such laments are found elsewhere in the psalms and the Book of Job. Like Job, Jeremiah curses the day of his birth (Jeremiah 20:14--18 and Job 3:3--10). Likewise, Jeremiah\'s exclamation \"For I hear the whispering of many: Terror is all around!\" matches Psalm 31:13 exactly. However, Jeremiah\'s laments are made unique by his insistence that he has been called by Yahweh to deliver his messages. These laments \"provide a unique look at the prophet\'s inner struggle with faith, persecution, and human suffering\".
### Prophetic gestures {#prophetic_gestures}
Prophetic gestures, also known as sign-acts or symbolic actions, were a form of communication in which a message was delivered by performing symbolic actions. Not unique to the book of Jeremiah, these were often bizarre and violated the cultural norms of the time. They served the purposes of both drawing an audience and causing that audience to ask questions, giving the prophet an opportunity to explain the meaning of the behavior. The recorder of the events in the written text (i.e. the author of the text) had neither the same audience nor, potentially, the same intent that Jeremiah had in performing these prophetic gestures.
The following is a list -- not exhaustive -- of noteworthy sign-acts found in Jeremiah:
- Jeremiah 13:1--11: The wearing, burial, and retrieval of a linen waistband.
- Jeremiah 16:1--9: The shunning of the expected customs of marriage, mourning, and general celebration.
- Jeremiah 19:1--13: the acquisition of a clay jug and the breaking of the jug in front of the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 27--28: The wearing of an oxen yoke and its subsequent breaking by a false prophet, Hananiah.
- Jeremiah 32:6--15: The purchase of a field in Anathoth for the price of seventeen silver shekels.
- Jeremiah 35:1--19: The offering of wine to the Rechabites, a tribe known for living in tents and refusing to drink wine.
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# Book of Jeremiah
## Later interpretation and influence {#later_interpretation_and_influence}
### Judaism
The influence of Jeremiah during and after the Exile was considerable in some circles, and three additional books, the Book of Baruch, Lamentations, and the Letter of Jeremiah, were attributed to him in Second Temple Judaism (Judaism in the period between the building of the Second Temple in about 515 BCE and its destruction in 70 CE); in the Greek Septuagint they stand between Jeremiah and the Book of Ezekiel, but only Lamentations is included in modern Jewish or Protestant bibles (the Letter of Jeremiah appears in Catholic bibles as the sixth chapter of Baruch). Jeremiah is mentioned by name in Chronicles and the Book of Ezra, both dating from the later Persian period, and his prophecy that the Babylonian exile would last 70 years was taken up and reapplied by the author of the Book of Daniel in the 2nd century BCE.
### Christianity
The understanding of the early Christians that Jesus represented a \"new covenant\" is based on Jeremiah 31:31--34, in which a future Israel will repent and give God the obedience he demands. The Gospel\'s portrayal of Jesus as a persecuted prophet owes a great deal to the account of Jeremiah\'s sufferings in chapters 37--44, as well as to the \"Songs of the Suffering Servant\" in Isaiah
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# Book of Isaiah
The **Book of Isaiah** (*ספר ישעיהו* `{{IPA|he|ˈsɛ.fɛr jə.ʃaʕ.ˈjaː.hu|}}`{=mediawiki}) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, but there is evidence that much of it was composed during the Babylonian captivity and later. Johann Christoph Döderlein suggested in 1775 that the book contained the works of two prophets separated by more than a century, and Bernhard Duhm originated the view, held as a consensus through most of the 20th century, that the book comprises three separate collections of oracles: **Proto-Isaiah** (chapters 1--39), containing the words of the 8th-century BC prophet Isaiah; **Deutero-Isaiah**, or \"the Book of Consolation\", (chapters 40--55), the work of an anonymous 6th-century BCE author writing during the Exile; and **Trito-Isaiah** (chapters 56--66), composed after the return from Exile. Isaiah 1--33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34--66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon. While few scholars today attribute the entire book, or even most of it, to one person, the book\'s essential unity has become a focus in more recent research.
The book can be read as an extended meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into and after the Exile. The Deutero-Isaian part of the book describes how God will make Jerusalem the centre of his worldwide rule through a royal saviour (a messiah) who will destroy the oppressor (Babylon); this messiah is the Persian king Cyrus the Great, who is merely the agent who brings about Yahweh\'s kingship. Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, and roots righteousness in God\'s holiness rather than in Israel\'s covenant.
Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period (c. 515 BCE -- 70 CE). In Christian circles, it was held in such high regard as to be called \"the Fifth Gospel\", and its influence extends beyond Christianity to English literature and to Western culture in general, from the libretto of Handel\'s *Messiah* to a host of such everyday phrases as \"swords into ploughshares\" and \"voice in the wilderness\".
## Structure
General scholarly consensus through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles in the book of Isaiah. A typical outline based on this understanding of the book sees its underlying structure in terms of the identification of historical figures who might have been their authors:
- 1--39: Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of the original Isaiah;
- 40--55: Deutero-Isaiah, the work of an anonymous Exilic author;
- 56--66: Trito-Isaiah, an anthology of about twelve passages.
While one part of the general consensus still holds, this perception of Isaiah as made up of three rather distinct sections underwent a radical challenge in the last quarter of the 20th century. The newer approach looks at the book in terms of its literary and formal characteristics, rather than authors, and sees in it a two-part structure divided between chapters 33 and 34:
- 1--33: Warnings of judgment and promises of subsequent restoration for Jerusalem, Judah and the nations;
- 34--66: Judgment has already taken place and restoration is at hand.
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# Book of Isaiah
## Summary
Seeing Isaiah as a two-part book (chapters 1--33 and 34--66) with an overarching theme leads to a summary of its contents like the following:
- The book opens by setting out the themes of judgment and subsequent restoration for the righteous. God has a plan which will be realised on the \"Day of Yahweh\", when Jerusalem will become the centre of his worldwide rule. On that day the world will come to Zion (Jerusalem) for instruction, but first the city must be punished and cleansed of evil. Israel is invited to join in this plan. Chapters 5--12 explain the significance of the Assyrian judgment against Israel: righteous rule by the Davidic king will follow after the arrogant Assyrian monarch is brought down. Chapters 13--27 announce the preparation of the nations for Yahweh\'s world rule; chapters 28--33 announce that a royal saviour (the messiah) will emerge in the aftermath of Jerusalem\'s punishment and the destruction of her oppressor.
- The oppressor (now identified as Babylon rather than Assyria) is about to fall. Chapters 34--35 tell how Yahweh will return the redeemed exiles to Jerusalem. Chapters 36--39 tell of the faithfulness of king Hezekiah to Yahweh during the Assyrian siege as a model for the restored community. Chapters 40--54 state that the restoration of Zion is taking place because Yahweh, the creator of the universe, has designated the Persian king Cyrus the Great as the promised messiah and temple-builder. Specifically, Chapter 53 predicts a suffering servant who will be the messiah the prophet speaks of in previous verses. Chapters 55--66 are an exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant. God\'s eternal promise to David is now made to the people of Israel/Judah at large. The book ends by enjoining righteousness as the final stages of God\'s plan come to pass, including the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion and the realisation of Yahweh\'s kingship.
The older understanding of this book as three fairly discrete sections attributable to identifiable authors leads to a more atomised picture of its contents, as in this example:
- **Proto-Isaiah**/**First Isaiah** (chapters 1--39):
- 1--12: Oracles against Judah mostly from Isaiah\'s early years;
- 13--23: Oracles against foreign nations from his middle years;
- 24--27: The \"Isaiah Apocalypse\", added at a much later date;
- 28--33: Oracles from Isaiah\'s later ministry
- 34--35: A vision of Zion, perhaps a later addition;
- 36--39: Stories of Isaiah\'s life, some from the Book of Kings
- **Deutero-Isaiah**/**Second Isaiah** (chapters 40--55), with two major divisions, 40--48 and 49--55, the first emphasizing Israel, the second Zion and Jerusalem:
- An introduction and conclusion stressing the power of God\'s word over everything;
- A second introduction and conclusion within these in which a herald announces salvation to Jerusalem;
- Fragments of hymns dividing various sections;
- The role of foreign nations, the fall of Babylon, and the rise of Cyrus as God\'s chosen one;
- Four \"servant songs\" personalising the message of the prophet;
- Several longer poems on topics such as God\'s power and invitations to Israel to trust in him;
- **Trito-Isaiah**/**Third Isaiah** (chapters 56--66):
- A collection of oracles by unknown prophets in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.
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# Book of Isaiah
## Composition
### Authorship
While it is widely accepted that the book of Isaiah is rooted in a historic prophet called Isaiah, who lived in the Kingdom of Judah during the 8th century BCE, it is also widely accepted that this prophet did not write the entire book of Isaiah.
- Historical situation: Chapters 40--55 presuppose that Jerusalem has already been destroyed (they are not framed as prophecy) and the Babylonian exile is already in effect -- they speak from a present in which the Exile is about to end. Chapters 56--66 assume an even later situation, in which the people are already returned to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple is already under way.
- Anonymity: Isaiah\'s name suddenly stops being used after chapter 39.
- Style: There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40; numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other.
The composition history of Isaiah reflects a major difference in the way authorship was regarded in ancient Israel and in modern societies; the ancients did not regard it as inappropriate to supplement an existing work while remaining anonymous. While the authors are anonymous, it is plausible that all of them were priests, and the book may thus reflect Priestly concerns, in opposition to the increasingly successful reform movement of the Deuteronomists.
### Historical context {#historical_context}
The historic Isaiah ben Amoz lived in the Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of four kings from the mid to late 8th-century BCE. During this period, Assyria was expanding westward from its origins in modern-day northern Iraq towards the Mediterranean, destroying first Aram (modern Syria) in 734--732 BCE, then the Kingdom of Israel in 722--721, and finally subjugating Judah in 701. Proto-Isaiah is divided between verse and prose passages, and a currently popular theory is that the verse passages represent the prophecies of the original 8th-century Isaiah, while the prose sections are \"sermons\" on his texts composed at the court of Josiah a hundred years later, at the end of the 7th century.
The conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon and the exile of its elite in 586 BCE ushered in the next stage in the formation of the book. Deutero-Isaiah addresses himself to the Jews in exile, offering them the hope of return. This was the period of the meteoric rise of Persia under its king Cyrus the Great -- in 559 BCE he succeeded his father as ruler of a small vassal kingdom in modern eastern Iran, by 540 he ruled an empire stretching from the Mediterranean to Central Asia, and in 539 he conquered Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah\'s predictions of the imminent fall of Babylon and his glorification of Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel date his prophecies to 550--539 BCE, and probably towards the end of this period.
The Persians ended the Jewish exile, and by 515 BCE the exiles, or at least some of them, had returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. The return, however, was not without problems: the returnees found themselves in conflict with those who had remained in the country and who now owned the land, and there were further conflicts over the form of government that should be set up. This background forms the context of Trito-Isaiah.
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# Book of Isaiah
## Themes
### Overview
The Book of Isaiah focuses on the main role of Jerusalem in God\'s plan for the world, seeing centuries of history as though they were all the single vision of the 8th-century prophet Isaiah.
- Proto-Isaiah speaks of Israel\'s desertion of God and what will follow: Israel will be destroyed by foreign enemies, but after the people, the country and Jerusalem are punished and purified, a remnant of Israel will live in God\'s place in Zion, governed by God\'s chosen king, under the presence and protection of God.
- Deutero-Isaiah has as its subject the liberation of Israel from captivity in Babylon in another Exodus, which the God of Israel will arrange using Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, as his agent.
- Trito-Isaiah concerns Jerusalem, the Temple, the Sabbath, and Israel\'s salvation. (More explicitly, it concerns questions current among Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea in the post-Exilic period about who is a God-loving Jew and who is not).
Walter Brueggemann has described this overarching narrative as \"a continued meditation upon the destiny of Jerusalem\".
### Holiness, righteousness, and God\'s plan {#holiness_righteousness_and_gods_plan}
God\'s plan for the world is based on his choice of Jerusalem as the place where he will manifest himself, and of the line of David as his earthly representative -- a theme that may possibly have originated with Jerusalem\'s reprieve from Assyrian attack in 701 BCE. God is \"the holy one of Israel\"; justice and righteousness are the qualities that mark the essence of God, and Israel has offended God through unrighteousness. Isaiah speaks out for the poor and the oppressed and against corrupt princes and judges, but unlike the prophets Amos and Micah he roots righteousness not in Israel\'s covenant with God but in God\'s holiness.
### Monotheism
Isaiah 44:6 contains the first clear statement of Yahwist monotheism: \"I am the first and I am the last; beside me there is no God\". In Isaiah 44:09--20, this develops into a satire on the making and worship of idols, mocking the foolishness of the carpenter who worships the idol that he himself has carved. While Yahweh had shown his superiority to other gods before, in Second Isaiah he becomes the sole God of the world. This model of monotheism became the defining characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism and provided the basis for Christianity and for Islam.
### A new Exodus {#a_new_exodus}
A central theme in Second Isaiah is that of a new Exodus -- the return of the exiled people Israel from Babylon to Jerusalem. The author imagines a ritualistic return to Zion (Judah), led by Yahweh. The importance of this theme is indicated by its placement at the beginning and end of Second Isaiah (40:3--5, 55:12--13). This new Exodus is repeatedly linked with Israel\'s Exodus from Egypt to Canaan under divine guidance, but with new elements. These links include the following:
- The original Exodus participants left \"in great haste\" (Ex 12:11, Deut 16:3), whereas the participants in this new Exodus will \"not go out in great haste\" (Isa 52:12).
- The land between Egypt and Canaan of the first Exodus was a \"great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland\" (Deut 8:15), but in this new Exodus, the land between Babylon (Mesopotamia) and the Promised Land will be transformed into a paradise, where the mountains will be lowered and the valleys raised to create level road (Isa 40:4).
- In the first Exodus, God provided water, but sparingly. In the new Exodus, God will \"make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water\" (Isa 41:18).
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# Book of Isaiah
## Later interpretation and influence {#later_interpretation_and_influence}
### 2nd Temple Judaism (515 BCE -- 70 CE) {#nd_temple_judaism_515_bce_70_ce}
Isaiah was one of the most popular works in the period between the foundation of the Second Temple c. 515 BCE and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE. Isaiah\'s \"shoot \[which\] will come up from the stump of Jesse\" is alluded to or cited in the Psalms of Solomon and various apocalyptic works including the Similitudes of Enoch, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and the third of the Sibylline oracles, all of which understood it to refer to a/the messiah and the messianic age. Isaiah 6, in which Isaiah describes his vision of God enthroned in the Temple, influenced the visions of God in works such as the \"Book of the Watchers\" section of the Book of Enoch, the Book of Daniel and others, often combined with the similar vision from the Book of Ezekiel. A very influential portion of Isaiah was the four so-called Songs of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 42, 49, 50 and 52, in which God calls upon his servant to lead the nations (the servant is horribly abused, sacrifices himself in accepting the punishment due others, and is finally rewarded). Some Second Temple texts, including the Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Daniel identified the Servant as a group -- \"the wise\" who \"will lead many to righteousness\" (Daniel 12:3) -- but others, notably the Similitudes of Enoch, understood it in messianic terms.
### Christianity
The earliest Christians, building on the messianic interpretation of Enoch, interpreted Isaiah 52:13--53:12, the fourth of the songs, as a prophecy of the death and exaltation of Jesus, a role which Jesus himself accepted according to Luke 4:17--21. The Book of Isaiah has been immensely influential in the formation of Christianity, from the devotion to the Virgin Mary to anti-Jewish polemic, medieval passion iconography, and modern Christian feminism and liberation theology. The regard in which Isaiah was held was so high that the book was frequently called \"the Fifth Gospel\": the prophet who spoke more clearly of Christ and the Church than any others. Its influence extends beyond the Church and Christianity to English literature and to Western culture in general, from the libretto of Handel\'s *Messiah* to a host of such everyday phrases as \"swords into ploughshares\" and \"voice in the wilderness\".
Isaiah provides 27 of the 37 quotations from the prophets in the Pauline epistles, and takes pride of place in the Gospels and in Acts of the Apostles. Isaiah 7:14, where the prophet is assuring king Ahaz that God will save Judah from the invading armies of Israel and Syria, forms the basis for Matthew 1:23\'s doctrine of the virgin birth, while Isaiah 40:3--5\'s image of the exiled Israel led by God and proceeding home to Jerusalem on a newly constructed road through the wilderness was taken up by all four Gospels and applied to John the Baptist and Jesus. Isaiah 43: 18-19 Has become popular in modern-day Christianity, especially among Christian groups. This passage was meant to comfort and inspire a displaced and downtrodden people. God, speaking through Isaiah, reminds the Israelites of His faithfulness. He calls them to remember His past deliverance---such as the exodus from Egypt---but not to remain stuck in it. Instead, He promises a new act of salvation, one even greater than before. "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. \"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it. I am making a way in the wilderness. and streams in the wasteland.\" Experts point to Chapter 53 and its discussion of a suffering servant as a striking prediction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the messiah predicted by Isaiah.
Isaiah seems always to have had a prominent place in Hebrew Bible use, and it is probable that Jesus himself was deeply influenced by Isaiah. Thus many of the Isaiah passages that are familiar to Christians gained their popularity not directly from Isaiah but from the use of them by Jesus and the early Christian authors -- this is especially true of the Book of Revelation, which depends heavily on Isaiah for its language and imagery
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# Bilinear map
In mathematics, a **bilinear map** is a function combining elements of two vector spaces to yield an element of a third vector space, and is linear in each of its arguments. Matrix multiplication is an example.
A bilinear map can also be defined for modules. For that, see the article pairing.
## Definition
### Vector spaces {#vector_spaces}
Let $V, W$ and $X$ be three vector spaces over the same base field $F$. A bilinear map is a function $B : V \times W \to X$ such that for all $w \in W$, the map $B_w$ $v \mapsto B(v, w)$ is a linear map from $V$ to $X,$ and for all $v \in V$, the map $B_v$ $w \mapsto B(v, w)$ is a linear map from $W$ to $X.$ In other words, when we hold the first entry of the bilinear map fixed while letting the second entry vary, the result is a linear operator, and similarly for when we hold the second entry fixed.
Such a map $B$ satisfies the following properties.
- For any $\lambda \in F$, $B(\lambda v,w) = B(v, \lambda w) = \lambda B(v, w).$
- The map $B$ is additive in both components: if $v_1, v_2 \in V$ and $w_1, w_2 \in W,$ then $B(v_1 + v_2, w) = B(v_1, w) + B(v_2, w)$ and $B(v, w_1 + w_2) = B(v, w_1) + B(v, w_2).$
If $V = W$ and we have `{{nowrap|1=''B''(''v'', ''w'') = ''B''(''w'', ''v'')}}`{=mediawiki} for all $v, w \in V,$ then we say that *B* is *symmetric*. If *X* is the base field *F*, then the map is called a *bilinear form*, which are well-studied (for example: scalar product, inner product, and quadratic form).
### Modules
The definition works without any changes if instead of vector spaces over a field *F*, we use modules over a commutative ring *R*. It generalizes to *n*-ary functions, where the proper term is *multilinear*.
For non-commutative rings *R* and *S*, a left *R*-module *M* and a right *S*-module *N*, a bilinear map is a map `{{nowrap|''B'' : ''M'' × ''N'' → ''T''}}`{=mediawiki} with *T* an `{{nowrap|(''R'', ''S'')}}`{=mediawiki}-bimodule, and for which any *n* in *N*, `{{nowrap|''m'' ↦ ''B''(''m'', ''n'')}}`{=mediawiki} is an *R*-module homomorphism, and for any *m* in *M*, `{{nowrap|''n'' ↦ ''B''(''m'', ''n'')}}`{=mediawiki} is an *S*-module homomorphism. This satisfies
: *B*(*r* ⋅ *m*, *n*) = *r* ⋅ *B*(*m*, *n*)
: *B*(*m*, *n* ⋅ *s*) = *B*(*m*, *n*) ⋅ *s*
for all *m* in *M*, *n* in *N*, *r* in *R* and *s* in *S*, as well as *B* being additive in each argument.
## Properties
An immediate consequence of the definition is that `{{nowrap|1=''B''(''v'', ''w'') = 0<sub>''X''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} whenever `{{nowrap|1=''v'' = 0<sub>''V''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{nowrap|1=''w'' = 0<sub>''W''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki}. This may be seen by writing the zero vector 0~*V*~ as `{{nowrap|0 ⋅ 0<sub>''V''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} (and similarly for 0~*W*~) and moving the scalar 0 \"outside\", in front of *B*, by linearity.
The set `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'')}}`{=mediawiki} of all bilinear maps is a linear subspace of the space (viz. vector space, module) of all maps from `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''W''}}`{=mediawiki} into *X*.
If *V*, *W*, *X* are finite-dimensional, then so is `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'')}}`{=mediawiki}. For $X = F,$ that is, bilinear forms, the dimension of this space is `{{nowrap|dim ''V'' × dim ''W''}}`{=mediawiki} (while the space `{{nowrap|''L''(''V'' × ''W''; ''F'')}}`{=mediawiki} of *linear* forms is of dimension `{{nowrap|dim ''V'' + dim ''W''}}`{=mediawiki}). To see this, choose a basis for *V* and *W*; then each bilinear map can be uniquely represented by the matrix `{{nowrap|''B''(''e''<sub>''i''</sub>, ''f''<sub>''j''</sub>)}}`{=mediawiki}, and vice versa. Now, if *X* is a space of higher dimension, we obviously have `{{nowrap|1=dim ''L''(''V'', ''W''; ''X'') = dim ''V'' × dim ''W'' × dim ''X''}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Examples
- Matrix multiplication is a bilinear map `{{nowrap|M(''m'', ''n'') × M(''n'', ''p'') → M(''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}.
- If a vector space *V* over the real numbers $\R$ carries an inner product, then the inner product is a bilinear map $V \times V \to \R.$
- In general, for a vector space *V* over a field *F*, a bilinear form on *V* is the same as a bilinear map `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''V'' → ''F''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- If *V* is a vector space with dual space *V*^∗^, then the canonical evaluation map, `{{nowrap|1=''b''(''f'', ''v'') = ''f''(''v'')}}`{=mediawiki} is a bilinear map from `{{nowrap|''V''<sup>∗</sup> × ''V''}}`{=mediawiki} to the base field.
- Let *V* and *W* be vector spaces over the same base field *F*. If *f* is a member of *V*^∗^ and *g* a member of *W*^∗^, then `{{nowrap|1=''b''(''v'', ''w'') = ''f''(''v'')''g''(''w'')}}`{=mediawiki} defines a bilinear map `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''W'' → ''F''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- The cross product in $\R^3$ is a bilinear map $\R^3 \times \R^3 \to \R^3.$
- Let $B : V \times W \to X$ be a bilinear map, and $L : U \to W$ be a linear map, then `{{nowrap|(''v'', ''u'') ↦ ''B''(''v'', ''Lu'')}}`{=mediawiki} is a bilinear map on `{{nowrap|''V'' × ''U''}}`{=mediawiki}.
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# Bilinear map
## Continuity and separate continuity {#continuity_and_separate_continuity}
Suppose $X, Y,$ and $Z$ are topological vector spaces and let $b : X \times Y \to Z$ be a bilinear map. Then *b* is said to be **`{{visible anchor|separately continuous}}`{=mediawiki}** if the following two conditions hold:
1. for all $x \in X,$ the map $Y \to Z$ given by $y \mapsto b(x, y)$ is continuous;
2. for all $y \in Y,$ the map $X \to Z$ given by $x \mapsto b(x, y)$ is continuous.
Many separately continuous bilinear that are not continuous satisfy an additional property: hypocontinuity. All continuous bilinear maps are hypocontinuous.
### Sufficient conditions for continuity {#sufficient_conditions_for_continuity}
Many bilinear maps that occur in practice are separately continuous but not all are continuous. We list here sufficient conditions for a separately continuous bilinear map to be continuous.
- If *X* is a Baire space and *Y* is metrizable then every separately continuous bilinear map $b : X \times Y \to Z$ is continuous.
- If $X, Y, \text{ and } Z$ are the strong duals of Fréchet spaces then every separately continuous bilinear map $b : X \times Y \to Z$ is continuous.
- If a bilinear map is continuous at (0, 0) then it is continuous everywhere.
### Composition map {#composition_map}
Let $X, Y, \text{ and } Z$ be locally convex Hausdorff spaces and let $C : L(X; Y) \times L(Y; Z) \to L(X; Z)$ be the composition map defined by $C(u, v) := v \circ u.$ In general, the bilinear map $C$ is not continuous (no matter what topologies the spaces of linear maps are given). We do, however, have the following results:
Give all three spaces of linear maps one of the following topologies:
1. give all three the topology of bounded convergence;
2. give all three the topology of compact convergence;
3. give all three the topology of pointwise convergence.
- If $E$ is an equicontinuous subset of $L(Y; Z)$ then the restriction $C\big\vert_{L(X; Y) \times E} : L(X; Y) \times E \to L(X; Z)$ is continuous for all three topologies.
- If $Y$ is a barreled space then for every sequence $\left(u_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converging to $u$ in $L(X; Y)$ and every sequence $\left(v_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converging to $v$ in $L(Y; Z),$ the sequence $\left(v_i \circ u_i\right)_{i=1}^{\infty}$ converges to $v \circ u$ in $L(Y; Z)
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# Boiled leather
**Boiled leather**, often referred to by its French translation, **cuir bouilli** (`{{IPA|fr|kɥiʁ buji|lang}}`{=mediawiki}), was a historical material common in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period and used for various purposes. It was leather that had been treated so that it became tough and rigid, as well as able to hold moulded decoration. It was the usual material for the robust carrying-cases that were made for important pieces of metalwork, instruments such as astrolabes, personal sets of cutlery, books, pens and the like. It was used for some armour, being both much cheaper and much lighter than plate armour, but could not withstand a direct blow from a blade, nor a gunshot.
Alternative names are \"moulded leather\" and \"hardened leather\". In the course of making the material it becomes very soft, and can be impressed into a mould to give it the desired shape and decoration, which most surviving examples have. Pieces such as chests and coffers also usually have a wooden inner core.
Various recipes for making cuir bouilli survive, and do not agree with each other; probably there were a range of recipes, partly reflecting different final uses. Vegetable-tanned leather is generally specified. Scholars have debated the subject at length and attempted to recreate the historical material. Many, but not all, sources agree that the process involved immersion of the leather in water, but not actual boiling.
## Military use {#military_use}
Cuir bouilli was used for cheap and light armour, although it was much less effective than plate armour, which was extremely expensive and too heavy for much to be worn by infantry (as opposed to knights fighting on horseback). However, cuir bouilli could be reinforced against slashing blows by the addition of metal bands or strips, especially in helmets. Modern experiments on simple cuir bouilli have shown that it can reduce the depth of an arrow wound considerably, especially if coated with a crushed mineral facing mixed with glue, as one medieval Arab author recommended.
In addition, \"armour based on hide has the unique advantage that it can, in extremis, provide some nutrition\" when actually boiled. Josephus records that the Jewish defenders in the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 were reduced to eating their shields and other leather kit, as was the Spanish expedition of Tristan de Luna in 1559.
Versions of cuir bouilli were used since ancient times, especially for shields, in many parts of the world. Although in general leather does not survive long burial, and excavated archaeological evidence for it is rare, an Irish shield of cuir bouilli with wooden formers, deposited in a peat bog, has survived for some 2,500 years. It was commonly used in the Western world for helmets; the pickelhaube, the standard German helmet, was not replaced by a steel stahlhelm until 1916, in the midst of World War I. As leather does not conduct heat the way metal does, firemen continued to use boiled leather helmets until World War II, and the invention of strong plastics.
The word cuirass for a breastplate indicates that these were originally made of leather. In the Late Middle Ages, the heyday of plate armour, cuir bouilli continued to be used even by the rich for horse armour and often for tournament armour, as well as by ordinary infantry soldiers. Tournaments were increasingly regulated in order to reduce the risk to life, and in 1278 Edward I of England organized one in Windsor Great Park at which cuir bouilli armour was worn, and the king provided swords made of whale bone and parchment.
The account of the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 by Jean de Wavrin, who was present on the French side, describes the crucial force of English longbowmen as having on their heads either cuir bouilli helmets, or wicker with iron strips, or nothing (the last, he says, were also barefoot).
A few pieces of Roman horse armour in cuir bouilli have been excavated. Evidence from documents such as inventories show that it was common in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, and used by the highest ranks, but survivals are very few. In 1547 the Master of Armoury in the Tower of London ordered 46 sets of bards and crinets in preparation for the final invasion of Scotland in the war known as the Rough Wooing. In September that year the English cavalry were crucial in the decisive victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. The German Count Palatine of the Rhine had six sets of cuir bouilli horse armour for his and his family\'s use in the 16th century. Often the shaffron for the horse\'s head would be in steel, though leather ones are also known.
Cuir bouilli was also very common for scabbards. However surviving specimens of leather armour are rare, more so than the various types of civilian containers. It is believed that many leather pieces are depicted in sculpted tomb monuments, where they are more highly decorated than metal pieces would have been. Cuir bouilli was also often used for elaborate figurative crests on some helmets.
The material is mentioned in Froissart\'s *Chronicles of the Hundred Years\' War*, and Geoffrey Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s, says of the knight Sir Thopas:
(Note: *jambeaux* are greaves -- shin armour).
The large decorative crests that came to top some helmets in the late Middle Ages were often made of cuir bouilli, as is the famous example belonging to the Black Prince and hung with other \"achievements\" over his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. His wooden shield also has the heraldic animals appliqued in cuir bouilli.
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# Boiled leather
## Examples of other uses {#examples_of_other_uses}
As well as the crests on helmets described above, cuir bouilli was probably used sculpturally in various contexts, over a wood or plaster framework where necessary. When Henry V of England died in France, his effigy in cuir bouilli was placed on top of his coffin for the journey back to England.
A near life-size crucifix in the Vatican Museums is in cuir bouilli over wood. This is of special interest to art historians because it was made in 1540 as a replica of a crucifix in silver presented by Charlemagne some 740 years before; an object of great interest as possibly the first of the long line of monumental crucifixes in Western art. In 1540, the original silver was melted down for church plate to replace that looted in the Sack of Rome in 1527. It seems likely that the leather was moulded directly from the original and it is possible that the wooden core underneath is actually the Carolingian original, with the leather replacing the sheets of silver originally fitted over the wood.
Cuir bouilli has also been employed to bind books, mainly between the 9th and 14th centuries. Other uses include high boots for especially tough use, which were called \"postillion\'s boots\" in England. Another use was for large bottles or jugs called \"blackjacks\", \"bombards\", or \"costerns\". There is an English reference to these from 1373.
<File:Portable> Reliquary Case MET sf1984-24-2s4.jpg\|Portable Reliquary Case, French, c. 1400, 12.6 cm long <File:Box> MET sf56-150abs3.jpg\|Late 15th-century box, 4 x 12 x 7.4 cm, Italian. The interior is painted. <File:Box> MET sf49-61-1abs1.jpg\|Box, probably for ink powder, 15th-century Italian, textile interior and wood core <File:Book> Box MET sf52-131abs1.jpg\|Book case, 15th-century Italian <File:Case> (étui) with an amorous inscription MET sf50-53-1s3.jpg\|Etui \"with an amorous inscription\", 1450--1500, Italian, 21 cm long <File:Case> (étui) with an amorous inscription MET sf50-53-1d1.jpg\|Detail of last. This piece has a wooden core. <File:Pechelbronn-Musée> du Pétrole (17).jpg\|French miner\'s hat, after 1840 <File:Hunting> Knife, Sharpener, and Sheath MET DP102099.jpeg\|Hunting Knife, Sharpener, and Sheath. French, c. 1880, as a fake 15th-century set. <File:Braunschweigisches> Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17 Totenkopf Paradehelm Cut out.jpg\|Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17, Death\'s Head pickelhaube <File:Historischer> Feuerwehrhelm (Elektriker), sächsische Form, um 1910 (DFM).JPG\|German fireman\'s helmet (specialist electrician), c
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# Buffer overflow
In programming and information security, a **buffer overflow** or **buffer overrun** is an anomaly whereby a program writes data to a buffer beyond the buffer\'s allocated memory, overwriting adjacent memory locations.
Buffers are areas of memory set aside to hold data, often while moving it from one section of a program to another, or between programs. Buffer overflows can often be triggered by malformed inputs; if one assumes all inputs will be smaller than a certain size and the buffer is created to be that size, then an anomalous transaction that produces more data could cause it to write past the end of the buffer. If this overwrites adjacent data or executable code, this may result in erratic program behavior, including memory access errors, incorrect results, and crashes.
Exploiting the behavior of a buffer overflow is a well-known security exploit. On many systems, the memory layout of a program, or the system as a whole, is well defined. By sending in data designed to cause a buffer overflow, it is possible to write into areas known to hold executable code and replace it with malicious code, or to selectively overwrite data pertaining to the program\'s state, therefore causing behavior that was not intended by the original programmer. Buffers are widespread in operating system (OS) code, so it is possible to make attacks that perform privilege escalation and gain unlimited access to the computer\'s resources. The famed Morris worm in 1988 used this as one of its attack techniques.
Programming languages commonly associated with buffer overflows include C and C++, which provide no built-in protection against accessing or overwriting data in any part of memory and do not automatically check that data written to an array (the built-in buffer type) is within the boundaries of that array. Bounds checking can prevent buffer overflows, but requires additional code and processing time. Modern operating systems use a variety of techniques to combat malicious buffer overflows, notably by randomizing the layout of memory, or deliberately leaving space between buffers and looking for actions that write into those areas (\"canaries\").
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# Buffer overflow
## Technical description {#technical_description}
A buffer overflow occurs when data written to a buffer also corrupts data values in memory addresses adjacent to the destination buffer due to insufficient bounds checking.`{{Ref RFC|4949|notes=no|rp=41}}`{=mediawiki} This can occur when copying data from one buffer to another without first checking that the data fits within the destination buffer.
### Example
In the following example expressed in C, a program has two variables which are adjacent in memory: an 8-byte-long string buffer, A, and a two-byte big-endian integer, B.
``` c
char A[8] = "";
unsigned short B = 1979;
```
Initially, A contains nothing but zero bytes, and B contains the number 1979.
variable name A
--------------- ----------------- ----
value \[null string\]
hex value 00 00
Now, the program attempts to store the null-terminated string `{{code|"excessive"}}`{=mediawiki} with ASCII encoding in the A buffer.
``` c
strcpy(A, "excessive");
```
is 9 characters long and encodes to 10 bytes including the null terminator, but A can take only 8 bytes. By failing to check the length of the string, it also overwrites the value of B:
variable name A
--------------- ------- -------
value \'e\' \'x\'
hex 65 78
B\'s value has now been inadvertently replaced by a number formed from part of the character string. In this example \"e\" followed by a zero byte would become 25856.
Writing data past the end of allocated memory can sometimes be detected by the operating system to generate a segmentation fault error that terminates the process.
To prevent the buffer overflow from happening in this example, the call to strcpy could be replaced with strlcpy, which takes the maximum capacity of A (including a null-termination character) as an additional parameter and ensures that no more than this amount of data is written to A:
``` c
strlcpy(A, "excessive", sizeof(A));
```
When available, the strlcpy library function is preferred over strncpy which does not null-terminate the destination buffer if the source string\'s length is greater than or equal to the size of the buffer (the third argument passed to the function). Therefore A may not be null-terminated and cannot be treated as a valid C-style string.
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# Buffer overflow
## Exploitation
The techniques to exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability vary by architecture, operating system, and memory region. For example, exploitation on the heap (used for dynamically allocated memory), differs markedly from exploitation on the call stack. In general, heap exploitation depends on the heap manager used on the target system, while stack exploitation depends on the calling convention used by the architecture and compiler.
### Stack-based exploitation {#stack_based_exploitation}
There are several ways in which one can manipulate a program by exploiting stack-based buffer overflows:
- Changing program behavior by overwriting a local variable located near the vulnerable buffer on the stack;
- By overwriting the return address in a stack frame to point to code selected by the attacker, usually called the shellcode. Once the function returns, execution will resume at the attacker\'s shellcode;
- By overwriting a function pointer or exception handler to point to the shellcode, which is subsequently executed;
- By overwriting a local variable (or pointer) of a different stack frame, which will later be used by the function that owns that frame.
The attacker designs data to cause one of these exploits, then places this data in a buffer supplied to users by the vulnerable code. If the address of the user-supplied data used to affect the stack buffer overflow is unpredictable, exploiting a stack buffer overflow to cause remote code execution becomes much more difficult. One technique that can be used to exploit such a buffer overflow is called \"trampolining\". Here, an attacker will find a pointer to the vulnerable stack buffer and compute the location of their shellcode relative to that pointer. The attacker will then use the overwrite to jump to an instruction already in memory which will make a second jump, this time relative to the pointer. That second jump will branch execution into the shellcode. Suitable instructions are often present in large code. The Metasploit Project, for example, maintains a database of suitable opcodes, though it lists only those found in the Windows operating system.
### Heap-based exploitation {#heap_based_exploitation}
A buffer overflow occurring in the heap data area is referred to as a heap overflow and is exploitable in a manner different from that of stack-based overflows. Memory on the heap is dynamically allocated by the application at run-time and typically contains program data. Exploitation is performed by corrupting this data in specific ways to cause the application to overwrite internal structures such as linked list pointers. The canonical heap overflow technique overwrites dynamic memory allocation linkage (such as malloc meta data) and uses the resulting pointer exchange to overwrite a program function pointer.
Microsoft\'s GDI+ vulnerability in handling JPEGs is an example of the danger a heap overflow can present.
### Barriers to exploitation {#barriers_to_exploitation}
Manipulation of the buffer, which occurs before it is read or executed, may lead to the failure of an exploitation attempt. These manipulations can mitigate the threat of exploitation, but may not make it impossible. Manipulations could include conversion to upper or lower case, removal of metacharacters and filtering out of non-alphanumeric strings. However, techniques exist to bypass these filters and manipulations, such as alphanumeric shellcode, polymorphic code, self-modifying code, and return-to-libc attacks. The same methods can be used to avoid detection by intrusion detection systems. In some cases, including where code is converted into Unicode, the threat of the vulnerability has been misrepresented by the disclosers as only Denial of Service when in fact the remote execution of arbitrary code is possible.
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# Buffer overflow
## Exploitation
### Practicalities of exploitation {#practicalities_of_exploitation}
In real-world exploits there are a variety of challenges which need to be overcome for exploits to operate reliably. These factors include null bytes in addresses, variability in the location of shellcode, differences between environments, and various counter-measures in operation.
#### NOP sled technique {#nop_sled_technique}
A NOP-sled is the oldest and most widely known technique for exploiting stack buffer overflows. It solves the problem of finding the exact address of the buffer by effectively increasing the size of the target area. To do this, much larger sections of the stack are corrupted with the no-op machine instruction. At the end of the attacker-supplied data, after the no-op instructions, the attacker places an instruction to perform a relative jump to the top of the buffer where the shellcode is located. This collection of no-ops is referred to as the \"NOP-sled\" because if the return address is overwritten with any address within the no-op region of the buffer, the execution will \"slide\" down the no-ops until it is redirected to the actual malicious code by the jump at the end. This technique requires the attacker to guess where on the stack the NOP-sled is instead of the comparatively small shellcode.
Because of the popularity of this technique, many vendors of intrusion prevention systems will search for this pattern of no-op machine instructions in an attempt to detect shellcode in use. A NOP-sled does not necessarily contain only traditional no-op machine instructions. Any instruction that does not corrupt the machine state to a point where the shellcode will not run can be used in place of the hardware assisted no-op. As a result, it has become common practice for exploit writers to compose the no-op sled with randomly chosen instructions which will have no real effect on the shellcode execution.
While this method greatly improves the chances that an attack will be successful, it is not without problems. Exploits using this technique still must rely on some amount of luck that they will guess offsets on the stack that are within the NOP-sled region. An incorrect guess will usually result in the target program crashing and could alert the system administrator to the attacker\'s activities. Another problem is that the NOP-sled requires a much larger amount of memory in which to hold a NOP-sled large enough to be of any use. This can be a problem when the allocated size of the affected buffer is too small and the current depth of the stack is shallow (i.e., there is not much space from the end of the current stack frame to the start of the stack). Despite its problems, the NOP-sled is often the only method that will work for a given platform, environment, or situation, and as such it is still an important technique.
#### The jump to address stored in a register technique {#the_jump_to_address_stored_in_a_register_technique}
The \"jump to register\" technique allows for reliable exploitation of stack buffer overflows without the need for extra room for a NOP-sled and without having to guess stack offsets. The strategy is to overwrite the return pointer with something that will cause the program to jump to a known pointer stored within a register which points to the controlled buffer and thus the shellcode. For example, if register A contains a pointer to the start of a buffer then any jump or call taking that register as an operand can be used to gain control of the flow of execution.
In practice a program may not intentionally contain instructions to jump to a particular register. The traditional solution is to find an unintentional instance of a suitable opcode at a fixed location somewhere within the program memory. Figure E on the left contains an example of such an unintentional instance of the i386 `jmp esp` instruction. The opcode for this instruction is `FF E4`. This two-byte sequence can be found at a one-byte offset from the start of the instruction `call DbgPrint` at address `0x7C941EED`. If an attacker overwrites the program return address with this address the program will first jump to `0x7C941EED`, interpret the opcode `FF E4` as the `jmp esp` instruction, and will then jump to the top of the stack and execute the attacker\'s code.
When this technique is possible the severity of the vulnerability increases considerably. This is because exploitation will work reliably enough to automate an attack with a virtual guarantee of success when it is run. For this reason, this is the technique most commonly used in Internet worms that exploit stack buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
This method also allows shellcode to be placed after the overwritten return address on the Windows platform. Since executables are mostly based at address `0x00400000` and x86 is a little endian architecture, the last byte of the return address must be a null, which terminates the buffer copy and nothing is written beyond that. This limits the size of the shellcode to the size of the buffer, which may be overly restrictive. DLLs are located in high memory (above `0x01000000`) and so have addresses containing no null bytes, so this method can remove null bytes (or other disallowed characters) from the overwritten return address. Used in this way, the method is often referred to as \"DLL trampolining\".
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# Buffer overflow
## Protective countermeasures {#protective_countermeasures}
Various techniques have been used to detect or prevent buffer overflows, with various tradeoffs. The following sections describe the choices and implementations available.
### Choice of programming language {#choice_of_programming_language}
Assembly, C, and C++ are popular programming languages that are vulnerable to buffer overflow in part because they allow direct access to memory and are not strongly typed. C provides no built-in protection against accessing or overwriting data in any part of memory. More specifically, it does not check that data written to a buffer is within the boundaries of that buffer. The standard C++ libraries provide many ways of safely buffering data, and C++\'s Standard Template Library (STL) provides containers that can optionally perform bounds checking if the programmer explicitly calls for checks while accessing data. For example, a `vector`\'s member function `at()` performs a bounds check and throws an `out_of_range` exception if the bounds check fails. However, C++ behaves just like C if the bounds check is not explicitly called. Techniques to avoid buffer overflows also exist for C.
Languages that are strongly typed and do not allow direct memory access, such as COBOL, Java, Eiffel, Python, and others, prevent buffer overflow in most cases. Many programming languages other than C or C++ provide runtime checking and in some cases even compile-time checking which might send a warning or raise an exception, while C or C++ would overwrite data and continue to execute instructions until erroneous results are obtained, potentially causing the program to crash. Examples of such languages include Ada, Eiffel, Lisp, Modula-2, Smalltalk, OCaml and such C-derivatives as Cyclone, Rust and D. The Java and .NET Framework bytecode environments also require bounds checking on all arrays. Nearly every interpreted language will protect against buffer overflow, signaling a well-defined error condition. Languages that provide enough type information to do bounds checking often provide an option to enable or disable it. Static code analysis can remove many dynamic bound and type checks, but poor implementations and awkward cases can significantly decrease performance. Software engineers should carefully consider the tradeoffs of safety versus performance costs when deciding which language and compiler setting to use.
### Use of safe libraries {#use_of_safe_libraries}
The problem of buffer overflows is common in the C and C++ languages because they expose low level representational details of buffers as containers for data types. Buffer overflows can be avoided by maintaining a high degree of correctness in code that performs buffer management. It has also long been recommended to avoid standard library functions that are not bounds checked, such as `gets`, `scanf` and `strcpy`. The Morris worm exploited a `gets` call in fingerd.
Well-written and tested abstract data type libraries that centralize and automatically perform buffer management, including bounds checking, can reduce the occurrence and impact of buffer overflows. The primary data types in languages in which buffer overflows are common are strings and arrays. Thus, libraries preventing buffer overflows in these data types can provide the vast majority of the necessary coverage. However, failure to use these safe libraries correctly can result in buffer overflows and other vulnerabilities, and naturally any bug in the library is also a potential vulnerability. \"Safe\" library implementations include \"The Better String Library\", Vstr and Erwin. The OpenBSD operating system\'s C library provides the strlcpy and strlcat functions, but these are more limited than full safe library implementations.
In September 2007, Technical Report 24731, prepared by the C standards committee, was published. It specifies a set of functions that are based on the standard C library\'s string and IO functions, with additional buffer-size parameters. However, the efficacy of these functions for reducing buffer overflows is disputable. They require programmer intervention on a per function call basis that is equivalent to intervention that could make the analogous older standard library functions buffer overflow safe.
### Buffer overflow protection {#buffer_overflow_protection}
Buffer overflow protection is used to detect the most common buffer overflows by checking that the stack has not been altered when a function returns. If it has been altered, the program exits with a segmentation fault. Three such systems are Libsafe, and the *StackGuard* and *ProPolice* gcc patches.
Microsoft\'s implementation of Data Execution Prevention (DEP) mode explicitly protects the pointer to the Structured Exception Handler (SEH) from being overwritten.
Stronger stack protection is possible by splitting the stack in two: one for data and one for function returns. This split is present in the Forth language, though it was not a security-based design decision. Regardless, this is not a complete solution to buffer overflows, as sensitive data other than the return address may still be overwritten.
This type of protection is also not entirely accurate because it does not detect all attacks. Systems like StackGuard are more centered around the behavior of the attacks, which makes them efficient and faster in comparison to range-check systems.
### Pointer protection {#pointer_protection}
Buffer overflows work by manipulating pointers, including stored addresses. PointGuard was proposed as a compiler-extension to prevent attackers from reliably manipulating pointers and addresses. The approach works by having the compiler add code to automatically XOR-encode pointers before and after they are used. Theoretically, because the attacker does not know what value will be used to encode and decode the pointer, one cannot predict what the pointer will point to if it is overwritten with a new value. PointGuard was never released, but Microsoft implemented a similar approach beginning in Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1. Rather than implement pointer protection as an automatic feature, Microsoft added an API routine that can be called. This allows for better performance (because it is not used all of the time), but places the burden on the programmer to know when its use is necessary.
Because XOR is linear, an attacker may be able to manipulate an encoded pointer by overwriting only the lower bytes of an address. This can allow an attack to succeed if the attacker can attempt the exploit multiple times or complete an attack by causing a pointer to point to one of several locations (such as any location within a NOP sled). Microsoft added a random rotation to their encoding scheme to address this weakness to partial overwrites.
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# Buffer overflow
## Protective countermeasures {#protective_countermeasures}
### Executable space protection {#executable_space_protection}
Executable space protection is an approach to buffer overflow protection that prevents execution of code on the stack or the heap. An attacker may use buffer overflows to insert arbitrary code into the memory of a program, but with executable space protection, any attempt to execute that code will cause an exception.
Some CPUs support a feature called NX (\"No eXecute\") or XD (\"eXecute Disabled\") bit, which in conjunction with software, can be used to mark pages of data (such as those containing the stack and the heap) as readable and writable but not executable.
Some Unix operating systems (e.g. OpenBSD, macOS) ship with executable space protection (e.g. W\^X). Some optional packages include:
- PaX
- Exec Shield
- Openwall
Newer variants of Microsoft Windows also support executable space protection, called Data Execution Prevention. Proprietary add-ons include:
- BufferShield
- StackDefender
Executable space protection does not generally protect against return-to-libc attacks, or any other attack that does not rely on the execution of the attackers code. However, on 64-bit systems using ASLR, as described below, executable space protection makes it far more difficult to execute such attacks.
### Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions {#capability_hardware_enhanced_risc_instructions}
CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions) is a computer processor technology designed to improve security. It operates at a hardware level by providing a hardware-enforced type (a CHERI capability) that authorises access to memory. Traditional pointers are replaced by addresses accompanied by metadata that limit what can be accessed through any given pointer.
### Address space layout randomization {#address_space_layout_randomization}
Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a computer security feature that involves arranging the positions of key data areas, usually including the base of the executable and position of libraries, heap, and stack, randomly in a process\' address space.
Randomization of the virtual memory addresses at which functions and variables can be found can make exploitation of a buffer overflow more difficult, but not impossible. It also forces the attacker to tailor the exploitation attempt to the individual system, which foils the attempts of internet worms. A similar but less effective method is to rebase processes and libraries in the virtual address space.
### Deep packet inspection {#deep_packet_inspection}
The use of deep packet inspection (DPI) can detect, at the network perimeter, very basic remote attempts to exploit buffer overflows by use of attack signatures and heuristics. This technique can block packets that have the signature of a known attack. It was formerly used in situations in which a long series of No-Operation instructions (known as a NOP-sled) was detected and the location of the exploit\'s payload was slightly variable.
Packet scanning is not an effective method since it can only prevent known attacks and there are many ways that a NOP-sled can be encoded. Shellcode used by attackers can be made alphanumeric, metamorphic, or self-modifying to evade detection by heuristic packet scanners and intrusion detection systems.
### Testing
Checking for buffer overflows and patching the bugs that cause them helps prevent buffer overflows. One common automated technique for discovering them is fuzzing. Edge case testing can also uncover buffer overflows, as can static analysis. Once a potential buffer overflow is detected it should be patched. This makes the testing approach useful for software that is in development, but less useful for legacy software that is no longer maintained or supported.
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# Buffer overflow
## History
Buffer overflows were understood and partially publicly documented as early as 1972, when the Computer Security Technology Planning Study laid out the technique: \"The code performing this function does not check the source and destination addresses properly, permitting portions of the monitor to be overlaid by the user. This can be used to inject code into the monitor that will permit the user to seize control of the machine.\" Today, the monitor would be referred to as the kernel.
The earliest documented hostile exploitation of a buffer overflow was in 1988. It was one of several exploits used by the Morris worm to propagate itself over the Internet. The program exploited was a service on Unix called finger. Later, in 1995, Thomas Lopatic independently rediscovered the buffer overflow and published his findings on the Bugtraq security mailing list. A year later, in 1996, Elias Levy (also known as Aleph One) published in *Phrack* magazine the paper \"Smashing the Stack for Fun and Profit\", a step-by-step introduction to exploiting stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities.
Since then, at least two major internet worms have exploited buffer overflows to compromise a large number of systems. In 2001, the Code Red worm exploited a buffer overflow in Microsoft\'s Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0 and in 2003 the SQL Slammer worm compromised machines running Microsoft SQL Server 2000.
In 2003, buffer overflows present in licensed Xbox games have been exploited to allow unlicensed software, including homebrew games, to run on the console without the need for hardware modifications, known as modchips. The PS2 Independence Exploit also used a buffer overflow to achieve the same for the PlayStation 2. The Twilight hack accomplished the same with the Wii, using a buffer overflow in *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess*
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# Book of Judges
The **Book of Judges** is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders.
The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh; he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which he sends in the form of a leader or champion; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression and they prosper, but soon they fall again into unfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated. The pattern also expresses a repeating cycle of wars. But in the last verse (21:25) there is a hint that the cycle can be broken---with the establishment of a monarchy.
Scholars consider many of the stories in Judges to be the oldest in the Deuteronomistic history, with their major redaction dated to the 8th century BCE and with materials such as the Song of Deborah dating from much earlier.
## Contents
Judges can be divided into three major sections: a double prologue (chapters 1:1--3:6), a main body (3:7--16:31), and a double epilogue (17--21).
### Prologue
The book opens with the Israelites in the land that God has promised to them, but worshiping \"foreign gods\" instead of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and with the Canaanites still present everywhere. Chapters 1:1--2:5 are thus a confession of failure, while chapters 2:6--3:6 are a major summary and reflection from the Deuteronomists.
The opening thus sets out the pattern which the stories in the main text will follow:
1. Israel \"does evil in the eyes of Yahweh\",
2. The people are given into the hands of their enemies and cry out to Yahweh,
3. Yahweh raises up a leader,
4. The \"spirit of Yahweh\" comes upon the leader,
5. The leader manages to defeat the enemy, and
6. Peace is regained.
Once peace is regained, Israel does right and receives Yahweh\'s blessings for a time, but relapses later into doing evil and repeats the pattern above.
Judges follows the Book of Joshua and opens with a reference to Joshua\'s death. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges suggests that \"the death of Joshua may be regarded as marking the division between the period of conquest and the period of occupation\", the latter being the focus of the Book of Judges. The Israelites meet, probably at the sanctuary at Gilgal or at Shechem, and ask the Lord who should be first (in order of time, not of rank) to secure the land they are to occupy.
### Main text {#main_text}
The main text gives accounts of six major judges and their struggles against the oppressive kings of surrounding nations, as well as the story of Abimelech, an Israelite leader (a judge \[shofet\] in the sense of \"chieftain\") who oppresses his own people. The cyclical pattern set out in the prologue is readily apparent at the beginning, but as the stories progress it begins to disintegrate, mirroring the disintegration of the world of the Israelites. Although some scholars consider the stories not to be presented in chronological order, the judges in the order in which they appear in the text are:
- Othniel (3:9--11) vs. Cushan-Rishathaim, King of Aram; Israel has 40 years of peace until the death of Othniel. (The statement that Israel has a certain period of peace after each judge is a recurrent theme.)
- Ehud (3:11--29) vs. Eglon of Moab
- Deborah, directing Barak the army captain (4--5), vs. Jabin of Hazor (a city in Canaan) and Sisera, his captain (Battle of Mount Tabor)
- Gideon (6--8) vs. Midian, Amalek, and the \"children of the East\" (apparently desert tribes)
- Jephthah (11--12:7) vs. the Ammonites
- Samson (13--16) vs. the Philistines
There are also brief glosses on six minor judges: Shamgar (Judges 3:31; after Ehud), Tola and Jair (10:1--5), Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon (12:8--15; after Jephthah). Some scholars have inferred that the minor judges were actual adjudicators, whereas the major judges were leaders and did not actually make legal judgments. The only major judge described as making legal judgments is Deborah (4:4).
### Epilogue
By the end of Judges, Yahweh\'s treasures are used to make idolatrous images, the Levites become corrupt, the tribe of Dan conquers a remote village instead of the Canaanite cities, and the tribes of Israel make war on the tribe of Benjamin, their own kinsmen. The book concludes with two appendices, stories which do not feature a specific judge:
- Micah\'s Idol (Judges 17--18), how the tribe of Dan conquers its territory in the north.
- Levite\'s concubine (Judges 19--21): the gang rape of a Levite\'s concubine leads to war between the Benjamites and the other Israelite tribes, after which hundreds of virgins are taken captive as wives for the decimated Benjamites.
Despite their appearance at the end of the book, certain characters (like Jonathan, the grandson of Moses) and idioms present in the epilogue show that the events therein \"must have taken place\... early in the period of the judges.\"
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# Book of Judges
## Contents
### Chronology
Judges contains a chronology of its events, assigning a number of years to each interval of judgment and peace. It is overtly schematic and was likely introduced at a later period.
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of Judges: 1QJudg, found in Qumran Cave 1; 4QJudg^a^ and 4QJudg^b^, found in Qumran Cave 4; and XJudges, a fragment discovered in 2001.
The earliest complete surviving copy of the Book of Judges in Hebrew is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE).
The Septuagint (Greek translation) is found in early manuscripts such as the Codex Colberto-Sarravianus (c. AD 400; contains many lacunae) and the Fragment of Leipzig (c. AD 500).
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# Book of Judges
## Composition
`{{See also|Judges 1#Composition and historicity|Textual variants in the Book of Judges}}`{=mediawiki}
### Historicity
Biblical archaeology in the 19th and 20th centuries supported viewing Judges as historical, but there is currently disagreement among scholars on whether the book reflects early Israelite history.
Scholars hold a variety of opinions about the dating and historicity of the Book of Judges. Some scholars doubt whether any of the people named as judges existed, while others still find truth throughout the book. For Israel Finkelstein, the historical reliability of the Book of Judges cannot be assessed by the possible inclusion of heroic tales from earlier eras because it is impossible to know to what extent those tales are based on authentic memories of local heroes and wars preserved over the centuries in the form of epic poems or popular folktales. Lester Grabbe generally considers the Book of Judges too problematic to use as a historical source for much the same reasons, but acknowledges that an actual historical core can be found in the Judges stories and cannot be ruled out by archeological evidence.
Among anthropologists, few believe in a leap from independent tribes to monarchy. Most accept an intermediate stage of chiefdom as described in the Book of Judges. These chiefdoms were inter-tribal confederacies temporarily formed for the purpose of war and led by military chief, called Judge. Historian Max Ostrovsky finds the law of bun (herem) a characteristic element of chiefdom-level warfare worldwide, wherever culture reached the level of chiefdom. Similar buns were practiced before the introduction of slavery and empire which are more characteristic of monarchies. Hence the accounts of the Book of Judges probably reflect historical reality.
### Sources
The basic source for Judges was a collection of loosely connected stories about tribal heroes who saved the people in battle. This original \"book of saviours\" made up of the stories of Ehud, Jael and parts of Gideon, had already been enlarged and transformed into \"wars of Yahweh\" before being given the final Deuteronomistic revision. In the 20th century, the first part of the prologue (chapters 1:1--2:5) and the two parts of the epilogue (17--21) were commonly seen as miscellaneous collections of fragments tacked onto the main text, and the second part of the prologue (2:6--3:6) as an introduction composed expressly for the book.
More recently, this view has been challenged, and there is an increasing willingness to see Judges as the work of a single individual, working by carefully selecting, reworking and positioning the source material to introduce and conclude his themes. Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein proposed that the author(s) of the \"book of saviours\" collected these folk tales in the time of King Jeroboam II to argue that the king\'s Nimshide origins, which appear to originate in the eastern Jezreel Valley, were part of the \"core\" territory of Israel.
### The Deuteronomistic History {#the_deuteronomistic_history}
A statement repeated throughout the epilogue, \"In those days there was no king in Israel\" implies a date in the monarchic period for the redaction (editing) of Judges. Twice, this statement is accompanied with the statement \"every man did that which was right in his own eyes\", implying that the redactor is pro-monarchy, and the epilogue, in which the tribe of Judah is assigned a leadership role, implies that this redaction took place in Judah.
Since the second half of the 20th century most scholars have agreed with Martin Noth\'s thesis that the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings form parts of a single work. Noth maintained that the history was written in the early Exilic period (6th century BCE) in order to demonstrate how Israel\'s history was worked out in accordance with the theology expressed in the book of Deuteronomy (which thus provides the name \"Deuteronomistic\"). Noth believed that this history was the work of a single author, living in the mid-6th century BCE, selecting, editing and composing from his sources to produce a coherent work. Frank Moore Cross later proposed that an early version of the history was composed in Jerusalem in Josiah\'s time (late 7th century BCE); this first version, Dtr1, was then revised and expanded to create a second edition, that identified by Noth, and which Cross labelled Dtr2.
Scholars agree that the Deuteronomists\' hand can be seen in Judges through the book\'s cyclical nature: the Israelites fall into idolatry, God punishes them for their sins with oppression by foreign peoples, the Israelites cry out to God for help, and God sends a judge to deliver them from the foreign oppression. After a period of peace, the cycle recurs. Scholars also suggest that the Deuteronomists also included the humorous and sometimes disparaging commentary found in the book such as the story of the tribe of Ephraim who could not pronounce the word \"*shibboleth*\" correctly (12:5--6).
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# Book of Judges
## Themes and genre {#themes_and_genre}
The essence of Deuteronomistic theology is that Israel has entered into a covenant (a treaty, a binding agreement) with the God Yahweh, under which they agree to accept Yahweh as their God (hence the phrase \"God of Israel\") and Yahweh promises them a land where they can live in peace and prosperity. Deuteronomy contains the laws by which Israel is to live in the promised land, Joshua chronicles the conquest of Canaan, the promised land, and its allotment among the tribes, Judges describes the settlement of the land, Samuel the consolidation of the land and people under David, and Kings the destruction of kingship and loss of the land. The final tragedy described in Kings is the result of Israel\'s failure to uphold its part of the covenant: faithfulness to Yahweh brings success, economic, military and political, but unfaithfulness brings defeat and oppression.
This is the theme played out in Judges: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and He therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people then repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which He sends in the form of a judge; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression, but after a while they fall into unfaithfulness again and the cycle is repeated. Israel\'s apostasy is repeatedly invoked by the author as the cause of threats to Israel. The oppression of the Israelites is due to their turning to Canaanite gods, breaking the covenant and \"doing evil in the sight of the lord\".
Further themes are present: the \"sovereign freedom of Yahweh\" (God does not always do what is expected of him); the \"satirisation of foreign kings\" (who consistently underestimate Israel and Yahweh); the concept of the \"flawed agent\" (judges who are not adequate to the task before them) and the disunity of the Israelite community, which gathers pace as the stories succeed one another.
The book is as intriguing for the themes it leaves out as for what it includes: the Ark of the Covenant, which is given so much importance in the stories of Moses and Joshua, is almost entirely missing, cooperation between the various tribes is limited, and there is no mention of a central shrine for worship and only limited reference to a High Priest of Israel (the office to which Aaron was appointed at the end of the Exodus story).
Although Judges probably had a monarchist redaction (see above), the book contains passages and themes that represent anti-monarchist views. One of the major themes of the book is Yahweh\'s sovereignty and the importance of being loyal to Him and His laws above all other gods and sovereigns. Indeed, the authority of the judges comes not through prominent dynasties nor through elections or appointments, but rather through the Spirit of God.
Anti-monarchist theology is most apparent toward the end of the Gideon cycle in which the Israelites beg Gideon to create a dynastic monarchy over them and Gideon refuses. The rest of Gideon\'s lifetime saw peace in the land, but after Gideon\'s death, his son Abimelech ruled Shechem as a Machiavellian tyrant guilty for much bloodshed (see chapters 8 and 9). However, the last few chapters of Judges (specifically, the stories of Samson, Micah, and Gibeah) highlight the violence and anarchy of decentralized rule.
Judges is remarkable for the number of female characters who \"play significant roles, active and passive, in the narratives
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# Books of Samuel
1 SA\|LSA (disambiguation){{!}}lsa\|Isa (disambiguation){{!}}Isa}} `{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|historical}}`{=mediawiki} The **Book of Samuel** (*translit=Sefer Shmuel*) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (**1--2 Samuel**) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God\'s law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
According to Jewish tradition, the book was written by Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, who together are three prophets who had appeared within 1 Chronicles in its account of David\'s reign. Modern scholarly thinking posits that the entire Deuteronomistic history was composed c. 630--540 BCE by combining a number of independent texts of various ages.
The book begins with Samuel\'s birth and Yahweh\'s call to him as a boy. The story of the Ark of the Covenant follows. It tells of Israel\'s oppression by the Philistines, which brought about Samuel\'s anointing of Saul as Israel\'s first king. But Saul proved unworthy, and God\'s choice turned to David, who defeated Israel\'s enemies, purchased the threshing floor where his son Solomon would build the First Temple, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Yahweh then promised David and his successors an everlasting dynasty.
In the Septuagint, a basis of the Christian biblical canons, the text is divided into two books, now called the First and Second Book of Samuel.
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
`{{Long plot|section|date=June 2022}}`{=mediawiki}
The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Samuel into five sections. Further subheadings are also based on subdivisions in that version:
1 Samuel 1:1--7:17. Samuel\
1 Samuel 8:1--15:35. Samuel and Saul\
1 Samuel 16:1--2 Samuel 1:27. Saul and David\
2 Samuel 2:1--20:26. David\
2 Samuel 21:1--24:25. Supplementary Information\
### 1 Samuel
#### Samuel (1:1--7:17) {#samuel_11717}
##### The childhood of Samuel (1:1--4:1a) {#the_childhood_of_samuel_1141a}
A man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite from the city of Ramathaim-Zophim, has two wives, Peninnah and Hannah, the latter of whom is his favourite wife. A rivalry between the two develops based on the fact that Peninnah has children and Hannah does not. The childless Hannah vows to Yahweh, the lord of hosts, that if she has a son, he will be dedicated to God. Eli, the priest of Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant is located, thinks she is drunk, but when he realises she is praying, he blesses her. A child named Samuel is born, and Samuel is dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}the only one besides Samson to be identified in the Bible. Hannah sings a song of praise upon the fulfilment of her vow.
Eli\'s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, sin against God\'s laws and the people, specifically by demanding raw rather than boiled meat for sacrifice and having sex with the Tabernacle\'s serving women. However, Samuel grows up \"in the presence of the Lord\": his family visits him each year, bringing him a new coat, and Hannah has five more children. Eli tries to persuade his sons to stop their wickedness but fails. As punishment for this, a holy man arrives, prophesying that Eli\'s family will be cut off and none of his descendants will see old age.
One night, God calls Samuel, and, thinking Eli is calling him three times, he rushes to Eli. Eli informs him that God wishes to speak to him, and God informs Samuel that the earlier prophecy about Eli\'s family is correct. Samuel is initially afraid to inform Eli, but Eli tells him not to be, and that God will do what is good in His sight. Over time, Samuel grows up and is recognised as a prophet.
##### The Ark in Philistine hands (4:1b--7:17) {#the_ark_in_philistine_hands_41b717}
The Philistines, despite their initial worries when hearing the Israelite ritual of the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant, defeat the Israelites at the Battle of Aphek, capturing the Ark and killing Hophni and Phinehas, thus fulfilling the earlier prophecy. When Eli hears of these two events, particularly the capture of the Ark, he falls off his chair and dies. His daughter-in-law, in turn, goes into labour at this, and names her son Ichabod (\'without glory\') in commemoration of the capture of the Ark.
Meanwhile, the Philistines take the Ark to the temple of their god Dagon, who recognizes the supremacy of Yahweh. The Philistines are afflicted with plagues, are unable to take the Ark into any city on account of the fear of the populations of those cities, and return the ark to the Israelites, but to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, to the city of Beth Shemesh, rather than to Shiloh, from where it is passed to the city of Kiriath Jearim, where a new priest, Eleazar, son of Abinadab, is appointed to guard the ark for the twenty years it is there. The Philistines attack the Israelites gathered at Mizpah in Benjamin. Samuel appeals to God, the Philistines are decisively beaten, and the Israelites reclaim their lost territory. Samuel sets up the Eben-Ezer (the stone of help) in remembrance of the battle, and takes his place as judge of Israel.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 1 Samuel
#### Samuel and Saul (8:1--15:35) {#samuel_and_saul_811535}
##### The institution of the monarchy (8:1--12:25) {#the_institution_of_the_monarchy_811225}
In Samuel\'s old age, he appoints his sons Joel and Abijah as judges but, because of their corruption, the people ask for a king to rule over them. God directs Samuel to grant the people their wish despite his concerns: God gives them Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, whom Samuel anoints during an attempt by Saul to locate his father\'s lost donkeys. He then invites Saul to a feast, where he gives him the best piece of meat, and they talk through the night on the roof of Samuel\'s house. Samuel tells Saul to return home, telling him the donkeys have been found and his father is now worrying about him, as well as describing a series of signs Saul will see on the way home. Saul begins to prophesy when he meets some prophets, confusing his neighbours. Eventually, Samuel publicly announces Saul as king, although not without controversy.
Shortly after, Nahash of Ammon lays siege to Jabesh Gilead and demands that everyone in the city have their right eye gouged out as part of the peace treaty. The Jabeshites send out messengers, looking for a saviour. When Saul hears of the situation, he gathers a 330,000-strong army and launches a surprise attack at night, leading Israel to victory and saving Jabesh, thus proving those who doubted him wrong. Saul\'s kingship is renewed.
Samuel is aware he is the final judge and that the age of kings is about to begin, and speaks to the Israelites, demonstrating his innocence and recapping the history of Israel. He calls on the Lord to send thunder and rain, and rebukes the people for their desire for a king. Nonetheless, he tells them that as long as they refrain from idol worship, they will not perish -- but if they do, calamity will befall the kingdom.
##### The beginning of Saul\'s reign (13:1--15:35) {#the_beginning_of_sauls_reign_1311535}
Despite his numerous military victories, Saul disobeys Yahweh\'s instructions. First of all, after a battle against the Philistines, he does not wait for Samuel to arrive before he offers sacrifices. Meanwhile, it turns out that the Philistines have been killing and capturing blacksmiths in order to ensure the Israelites do not have weapons, and so the Israelites go to war essentially with sharpened farm instruments. Saul\'s son Jonathan launches a secret attack by climbing a pass into the Philistine camp and kills twenty people in the process. The panic this creates leads to a victory for the Israelites. Jonathan finds some honey and eats it, despite a royal decree not to eat until evening.
Jonathan begins to doubt his father, reasoning an even greater victory could have been achieved if the men had eaten. The royal decree has other unintended knock-on effects, namely that the men start killing and eating animals without draining the blood. To counteract this, Saul sets up an altar so the proper laws can be observed. When a priest suggests asking God before launching another attack, God is silent, leading Saul to set up a pseudo-legal procedure to ascertain whose fault it is that God has abandoned them. The lot falls on Jonathan, but the men refuse to let him be executed since he is the reason for their victory.
Over time, Saul fights the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Zobahites, the Philistines and the Amalekites, winning victory over them all. His kingdom is in a constant state of war, and he constantly recruits new heroes to his army. However, he disobeys God\'s instruction to destroy Amalek: Saul spares Agag, the Amalekite ruler, and the best portion of the Amalekite flocks to present them as sacrifices. Samuel rebukes Saul and tells him that God has now chosen another man to be king of Israel. Samuel then kills Agag himself.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 1 Samuel
#### Saul and David (16:1--31:13) {#saul_and_david_1613113}
##### David at court (16:1--19:7) {#david_at_court_161197}
Samuel travels to Bethlehem to visit a man named Jesse, with God promising Samuel can anoint one of his sons as king. However, while inspecting Jesse\'s sons, God tells Samuel that none of them are to be king. God tells Samuel to anoint David, the youngest brother, as king. Saul becomes ill and David comes to play the harp to him. Saul takes a liking to David and David enters Saul\'s court as his armor-bearer and harpist.
A new war against the Philistines begins, and a Philistine champion named Goliath emerges, challenging any Israelite to one-on-one combat, with the loser\'s people becoming subject to the winner. David goes to take food to his brothers in the Israelite camp, learns of the situation and the reward Saul is willing to give to the person who kills him great wealth, his daughter\'s hand in marriage and exemption from taxes for the killer\'s family and tells Saul he will kill Goliath. Saul wants him to wear his armour, but David finds he cannot because he is not used to it. Seeing David\'s youth, Goliath begins to curse him. David slings a stone into Goliath\'s forehead, and Goliath dies. David cuts off Goliath\'s head with Goliath\'s sword.
Jonathan befriends David. Saul begins to send David on military missions and quickly promotes him given his successes, but begins to become jealous of David after the Israelites make up a song about how much more successful David is than Saul. One day, Saul decides to kill David with a spear, but David avoids him. Saul realises that God is now with David and no longer with him, making him scared of David. He therefore seeks other ways to pacify David. First, he sends him on military campaigns, but this only makes him more successful.
Next, he tries to marry him off to his daughter Merab, but David refuses, and so Merab is married off to the nobleman Adriel. However, Michal, another of Saul\'s daughters, is in love with David. Although David is still unsure about becoming son-in-law to the king, Saul requires only 100 Philistine foreskins as dowry. Although this is a plan to have David captured by the Philistines, David kills 200 Philistines and brings their foreskins back to Saul.
Saul then plots David\'s death, but Jonathan talks him out of it.
##### The flight of David (19:8--21:16) {#the_flight_of_david_1982116}
Once again Saul tries to kill David with his spear, and so David decides to escape, lowered out of a window by Michal, who then takes an idol, covers it in clothes and places goat\'s hair on its head to cover David\'s escape. David visits Samuel. When Saul finds this out, he sends men to capture David, but when they see Samuel they begin prophesying, as does Saul when he tries to capture David himself.
David then visits Jonathan, and they argue about whether Saul actually wants to kill David. David proposes a test: he is to dine with the king the following day for the New Moon festival. However, he will hide in a field and Jonathan will tell Saul that David has returned to Bethlehem for a sacrifice. If the king accepts this, he is not trying to kill him, but if he becomes angry, he is. Jonathan devises a code to relay this information to David: he will come to the stone Ezel, shoot three arrows at it and tell a page to find them. If he tells the page the arrows are on his side of the stone, David can come to him, but if he tells them they are beyond the stone, he must run away. When Jonathan puts the plan into action, Saul attempts to kill him with his spear. Jonathan relays this to David using his code and the two weep as they are separated.
David arrives at Nob, where he meets Ahimelech the priest, a great-grandson of Eli. Pretending he is on a mission from the king and is going to meet his men, he asks for supplies. He is given the showbread and Goliath\'s sword. He then flees to Gath and seeks refuge at the court of King Achish, but feigns insanity since he is afraid of what the Philistines might do to him.
##### David the outlaw (22:1--26:25) {#david_the_outlaw_2212625}
David travels to the cave of Adullam near his home, where his family visit him, until he finds refuge for them at the court of the king of Moab in Mizpah.
One of Saul\'s servants, Doeg the Edomite, saw David at Nob, and informs Saul that he was there. Saul arrives at the town, concludes that the priests are supporting David and has Doeg kill them all. One priest gets away: Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, who goes to join David. David accepts him, since he feels somewhat responsible for the massacre. David liberates the village of Keilah from the Philistines with the help of God and Abiathar. When God tells him that Saul is coming and the citizens of Keilah will hand him over to Saul, David and his men escape to the desert of Ziph, where Jonathan comes and recognises him as the next king. Some Ziphites inform Saul that David is in the desert, but Saul\'s search is broken off by another Philistine invasion.
After the invasion, Saul learns David is now living in the desert of En Gedi and resumes his search for him. At one point, he enters a cave to relieve himself. David and his men are further back in the cave. They discuss the possibility of killing Saul, but David opts to merely cut a corner off his robe and use this as proof that he does not in fact wish to kill Saul. Saul repents of how he has treated David, recognises him as the next king and makes him promise not to kill off his descendants.
Samuel dies, and, after mourning him, David moves on to the Desert of Paran. Here he meets the shepherds of a Calebite named Nabal, and his men help protect them. At sheep-shearing time, he sends some of his men to ask for food. Nabal refuses, preferring to keep his food for his household. When his wife, Abigail, hears of this, she takes a large amount of supplies to David herself. This turns out to be at exactly the right moment, since David had just threatened to kill everyone in Nabal\'s home. Abigail begs for mercy, and David agrees, praising her wisdom. That night Nabal has a feast, so Abigail waits until morning to tell him what she has done. He has a heart attack and dies ten days later. David marries Abigail and a woman from Jezreel named Ahinoam, but in the meantime Saul has married David\'s first wife, Michal, off to a nobleman named Palti, son of Laish.
Saul decides to return to pursuing David, and the Ziphites alert him as to David\'s whereabouts. Saul returns to the desert of Ziph and sets up camp. One night, David and two companions, Achimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah (his nephew), go to Saul\'s camp and find him asleep on the ground. Abishai advocates killing him, but David once again resists, content with taking a spear and water jug lying by Saul\'s head. The next morning, David advises Abner, Saul\'s captain, to put the soldiers to death for not protecting Saul, citing the absence of the spear and water jug as evidence. Saul interrupts, and once again repents of his hunt. He blesses David, David returns his spear and Saul returns home.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 1 Samuel
#### Saul and David (16:1--31:13) {#saul_and_david_1613113}
##### David the outlaw (22:1--26:25) {#david_the_outlaw_2212625}
##### David among the Philistines (27:1--31:13) {#david_among_the_philistines_2713113}
David joins the Philistines out of fear of Saul, taking his wives with him and brutally destroying his enemies, largely the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, but makes the Philistines believe he is attacking the Israelites, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites instead. King Achish is pleased with him, and supposes he will continue to serve him. Eventually, the Philistines go to war with the Israelites, and David goes with them.
Meanwhile, Saul is growing increasingly anxious about the upcoming battle, but cannot get advice from God. He decides to attempt to contact Samuel from beyond the grave. While he has expelled all the witches and spiritists, he learns that one remains at Endor. After Saul assures her she will not be punished, she agrees to summon Samuel. Samuel is not happy to be disturbed, and reveals that the Philistines will win the battle, with Saul and his sons dying in the process. Saul is shocked and, although at first reluctant, eats some food and leaves.
Back in the Philistine camp, several of the rulers are not happy with the idea of fighting alongside David, suspecting he may defect during the battle. Achish therefore reluctantly sends David back instead of bringing him to Jezreel with the Philistine army. When David and his men arrive in Ziklag, they find it sacked by the Amalekites, and David\'s wives taken captive. After seeking God\'s advice, David decides to pursue the raiding Amalekites, finding the Egyptian slave of one, abandoned when he became ill, who can show them the band. When they are located and found to be feasting, David fights all day, with only 400 escaping on camels. David recovers everything and returns to the Besor Valley, where 200 men who were too exhausted to come with him have been guarding supplies. David announces all are to share in the treasure, and even sends some to the elders of Judah when he returns to Ziklag.
Meanwhile, the Battle of Mount Gilboa is raging on and, as Samuel said, the Philistines are winning. Saul\'s three sons have been killed, and he himself has been wounded by arrows. Saul asks his armor-bearer to run his sword through him rather than let him be captured by the Philistines, but does it himself when the armor-bearer refuses. When they see the battle going badly, the Israelites flee their towns, allowing the Philistines to occupy them. The next day, the Philistines find Saul, behead him, and take his armour to the temple of Astarte and his body to Beth Shan. When they hear what has happened, the citizens of Jabesh Gilead take his body and perform funerary rites in their city.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 2 Samuel {#samuel_1}
#### Saul and David (continued) (1:1--1:27) {#saul_and_david_continued_11127}
##### David among the Philistines (continued) (1:1--1:27) {#david_among_the_philistines_continued_11127}
Back in Ziklag, three days after Saul\'s death, David receives news that Saul and his sons are dead. It transpires that the messenger is an Amalekite who, at Saul\'s insistence, had killed Saul to speed his death along, and brought his crown to David. David orders his death for having killed God\'s anointed. At this point, David offers a majestic eulogy, where he praises the bravery and magnificence of both his friend Jonathan and King Saul.
#### David (2:1--20:26) {#david_212026}
##### David King of Judah (2:1--4:12) {#david_king_of_judah_21412}
David returns to Hebron at God\'s instruction. The elders of Judah anoint David as king, and as his first act he offers a reward to the people of Jabesh Gilead for performing Saul\'s funerary rites. Meanwhile, in the north, Saul\'s son Ish-bosheth, supported by Abner, has taken control of the northern tribes. David and Ish-bosheth\'s armies meet at the Pool of Gibeon, and Abner and Joab, another son of Zeruiah and David\'s general, agree to have soldiers fight in one-on-one combat. All this achieves is twelve men on each side killing each other, but a battle follows and David wins. During the Benjaminites\' retreat, Joab\'s brother Asahel chases Abner and Abner kills him, shocking everyone. Joab and Abishai continue Asahel\'s pursuit. A truce is declared when they reach a hill to avoid further bloodshed, and Abner and his men are able to cross the Jordan.
The war continues as David builds a family. Meanwhile, the House of Saul is getting weaker. When Ish-bosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with Saul\'s concubine Rizpah, Abner offers to join David, which David accepts as long as he brings Michal with him. At the same time, David sends a petition to Ish-bosheth for the return of Michal, which Ish-bosheth agrees to. Patiel follows her crying until he is told to return home. Following the return of Michal, Abner agrees to get the elders of Israel to agree to make David king. Joab believes Abner was lying in his purpose of coming to David and, after recalling him to Hebron, kills him in revenge for Asahel. David curses Joab\'s family to always contain a leper, someone disabled or someone hungry. He then holds a funeral for Abner.
By this point, the only other surviving member of Ish-bosheth\'s family is Mephibosheth, Jonathan\'s disabled son, who was dropped by his nurse as she attempted to escape the palace after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. Ish-bosheth is murdered by Rechab and Baanah, two of his captains who hope for a reward from David, who stab him and cut off his head. They bring his head to David, but David has them killed for killing an innocent man. They are hanged by the pool of Hebron and Ish-bosheth\'s head is buried in Abner\'s tomb.
##### David King of Judah and of Israel (5:1--8:18) {#david_king_of_judah_and_of_israel_51818}
David is anointed king of all Israel.
Against all odds, David captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites. He takes over the fortress of Zion and builds up the area around it. Hiram I, king of Tyre sends craftsmen to build David a palace. Meanwhile, David\'s family continues to grow. The Philistines decide to attack Israel now that David is king, but God allows David to defeat them in two battles, first in Baal Perizim and next in the Valley of Rephaim.
The Ark is currently still in Baalah (another name for Kiriath Jearim), but David wants to bring it to Jerusalem. He puts it on a cart and employs the priests Uzzah and Ahio, both sons of Abinadab and brothers of Eleazar, to accompany it. A grand procession with musical instruments is organised, but comes to a sudden halt when the oxen stumble, causing Uzzah to touch the Ark and die. David is afraid to take it any further and stores it in the house of a man named Obed-Edom. When, after three months, Obed-Edom and his family have received nothing but blessings, David takes the Ark to Jerusalem. As part of the ceremony bringing the Ark into the city, David dances in front of it wearing nothing but an ephod. Michal sees this and is annoyed, but David says it was for the Lord, and thus it was not undignified. Michal never has any children.
David wishes to build a temple, arguing that he should not be living in a palace while God lives in a tent. Nathan, a prophet, agrees. However, that night Nathan has a dream in which God informs him that David should not build him a temple for three reasons. Firstly, God has not commanded it, and has never complained about living in a tent before. Secondly, God is still working to build David and his house up and establish the Israelites in the Promised Land. Thirdly, God will establish one of David\'s sons as king. He will build the temple, and his house will never be out of power. When Nathan reports this to David, David prays to God, thanking him for these revelations. David defeats the enemies of Israel, slaughtering Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, and Arameans. He then appoints a cabinet.
##### David\'s family and the intrigues for the succession (9:1--20:26) {#davids_family_and_the_intrigues_for_the_succession_912026}
###### Mephibosheth (9:1--9:13) {#mephibosheth_91913}
David asks if anyone from the House of Saul is still alive so that he can show kindness to them in memory of Jonathan. Ziba, one of Saul\'s servants, tells him about Mephibosheth. David informs Mephibosheth that he will live in his household and eat at his table, and Mephibosheth moves to Jerusalem.
###### The Ammonite war and birth of Solomon (10:1--12:31) {#the_ammonite_war_and_birth_of_solomon_1011231}
Nahash, king of Ammon dies and his son Hanun succeeds him. David sends condolences, but the Ammonites suspect his ambassadors are spies and humiliate them before sending them back to David. When they realise their mistake, they fear retaliation from David and amass an army from the surrounding tribes. When David hears that they are doing this, he sends Joab to lead his own army to their city gates, where the Ammonites are in battle formation. Joab decides to split the army in two: he will lead an elite force to attack the Aramean faction, while the rest of the army, led by Abisai, will focus on the Ammonites.
If either enemy force turns out to be too strong, the other Israelite force will come to help their comrades. The Arameans flee from Joab, causing the Ammonites to also flee from Abishai. The Israelite army returns to Jerusalem. The Arameans regroup and cross the Euphrates, and this time David himself wins a decisive victory at Helam. The Arameans realise they cannot win, make peace with Israel and refuse to help the Ammonites again. The following spring, Joab destroys the Ammonites.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 2 Samuel {#samuel_1}
#### David (2:1--20:26) {#david_212026}
##### David\'s family and the intrigues for the succession (9:1--20:26) {#davids_family_and_the_intrigues_for_the_succession_912026}
###### The Ammonite war and birth of Solomon (10:1--12:31) {#the_ammonite_war_and_birth_of_solomon_1011231}
While Joab is off at war, David remains in Jerusalem. One morning, he is standing on the roof of his palace when he sees a naked woman performing ablutions after her period. David learns her name is Bathsheba, and they have sex. She becomes pregnant. Seeking to hide his sin, David recalls her husband, Uriah the Hittite, from battle, David encourages him to go home and see his wife, but Uriah declines in case David might need him, and sleeps in the doorway to the palace that night. David, in spite of inviting Uriah to feasts, continues to be unable to persuade him to go home.
David then deliberately sends Uriah on a suicide mission. David loses some of his best warriors in this mission, so Joab tells the messenger reporting back to tell David that Uriah is dead. David instructs Joab to continue the attack of the city. After Bathsheba has finished mourning Uriah, David marries her and she gives birth.
Nathan comes to David and tells him a parable. In a town, there are a rich man and a poor man. The rich man has much livestock, but the poor man has only one lamb whom he loves like a child. One day, the rich man has a guest for dinner, and instead of slaughtering one of his own livestock, took the poor man\'s lamb and cooked it. David angrily insists the rich man be put to death, but Nathan tells him he is the man, saying he has committed a sin to get something he already had plenty of (wives), and prophesies that his family will be gripped by violence, and someone will have affairs with his wives publicly.
David repents, and Nathan tells him that while he is forgiven and will not die, his son with Bathsheba will. The child becomes ill, and David spends his time fasting and praying, but to no avail, because the child dies. David\'s attendants are scared to tell him the news, worried about what he may do. He surprises everyone by ending his fasting, saying that he was fasting and praying was an attempt to persuade God to save his child, whereas fasting now isn\'t going to bring the child back. After they have mourned, David and Bathsheba have another child, who they name Solomon (also called Jedediah).
Back on the front line, in the city of Rabbah, Joab has gained control of the water supply. Joab invites David to finish capturing the city so that it may be named after himself. David gathers an army and travels up himself. He wins a victory, crowns himself king of the Ammonites, takes a large amount of plunder and puts the Ammonites into forced labour before returning to Jerusalem.
###### Absalom (13:1--20:26) {#absalom_1312026}
A complicated controversy begins to develop within the palace. Amnon, David\'s son by Ahinoam, becomes lovesick for Tamar, David\'s daughter by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Amnon\'s advisor and cousin Jonadab suggests he pretend to be ill and ask Tamar to come and prepare bread for him so he can eat out of her hand. When she comes to his house, Amnon tells her to come to his bedroom. Here, after she refuses to have sex with him, Amnon rapes her. He then forces her to leave the house. She rips the gown which symbolises she is a virgin, puts ashes on her hand and walks around wailing. Tamar\'s brother, Absalom, and David learn about this and become angry.
Two years later, Absalom is shearing sheep at Baal Hazor and invites David and all his sons to come. David refuses, but blesses him and sends Amnon and the rest of his sons to him. Absalom holds a feast and gets Amnon drunk. He then instructs his servants to kill Amnon in revenge for his rape of Tamar. David\'s other sons are disgusted and return to Jerusalem. David hears a rumour that Absalom has killed all of David\'s sons, but Jonadab assures him that only Amnon is dead. Meanwhile, Absalom goes to live with his grandfather in Geshur for three years. After David has finished mourning Amnon, he considers visiting Absalom.
Joab wants to help David, so he tells a wise woman from Tekoa to travel to Jerusalem pretending to be in mourning and speak to the king. The woman tells a story about her two sons, one of whom killed the other and whose death is now being called for. After some cajoling, David agrees to issue a decree ensuring that her son is not killed. The woman turns this back on David, and asks, then, why he has not forgiven his own son.
After the woman admits that Joab put her up to this, David agrees to allow Absalom back to Jerusalem, but insists he does not come to the palace. Absalom becomes popular in Jerusalem due to his good looks. His family also grows during this time. Two years pass without Absalom being recalled to court. When Joab refuses to help him, Absalom sets his field on fire. This gets Joab\'s attention, and finally Absalom manages to convince him to persuade David to allow him back to court.
Absalom purchases a magnificent chariot, and begins campaigning to become a judge, principally by waiting outside the city gate, listening to the concerns of people coming to the king and pretending there is no-one to hear them, as well as embracing anyone who bows to him. Four years pass, and Absalom travels to Hebron, claiming to be fulfilling a vow, but in fact he hatches a plan to get the tribes of Israel to proclaim him king. The 200 guests who follow him do not know of his plan, and while he is at Hebron Absalom summons Ahitophel, David\'s counselor.
David is told of the increasing support for Absalom and decides to flee Jerusalem. He takes with him his wives and concubines, with the exception of ten, and a number of Cerethites, Pelethites and Gittites, led by a general named Ittai, who comes with David only after insisting on it. Abiathar and another priest named Zadok, together with a number of Levites who are guarding the Ark, also come, but go back when David tells them to return the Ark to Jerusalem. The procession climbs the Mount of Olives, where he meets his confidant Hushai the Arkite, who he sends back to Jerusalem to act as a spy, seeking to disrupt Ahitophel\'s plans.
On the other side of the mountain, David meets Ziba, who brings donkeys and fruit as supplies. He claims that Mephibosheth is hoping to be restored to the throne of Saul in the chaos, and David grants Ziba Mephibosheth\'s estates. As the party approaches Bahurim, a Benjaminite named Shimei begins cursing and stoning David for the bloodshed he caused in the House of Saul. Abishai suggests executing him, but David considers that God has told Shibei to curse him and lets him carry on.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 2 Samuel {#samuel_1}
#### David (2:1--20:26) {#david_212026}
##### David\'s family and the intrigues for the succession (9:1--20:26) {#davids_family_and_the_intrigues_for_the_succession_912026}
###### The Ammonite war and birth of Solomon (10:1--12:31) {#the_ammonite_war_and_birth_of_solomon_1011231}
Back in Jerusalem, Ahitophel and Hushai arrive at Absalom\'s court. Absalom is at first suspicious of Hushai\'s presence, but ultimately accepts him. Ahitophel suggests Absalom sleeps with David\'s concubines who he left to take care of the palace in order to entrench the division between David and Absalom, so Absalom pitches a tent on the palace roof and does this in the view of all the Israelites. Ahitophel then suggests launching a sneak attack on David with 12,000 men. Hushai points out that David and his men are fighters, and that they could defeat the men, reducing morale. He suggests Absalom form a much larger army and lead it into battle himself.
God has decided to frustrate Ahitophel\'s advice so that Absalom can be defeated, so Absalom follows Hushai\'s advice. Hushai then goes to Zadok and Abiathar and tells them to get word to David to cross the fords. Their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, respectively, are staying at En Rogel, where they receive the message. Unfortunately, one of Absalom\'s spies sees them so they have to hide in a well in Bahurim. The well\'s owner\'s wife hides them and lies to Absalom\'s men that they have crossed the brook. After Absalom\'s men are gone, the pair make it to King David and he manages to cross the Jordan in time.
David and Absalom meet at Mahanaim, and David\'s allies bring his army food, given his army is tired and exhausted after its time in the wilderness. David divides his army into thirds: one led by Joab, one led by Abishai and one led by Ittai. David intends to come out with his men, but his generals veto it. He decides to stay at the city, and instructs his generals to be gentle with Absalom. The battle is fought in the Wood of Ephraim. This proves to be a victory for David, in part because of the treacherous terrain. As Absalom meets David\'s men, he passes under a tree. His long hair gets caught in the tree and he is hanged. Joab gets word of this, finds him and plunges three javelins into his heart, killing him. Joab declares the battle over and buries Absalom. Absalom\'s monument is the pillar he built during his lifetime.
Ahimaaz and a Cushite run to tell David the news of his victory and his son\'s death. Ahimaaz declares the victory, but is not sure yet what the situation with Absalom is. The Cushite bears the same news, but also tells David that Absalom is dead. David begins to mourn, wishing he had died instead of Absalom. This prompts his men to start mourning as well, causing Joab to enter his tent in an attempt to talk sense into him. Joab points out that the battle has saved not only David\'s life, but the lives of his wives and concubines, and thus it is humiliating for the men to have to mourn for the enemy. David agrees to come out and encourage the men.
Given the sudden change in situation, the elders of Israel begin to argue about what to do next. David convinces the elders of Judah to escort him back to Jerusalem. They are joined by Shimei, who apologises to David. Abishai once again calls for the death penalty, but once again David grants clemency. Mephibosheth also comes to David, and explains the earlier situation: he had wanted to come with David and had told Ziba to saddle his donkeys, but Ziba had betrayed and slandered him. David offers to allow him and Ziba to split the land, but Mephibosheth allows Ziba to take the lot in celebration of David\'s triumph.
David invites his host in Mahanaim, Barzillai, to return to Jerusalem with him, but Barzillai protests on the basis that he is now eighty years old and thus will gain no enjoyment from coming. He gives David his servant Kimham in his place, and David promises to look after him. A scuffle breaks out between the Judahites and the other Israelites about why they specifically got to escort the king home. Attempting to resolve the issue, a Benjaminite named Sheba son of Bichri launches a rebellion against David, which all the tribes except Judah back.
Back in Jerusalem, David begins to sort out the issues that were caused by his absence. First, he puts the ten concubines who were left behind into a guarded house and gives them pensions but does not sleep with them, allowing them to live the rest of their lives as widows. He then begins to sort out a defence against Sheba. He tells Amasa, the general whom he wishes to replace Joab, to summon the Judahite troops and have them in Jerusalem within three days, something he fails at. David therefore tells Abishai to start pursuing Sheba to effectively put down his rebellion before it has begun.
Amasa meets Abishai and Joab at Gibeon. Amasa goes to meet Joab, but Joab\'s dagger falls out of his tunic, stabbing Amasa in the stomach, killing him. He is covered with a cloth and placed in a field, and the army continues pursuing Sheba. They meet him at Abel Beth Maakah, a stronghold of Sheba\'s rebellion, and begin to lay siege to it. A wise woman asks them why they want to destroy the city, and Joab responds they don\'t want to destroy it, but merely end Sheba\'s rebellion. The wise woman cuts off Sheba\'s head and throws it to Joab from the city walls, thus ending the siege.
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# Books of Samuel
## Biblical narrative {#biblical_narrative}
### 2 Samuel {#samuel_1}
#### Supplementary information (21:1--24:25) {#supplementary_information_2112425}
2 Samuel concludes with four chapters, chapters 21 to 24, that lie outside the chronological succession narrative of Saul and David, a narrative that will continue in The Book of Kings. Chapter 21 tells the story of a three-year long famine which takes place at the start of David\'s reign. God explains this is a punishment for Saul\'s genocide of the Gibeonites, a people group who are the remnants of the Amorites, whom Israel had promised to spare but Saul has massacred. David calls the Gibeonites and asks what he can do to make amends, hoping this will end the famine.
The Gibeonites ask for seven of Saul\'s descendants to kill, and David agrees. He spares Mephibosheth, but hands over Rizpah\'s sons Armoni and Mephibosheth and the five sons of Merab and Adriel. They are killed by the Gibeonites and their bodies are exposed at the start of the barley harvest. Rizpah protects the bodies, and David agrees to take the bones of Saul, Jonathan and those killed by the Gibeonites and bury them in the tomb of Kish in Zelah. This pleases God and the famine ends.
Another war then occurs with the Philistines. In the first battle, Abishai kills Ishbi-benob, a Philistine who had sworn to kill David, which leads to David\'s army refusing to let him fight alongside them again for his own protection. The second battle takes place at Gob, and this time Sibbekai the Hushathite kills a Philistine named Saph. A third battle also takes place in Gob, where Elhanan, son of Jair kills Goliath. In the fourth battle, at Gath, Jonathan, son of Shimeah, kills a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
Chapter 22 is similar to Psalm 18, and is a song David sang when he was delivered from Saul.
Chapter 23 begins with David\'s last words, a subdued speech in which David expresses gladness at the goodness of his house. It then tells stories of a group of men identified as \'David\'s Mighty Warriors\'. Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, son of Dodai and Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite all single-handedly win battles against the Philistines. One day, while David and his men are hiding in the cave of Adullam, David becomes homesick and, hearing the Philistines have taken over Bethlehem, cries out desiring water from Bethlehem\'s well.
These three men risk their lives to work their way through Philistine lines and bring water from the well back to David. David refuses to drink it and offers it to God because his warriors risked their lives for it. Abishai, we learn, achieved his high position by single-handedly killing three hundred men. Another warrior, Benaniah, son of Jehoiada, kills Moab\'s two mightiest warriors, a lion, and a huge Egyptian with his own spear. The chapter finishes by listing David\'s other mighty warriors, known as the Thirty.
Chapter 24 tells the story of more calamities on Israel. God is angry once again at Israel, so he instructs David to take a census. Joab has his reservations, but ultimately relents. When the results come in, David realises what he has done, and begs God for mercy. Gad the prophet offers David three choices of punishment: three years of famine, three months of pursuit by his enemies or three days of plague. David chooses the plague. 70,000 people die.
After three days the angel of death reaches Jerusalem, and is on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah the Jebusite, when God tells him to stop. David is horrified, arguing that it should be him and his family who are punished. Gad tells David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Araunah offers to sell the land to David for free but David insists on paying. David pays fifty shekels of silver and builds the altar, stopping the plague.
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# Books of Samuel
## Composition
### Versions
1 and 2 Samuel were originally (and, in most Jewish bibles, still are) a single book, but the first Greek translation, called the Septuagint and produced around the 2nd century BCE, divided it into two; this was adopted by the Latin translations used in the early Christian church of the West, and finally introduced into Jewish bibles around the early 16th century.
In imitation of the Septuagint what is now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, are called by the Vulgate, 1 Kings and 2 Kings respectively. What are now commonly known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in Bibles dating from before 1516. It was in 1517 that use of the division we know today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, began. Traditional Catholic and Orthodox Bibles still preserve the Septuagint name; for example, the Douay--Rheims Bible.
The Hebrew text that is used by Jews today, called the Masoretic Text, differs considerably from the Hebrew text that was the basis of the first Greek translation, and scholars are still working at finding the best solutions to the many problems this presents.
### Historical accuracy {#historical_accuracy}
The Books of Samuel are considered to be based on both historical and legendary sources, primarily serving to fill the gap in Israelite history after the events described in Deuteronomy. According to Donald Redford, the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been compiled in the 11th century BCE.
### Authorship and date of composition {#authorship_and_date_of_composition}
According to passages 14b and 15a of the Bava Basra tractate of the Talmud, the book was written by Samuel up until 1 Samuel 25, which notes the death of Samuel, and the remainder by the prophets Gad and Nathan. Critical scholars from the 19th century onward have rejected this idea. However, even prior to this, the medieval Jewish commentator Isaac Abarbanel noted that the presence of anachronistic expressions (such as \"to this day\" and \"in the past\") indicated that there must have been a later editor such as Jeremiah or Ezra. Martin Noth in 1943 theorized that Samuel was composed by a single author as part of a history of Israel: the Deuteronomistic history (made up of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). Although Noth\'s belief that the entire history was composed by a single individual has been largely abandoned, his theory in its broad outline has been adopted by most scholars.
The Deuteronomistic view is that an early version of the history was composed in the time of king Hezekiah (8th century BCE); the bulk of the first edition dates from his grandson Josiah at the end of the 7th century BCE, with further sections added during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE) and the work was substantially complete c. 550 BCE. Further editing was apparently done even after then. For example, A. Graeme Auld, Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Edinburgh, contends that the silver quarter-shekel which Saul\'s servant offers to Samuel in 1 Samuel 9 \"almost certainly fixes the date of this story in the Persian or Hellenistic period\".
The 6th-century BCE authors and editors responsible for the bulk of the history drew on many earlier sources, including (but not limited to) an \"ark narrative\" (1 Samuel 4:1--7:1 and perhaps part of 2 Samuel 6), a \"Saul cycle\" (parts of 1 Samuel 9--11 and 13--14), the \"history of David\'s rise\" (1 Samuel 16:14--2 Samuel 5:10), and the \"succession narrative\" (2 Samuel 9--20 and 1 Kings 1--2). The oldest of these, the \"ark narrative,\" may even predate the Davidic era.
This view of late compilation for Samuel has faced serious scholarly opposition on the basis that evidence for the Deuteronimistic history is scant, and that Deuteronimistic advocates are not in consensus as to the origin and extent of the History. Secondly, the basic theological concerns identified with the Deuteronimistic school are tenets central to Hebrew theology in texts that are widely regarded as predating Josiah. Thirdly, there are notable differences in style and thematic emphasis between Deuteronomy and Samuel. Finally, there are widely acknowledged structural parallels between the Hittite suzerain treaty of the 2nd millennium BCE and the Book of Deuteronomy itself, far before the time of Josiah. The alternative view is that it is difficult to determine when the events of Samuel were recorded: \"There are no particularly persuasive reasons to date the sources used by the compiler later than the early tenth century events themselves, and good reason to believe that contemporary records were kept (cf. 2 Sam. 20:24--25).\"
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# Books of Samuel
## Composition
### Sources
The sources used to construct 1 and 2 Samuel are believed to include the following:
- *Call of Samuel* or *Youth of Samuel* (1 Samuel 1--7): From Samuel\'s birth his career as Judge and prophet over Israel. This source includes the *Eli narrative* and part of the ark narrative.
- *Ark narrative* (1 Samuel 4:1b--7:1 and 2 Samuel 6:1--20): the ark\'s capture by the Philistines in the time of Eli and its transfer to Jerusalem by David -- opinion is divided over whether this is actually an independent unit.
- *Jerusalem source*: a fairly brief source discussing David conquering Jerusalem from the Jebusites.
- *Republican source*: a source with an anti-monarchial bias. This source first describes Samuel as decisively ridding the people of the Philistines, and begrudgingly appointing an individual chosen by God to be king, namely Saul. David is described as someone renowned for his skill at playing the harp, and consequently summoned to Saul\'s court to calm his moods. Saul\'s son Jonathan becomes friends with David, which some commentators view as romantic, and later acts as his protector against Saul\'s more violent intentions. At a later point, having been deserted by God on the eve of battle, Saul consults a medium at Endor, only to be condemned for doing so by Samuel\'s ghost, and told he and his sons will be killed. David is heartbroken on discovering the death of Jonathan, tearing his clothes as a gesture of grief.
- *Monarchial source*: a source with a pro-monarchial bias and covering many of the same details as the *republican source*. This source begins with the divinely appointed birth of Samuel. It then describes Saul as leading a war against the Ammonites, being chosen by the people to be king, and leading them against the Philistines. David is described as a shepherd boy arriving at the battlefield to aid his brothers, and is overheard by Saul, leading to David challenging Goliath and defeating the Philistines. David\'s warrior credentials lead to women falling in love with him, including Michal, Saul\'s daughter, who later acts to protect David against Saul. David eventually gains two new wives as a result of threatening to raid a village, and Michal is redistributed to another husband. At a later point, David finds himself seeking sanctuary amongst the Philistine army and facing the Israelites as an enemy. David is incensed that anyone should have killed Saul, even as an act of mercy, since Saul was anointed by Samuel, and has the individual responsible, an Amalekite, killed.
- *Court History of David* or *Succession narrative* (2 Samuel 9--20 and 1 Kings 1--2): a \"historical novel\", in Alberto Soggin\'s phrase, telling the story of David\'s reign from his affair with Bathsheba to his death. The theme is of retribution: David\'s sin against Uriah the Hittite is punished by God through the destruction of his own family, and its purpose is to serve as an apology for the coronation of Bathsheba\'s son Solomon instead of his older brother Adonijah. Some textual critics have posited that given the intimacy and precision of certain narrative details, the Court Historian may have been an eyewitness to some of the events he describes, or at the very least enjoyed access to the archives and battle reports of the royal house of David.
- *Redactions*: additions by the redactor to harmonize the sources together; many of the uncertain passages may be part of this editing.
- *Various*: several short sources, none of which have much connection to each other, and are fairly independent of the rest of the text. Many are poems or pure lists.
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# Books of Samuel
## Composition
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Four of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of the books of Samuel: 1QSam, found in Qumran Cave 1, contains parts of 2 Samuel; and 4QSam^a^, 4QSam^b^ and 4QSam^c^, all found in Qumran Cave 4. Collectively they are known as The Samuel Scroll and date from the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.
The earliest complete surviving Hebrew copy of the books of Samuel is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE). The complete Greek text of Samuel is found in older manuscripts such as the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus.
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# Books of Samuel
## Themes
The Book of Samuel is a theological evaluation of kingship in general and of dynastic kingship and David in particular. The main themes of the book are introduced in the opening poem (the \"Song of Hannah\"): (1) the sovereignty of Yahweh, God of Israel; (2) the reversal of human fortunes; and (3) kingship. These themes are played out in the stories of the three main characters, Samuel, Saul and David.
### Samuel {#samuel_2}
Samuel answers the description of the \"prophet like Moses\" predicted in Deuteronomy 18:15--22: like Moses, he has direct contact with Yahweh, acts as a judge, and is a perfect leader who never makes mistakes. Samuel\'s successful defense of the Israelites against their enemies demonstrates that they have no need for a king (who will, moreover, introduce inequality), yet despite this the people demand a king. But the king they are given is Yahweh\'s gift, and Samuel explains that kingship can be a blessing rather than a curse if they remain faithful to their God. On the other hand, total destruction of both king and people will result if they turn to wickedness.
### Saul
Saul is the chosen one: tall, handsome and \"goodly\", a king appointed by Yahweh, and anointed by Samuel, Yahweh\'s prophet, and yet he is ultimately rejected. Saul has two faults which make him unfit for the office of king: carrying out a sacrifice in place of Samuel, and failing to exterminate the Amalekites, in accordance to God\'s commands, and trying to compensate by claiming that he reserved the surviving Amalekite livestock for sacrifice.
### David
One of the main units within Samuel is the \"History of David\'s Rise\", the purpose of which is to justify David as the legitimate successor to Saul. The narrative stresses that he gained the throne lawfully, always respecting \"the Lord\'s anointed\" (i.e. Saul) and never taking any of his numerous chances to seize the throne by violence. As God\'s chosen king over Israel, David is also the son of God (\"I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me\...\" -- 2 Samuel 7:14). God enters into an eternal covenant (treaty) with David and his line, promising divine protection of the dynasty and of Jerusalem through all time.
2 Samuel 23 contains a prophetic statement described as the \"last words of David\" (verses 1--7) and details of the 37 \"mighty men\" who were David\'s chief warriors (verses 8--39). The Jerusalem Bible states that last words were attributed to David in the style of Jacob and Moses. Its editors note that \"the text has suffered considerably and reconstructions are conjectural\".
1 Kings 2:1-9 contains David\'s final words to Solomon, his son and successor as king
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# Books of Kings
The **Book of Kings** (*סֵפֶר מְלָכִים*, *Sēfer Məlāḵīm*) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (**1--2 Kings**) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
Biblical commentators believe the Books of Kings mixes legends, folktales, miracle stories and \"fictional constructions\" in with the annals for the purpose of providing a theological explanation for the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah by Babylon in c. 586 BC and to provide a foundation for a return from Babylonian exile. The two books of Kings present a history of ancient Israel and Judah, from the death of King David to the release of Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon---a period of some 400 years (c. 960). Scholars tend to treat the books as consisting of a first edition from the late 7th century BC and of a second and final edition from the mid-6th century BC.
## Contents
The Jerusalem Bible divides the two Books of Kings into eight sections:
- 1 Kings 1:1--2:46. The Davidic succession
- 1 Kings 3:1--11:43. Solomon in all his glory
- 1 Kings 12:1--13:34. The political and religious schism
- 1 Kings 14:1--16:34. The two kingdoms until Elijah
- 1 Kings 17:1 -- 2 Kings 1:18. The Elijah cycle
- 2 Kings 2:1--13:25. The Elisha cycle
- 2 Kings 14:1--17:41. The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria
- 2 Kings 18:1--25:30. The last years of the kingdom of Judah
### 1 Kings
#### The Davidic succession (1:1--2:46) {#the_davidic_succession_11246}
David is by now old, and so his attendants look for a virgin to look after him. They find Abishag, who looks after him but they do not have sexual relations. Adonijah, David\'s fourth son, born after Absalom, decides to claim the throne. With the support of Joab, David\'s general, and Abiathar, the priest, he begins a coronation procession. He begins the festivities by offering sacrifices at En Rogel in the presence of his brothers and the royal officials, but does not invite Nathan the prophet; Benanaiah, captain of the king\'s bodyguard, or the bodyguard itself; or even his own brother Solomon.
Nathan comes to Bathsheba, Solomon\'s mother, and informs her what is going on. She goes to David and reminds him that he said Solomon would be his successor. As she is speaking to him, Nathan enters and explains the full situation to David. David reaffirms his promise that Solomon will be king after him and arranges for him to be anointed at the Gihon Spring. The anointing is performed by Zadok the priest. Following this, the population of Jerusalem proclaims Solomon king. This is heard by Adonijah and his fellow feasters, but they do not know what is happening until Abiathar\'s son Jonathan arrives and informs them. With Solomon officially enthroned, Adonijah fears for his life and claims sanctuary; Solomon decides to spare him unless he does something evil.
David advises his son on how to be a good king and to punish David\'s enemies, and then dies. Adonijah comes to Bathsheba and asks to marry Abishag. Solomon suspects this request is to strengthen Adonijah\'s claim to the throne and has Benaiah put him to death. He then takes away Abiathar\'s priesthood as punishment for supporting Adonijah, thus fulfilling the prophecy made to Eli at the start of 1 Samuel.
Joab hears what is going on and himself claims sanctuary, but when he refuses to come out of the tabernacle, Solomon instructs Benaiah to kill him there. He then replaces Joab with Benaiah and Abiathar with Zadok. Solomon then instructs Shimei ben Gera, the Benjaminite who cursed David as he was fleeing from Absalom, to move to Jerusalem and not to leave. One day, two of Shimei\'s slaves run away to Gath and Shimei pursues them. When he returns to Jerusalem, Solomon has him put to death for leaving Jerusalem.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 1 Kings
#### Solomon in all his glory (3:1--11:43) {#solomon_in_all_his_glory_311143}
##### Solomon the sage (3:1--4:34) {#solomon_the_sage_31434}
Solomon makes an alliance with Egypt and marries the Pharaoh\'s daughter. After this, he continues the ancient practice of travelling between the high places and offering sacrifices. When he is at Gibeon, God speaks to him in a dream and offers him anything he asks for. Solomon, being young, asks for \"an understanding heart to judge\" (שָׁפַט). God is pleased and grants him not only \"a wise\...heart\" (חכם), but also wealth, honor, and longevity, on the condition that Solomon is righteous like his father David. Solomon returns to Jerusalem and holds a feast for his servants in front of the Ark of the Covenant.
After the Judgment of Solomon amazes the Israelites, he appoints a cabinet and reorganizes the governance of Israel at a local level. The nation of Israel prospers and Solomon\'s provisions increase.
##### Solomon the builder (5:1--9:25) {#solomon_the_builder_51925}
Over a period of seven years, Solomon works to fulfill David\'s vow of building a temple to God with wood provided by the king of Tyre, Hiram I, an old friend of David\'s. He also builds himself a palace, which takes him thirteen years. Once the Temple is finished, Solomon hires a Tyrian half-Naphtalite named Huram to create the furnishings.
When finished, the things which David prepared for the Temple are brought in, and Solomon organizes a ceremony during which the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple. A cloud fills the Temple, preventing the priests from continuing the ceremony. Solomon explains that this is the presence of God, and takes the opportunity to make a dedication speech. The dedication is completed with sacrifices, and a celebration is held for fourteen days. God speaks to Solomon and accepts his prayer, re-affirming his vow to David that his House will be kings forever unless they begin worshipping idols.
Solomon gives twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram as thanks for his help, but they are virtually worthless. He begins building and improvement works in various cities in addition to his major projects in Jerusalem and puts the remaining Canaanites into slavery.
##### Solomon the trader (9:26--10:29) {#solomon_the_trader_9261029}
Solomon builds a navy.
The Queen of Sheba hears of Solomon\'s wisdom and travels to Jerusalem to meet him. Upon arriving, she praises him, saying she did not fully believe the stories about Solomon until she came to see him. The Queen gives Solomon 120 talents and a large amount of spices and precious stones, prompting Hiram to send a large amount of valuable wood and precious stones in response. Solomon also gives the Queen gifts and she returns to her country. Solomon by now has 666 talents of gold, and decides to forge shields and cups. He also maintains trading relations with Hiram, from whose country he receives many exotic goods. Overall, Israel becomes a net exporter of golden goods.
##### His decline (11:1--43) {#his_decline_11143}
Solomon amasses 700 wives and 300 concubines, many from foreign countries, including from countries God told the Israelites not to intermarry with. Solomon begins to adopt elements from their religions, and builds shrines in Jerusalem to foreign deities. God informs Solomon that because he has broken his commandments, the entire kingdom except one tribe will be taken away from his son.
At the same time, Solomon begins to amass enemies. A young prince named Hadad who managed to escape Joab\'s attempted genocide of the Edomites, hears Joab and David are dead, and returns to Edom to lead his people. Meanwhile, to the north, the Syrian king Rezon, whose Zobahite army was defeated by David, allies himself with Hadad and causes havoc for Israel from his base in Damascus.
On the home front, Jeroboam, who supervised the building of Solomon\'s palace terraces and the reconstruction of the city walls, encounters the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite on the road out of Jerusalem. Ahijah tears his cloak into twelve parts and gives ten of them to Jeroboam, saying that Jeroboam will rule over ten tribes of Israel upon Solomon\'s death as punishment for Solomon\'s idol worship. In response, Solomon tries to kill Jeroboam, but he flees to Egypt. Solomon dies after having reigned for forty years and is succeeded by his son Rehoboam.
#### The political and religious schism (12:1--13:34) {#the_political_and_religious_schism_1211334}
Rehoboam travels to Shechem to be proclaimed king. Upon hearing this, Jeroboam returns from Egypt and joins Rehoboam\'s older advisors in asking for the people to be treated better than under Solomon. Instead, Rehoboam turns to his friends for advice, and proclaims that he will treat the people worse. This greatly displeases the Israelites. When he sends a new minister of forced labour named Adoniram, they stone him to death. Rehoboam returns to safety in Jerusalem. The Israelites proclaim Jeroboam king. Judah remains loyal to Rehoboam, and he also controls Benjamin. From these two tribes, Rehoboam amasses an army to attack the north, but the prophet Shemaiah prevents the war.
Back in Shechem, Jeroboam becomes worried about the possible return of his tribes to loyalty to the House of David, and decides the best way to prevent this is to stop them worshipping the God of Israel, since he considers the point at which they are most likely to defect to be when they travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. To this end, he sets up golden calves at altars at Bethel and Dan and appoints his own priests and festivals. One day, a prophet comes by and announces that some day a Davidic king named Josiah will be born and violently abolish Jeroboam\'s religion. Seeking to seize him, Jeroboam stretches out his hand, but it becomes withered and, as a sign, the altar splits open and its ashes pour out. Despite all this, Jeroboam does not change his ways. Later, the prophet is tested by a false prophet from Samaria and fails, dying in a lion attack as punishment. The Samarian prophet mourns his demise and requests to be buried next to him upon his own death.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 1 Kings
#### The two kingdoms until Elijah (14:1--16:34) {#the_two_kingdoms_until_elijah_1411634}
Jeroboam\'s son Abijah becomes ill, so Jeroboam tells his wife to go in disguise to Ahijah, who has become blind with age. God tells Ahijah of the arrival of Jeroboam\'s wife. Ahijah prophesies the end of the House of Jeroboam, beginning with the death of Abijah, who will be the only member of the royal house to be buried. He prophesies that a usurper king will arise who will accomplish this. Jeroboam dies, and is succeeded by his son Nadab.
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Judah, the people set up high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles to foreign gods, and even allow male temple prostitution. The pharaoh Shishak sacks Jerusalem and takes all the royal and Temple treasures, including Solomon\'s gold shields, prompting Rehoboam to make bronze ones to replace them. Rehoboam dies and is succeeded by his son Abijah, a grandson of Absalom. Abijah is as bad as his father, but God continues to protect him and his family because of the promise He made to David. When Abijah dies, he is succeeded by his son Asa.
Asa, in contrast to his father and grandfather, is a good king, on par with David. He abolishes male temple prostitution and destroys idols, and even deposed his grandmother as Queen mother due to idolatry. He moves a collection of gold and silver objects back into the Temple. However, when he goes to war against Baasha of Israel, he gives the royal and Temple gold and silver to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, to get him to break a treaty with Israel and attack with him. Ben-Hadad is surprisingly successful, and Baasha must withdraw from Ramah, leading Asa to issue a decree that Ramah\'s fortifications be taken down and used to build Geba and Mizpah. Asa dies an old man and is succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat.
Back in Israel, Nadab is on the throne. Like his father, he is evil. Baasha, son of an Issacharite named Ahijah, plots to kill him and succeeds in a sneak attack, taking him by surprise during the Siege of Gibbethon, a Philistine city. He then proceeds to kill Jeroboam\'s whole family, fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah the prophet. However, Baasha commits the same sins as Jeroboam. God therefore informs the prophet Jehu that he will also end the House of Baasha. Baasha dies and is succeeded by his son Elah, who soon falls victim to a plot led by his charioteer Zimri. Zimri becomes king after Elah\'s killing, and fulfills the prophecy of Jehu; however, Zimri\'s army now proclaims its commander Omri as king and returns to Tirzah to lay siege to it. Seeing he is losing, Zimri sets fire to the palace.
The start of Omri\'s reign faces factionalism, with half his subjects supporting Tibni, son of Gibnath as king. He buys the hill of Shemer, upon which he builds the city of Samaria. However, he is the worst king yet. When he dies, he is succeeded by his son Ahab, who himself overtakes Omri in his evilness. Upon his marriage to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, he introduces the worship of Baal, building him a temple and setting up an Asherah pole. Meanwhile, a nobleman named Hiel of Bethel activates the curse proclaimed by Joshua by rebuilding Jericho, resulting in the death of his oldest and youngest sons.
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## Contents
### 1 Kings
#### The Elijah cycle (17:1--22:54) {#the_elijah_cycle_1712254}
##### The great drought (17:1--18:46) {#the_great_drought_1711846}
A new prophet arises in Israel, named Elijah, who informs Ahab of a years-long drought about to begin. God then tells Elijah to hide in the Kerith Ravine, where he drinks from the stream and is fed by ravens. When the brook dries up, God tells Elijah to travel to Zarephath, where a widow will feed him. She is more than happy to give him water, but when he asks for bread, she informs him that she is just about to make a small loaf -- only enough that she and her son may eat it as their last meal. Elijah instructs her to make him some anyway, telling her that she will not run out of food until the famine is over. Soon, the widow\'s son becomes ill and dies. At the widow\'s insistence, Elijah raises him from the dead.
Three years later, God tells Elijah to return to Ahab because the drought is coming to an end. On the way, Elijah meets his administrator Obadiah, who was hiding prophets during Jezebel\'s persecutions, and asks him to tell Ahab of his arrival. Seeking to end the worship of Baal for good, Elijah tells Ahab to invite four hundred priests of Baal and four hundred of Asherah to the top of Mount Carmel. There, he upbraids the people for their duplicity, telling them to choose either worship of the God of Israel or of Baal.
He then proposes a challenge: he and the priests will each prepare a sacrifice, and then call upon their respective gods to send fire to burn it. When the priests attempt to call down fire, none comes. On the other hand, despite having the Israelites pour much water over his altar, when Elijah prays for fire God sends it, accepting the sacrifice. Elijah orders the priests of Baal be killed, and informs Ahab of the coming rain. Climbing to the top of the mountain, Elijah sends his servant to look out to sea. After returning seven times, the servant eventually sees a small cloud rising far out at sea. Elijah tells the servant to inform Ahab to return to Jezreel in his chariot, while Elijah manages to run ahead of him.
##### Elijah at Horeb (19:1--21) {#elijah_at_horeb_19121}
When she hears what has happened, Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, causing him to run for his life. In the wilderness near Beersheba, Elijah, fed up, asks God to kill him. Instead, an angel supplies him with food, which gives him the strength to continue a further forty days until he reaches Mount Horeb, where he falls asleep in a cave. When Elijah wakes up, God tells him He is about to pass by. An earthquake occurs and a fire starts, but neither contain God.
Instead, God appears in the form of a whisper. After hearing Elijah\'s concerns about being killed, he instructs him to go to Damascus, where he is to anoint Hazael as king of Aram, Jehu as king of Israel and Elisha as Elijah\'s own successor. Elijah finds Elisha plowing with oxen. Elisha says goodbye to his parents, kills his oxen and cooks them by burning his plowing equipment. He distributes the meat to his neighbours and sets off to follow Elijah.
##### The Aramean wars (20:1--43) {#the_aramean_wars_20143}
Ben-Hadad II, the new king of Aram, raises an army and sends messengers demanding all Ahab\'s gold and silver, and the best of his wives and children. While agreeing to this demand, after consulting his advisors he decides not to accept a follow-up demand requesting anything else of value in his palace or his officials\' houses. In response to this situation, Ben-Hadad attacks Samaria. At this point, Ahab receives a prophecy that his junior officers will defeat Ben-Hadad if Ahab starts the battle. Ben-Hadad tells his men to take the advancing troops alive, but each junior officer kills his Aramean equivalent.
The Arameans, including Ben-Hadad, begin a retreat, but Ahab\'s army inflicts heavy losses. The prophet who brought the first prophecy tells Ahab to improve his defences, since the Arameans will attack again. Ben-Hadad\'s advisors reason that the reason they lost was because God lives in the hills, leading them to attack Aphek, a city on the plains, the following spring. In response to this, God agrees to give the Israelites another victory to demonstrate his omnipresence. After a disastrous first day, Ben-Hadad sends messengers to Ahab, begging him to spare him. Ahab sends for Ben-Hadad, who offers to return the land his father took from Israel. The two kings sign a treaty and Ben-Hadad leaves.
After failing to get another prophet to strike him with his weapon, resulting in that prophet\'s death by lion, a prophet manages to get someone else to do it and appears before Ahab, telling him a parable about how his failing to guard a man in battle means he now must pay a talent. When he removes his headband, and Ahab sees he is a prophet, he tells Ahab that he will die because he spared Ben-Hadad, who God had told him to kill.
##### Naboth\'s vineyard (21:1--28) {#naboths_vineyard_21128}
Some time later, Ahab attempts to buy a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. When Naboth will not sell it to him on account of it being his inheritance, Ahab sulks and refuses to eat. Jezebel proclaims a day of fasting, upon which two false witnesses accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. He is stoned to death, allowing Ahab to take possession of the vineyard. In response, God tells Elijah to confront Ahab and inform him that he will die in the vineyard and that his descendants and Jezebel will be wiped out. This has marked the peak of Ahab\'s evilness, and indeed the evilness of any king of Israel. Ahab repents, so God allows the disaster Elijah prophesied to come during the reign of his son instead.
##### Another war with Aram (22:1--38) {#another_war_with_aram_22138}
Three years pass with peace between Aram and Israel. Aram still possesses Ramoth-Gilead and, when Jehoshaphat agrees for the Judahite army to accompany him on a campaign during a state visit, Ahab decides to take it back. Four hundred prophets agree this is a good idea, but Jehoshaphat asks to speak with a prophet of God. Ahab reluctantly calls Micaiah, whom he dislikes for never prophesying in his favour. When he arrives, a prophet named Zedekiah uses a strange hat with horns to claim that Ahab will have victory over the Arameans.
Michaiah tells Ahab that if he attacks Ramoth-Gilead, he will die and Israel will be leaderless but that this is part of God\'s plan. Zedekiah slaps him, leading Michaiah to prophesy impending destruction, and Ahab tells his jailer to put Michaiah in prison with no food or water until Ahab returns safely.
Ahab and Jehoshaphat begin their campaign, agreeing that Ahab will be disguised while Jehoshaphat will wear his royal robes. The Arameans, being under instructions to kill no one except Ahab, begin pursuing Jehoshaphat but cease their pursuit when they see he is not Ahab. Ahab is hit between the plates of his armour by a random Aramean arrow. He withdraws from the battle and dies that evening. He is buried, his chariot is washed in a pool where prostitutes bathe, and his blood is licked by dogs.
##### After the death of Ahab (22:39--53) {#after_the_death_of_ahab_223953}
Ahab\'s son Ahaziah succeeds him.
Jehoshaphat has been a good king his entire reign, following the example of his father Asa. He has not destroyed the high places, but he has kept peace with Israel. He has also gotten rid of the remaining male temple prostitutes and there is now a provincial governor rather than a king in Edom. He has built a merchant navy, but it was wrecked at Ezion-Geber. Ahaziah suggests they join forces in this regard, but Jehoshaphat refuses. He dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoram.
Ahaziah does evil and allows the idol worship which flourished under his father to continue.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 2 Kings {#kings_1}
#### The Elijah cycle (continued) (1:1--18) {#the_elijah_cycle_continued_1118}
##### After the death of Ahab (continued) (1:1--18) {#after_the_death_of_ahab_continued_1118}
Ahaziah falls through a lattice on an upper floor and injures himself. He sends a party to Ekron to consult its god, Baal-Zebub, about whether he will recover. The messengers are met by Elijah, who tells them to inform Ahaziah that he will die where he is for seeking advice from a non-Israelite god. Ahaziah sends two captains and fifty men each to summon Elijah, but both parties are consumed by fire at Elijah\'s command. When Ahaziah sends a third group, God tells Elijah to go with them and deliver his prophecy directly. Ahaziah dies and, having no sons, his brother Joram succeeds him.
#### The Elisha cycle (2:1--13:25) {#the_elisha_cycle_211325}
##### Its opening (2:1--25) {#its_opening_2125}
Elijah and Elisha are walking from Gilgal. Elijah asks that Elisha stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Bethel. Elijah informs him that he is going to be taken by God. Elisha seems to have some kind of knowledge of this. Once again, Elijah asks Elisha to stay where they are, but Elisha insists on coming with him to Jericho. Eventually, they reach the Jordan, where fifty prophets are. Elijah strikes the water with his cloak, the water divides, and the pair cross over. Elijah asks what Elisha wants when he is gone, and Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit, which Elijah says will be given to him if he watches him go.
Suddenly, a fiery horse-drawn chariot takes Elijah and he ascends to heaven in a whirlwind. After mourning, Elisha picks up Elijah\'s cloak and himself uses it to part the Jordan. This leads the other prophets to recognise him as Elijah\'s successor, and offer to look for Elijah, an offer which Elisha refuses. They persist but, naturally, are unable to find him. As Elisha\'s first task, he throws salt into a spring in Jericho, resolving the locals\' water problem by purifying the water. When Elisha leaves for Bethel, some boys start jeering him on account of his baldness. Bears come and maul them.
##### The Moabite war (3:1--27) {#the_moabite_war_3127}
Joram is evil but gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal. After the death of Ahab, the king of Moab refused to continue paying tribute to Israel, so Joram teams up with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to put down the rebellion. They attack through the Desert of Edom but soon run out of water. They ask Elisha for advice. He first makes it very clear that he is only doing this for Jehoshaphat\'s sake and then calls for a harpist. Elisha prophesies a coming flood in the valley in addition to a complete defeat of Moab.
The water comes but looks like blood to the Moabites, which they conclude can only have come from the three kings having killed each other. However, when they cross, Israel wins a great victory and completely plunders the land. When the king of Moab sacrifices his firstborn son on the city walls, the Israelites are overwhelmed by great wrath and withdraw.
##### Some miracles of Elisha (4:1--6:7) {#some_miracles_of_elisha_4167}
Elisha meets a widow whose creditors are threatening to take her two sons into slavery as payment. When he finds out the only other thing she has is a small jar of olive oil, he tells her to go and ask all her neighbours for jars. He tells her to pour oil into the jars, and it holds out until every jar is filled. Elisha finally tells her to sell the oil, pay the creditors and live off the rest. He then moves on to Shunem, where a woman invites him to eat and soon decides to build a room for use whenever he passes through.
His servant Gehazi informs him that she has no son, so Elisha tells her that she will have a child within a year, as payment for her kindness. One day, the child is helping his father\'s reapers when he complains of a pain in his head. He is returned to his mother and dies. His mother therefore seeks out Elisha, whom she meets at Mount Carmel. He tells Gehazi to quickly make his way to the house and lay his staff on the boy\'s face. When Elisha gets there with the woman, Gehazi informs him that this has not worked.
Elisha prays, paces, and lays himself on the boy, who then awakens. Elisha continues on to Gilgal, where a famine is raging. Seeking to help the local prophets, he tells his servant to cook a stew. One of the prophets inadvertently adds some poisonous berries to the pot, but Elisha adds some flour, negating the poison. A man comes from Baal-Shalish with twenty loaves of bread. Elisha uses them to miraculously feed the hundred people present.
An Aramean general named Naaman has leprosy. He hears of Elisha from an Israelite slave-girl and receives permission from the king to travel in an attempt to have his leprosy cured. He travels first to the king of Israel, but is eventually called by Elisha, who sends a messenger to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan. He does what Elisha told him to and his leprosy is cured. Naaman offers Elisha a gift of thanks, but Elisha refuses. Naaman contents himself with taking earth back to Damascus in order to build an altar to God and asking God\'s forgiveness for when he has to participate in Aramean religious rituals when accompanying the king. As Naaman is leaving Gehazi catches up with him and lies about prophets arriving so that at least he can get a gift. As punishment for this, Elisha curses him to become leprous.
Several other prophets begin complaining that their meeting place with Elisha is too small, so he agrees to allow them to build a new one on the banks of the Jordan. During the building, someone\'s borrowed axehead falls in the river but miraculously floats.
##### The Aramean wars (6:8--8:29) {#the_aramean_wars_68829}
By this point, Aram is back at war with Israel. Elisha warns the king of Israel where the Arameans are camped several times, frustrating the king of Aram, who seeks him out. One morning, Elisha wakes up to find Dothan, the city where he is staying, surrounded by Arameans. His servant is frightened, until Elisha shows him the angels protecting them. He then prays that the Aramean army go blind, and they do. He then leads them to Samaria, where their eyes are opened.
The king of Israel asks Elisha whether he should kill them, but Elisha instead tells him to treat them with hospitality. This ends the war, but soon Ben-Hadad is back at war and laying siege to Samaria. The resulting famine gets so severe that soon people resort to cannibalism. The king feels the best way to deal with the situation is to execute Elisha, blaming God for the famine. Elisha prophesies that huge amounts of the finest flour and barley will soon come to Samaria, but that the king\'s official will not taste any of it.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 2 Kings {#kings_1}
#### The Elisha cycle (2:1--13:25) {#the_elisha_cycle_211325}
##### The Aramean wars (6:8--8:29) {#the_aramean_wars_68829}
Four lepers sit at the gate of Samaria and decide to surrender to the Arameans in the hope of not dying in the famine. God made the Arameans hear horses and chariots the night before and, thinking the Hittites and Egyptians were helping the Israelites, they fled. The lepers find the abandoned camp and tell the king. The Samaritans then go and plunder the camp, driving down the price of food in the city. In the chaos, the king\'s official who was with him when he went to see Elisha is trampled to death.
Elisha has warned the Shunammite woman about the famine, so she and her husband have gone to live in Philisitia. Upon return, she goes to the king to appeal for her land back. When she arrives, Gehazi is telling the king about how Elisha raised her son from the dead. This works in her favour, and her house and land are restored to her, as well as all her income. Next, Elisha goes to Damascus, where Ben-Hadad is ill. When he hears of Elisha\'s arrival, Ben-Hadad sends Hazael to him with a gift to ask whether he will get better. Elisha tells Hazael to tell the king that he will, even though he will in fact die, and Hazael will become king and cause much damage to Israel. The next day, Hazael smothers the king and succeeds him.
Back in Judah, Jehoram is king. Unlike his father and grandfather, he is evil and follows the ways of Israel, even marrying a daughter of Ahab. However, he is not destroyed, again because of God\'s covenant with David. His reign is plagued with instability, including revolts in Edom, who restores its monarchy, and Libnah. Jehoram dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who, like his father, follows in Ahab\'s footsteps. Ahaziah and Joram go to war together against Hazael. Joram is wounded, and after the battle Ahaziah goes to Jezreel to see him.
##### The history of Jehu (9:1--10:36) {#the_history_of_jehu_911036}
Elisha tells a prophet to go to Ramoth-Gilead and anoint a commander of the royal guard named Jehu as king. Jehu leads his troops to Jezreel to challenge Joram. Joram sends two messengers, but both join Jehu. Jehu accuses Joram of continuing the idolatry of Jezebel. Joram flees, warning Ahaziah, but is struck in his heart between his shoulders and dies. Jehu tells his charioteer Bidkar to place him in Naboth\'s field. Jehu wants to kill Ahaziah too, but merely succeeds in wounding him, although he dies from his injuries at Megiddo.
His body is taken back to Jerusalem for burial. As Jehu enters Jezreel, Jezebel looks out of a window and compares him to Zimri. Two eunuchs push her out of a window at Jehu\'s behest and she dies. When two servants later go to prepare her body for burial as a king\'s daughter, they find nothing but some bones. She has been eaten by dogs, in accordance with Elijah\'s prophecy.
Jehu writes to Samaria, challenging the palace officials to pick Ahab\'s strongest son, put him on the throne and have him challenge Jehu. They refuse, and so Jehu instead asks for the heads of Ahab\'s seventy sons. After he has had them put inside the city gate of Jezreel, Jehu massacres the remaining members of the House of Ahab in order to fulfil Elijah\'s prophecy. Jehu then sets off for Samaria. On the way, he meets some of Ahaziah\'s relatives and has them killed too. Further along, he meets Jehonadab, who becomes his ally.
Upon finally reaching Samaria, he kills the rest of Ahab\'s family. Under the guise of preparing a sacrifice for Baal, he next summons all the priests of Baal. After the sacrifice is over, he has guards enter the temple and kill them. He destroys the sacred stone and tears down the temple, replacing it with a toilet, thus ending the worship of Baal. However, he does not destroy the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, which was Jeroboam\'s original sin. Nonetheless, God is pleased with his destruction of the Baal religion, and promises that his House will reign in Israel for four generations. However, Jehu is not meticulous in his worship of God, so God allows Hazael to conquer large portions of Israel. Jehu dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoahaz.
##### From the reign of Athaliah to the death of Elisha (11:1--13:25) {#from_the_reign_of_athaliah_to_the_death_of_elisha_1111325}
Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seizes the throne after the death of her son and begins killing off members of the royal family. Ahaziah\'s sister, Jehosheba, manages to hide her nephew Joash. Seven years later, Jehosheba\'s husband, the priest Jehoiada, introduces Joash to the army, and informs all five units that they will now be required to guard the Temple on the Sabbath in order to protect Joash. He also gives them all the spears and shields from David\'s day that are kept in the Temple. Joash is crowned and anointed, and proclaimed king by the army. Athaliah claims treason, but Jehoiada has her taken back to the palace and killed. Next, the altars of Baal are destroyed, thus ending the religion in Judah as well. Finally, Joash is taken back to the palace and enthroned.
Joash is a good king, but does not remove the high places. When he grows up, his first act is to reform priestly pay, and use whatever is left to repair the Temple. Twenty-three years later, when the Temple is still not repaired, Joash once again reforms priestly pay so that all money from the Temple treasury goes towards repairs. Instead, the priests will earn money from offerings. This succeeds, and the Temple is repaired. Hazael is back at war with Israel, and it looks like he will cross the border and attack Jerusalem, so Joash sends him gifts and he leaves. Joash is assassinated and is succeeded by his son Amaziah.
Jehoahaz is evil, so God allows Hazael to continue oppressing Israel. He repents, so God allows the war to end. However, Jehoahaz does not get rid of Jeroboam\'s religion, or remove the Asherah pole in Samaria. In addition, the war has almost completely eradicated the Israelite army. Jehoahaz dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoash, who continues the evil of the previous kings of Israel. He goes to war with Amaziah. The key event of Joash\'s reign, is the death of Elisha. When Joash goes to see him, he tells him to shoot an arrow out of the east window, and prophesies that, based on this, the Arameans will be defeated at Aphek.
He then tells him to throw arrows at the floor. Joash throws three, which Elisha is angry about, since it means there will only be three victories there. He then dies and is buried. During a Moabite raid, some Israelite men burying a dead body panic and throw the body in Elisha\'s tomb. As soon as it touches Elisha\'s bones, the dead body returns to life. Hazael\'s wars have plagued Israel since the reign of Jehoahaz, but God does not destroy Israel because of the Abrahamic and Israelite covenants. Hazael dies and is succeeded by his son Ben-Hadad III. As prophesied, Jehoash defeats him three times, taking back the towns Hazael conquered.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 2 Kings {#kings_1}
#### The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria (14:1--17:41) {#the_two_kingdoms_to_the_fall_of_samaria_1411741}
Amaziah is a good king, but the high places have still not been abolished. Upon assumption of the throne, he executes his father\'s assassins, but spares their children in accordance with the Mosaic law. Amaziah defeats the Edomites and challenges Israel, but Jehoash advises him to stay at home. The pair meet at Beth Shemesh and Israel thoroughly defeats Judah, scattering Amaziah\'s troops and allowing Jehoash to sack Jerusalem. Jehoash dies and is succeeded by his son Jeroboam II. Amaziah faces a conspiracy and is killed in Lachish. He is buried in Jerusalem and succeeded by his son Azariah, who recovers and rebuilds Elath.
Jeroboam II is evil. He restores Israelite territory from Lebo-Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with a prophecy by Jonah. This is because God has promised not to destroy Israel and has seen how much the Israelites are suffering. He dies and is succeeded by his son Zechariah.
Azariah is a good king, although the high places still exist. He is, however, a leper, and so is relieved of his responsibilities while his son Jotham acts as regent. Azariah dies and Jotham succeeds him.
Zechariah is evil, and falls victim of a conspiracy by Shallum, who assassinates and succeeds him, thus fulfilling God\'s promise to Jehu that his family would rule for four generations. Shallum is himself assassinated and succeeded by Menahem, who attacks Tiphsah, sacks it and rips open its pregnant women. During Menahem\'s reign, Pul of Assyria (also called Tiglath-Pileser) attacks Israel.
Menahem raises taxes to pay Pul both to leave and to support him on the throne. Menahem dies and is succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who is assassinated by his official Pekah and fifty mercenaries from Gilead. During Pekah\'s reign, Pul comes back and captures many towns in northern Israel, including all of the land belonging to the Tribe of Naphtali, and deports their populations to Assyria. Pekah is assassinated by Hoshea, who succeeds him as king.
Jotham is a good king, but, again, the high places are still being used. He rebuilds the Upper Gate of the Temple. Aram and Israel attack Judah during his reign. He dies and is succeeded by his son Ahaz. Ahaz is a bad king, even going so far as to sacrifice his son. Rezin, king of Aram, retakes Elath and gives it to Edom during the ongoing attacks. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Ahaz writes to Pul for help, which he gives by capturing Damascus, deporting its citizens and killing Rezin. Ahaz travels to Damascus to meet Pul, and while there sends a sketch of a new altar back to Jerusalem, which is built before he returns. He places it in the Temple upon his arrival. To symbolise his deference to the king of Assyria, he then removes much of the decoration in the Temple. He dies and is succeeded by his son Hezekiah.
Hoshea is evil, but not as bad as the preceding kings of Israel. During Hoshea\'s reign, Shalmaneser of Assyria attacks Israel in response to Israel\'s maintaining diplomatic relations with Egypt and refusing to pay tribute to Assyria. Shalmaneser conquers Samaria and deports its citizens to Media. All this happens because Israel has broken the commandments, principally by worshipping other gods and ignoring the prophets. This leaves only Judah, and even they are guilty of following the religious practices introduced by Israel. The king of Assyria then sends his subjects to resettle Samaria, led by an Israelite priest, whose job is to teach them the rites God requires. While they take this on board, they nonetheless continue worshipping their own national gods.
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# Books of Kings
## Contents
### 2 Kings {#kings_1}
#### The last years of the Kingdom of Judah (18:1--25:30) {#the_last_years_of_the_kingdom_of_judah_1812530}
##### Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah; Assyria (18:1--20:21) {#hezekiah_the_prophet_isaiah_assyria_1812021}
Hezekiah, the 13th king of Judah, does \"what \[is\] right in the Lord\'s sight just as his ancestor David had done\". He institutes a far-reaching religious reform: centralising sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem, and destroying the images of other gods, including the Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses erected in the wilderness, which the Israelites have turned into an idol. He breaks his alliance with the Assyrians and defeats the Philistines. Following the capture of Samaria, the Assyrians attack Judah, but withdraw in return for money. The Assyrians soon attack again, and send a threatening and blasphemous message to Hezekiah, supposing that he has sought an alliance with Egypt.
The Assyrian commander then attempts to turn the Judahites against Hezekiah, claiming that he is powerless to protect him, but Hezekiah pre-empts and stops this from happening. When Hezekiah hears the message, he sends a delegation to the prophet Isaiah, who tells them that God will save Jerusalem and the kingdom from Assyria. When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, hears of the advance of Tirhakah, king of Cush, he retreats, but warns of a coming invasion. Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah sends another prophecy of Assyria\'s destruction. God sends an angel to kill the Assyrians, and the remaining Assyrians retreat in horror. Sennacherib is killed by his sons and is succeeded by a third son.
Hezekiah becomes ill, and Isaiah tells him he will die. Hezekiah prays, and God agrees to give him fifteen more years if he goes to the temple in three days. Isaiah prescribes a poultice of figs, and Hezekiah recovers. When Hezekiah goes to the Temple and stands on the steps of Ahaz, his shadow moves back ten steps, thus proving God\'s words to be true. The king of Babylon sends an embassy to Hezekiah, who shows them everything in the palace. Isaiah prophesies that one day the Babylonians will carry away everything in the palace. However, there is peace for the rest of Hezekiah\'s reign. Hezekiah builds an aqueduct consisting of a pool and a tunnel before he dies. He is succeeded by his son Manasseh.
##### Two wicked kings (21:1--26) {#two_wicked_kings_21126}
Manasseh reverses his father\'s reforms, murders the innocent, and sets up altars in the Temple. This breaches the Davidic-Solomonic covenant, and so God announces that he will destroy Jerusalem because of this apostasy by the king. He is succeeded by his son Amon. Amon follows in his father\'s footsteps, and is eventually assassinated by his officials. The assassins are executed, and Amon is succeeded by his son Josiah.
##### Josiah and the religious reform (22:1--23:30) {#josiah_and_the_religious_reform_2212330}
Josiah begins his reign with a rebuilding of the Temple. During this effort, Hilkiah, the high priest, finds a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy and has Shaphan, the royal secretary, read it to the king. When Josiah hears the laws which have been broken, he becomes sorrowful and sends a delegation to the prophetess Huldah to ask what to do. Huldah tells the delegation that God will destroy Jerusalem, but not until after Josiah has died.
Josiah plans a ceremony to renew the Mosaic covenant. First, he reads to the people from the scroll and has them all renew the covenant. Then, he has Hilkiah remove all the objects dedicated to other gods from the Temple, burn them in the Kidron Valley and take the ashes to Bethel. Finally, he fires the priests of the other gods, desecrates the high places and gets rid of the male shrine prostitutes and weavers of Asherah in the temple.
While he is at Bethel, in the midst of destroying the tombs there, he finds the tomb of the prophet who prophesied his coming and spares it along with that of the Samarian prophet who had then tested him. He then instructs his people to celebrate Passover, since its celebration had fallen out of use for many years. He gets rid of the mediums and spiritists. He is the best king in the history of Israel and Judah. Josiah goes to battle against Necho II of Egypt and the king of Assyria, but is defeated and killed by Necho at Megiddo.
##### The destruction of Jerusalem (23:31--25:30) {#the_destruction_of_jerusalem_23312530}
Necho takes Josiah\'s successor, Jehoahaz, captive and imposes huge demands on Judah. He places another of Josiah\'s sons, Jehoiakim, on the throne, who pays the demands by increasing taxes. Both of Josiah\'s successors are evil.
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon invades, and Jehoiakim becomes his vassal for three years until he rebels. In response to this, in order to fulfil what God had said with regards to Manasseh, a large number of raiders from neighbouring kingdoms and empires attack Judah. This time, there is no support from Egypt because it has already been invaded by the Babylonians. Jehoiakim dies and is succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, who is also evil. Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, and the Judahites surrender.
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiachin and his family hostage, and takes away everything from the Temple and the palace, fulfilling Isaiah\'s prophecy to Hezekiah. He then takes away everyone into exile except the very poorest people. He then puts Jehoiachin\'s uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne. Zedekiah is also evil. Eventually, he rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem is put under siege for two years. Finally, famine overcomes the city and the walls are broken through. Zedekiah\'s punishment, which he serves at Riblah, is to watch his sons being killed before having his eyes gouged out and being carried as prisoner to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar burns down Jerusalem, including the Temple, the palace and all the important buildings. The walls are broken down, and everyone left is carried off, except some of the poorest people to act as farmers. He also kills the remaining priests at Riblah. He appoints Gedaliah as provincial governor. However, he is eventually killed by the last remaining member of the royal family, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and a large number of Judahites and Babylonians flee to Egypt. Awel-Murduk becomes king of Babylon on Nebuchadnezzar\'s death. He releases Jehoiachin, gives him a place at his table and an allowance, and places him higher in honour than all other kings in Babylon other than himself.
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# Books of Kings
## Composition
### Textual history {#textual_history}
In the Hebrew Bible (the Bible used by Jews), First and Second Kings are a single book, as are the First and Second Books of Samuel. When this was translated into Greek in the last few centuries BC, Samuel was joined with Kings in a four-part work called the Book of Kingdoms. Orthodox Christians continue to use the Greek translation (the Septuagint), but when a Latin translation (called the Vulgate) was made for the Western church, Kingdoms was first retitled \"The Book of Kings, parts One to Four\", and eventually both Samuel and Kings were separated into two books each.
Thus, the books now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are known in the Vulgate as 1 Kings and 2 Kings (in imitation of the Septuagint). What are now commonly known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in old Bibles before the year 1516, such as in the Vulgate and the Septuagint. The division known today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, came into use in 1517. Some Bibles---for example, the Douay Rheims Bible---still preserve the old denomination.
### Deuteronomistic history {#deuteronomistic_history}
According to Jewish tradition the author of Kings was Jeremiah, who would have been alive during the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The most common view today accepts Martin Noth\'s thesis that Kings concludes a unified series of books which reflect the language and theology of the Book of Deuteronomy, and which biblical scholars therefore call the Deuteronomistic history.
Noth argued that the History was the work of a single individual living in the 6th century BC, but scholars today tend to treat it as made up of at least two layers, a first edition from the time of Josiah (late 7th century BC), promoting Josiah\'s religious reforms and the need for repentance, and (2) a second and final edition from the mid-6th century BC. Further levels of editing have also been proposed, including: a late 8th century BC edition pointing to Hezekiah of Judah as the model for kingship; an earlier 8th-century BC version with a similar message but identifying Jehu of Israel as the ideal king; and an even earlier version promoting the House of David as the key to national well-being.
### Sources
The editors/authors of the Deuteronomistic history cite a number of sources, including (for example) a \"Book of the Acts of Solomon\" and, frequently, the \"Annals of the Kings of Judah\" and a separate book, \"Chronicles of the Kings of Israel\". The \"Deuteronomic\" perspective (that of the book of Deuteronomy) is particularly evident in prayers and speeches spoken by key figures at major transition points: Solomon\'s speech at the dedication of the Temple is a key example. The sources have been heavily edited to meet the Deuteronomistic agenda, but in the broadest sense they appear to have been:
- For the rest of Solomon\'s reign the text names its source as \"the book of the acts of Solomon\", but other sources were employed, and much was added by the redactor.
- Israel and Judah: The two \"chronicles\" of Israel and Judah provided the chronological framework, but few details, apart from the succession of monarchs and the account of how the Temple of Solomon was progressively stripped as true religion declined. A third source, or set of sources, were cycles of stories about various prophets (Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Ahijah and Micaiah), plus a few smaller miscellaneous traditions. The conclusion of the book (2 Kings 25:18--21, 27--30) was probably based on personal knowledge.
- A few sections were editorial additions not based on sources. These include various predictions of the downfall of the northern kingdom, the equivalent prediction of the downfall of Judah following the reign of Manasseh, the extension of Josiah\'s reforms in accordance with the laws of Deuteronomy, and the revision of the narrative from Jeremiah concerning Judah\'s last days.
### Manuscript sources {#manuscript_sources}
Three of the Dead Sea Scrolls feature parts of Kings: 5QKgs, found in Qumran Cave 5, contains parts of 1 Kings 1; 6QpapKgs, found in Qumran Cave 6, contains 94 fragments from all over the two books; and 4QKgs, found in Qumran Cave 4, contains parts of 1 Kings 7--8. The earliest complete surviving copy of the book(s) of Kings is in the Aleppo Codex (10th century CE).
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# Books of Kings
## Themes and genre {#themes_and_genre}
Kings is \"history-like\" rather than history in the modern sense, mixing legends, folktales, miracle stories and \"fictional constructions\" in with the annals, and its primary explanation for all that happens is God\'s offended sense of what is right; it is therefore more fruitful to read it as theological literature in the form of history. The theological bias is seen in the way it judges each king of Israel on the basis of whether he recognises the authority of the Temple in Jerusalem (none do, and therefore all are \"evil\"), and each king of Judah on the basis of whether he destroys the \"high places\" (rivals to the Temple in Jerusalem); it gives only passing mention to important and successful kings like Omri and Jeroboam II and ignores one of the most significant events in ancient Israel\'s history, the battle of Qarqar.
The major themes of Kings are God\'s promise, the recurrent apostasy of the kings, and the judgement this brings on Israel:
- Promise: In return for Israel\'s promise to worship Yahweh alone, Yahweh makes promises to David and to Israel -- to David, the promise that his line will rule Israel forever, to Israel, the promise of the land they will possess.
- Apostasy: the great tragedy of Israel\'s history, meaning the destruction of the kingdom and the Temple, is due to the failure of the people, but more especially the kings, to worship Yahweh alone (Yahweh being the God of Israel).
- Judgement: Apostasy leads to judgement. Judgement is not punishment, but simply the natural (or rather, God-ordained) consequence of Israel\'s failure to worship Yahweh alone.
Another and related theme is that of prophecy. The main point of the prophetic stories is that God\'s prophecies are always fulfilled, so that any not yet fulfilled will be so in the future. The implication, the release of Jehoiachin and his restoration to a place of honour in Babylon in the closing scenes of the book, is that the promise of an eternal Davidic dynasty is still in effect, and that the Davidic line will be restored.
## Textual features {#textual_features}
### Chronology
The standard Hebrew text of Kings presents an impossible chronology. To take just a single example, Omri\'s accession to the throne of the Kingdom of Israel is dated to the 31st year of Asa of Judah meanwhile the ascension of his predecessor, Zimri, who reigned for only a week, is dated to the 27th year of Asa. The Greek text corrects the impossibilities but does not seem to represent an earlier version. A large number of scholars have claimed to solve the difficulties, but the results differ, sometimes widely, and none has achieved consensus status.
### Kings and 2 Chronicles {#kings_and_2_chronicles}
The second Book of Chronicles covers much the same time-period as the books of Kings, but it ignores the northern Kingdom of Israel almost completely, David is given a major role in planning the Temple, Hezekiah is given a much more far-reaching program of reform, and Manasseh of Judah is given an opportunity to repent of his sins, apparently to account for his long reign. It is usually assumed that the author of Chronicles used Kings as a source and emphasised different areas as he would have liked it to have been interpreted
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# Book of Esther
The **Book of Esther** (*Megillat Ester*; *Ἐσθήρ*; *Liber Esther*), also known in Hebrew as \"the Scroll\" (\"the Megillah\"), is a book in the third section (`{{Transliteration|he|[[Ketuvim]]}}`{=mediawiki}, *כְּתוּבִים* \"Writings\") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Scrolls (`{{Transliteration|he|Megillot}}`{=mediawiki}) in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.
The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the First Persian Empire. Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king\'s orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther\'s cousin Mordecai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king\'s advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to use her position as queen to intervene and save their people. Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and begs for mercy for her people. She exposes Haman\'s plot and convinces the king to spare the Jews. The Jewish festival of Purim is established to celebrate the victory of the Jews of the First Persian Empire over their enemies, and Esther becomes a heroine of the Jewish people.
The books of Esther and Song of Songs are the only books in the Hebrew Bible that do not mention God explicitly. According to biblical scholars, the narrative of Esther was written to provide an etiology for Purim\'s origin.
The Book of Esther is at the center of the Jewish festival of Purim and is read aloud twice from a handwritten scroll, usually in a synagogue, during the holiday: once in the evening and again the following morning. The distribution of charity to those in need and the exchange of gifts of foods are also practices observed on the holiday that are mandated in the book.
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# Book of Esther
## Setting and structure {#setting_and_structure}
### Setting
The biblical Book of Esther is set in the Persian capital of Susa (*Shushan*) in the third year of the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus. The name *Ahasuerus* is equivalent to *Xerxes* (both deriving from the Persian *Khshayārsha*), and Ahasuerus is usually identified in modern sources as Xerxes I, who ruled between 486 and 465 BCE, as it is to this monarch that the events described in Esther are thought to fit the most closely.
Assuming that Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I, the events described in Esther began around the years 483--482 BCE, and concluded in March 473 BCE.
Classical sources such as Josephus, the Jewish commentary *Esther Rabbah* and the Christian theologian Bar Hebraeus, as well as the Greek Septuagint translation of Esther, instead identify Ahasuerus as either Artaxerxes I (reigned 465 to 424 BCE) or Artaxerxes II (reigned 404 to 358 BCE).
On his accession, however, Artaxerxes II lost Egypt to pharaoh Amyrtaeus, after which it was no longer part of the Persian empire. In his *Historia Scholastica* Petrus Comestor identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as Artaxerxes III (358--338 BCE) who reconquered Egypt.
### Structure
The Book of Esther consists of an introduction (or exposition) in chapters 1 and 2; the main action (complication and resolution) in chapters 3 to 9:19; and a conclusion in 9:20--10:3.
The plot is structured around banquets (*mišˈte*, plural *מִשְׁתָּאוֹת* *mištāˈoṯ* or *מִשְׁתִּים* *mišˈtim*), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. This is appropriate given that Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of Purim, but Purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is commemorated by Purim. The book\'s theme, rather, is the reversal of destiny through a sudden and unexpected turn of events: the Jews seem destined to be destroyed, but instead are saved. In literary criticism such a reversal is termed \"peripety\", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author\'s theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.
The book of Esther has more Akkadian and Aramaic loanwords than any other biblical work and the names of the key protagonists, Mordecai and Esther, for example, have been read as allusions to the gods Marduk and Ishtar, who, symbolizing respectively Babylonia and Assyria, were twin powers that brought about the fall of Susa, where the narrative of Esther is set and where the Elamite god Humban/Humman (compare Haman) exercised divine sovereignty. Purim practices like eating "Haman\'s ears", ear-shaped loaves of bread or pieces of pastry are similar to those in Near Eastern ritual celebrations of Ishtar\'s cosmic victory. Likewise other elements in Purim customs such as making a racket with a ratchet, masquerading and drunkenness have all been adduced to propose that such a kind of pagan festival akin to rites associated with Ishtar of Nineveh, which shares these same features, lay behind the development of this story.
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# Book of Esther
## Summary
King Ahasuerus, ruler of the Persian Empire, holds a lavish 180-day banquet for his court and dignitaries from across the 127 provinces of his empire (Esther 1:1--4), and afterwards, a seven-day banquet for all inhabitants of the capital city, Shushan (1:5--9). On the seventh day of the latter banquet, Ahasuerus orders the queen, Vashti, to display her beauty before the guests by coming before them wearing her crown (1:10--11). She refuses, infuriating Ahasuerus, who, on the advice of his counselors, removes her from her position as an example to other women who might be emboldened to disobey their husbands (1:12--19). A decree follows that \"every man should bear rule in his own house\" (1:20--22).
Ahasuerus then makes arrangements to choose a new queen from a selection of beautiful young women throughout the empire (2:1--4). Among these women is a Jewish orphan named Esther, who was raised by her cousin or uncle, Mordecai (2:5--7). She finds favour in the King\'s eyes and is crowned his new queen, but does not reveal her Jewish heritage (2:8--20). Shortly afterwards, Mordecai discovers a plot by two courtiers, Bigthan and Teresh, to assassinate Ahasuerus. The conspirators are apprehended and hanged, and Mordecai\'s service to the King is officially recorded (2:21--23).
Ahasuerus appoints Haman as his viceroy (3:1). Mordecai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Haman\'s disfavour, as he refuses to bow down to him (3:2--5). Haman discovers that Mordecai refuses to bow on account of his being a Jew, and in revenge, plots to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in the empire (3:6). He obtains Ahasuerus\' permission to execute this plan against payment of ten thousand talents of silver, and casts lots (\"purim\") to choose the date on which to do this`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} the thirteenth of the month of Adar (3:7--12). A royal decree is issued throughout the kingdom to slay all Jews on that date (3:13--15).
When Mordecai discovers the plan, he goes into mourning and implores Esther to intercede with the King (4:1--5). But she fears presenting herself to the King unsummoned, an offense punishable by death (4:6--12). Instead, she directs Mordecai to have all Jews fast for three days for her and vows to fast as well (4:15--16). On the third day, she goes to Ahasuerus, who stretches out his scepter to her to indicate that she should not be punished (5:1--2). She invites him to a feast in the company of Haman (5:3--5). During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening (5:6--8). Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordecai and, at his wife\'s suggestion, has a gallows built to hang him (5:9--14).
That night, Ahasuerus cannot sleep and orders the court records be read to him (6:1). He is reminded that Mordecai interceded in the previous plot against his life and discovers that Mordecai never received any recognition (6:2--3). Just then, Haman appears to request the King\'s permission to hang Mordecai, but before he can make this request, Ahasuerus asks Haman what should be done for the man that the King wishes to honour (6:4--6). Assuming that the King is referring to Haman himself, Haman suggests that the man be dressed in the King\'s royal robes and crown and led around on the King\'s royal horse, while a herald calls: \"See how the King honours a man he wishes to reward!\" (6:7--9). To his surprise and horror, the King instructs Haman to do so to Mordecai (6:10--11).
Immediately afterwards, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther\'s second banquet. The King promises to grant her any request, and she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people, including herself (7:1--6). Overcome by rage, Ahasuerus leaves the room; meanwhile Haman stays behind and begs Esther for his life, falling upon her in desperation (7:7). The King comes back at this very moment and thinks Haman is sexually assaulting the queen; this makes him angrier and he orders Haman hanged on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai (7:8--10).
Unable to annul a formal royal decree, the King instead adds to it, permitting the Jews to join and destroy any and all of those seeking to kill them (8:1--14). On 13 Adar, Haman\'s ten sons and 500 other men are killed in Shushan (9:1--12). Upon hearing of this Esther requests it be repeated the next day, whereupon 300 more men are killed (9:13--15). In the other Persian provinces, 75,000 people are killed by the Jews, who are careful to take no plunder (9:16--17). Mordecai and Esther send letters throughout the provinces instituting an annual commemoration of the Jewish people\'s redemption, in a holiday called Purim (lots) (9:20--28). Ahasuerus remains very powerful and continues his reign, with Mordecai assuming a prominent position in his court (10:1--3).
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# Book of Esther
## Authorship and date {#authorship_and_date}
The *Megillat Esther* (Book of Esther) became the last of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible to be canonized by the Sages of the Great Assembly. According to the Talmud, it was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordecai. It is usually dated to the 4th century BCE.
The Greek book of Esther, included in the Septuagint, is a retelling of the events of the Hebrew Book of Esther rather than a translation and records additional traditions which do not appear in the traditional Hebrew version, in particular the identification of Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II and details of various letters. It is dated around the late 2nd to early 1st century BCE. The Coptic and Ethiopic versions of Esther are translations of the Greek rather than the Hebrew Esther.
A Latin version of Esther was produced by Jerome for the Vulgate. It translates the Hebrew Esther but interpolates translations of the Greek Esther where the latter provides additional material. Predating the Vulgate, however, the *Vetus Latina* (\"Old Latin\") was apparently translated from a different Greek version not included in the Septuagint.
Several Aramaic targumim of Esther were produced in the Middle Ages, of which three survive -- the *Targum Rishon* (\"First Targum\" or 1TgEsth) and *Targum Sheni* (\"Second Targum\" or 2TgEsth) dated c. 500--1000 CE, which include additional legends relating to Purim, and the *Targum Shelishi* (\"Third Targum\" or 3TgEsth), which Berliner and Goshen-Gottstein argued was the ur-Targum from which the others had been expanded, but which others consider only a late recension of the same. 3TgEsth is the most manuscript-stable of the three, and by far the most literal.
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# Book of Esther
## Historicity
The apparent historical difficulties, the internal inconsistencies, the pronounced symmetry of themes and events, the plenitude of quoted dialogue, and the gross exaggeration in the reporting of numbers (involving time, money, and people) all point to Esther as a work of fiction, its vivid characters (except for Xerxes) being the product of the author\'s creative imagination. There is no reference to known historical events in the story; a general consensus, though this consensus has been challenged, has maintained that the narrative of *Esther* was invented in order to provide an etiology for Purim, and the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to a fictionalized Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BCE. Longman, Dillard, and Jobes feel that the historical issues in the Book of Esther are not insurmountable; they can be resolved with some thought and effort. Longman and Dillard also feel that the book should be read as a historical narrative since the author presents it as history.
Biblical scholar Michael Coogan further argues that the book contains specific details regarding certain subject matter (for example, Persian rule) which are historically inaccurate. For example, Coogan discusses an inaccuracy regarding the age of Esther\'s cousin (or, according to others, uncle) Mordecai. In Esther 2:5--6, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar II in 597 BCE: \"Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah\". If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther. However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai\'s exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish\'s exile.
In her article \"The Book of Esther and Ancient Storytelling\", biblical scholar Adele Berlin discusses the reasoning behind scholarly concern about the historicity of Esther. Much of this debate relates to the importance of distinguishing history and fiction within biblical texts, as Berlin argues, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the history of the Israelite people. Berlin quotes a series of scholars who suggest that the author of Esther did not mean for the book to be considered as a historical writing, but intentionally wrote it to be a historical novella. The genre of novellas under which Esther falls was common during both the Persian and Hellenistic periods to which scholars have dated the book of Esther (see for example the deuterocanonical Book of Judith).
However, there are certain elements of the book of Esther that are historically accurate. The story told in the book of Esther takes place during the rule of Ahasuerus, who amongst others has been identified as the 5th-century Persian king Xerxes I (reigned 486--465 BCE). The author also displays an accurate knowledge of Persian customs and palaces. \"Levenson claims that it is \'best seen as a historical novella set within the Persian empire\'\". *The New Oxford Annotated Bible* (2018) states \"Esther is not a work of history but a historical novella, that is, a fictional story set within a historical framework.\" Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones agrees (in 2023). *The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia* (1939) offers a dissenting opinion, stating that \"research has heaped up confirmation of the historical character of the book.\" Baldwin (1984) sees the Book of Esther as true and historically accurate, quoting Robert Gordis: "There is nothing intrinsically impossible or improbable in the central incident when the accretions due to the storyteller\'s art are set aside."
In the mainstream academia, the consensus is that \"the book is fictional, a kind of historical novella written to provide an etiology, a narrative explanation, for the Jewish festival of Purim.\" According to Noss (1993), the historicity of the work is supported by the precision with which the author locates his story within time; the inclusion of the Persian names of the months is part of the author\'s case for historical authenticity.
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# Book of Esther
## Historical reading {#historical_reading}
Those arguing in favour of a historical reading of Esther most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Xerxes I (ruled 486--465 BCE), although in the past it was often assumed that he was Artaxerxes II (ruled 405--359 BCE). The Hebrew *Ahasuerus* (*ʔaḥašwērōš*) is most likely derived from Persian *Xšayārša*, the origin of the Greek *Xerxes*. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Xerxes sought his harem after being defeated in the Greco-Persian Wars. He makes no reference to individual members of the harem except for a domineering Queen consort named Amestris, whose father, Otanes, was one of Xerxes\'s generals. (In contrast, the Greek historian Ctesias refers to a similar father-in-law/general figure named Onaphas.) Amestris has often been identified with Vashti, but this identification is problematic, as Amestris remained a powerful figure well into the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, whereas Vashti is portrayed as dismissed in the early part of Xerxes\'s reign. Alternative attempts have been made to identify her with Esther, although Esther is an orphan whose father was a Jew named Abihail.
As for the identity of Mordecai, the similar names *Marduka* and *Marduku* have been found as the name of officials in the Persian court in over thirty texts from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius I, and may refer to up to four individuals, one of whom might be the model for the biblical Mordecai.
The \"Old Greek\" Septuagint version of Esther translates the name Ahasuerus as *Artaxerxes*, a Greek name derived from the Persian *Artaxšaθra*. Josephus too relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks, and the Midrashic text *Esther Rabba* also makes the identification. Bar Hebraeus identified Ahasuerus explicitly as Artaxerxes II; however, the names are not necessarily equivalent: Hebrew has a form of the name *Artaxerxes* distinct from *Ahasuerus*, and a direct Greek rendering of *Ahasuerus* is used by both Josephus and the Septuagint for occurrences of the name outside the Book of Esther. Instead, the Hebrew name Ahasuerus accords with an inscription of the time that notes that Artaxerxes II was named also *Aršu*, understood as a shortening of *Aḫšiyaršu* the Babylonian rendering of the Persian *Xšayārša* (Xerxes), through which the Hebrew *ʔaḥašwērōš* (Ahasuerus) is derived. Ctesias related that Artaxerxes II was also called *Arsicas* which is understood as a similar shortening with the Persian suffix *-ke* that is applied to shortened names. Deinon related that Artaxerxes II was also called *Oarses* which is also understood to be derived from *Xšayārša*.
Another view attempts to identify him instead with Artaxerxes I (ruled 465--424 BCE), whose Babylonian concubine, Kosmartydene, was the mother of his son Darius II (ruled 424--405 BCE). Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.
Based on the view that the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit is identical with that of the Book of Esther, some have also identified him as Nebuchadnezzar\'s ally Cyaxares (ruled 625--585 BCE). In certain manuscripts of Tobit, the former is called *Achiachar*, which, like the Greek *Cyaxares*, is thought to be derived from Persian *Huwaxšaθra*. Depending on the interpretation of Esther 2:5--6, Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish was carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah by Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 BCE. The view that it was Mordecai would be consistent with the identification of Ahasuerus with Cyaxares. Identifications with other Persian monarchs have also been suggested.
Jacob Hoschander has argued that the name of Haman and that of his father Hamedatha are mentioned by Strabo as *Omanus* and *Anadatus,* worshipped with Anahita in the city of Zela. Hoschander suggests that Haman may, if the connection is correct, be a priestly title and not a proper name. Strabo\'s names are unattested in Persian texts as gods; however the Talmud and Josephus interpret the description of courtiers bowing to Haman in Esther 3:2 as worship. (Other scholars assume \"Omanus\" refers to Vohu Mana.)
In his *Historia Scholastica* Petrus Comestor identified Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1) as Artaxerxes III who reconquered Egypt.
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# Book of Esther
## Interpretation
In the Book of Esther, the Tetragrammaton does not appear, but some argue it is present, in hidden form, in four complex acrostics in Hebrew: the initial or last letters of four consecutive words, either forwards or backwards comprise YHWH. These letters were distinguished in at least three ancient Hebrew manuscripts in red.
Christine Hayes contrasts the Book of Esther with apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel in particular: both Esther and Daniel depict an existential threat to the Jewish people, but while Daniel commands the Jews to wait faithfully for God to resolve the crisis, in Esther the crisis is resolved entirely through human action and national solidarity. God, in fact, is not mentioned, Esther is portrayed as assimilated to Persian culture, and Jewish identity in the book is an ethnic category rather than a religious one.
This contrasts with traditional Jewish commentaries, such as the commentary of the Vilna Gaon, which states \"But in every verse it discusses the great miracle. However, this miracle was in a hidden form, occurring through apparently natural processes, not like the Exodus from Egypt, which openly revealed the might of God.\" This follows the approach of the Talmud, which states that \"(The Book of) Esther is referenced in the Torah in the verse \'And I shall surely hide (in Hebrew, \'haster astir,\' related to \'Esther\') My Face from them on that day.
André Lacocque also sees the Book of Esther as being fundamentally theological and that its main message was to correct the mistakes of ancestors. These mistakes included being lenient against Amalekites and plundering goods, which King Saul was guilty of. Another message was that diasporic Jews were responsible for the welfare of their host community, who held unpredictable views about Jews. These views ranged from violent antisemitism to passionate philosemitism, where Jews are arbitrarily promoted to higher positions due to being \'sexy\'. Lacocque compares this to Joseph\'s governance of Egypt in the Book of Genesis, which benefitted native Egyptians and Hebrew immigrants.
Although marriages between Jews and Gentiles are not permitted in orthodox Judaism, even in case of Pikuach nefesh, Esther is not regarded as a sinner, because she remained passive, and risked her life to save that of the entire Jewish people.
Azīz Pajand, a Persian Jew, published \"Purim\" in 1966, which offered an Iranophilic interpretation of the Book of Esther. Here, Haman was the Amalekite enemy of \'pure-blooded Iranians\' and Jews. Thus, Purim became a holiday that celebrates salvation for all Iranians from the \'Hamanites\'. He also emphasizes the role of Jewish-Persian cooperation in realizing the Book of Esther\'s denouement. Pajand justified his interpretation to dispel accusations that the Book of Esther was anti-Iranian and because he believed that Iranians were \"travellers in the way of truth\". In contrast, Haman violated the Zoroastrian ideal of "Good thoughts; Good words; and Good deeds". Lacocque likewise observes that the \"enemies of the Jews\" were never arbitrarily branded as Amalekites before being killed, in comparison to Haman and his sons, which discredits any motive of Jewish ultranationalism.
Albert Barnes similarly argues that the philosemitic Persian establishment was perplexed at Haman\'s decree (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|3:15}}`{=mediawiki}), and that they were supportive of Esther\'s efforts against the \"enemies of the Jews\". The latter were mostly found \"among the idolatrous people of the subject nations\", whom the Persians did not care for. The ones in Susa, however, consisted of Haman\'s faction, led by his ten sons, and fugitives who believed they were free to kill the Jews once the latter\'s \"privileges have expired\", thus why they were killed the next day. Matthew Poole sees the subsequent hanging of Haman\'s sons as a cruel Jewish and Persian custom that punishes offenders for \'abusing\' the king.
John Gill sees the conversion of Persian allies (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|8:17}}`{=mediawiki}) as an example of \'conversion under duress\' but does not discount alternative explanations. They include being impressed by the \'Divine Providence\' working in the Jews\' favor and seeking the favor of Esther and Mordecai, who gained immense power. But ultimately, the Persian allies and Jews celebrated Purim together and taught their children to read the Book of Esther (`{{Bibleverse|Esther|9:27}}`{=mediawiki}).
According to Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, there is a code in the Book of Esther which lies in the names of Haman\'s 10 sons. Three of the Hebrew letters---a tav, a shin and a zayin---are written smaller than the rest, while a vav is written larger. The outsized vav---which represents the number six---corresponds to the sixth millennium of the world since creation, which, according to Jewish tradition, is the period between 1240 and 2240 CE. As for the tav, shin and zayin, their numerical values add up to 707. Put together, these letters refer to the Jewish year 5707, which corresponds to the secular 1946--1947. In his research, Neugroschel noticed that ten Nazi defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were executed by hanging on 16 October 1946, which was the date of the final judgement day of Judaism, Hoshana Rabbah. Additionally, Hermann Göring, an eleventh Nazi official sentenced to death, committed suicide, parallel to Haman\'s daughter in Tractate Megillah.
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# Book of Esther
## Additions to Esther {#additions_to_esther}
An additional six chapters appear interspersed in Esther in the Septuagint, an early Greek translation of the Bible. This was noted by Jerome in compiling the Latin Vulgate. Additionally, the Greek text contains many small changes in the meaning of the main text. Jerome recognized the former as additions not present in the Hebrew Text and placed them at the end of his Latin translation. This placement is used in Catholic Bible translations based primarily on the Vulgate, such as the Douay--Rheims Bible and the Knox Bible, with chapters numbered up to 16. In contrast, the Nova Vulgata incorporates the additions to Esther directly into the narrative itself, as do most modern Catholic English translations based on the original Hebrew and Greek (e.g., Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, New American Bible, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition). The numbering system for the additions therefore differs with each translation. The Nova Vulgata accounts for the additional verses by numbering them as extensions of the verses immediately following or preceding them (e.g., Esther 11:2--12 in the old Vulgate becomes Esther 1:1a--1k in the Nova Vulgata), while the NAB and its successor, the NABRE, assign letters of the alphabet as chapter headings for the additions (e.g., Esther 11:2--12:6 in the Vulgate becomes Esther A:1--17). The RSVCE and the NRSVCE place the additional material into the narrative, but retain the chapter and verse numbering of the old Vulgate.
### Contents
These additions are:
- an opening prologue that describes a dream had by Mordecai, printed ahead of chapter 1 in RSVCE
- the contents of the decree against the Jews, included within chapter 3 in RSVCE
- an extension to the dialogue between Hathach and Mordecai, placed after 4:8 in RSVCE
- prayers for God\'s intervention offered by Mordecai and by Esther, both in chapter in RSVCE
- an expansion of the scene in which Esther appears before the king, with a mention of God\'s intervention, included in chapter 5 in RSVCE
- a copy of the decree in favor of the Jews, added to chapter 8 in RSVCE
- a passage in which Mordecai interprets his dream (from the prologue) in terms of the events that followed, added to chapter 10 in RSVCE
- a colophon appended to the end of chapter 10, also referenced as 11:1, which reads:
It is unclear to which version of Greek Esther this colophon refers, and who exactly are the figures mentioned in it.
By the time the Greek version of Esther was written, the foreign power visible on the horizon as a future threat to Judah was the kingdom of Macedonia under Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian empire about 150 years after the time of the story of Esther; the Septuagint version noticeably calls Haman a \"Bougaion\" (*βουγαῖον*), possibly in the Homeric sense of \"bully\" or \"braggart\", whereas the Hebrew text describes him as an Agagite.
### Canonicity
The canonicity of these Greek additions has been a subject of scholarly disagreement practically since their first appearance in the Septuagint.`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} Martin Luther, being perhaps the most vocal Reformation-era critic of the work, considered even the original Hebrew version to be of very doubtful value.
The Council of Basel--Ferrara--Florence confirmed its status as canonical between 1431 and 1445.
The Council of Trent, the summation of the Counter-Reformation, reconfirmed the entire book, both Hebrew text and Greek additions, as canonical. The Book of Esther is used twice in commonly used sections of the Catholic Lectionary. In both cases, the text used is not only taken from a Greek addition. The readings also include the prayer of Mordecai, and nothing of Esther\'s own words is ever used.`{{clarify|date=December 2022}}`{=mediawiki} The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of Esther, as it does for all of the Old Testament.
In contrast, the additions are included in the Biblical apocrypha, usually printed in a separate section (if at all) in Protestant bibles. The additions, called \"The rest of the Book of Esther\", are specifically listed in the Thirty-Nine Articles, Article VI, of the Church of England as non-canonical, though \"read for example of life and instruction of manners\".
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# Book of Esther
## Modern retelling {#modern_retelling}
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Year | Type | Cast or creator | Description |
+======+============+========================+==========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| 1511 | Painting | Michelangelo | There are several paintings depicting Esther and her story, including *The Punishment of Haman* by Michelangelo, in a corner of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1660 | Painting | Rembrandt van Rijn | In 1660, Rembrandt van Rijn\'s painting of *Esther\'s Banquet* depicts how Esther approached the men at their level to make the request of erasing the decree. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1689 | Poem | Lucrezia Tornabuoni | The Italian Renaissance poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni chose Esther as one of biblical figures on which she wrote poetry. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1689 | Stageplay | Jean Baptiste Racine | Jean Baptiste Racine wrote *Esther*, a tragedy, at the request of Louis XIV\'s wife, Françoise d\'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1718 | Stageplay | Handel | Handel wrote the oratorio *Esther* based on Racine\'s play. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1881 | Poem | Christina Rossetti | The eighth poem of 14 in Rossetti\'s sonnet-of-sonnets sequence *Monna Innominata* portrays Esther as brave, beautiful, wise and witty, as \'subtle as a snake\', and the woman who \'built her people\'s house that it should stand\'. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1958 | Book | Gladys Malvern | In 1958, a book entitled *Behold Your Queen!* was written by Gladys Malvern and illustrated by her sister, Corinne Malvern. It was chosen as a selection of the Junior Literary Guild. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1960 | Stageplay | Saunders Lewis | The play entitled *Esther* (1960), written by Welsh dramatist Saunders Lewis, is a retelling of the story in Welsh. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1960 | Movie | Joan Collins | A 1960 movie about the story, *Esther and the King*, starring Joan Collins. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1978 | Miniseries | Victoria Principal | A 1978 miniseries entitled *The Greatest Heroes of the Bible* starred Victoria Principal as Esther, Robert Mandan as Xerxes, and Michael Ansara as Haman. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1979 | TV movie | Olivia Hussey | A 1979 television film entitled *The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther* and aired on ABC-TV, starring Olivia Hussey as Esther, Tony Musante as King Ahasuerus, and Harris Yulin as Haman. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1981 | Animation | Superbook | Episode 25 of the 1981 anime series Superbook involves this story |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1983 | Musical | J. Edward Oliver,\ | The 1983 musical entitled *Swan Esther* was written by J. Edward Oliver and Nick Munns and released as a concept album with Stephanie Lawrence and Denis Quilley. *Swan Esther* has been performed by the Young Vic, a national tour produced by Bill Kenwright and some amateur groups. |
| | | Nick Munns | |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1986 | Movie | Amos Gitai | Israeli film directed by Amos Gitai entitled *Esther*. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1987 | Book | Tomie dePaola | Children\'s book titled *Queen Esther* written and illustrated by award-winning American author Tomie dePaola and published by HarperCollins. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1992 | Animation | Helen Slater | In 1992, a 30-minute, fully animated video, twelfth in Hanna-Barbera\'s *The Greatest Adventure* series, titled *Queen Esther* features the voices of Helen Slater as Queen Esther, Dean Jones as King Ahasuerus, Werner Klemperer as Haman, and Ron Rifkin as Mordecai. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1999 | TV movie | Louise Lombard | TV movie from the *Bible Collection* that follows the biblical account very closely, *Esther*, starred Louise Lombard in the title role and F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2000 | Animation | *VeggieTales* | *VeggieTales* released \"Esther\... The Girl Who Became Queen\". |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2005 | Book | Ginger Garrett | *Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther* by Ginger Garrett. 2005, NavPress.`{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2006 | Movie | Tiffany Dupont,\ | A movie about Esther and Ahasuerus, entitled *One Night with the King*, stars Tiffany Dupont and Luke Goss. It was based on the novel *Hadassah: One Night with the King* by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen. |
| | | Luke Goss | |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ?? | ?? | ?? | Esther is one of the five heroines of the Order of the Eastern Star.`{{importance inline|date=July 2015}}`{=mediawiki} |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2011 | Song | Maccabeats | On March 8, 2011, the Maccabeats released a music video called \"Purim Song\". |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2012 | Book | J. T. Waldman | In 2012, a graphic adaptation of the Book of Esther was illustrated by J. T. Waldman and appeared in volume one of *The Graphic Canon*, edited by Russ Kick and published by Seven Stories Press. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2013 | Movie | Jen Lilley | *The Book of Esther* is a 2013 movie starring Jen Lilley as Queen Esther and Joel Smallbone as King Xerxes. |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2015 | Book | Angela Hunt | Hunt, Angela \"Esther: Royal Beauty\" (A Dangerous Beauty Novel) (2015) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2016 | Book | Rebecca Kanner | Kanner, Rebecca, \"Esther\" (2016) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2011 | Book | Joan Wolf | Wolf, Joan,\"A Reluctant Queen: The Love Story of Esther\" (2011) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2011 | Book | Roseanna M. White | White, Roseanna, M. \"Jewel of Persia\" (2011) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 | Book | Jill Eileen Smith | Smith, Jill, Eileen.\"Star of Persia: Esther\'s Story\" (2020) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2013 | Book | H.B. Moore | H.B. Moore.\"Esther the Queen\" (2013) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2014 | Movie | CJ Kramer | \"Megillas Lester\", an animated comedy loosely based on the Book of Esther, where a boy named Daniel Lesterovich (a.k.a., \"Lester\") is knocked out and travels back in time to the story of the Megillah, and nearly changes history by accidentally saving Queen Vashti. (2014) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 | Book | Elizabeth Mack | Mack, Elizabeth. \"The Queen of Persia\" (2020) |
+------+------------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2019 | Book | Diana Taylor | Taylor, Diana, Wallis
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# Book of Lamentations
The **Book of Lamentations** (*אֵיכָה*, `{{Transliteration|he|ʾĒḵā}}`{=mediawiki}, from its incipit meaning \"how\") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible, it appears in the Ketuvim (\"Writings\") as one of the Five Megillot (\"Five Scrolls\") alongside the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Ecclesiastes, and the Book of Esther. In the Christian Old Testament, it follows the Book of Jeremiah, for the prophet Jeremiah is traditionally understood to have been its author. By the mid-19th century, German scholars doubted Jeremiah\'s authorship, a view that has since become the prevailing scholarly consensus. Most scholars also agree that the Book of Lamentations was composed shortly after Jerusalem\'s fall in 586 BCE.
Some motifs of a traditional Mesopotamian \"city lament\" are evident in the book, such as mourning the desertion of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the deity; others \"parallel the funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails\... and\... addresses the \[dead\]\". The tone is bleak: God does not speak, the degree of suffering is presented as overwhelming, and expectations of future redemption are minimal. Nonetheless, the author repeatedly makes clear that the city---and even the author himself---has profusely sinned against God, thus justifying God\'s wrath. In doing so, the author does not blame God but rather presents God as righteous, just, and sometimes even merciful.
## Summary
The book consists of five separate poems. In the first chapter, the city sits as a desolate weeping widow overcome with miseries. In chapter 2, these miseries are described in connection with national sins and acts of God. Chapter 3 speaks of hope for the people of God: that the chastisement would only be for their good; a better day would dawn for them. Chapter 4 laments the ruin and desolation of the city and temple but traces it to the people\'s sins. Some of chapter 5 is a prayer that Zion\'s reproach may be taken away in the repentance and recovery of the people. In some Greek copies, and in the Latin Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions, the last chapter is headed \"The Prayer of Jeremiah\".
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# Book of Lamentations
## Themes
Lamentations combines elements of the *kinah*, a funeral dirge for the loss of the city, and the \"communal lament\" pleading for the restoration of its people. It reflects the view, traceable to Sumerian literature of a thousand years earlier, that the destruction of the holy city was a punishment by God for the communal sin of its people. However, while Lamentations is generically similar to the Sumerian laments of the early 2nd millennium BCE (e.g., \"Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur,\" \"Lament for Sumer and Ur,\" and the \"Nippur Lament\"), the Sumerian laments were recited on the occasion of the rebuilding of a temple and, therefore, have optimistic endings. In contrast, the book of Lamentations was written before the return/rebuilding and thus contains only lamentations and pleas to God with no response or resolution.
Beginning with the reality of disaster, Lamentations concludes with the bitter possibility that God may have finally rejected Israel. Sufferers in the face of grief are not urged to have confidence in the goodness of God; in fact, God is accountable for the disaster. The poet acknowledges that this suffering is a just punishment. Still, God is held to have had a choice over whether to act in this way and at this time. Hope arises from a recollection of God\'s past goodness, but although this justifies a cry to God to act in deliverance, there is no guarantee that he will. Repentance will not persuade God to be gracious since he can give or withhold grace as he chooses. In the end, the possibility is that God has finally rejected his people and may not again deliver them. Nevertheless, it also affirms confidence that the mercies of Yahweh (the God of Israel) never end but are new every morning.
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# Book of Lamentations
## Structure
Lamentations consists of five distinct (and non-chronological) poems, corresponding to its five chapters. Two of its defining characteristic features are the alphabetic acrostic and its qinah meter. However, few English translations capture either; even fewer attempt to capture both.
### Acrostic
The first four chapters are written as acrostics. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the first lines beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, the second with the second letter, and so on. Chapter 3 has 66 verses, so that each alphabet letter begins three lines.
The fifth poem, corresponding to the fifth chapter, is not acrostic but still has 22 lines.
Although some claim that purpose or function of the acrostic form is unknown, it is frequently thought that a complete alphabetical order expresses a principle of completeness, from `{{Transliteration|he|[[aleph|alef]]}}`{=mediawiki} (first letter) to `{{Transliteration|he|[[taw|tav]]}}`{=mediawiki} (22nd letter); the English equivalent would be \"from A to Z\".
English translations that attempt to capture this acrostic nature are few in number. They include those by Ronald Knox and by David R. Slavitt. In both cases their mapping of the 22 Hebrew letters into the Latin alphabet\'s 26 uses \'A\' to \'V\' (omitting W, X, Y and Z), thus lacking the \"A to Z\" sense of completeness.
#### Acrostic ordering {#acrostic_ordering}
Unlike standard alphabetical order, in the middle chapters of Lamentations, the letter `{{Transliteration|he|[[Pe (Semitic letter)|pe]]}}`{=mediawiki} (the 17th letter) comes before `{{Transliteration|he|[[ayin]]}}`{=mediawiki} (the 16th). In the first chapter, the Masoretic text uses the standard modern alphabetical order; however, in the Dead Sea Scrolls version of the text (4QLam/4Q111, c. 37 BCE -- 73 CE), even the first chapter uses the `{{Transliteration|he|pe-ayin}}`{=mediawiki} order found in chapters 2, 3, and 4.
### `{{Transliteration|he|Qinah}}`{=mediawiki}
The book\'s first four chapters have a well-defined *qinah* rhythm of three stresses followed by two, although the fifth chapter lacks this. Dobbs-Allsopp describes this meter as \"the rhythmic dominance of unbalanced and enjambed lines\". Again, few English translations attempt to capture this. Exceptions include Robert Alter\'s *Hebrew Bible* and the *New American Bible Revised Edition*.
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# Book of Lamentations
## Composition
The traditional ascription of authorship to Jeremiah derives from the impetus to ascribe all biblical books to inspired biblical authors. Jeremiah, a prophet who prophesied its demise at the time, was an obvious choice. In 2 Chronicles 35:25 Jeremiah is said to have composed a lament for the death of King Josiah, but there is no reference to Josiah in the book of Lamentations and no reason to connect it to Jeremiah. However, the modern consensus amongst scholars is that Jeremiah did not write Lamentations; like most ancient literary texts, the author or authors remain anonymous.
Scholars are divided over whether the book is the work of one or multiple authors. According to the latter position, a different poet wrote each of the book\'s chapters and then joined to form the book. One clue pointing to multiple authors is that the gender and situation of the first-person witness changes---the narration is feminine in the first and second lamentations, but masculine in the third, while the fourth and fifth are eyewitness reports of Jerusalem\'s destruction. Conversely, the similarities of style, vocabulary, and theological outlook and the uniform historical setting are arguments for one author.
The book\'s language fits an Exilic date (586--520 BCE), and the poems probably originated from Judeans who remained in the land. The fact that the acrostics of chapters 2--4 follow the `{{Transliteration|he|pe-ayin}}`{=mediawiki} order of the pre-Exilic Paleo-Hebrew alphabet further supports the position that they are not postexilic compositions. However, the sequence of the chapters is not chronological, and the poems were not necessarily written by eyewitnesses to the events. The book was compiled between 586 BCE and the end of the 6th century BCE, when the Temple was rebuilt. Because Second Isaiah, whose work is dated to 550--538 BCE, seems to have known at least parts of Lamentations, the book was probably in circulation by the mid-6th century, but the exact time, place, and reason for its composition are unknown.
## In liturgy {#in_liturgy}
Lamentations is recited annually by Jews on the fast day of Tisha B\'Av (the Ninth of Av) (July--August), mourning the destructions of both the First Temple (by the Babylonians in 586 BCE) and the Second Temple (by the Romans in 70 CE). In many manuscripts and for synagogue liturgical use, Lamentations 5:21 is repeated after verse 22, so that the reading does not end with a painful statement---a practice also performed for the last verse of Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and Malachi, \"so that the reading in the Synagogue might close with words of comfort\".
In Christian tradition, readings from Lamentations are part of the Holy Week liturgies.
In Western Christianity, readings (often chanted) and choral settings of extracts from the book are used in the Lenten religious service known as *\[\[Tenebrae\]\]* (Latin for \'darkness\'). In the Church of England, readings are used at Morning and Evening Prayer on the Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week, and at Evening Prayer on Good Friday.
In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the book\'s third chapter is chanted on the 12th hour of the Good Friday service, which commemorates the burial of Jesus.
## Surviving manuscripts {#surviving_manuscripts}
Many of the oldest surviving manuscripts are from centuries after the period of authorship. In Hebrew, the Leningrad Codex (1008) is a Masoretic Text version. Since 1947, the whole book is missing from the Aleppo Codex. Fragments containing parts of the book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q111 (30--1 BCE), 3Q3 (30 BCE--50 CE), 5Q6 (50 CE), and 5Q7 (30 BCE--50 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. The Septuagint translation added an introductory line before the first stanza:
: *And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, that Jeremias sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said,*
Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (6th century).
## In music {#in_music}
- The King James Version of Lamentations 1:12 are cited as texts in the English-language oratorio \"Messiah\" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56).
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- Handel also used verses from Lamentations in the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline\'s second movement, \"The Ways of Zion do Mourn.\"
- Edward Gibbons adapted some of the text in his verse anthem *How hath ye City sate solitary*
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# Beaver
**Beavers** (genus ***Castor***) are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (*Castor canadensis*) and the Eurasian beaver (*C. fiber*). Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras, weighing up to 50 kg. They have stout bodies with large heads, long chisel-like incisors, brown or gray fur, hand-like front feet, webbed back feet, and tails that are flat and scaly. The two species differ in skull and tail shape and fur color. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats, such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. They are herbivorous, consuming tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.
Beavers build dams and lodges using tree branches, vegetation, rocks and mud; they chew down trees for building material. Dams restrict water flow, forming ponds, and lodges (usually built in ponds) serve as shelters. Their infrastructure creates wetlands used by many other species, and because of their effect on other organisms in the ecosystem, beavers are considered a keystone species. Adult males and females live in monogamous pairs with their offspring. After their first year, the young help their parents repair dams and lodges; older siblings may also help raise newly born offspring. Beavers hold territories and mark them using scent mounds made of mud, debris, and castoreum---a liquid substance excreted through the beaver\'s urethra-based castor sacs. Beavers can also recognize their kin by their anal gland secretions and are more likely to tolerate them as neighbors.
Historically, beavers have been hunted for their fur, meat, and castoreum. Castoreum has been used in medicine, perfume, and food flavoring; beaver pelts have been a major driver of the fur trade. Before protections began in the 19th and early 20th centuries, overhunting had nearly exterminated both species. Their populations have since rebounded, and they are listed as species of least concern by the IUCN Red List of mammals. In human culture, the beaver symbolizes industriousness, especially in connection with construction; it is the national animal of Canada.
## Etymology
The English word *beaver* comes from the Old English word *beofor* or *befor* and is connected to the German word *biber* and the Dutch word *bever*. The ultimate origin of the word is an Indo-European root for `{{gloss|brown}}`{=mediawiki}. Cognates of *beaver* are the source for several European placenames, including those of Beverley, Bièvres, Biberbach, Biebrich, Bibra, Bibern, Bibrka, Bobr, Bober, Bóbrka, Bjurholm, Bjurälven, and Bjurum. The genus name *Castor* has its origin in the Greek word *κάστωρ* `{{transliteration|grc|kastōr}}`{=mediawiki} and translates as `{{gloss|beaver}}`{=mediawiki}.
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# Beaver
## Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus coined the genus name *Castor* as well as the specific (species) epithet *fiber* for the Eurasian species. German zoologist Heinrich Kuhl coined *C. canadensis* in 1820. Many scientists considered both names synonymous for one same species until the 1970s, when chromosomal evidence became available confirming both as separate where the Eurasian has 48 chromosomes, while the North American has 40. The difference in chromosome numbers prevents them from interbreeding. Twenty-five subspecies have been classified for *C. canadensis*, and nine have been classified for *C. fiber*.
There are two extant species: the North American beaver (*Castor canadensis*) and the Eurasian beaver (*C. fiber*). The Eurasian beaver is slightly longer and has a more lengthened skull, triangular nasal cavities (as opposed to the square ones of the North American species), a lighter fur color, and a narrower tail.
### Evolution
Beavers belong to the rodent suborder Castorimorpha, along with Heteromyidae (kangaroo rats and kangaroo mice), and the gophers. Modern beavers are the only extant members of the family Castoridae. They originated in North America in the late Eocene and colonized Eurasia via the Bering Land Bridge in the early Oligocene, coinciding with the *Grande Coupure*, a time of significant changes in animal species around 33`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million years ago (myr).
The more basal castorids had several unique features: more complex occlusion between cheek teeth, parallel rows of upper teeth, premolars that were only slightly smaller than molars, the presence of a third set of premolars (P3), a hole in the stapes of the inner ear, a smooth palatine bone (with the palatine opening closer to the rear end of the bone), and a longer snout. More derived castorids have less complex occlusion, upper tooth rows that create a V-shape towards the back, larger second premolars compared to molars, absence of a third premolar set and stapes hole, a more grooved palatine (with the opening shifted towards the front), and reduced incisive foramen. Members of the subfamily *Palaeocastorinae* appeared in late-Oligocene North America. This group consisted primarily of smaller animals with relatively large front legs, a flattened skull, and a reduced tail---all features of a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle.
In the early Miocene (about 24 mya), castorids evolved a semiaquatic lifestyle. Members of the subfamily Castoroidinae are considered to be a sister group to modern beavers, and included giants like *Castoroides* of North America and *Trogontherium* of Eurasia. *Castoroides* is estimated to have had a length of 1.9 -- and a weight of 90 --. Fossils of one genus in Castoroidinae, *Dipoides*, have been found near piles of chewed wood, though *Dipoides* appears to have been an inferior woodcutter compared to *Castor*. Researchers suggest that modern beavers and Castoroidinae shared a bark-eating common ancestor. Dam and lodge-building likely developed from bark-eating, and allowed beavers to survive in the harsh winters of the subarctic. There is no conclusive evidence for this behavior occurring in non-*Castor* species.
The genus *Castor* likely originated in Eurasia. The earliest fossil remains appear to be *C. neglectus*, found in Germany and dated 12--10 mya. Mitochondrial DNA studies place the common ancestor of the two living species at around 8 mya. The ancestors of the North American beaver would have crossed the Bering Land Bridge around 7.5 mya. *Castor* may have competed with members of Castoroidinae, which led to niche differentiation. The fossil species *C. praefiber* was likely an ancestor of the Eurasian beaver. *C. californicus* from the Early Pleistocene of North America was similar to but larger than the extant North American beaver.\'
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# Beaver
## Characteristics
Beavers are the second-largest living rodents, after capybaras. They have a head--body length of 80 --, with a 25 -- tail, a shoulder height of 30 --, and generally weigh 11 --, but can be as heavy as 50 kg. Males and females are almost identical externally. Their bodies are streamlined like marine mammals and their robust build allows them to pull heavy loads. A beaver coat has 12,000--23,000 hairs/cm^2^ (77,000--148,000 hairs/in^2^) and functions to keep the animal warm, to help it float in water, and to protect it against predators. Guard hairs are 5 -- long and typically reddish brown, but can range from yellowish brown to nearly black. The underfur is 2 -- long and dark gray. Beavers molt every summer.
Beavers have large skulls with powerful chewing muscles. They have four chisel-shaped incisors that continue to grow throughout their lives. The incisors are covered in a thick enamel that is colored orange or reddish-brown by iron compounds. The lower incisors have roots that are almost as long as the entire lower jaw. Beavers have one premolar and three molars on all four sides of the jaws, adding up to 20 teeth. The molars have meandering ridges for grinding woody material. The eyes, ears and nostrils are arranged so that they can remain above water while the rest of the body is submerged. The nostrils and ears have valves that close underwater, while nictitating membranes cover the eyes. To protect the larynx and trachea from water flow, the epiglottis is contained within the nasal cavity instead of the throat. In addition, the back of the tongue can rise and create a waterproof seal. A beaver\'s lips can close behind the incisors, preventing water from entering their mouths as they cut and bite onto things while submerged.
The beaver\'s front feet are dexterous, allowing them to grasp and manipulate objects and food, as well as dig. The hind feet are larger and have webbing between the toes, and the second innermost toe has a \"double nail\" used for grooming. Beavers can swim at 8 km/h; only their webbed hind feet are used to swim, while the front feet fold under the chest. On the surface, the hind limbs thrust one after the other; while underwater, they move at the same time. Beavers are awkward on land but can move quickly when they feel threatened. They can carry objects while walking on their hind legs.
The beaver\'s distinctive tail has a conical, muscular, hairy base; the remaining two-thirds of the appendage is flat and scaly. The tail has multiple functions: it provides support for the animal when it is upright (such as when chewing down a tree), acts as a rudder when it is swimming, and stores fat for winter. It also has a countercurrent blood vessel system which allows the animal to lose heat in warm temperatures and retain heat in cold temperatures.
The beaver\'s sex organs are inside the body, and the male\'s penis has a cartilaginous baculum. They have only one opening, a cloaca, which is used for reproduction, scent-marking, defecation, and urination. The cloaca evolved secondarily, as most mammals have lost this feature, and may reduce the area vulnerable to infection in dirty water. The beaver\'s intestine is six times longer than its body, and the caecum is double the volume of its stomach. Microorganisms in the caecum allow them to process around 30 percent of the cellulose they eat. A beaver defecates in the water, leaving behind balls of sawdust. Female beavers have four mammary glands; these produce milk with 19 percent fat, a higher fat content than other rodents. Beavers have two pairs of glands: castor sacs, which are part of the urethra, and anal glands. The castor sacs secrete castoreum, a liquid substance used mainly for marking territory. Anal glands produce an oily substance which the beaver uses as a waterproof ointment for its coat. The substance plays a role in individual and family recognition. Anal secretions are darker in females than males among Eurasian beavers, while the reverse is true for the North American species. Compared to many other rodents, a beaver\'s brain has a hypothalamus that is much smaller than the cerebrum; this indicates a relatively advanced brain with higher intelligence. The cerebellum is large, allowing the animal to move within a three-dimensional space (such as underwater) similar to tree-climbing squirrels. The neocortex is devoted mainly to touch and hearing. Touch is more advanced in the lips and hands than the whiskers and tail. Vision in the beaver is relatively poor; the beaver eye cannot see as well underwater as an otter. Beavers have a good sense of smell, which they use for detecting land predators and for inspecting scent marks, food, and other individuals.
Beavers can hold their breath for as long as 15 minutes but typically remain underwater for no more than five or six minutes. Dives typically last less than 30 seconds and are usually no more than 1 m deep. When diving, their heart rate decreases to 60 beats per minute, half its normal pace, and blood flow is directed more towards the brain. A beaver\'s body also has a high tolerance for carbon dioxide. When surfacing, the animal can replace 75 percent of the air in its lungs in one breath, compared to 15 percent for a human.
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# Beaver
## Distribution and status {#distribution_and_status}
The IUCN Red List of mammals lists both beaver species as least concern. The North American beaver is widespread throughout most of the United States and Canada and can be found in northern Mexico. The species was introduced to Finland in 1937 (and then spread to northwestern Russia) and to Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, in 1946. `{{As of|2019}}`{=mediawiki}, the introduced population of North American beavers in Finland has been moving closer to the habitat of the Eurasian beaver. Historically, the North American beaver was trapped and nearly extirpated because its fur was highly sought after. Protections have allowed the beaver population on the continent to rebound to an estimated 6--12`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million by the late 20th century; still far lower than the originally estimated 60--400`{{spaces}}`{=mediawiki}million North American beavers before the fur trade. The introduced population in Tierra del Fuego is estimated at 35,000--50,000 individuals `{{As of|2016|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}.
The Eurasian beaver\'s range historically included much of Eurasia, but was decimated by hunting by the early 20th century. In Europe, beavers were reduced to fragmented populations, with combined population numbers being estimated at 1,200 individuals for the Rhône of France, the Elbe in Germany, southern Norway, the Neman river and Dnieper Basin in Belarus, and the Voronezh river in Russia. The beaver has since recolonized parts of its former range, aided by conservation policies and reintroductions. Beaver populations now range across western, central, and eastern Europe, and western Russia and the Scandinavian Peninsula. Beginning in 2009, beavers have been successfully reintroduced to parts of Great Britain. `{{As of|2020|alt=|pre=In|bare=y}}`{=mediawiki}, the total Eurasian beaver population in Europe was estimated at over one million. Small native populations are also present in Mongolia and northwestern China; their numbers were estimated at 150 and 700, respectively, `{{As of|2016|lc=y}}`{=mediawiki}. Under New Zealand\'s Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, beavers are classed as a \"prohibited new organism\" preventing them from being introduced into the country.
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# Beaver
## Ecology
Beavers live in freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Water is the most important component of beaver habitat; they swim and dive in it, and it provides them refuge from land predators. It also restricts access to their homes and allows them to move building objects more easily. Beavers prefer slower moving streams, typically with a gradient (steepness) of one percent, though they have been recorded using streams with gradients as high as 15 percent. Beavers are found in wider streams more often than in narrower ones. They also prefer areas with no regular flooding and may abandon a location for years after a significant flood.
Beavers typically select flat landscapes with diverse vegetation close to the water. North American beavers prefer trees being 60 m or less from the water, but will roam several hundred meters to find more. Beavers have also been recorded in mountainous areas. Dispersing beavers will use certain habitats temporarily before finding their ideal home. These include small streams, temporary swamps, ditches, and backyards. These sites lack important resources, so the animals do not stay there permanently. Beavers have increasingly settled at or near human-made environments, including agricultural areas, suburbs, golf courses, and shopping malls.
Beavers have an herbivorous and a generalist diet. During the spring and summer, they mainly feed on herbaceous plant material such as leaves, roots, herbs, ferns, grasses, sedges, water lilies, water shields, rushes, and cattails. During the fall and winter, they eat more bark and cambium of woody plants; tree and shrub species consumed include aspen, birch, oak, dogwood, willow and alder. There is some disagreement about why beavers select specific woody plants; some research has shown that beavers more frequently select species which are more easily digested, while others suggest beavers principally forage based on stem size. Beavers may cache their food for the winter, piling wood in the deepest part of their pond where it cannot be reached by other browsers. This cache is known as a \"raft\"; when the top becomes frozen, it creates a \"cap\". The beaver accesses the raft by swimming under the ice. Many populations of Eurasian beaver do not make rafts, but forage on land during winter.
Beavers usually live up to 10 years. Felids, canids, and bears may prey upon them. Beavers are protected from predators when in their lodges, and prefer to stay near water. Parasites of the beaver include the bacteria *Francisella tularensis*, which causes tularemia; the protozoan *Giardia duodenalis*, which causes giardiasis (beaver fever); and the beaver beetle and mites of the genus *Schizocarpus*. They have also been recorded to be infected with the rabies virus.
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# Beaver
## Ecology
### Infrastructure
Beavers need trees and shrubs to use as building material for dams, which restrict flowing water to create a pond for them to live in, and for lodges, which act as shelters and refuges from predators and the elements. Without such material, beavers dig burrows into a bank to live. Dam construction begins in late summer or early fall, and they repair them whenever needed. Beavers can cut down trees up to 15 cm wide in less than 50 minutes. Thicker trees, at 25 cm wide or more, may not fall for hours. When chewing down a tree, beavers switch between biting with the left and right side of the mouth. Tree branches are then cut and carried to their destination with the powerful jaw and neck muscles. Other building materials, like mud and rocks, are held by the forelimbs and tucked between the chin and chest.
Beavers start building dams when they hear running water, and the sound of a leak in a dam triggers them to repair it. To build a dam, beavers stack up relatively long and thick logs between the banks. Heavy rocks keep them stable, and grass is packed between them. Beavers continue to pile on more material until the dam slopes in a direction facing upstream. Dams can range in height from 20 cm to 3 m and can stretch from 0.3 m to several hundred meters long. Beaver dams are more effective in trapping and slowly leaking water than man-made concrete dams. Lake-dwelling beavers do not need to build dams.
Beavers make two types of lodges: bank lodges and open-water lodges. Bank lodges are burrows dug along the shore and covered in sticks while the more complex freestanding, open-water lodges are built over a platform of piled-up sticks. The lodge is mostly sealed with mud, except for a hole at the top which acts as an air vent. Both types are accessed by underwater entrances. The above-water space inside the lodge is known as the \"living chamber\", and a \"dining area\" may exist close to the water entrance. Families routinely clean out old plant material and bring in new material.
North American beavers build more open-water lodges than Eurasian beavers. Beaver lodges built by new settlers are typically small and sloppy. More experienced families can build structures with a height of 2 m and an above-water diameter of 6 m. A lodge sturdy enough to withstand the coming winter can be finished in just two nights. Both lodge types can be present at a beaver site. During the summer, beavers tend to use bank lodges to keep cool and use open-water lodges during the winter. The air vent provides ventilation, and newly added carbon dioxide can be cleared in an hour. The lodge remains consistent in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels from season to season.
Beavers in some areas will dig canals connected to their ponds. The canals fill with groundwater and give beavers access and easier transport of resources, as well as allow them to escape predators. These canals can stretch up to 1 m wide, 0.5 m deep, and over 0.5 km long. It has been hypothesized that beavers\' canals are not only transportation routes but an extension of their \"central place\" around the lodge and/or food cache. As they drag wood across the land, beavers leave behind trails or \"slides\", which they reuse when moving new material.
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# Beaver
## Ecology
### Environmental effects {#environmental_effects}
The beaver works as an ecosystem engineer and keystone species, as its activities can have a great impact on the landscape and biodiversity of an area. Aside from humans, few other extant animals appear to do more to shape their environment. When building dams, beavers alter the paths of streams and rivers, allowing for the creation of extensive wetland habitats. In one study, beavers were associated with large increases in open-water areas. When beavers returned to an area, 160% more open water was available during droughts than in previous years, when they were absent. Beaver dams also lead to higher water tables in mineral soil environments and in wetlands such as peatlands. In peatlands particularly, their dams stabilize the constantly changing water levels, leading to greater carbon storage.
Beaver ponds, and the wetlands that succeed them, remove sediments and pollutants from waterways, and can stop the loss of important soils. These ponds can increase the productivity of freshwater ecosystems by accumulating nitrogen in sediments. Beaver activity can affect the temperature of the water; in northern latitudes, ice thaws earlier in the warmer beaver-dammed waters. Beavers may contribute to climate change. In Arctic areas, the floods they create can cause permafrost to thaw, releasing methane into the atmosphere.
As wetlands are formed and riparian habitats are enlarged, aquatic plants colonize the newly available watery habitat. One study in the Adirondacks found that beaver engineering lead to an increase of more than 33 percent in herbaceous plant diversity along the water\'s edge. Another study in semiarid eastern Oregon found that the width of riparian vegetation on stream banks increased several-fold as beaver dams watered previously dry terraces adjacent to the stream. Riparian ecosystems in arid areas appear to sustain more plant life when beaver dams are present. Beaver ponds act as a refuge for riverbank plants during wildfires, and provide them with enough moisture to resist such fires. Introduced beavers at Tierra del Fuego have been responsible for destroying the indigenous forest. Unlike trees in North America, many trees in South America cannot grow back after being cut down. Beaver activity impacts communities of aquatic invertebrates. Damming typically leads to an increase of slow or motionless water species, like dragonflies, oligochaetes, snails, and mussels. This is to the detriment of rapid water species like black flies, stoneflies, and net-spinning caddisflies. Beaver floodings create more dead trees, providing more habitat for terrestrial invertebrates like *Drosophila* flies and bark beetles, which live and breed in dead wood. The presence of beavers can increase wild salmon and trout populations, and the average size of these fishes. These species use beaver habitats for spawning, overwintering, feeding, and as havens from changes in water flow. The positive effects of beaver dams on fish appear to outweigh the negative effects, such as blocking of migration. Beaver ponds have been shown to be beneficial to frog populations by protecting areas for larvae to mature in warm water. The stable waters of beaver ponds also provide ideal habitat for freshwater turtles.
Beavers help waterfowl by creating increased areas of water. The widening of the riparian zone associated with beaver dams has been shown to increase the abundance and diversity of birds favoring the water\'s edge, an impact that may be especially important in semi-arid climates. Fish-eating birds use beaver ponds for foraging, and in some areas, certain species appear more frequently at sites where beavers were active than at sites with no beaver activity. In a study of Wyoming streams and rivers, watercourses with beavers had 75 times as many ducks as those without. As trees are drowned by rising beaver impoundments, they become an ideal habitat for woodpeckers, which carve cavities that may be later used by other bird species. Beaver-caused ice thawing in northern latitudes allows Canada geese to nest earlier.
Other semi-aquatic mammals, such as water voles, muskrats, minks, and otters, will shelter in beaver lodges. Beaver modifications to streams in Poland create habitats favorable to bat species that forage at the water surface and \"prefer moderate vegetation clutter\". Large herbivores, such as some deer species, benefit from beaver activity as they can access vegetation from fallen trees and ponds.
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# Beaver
## Behavior
Beavers are mainly nocturnal and crepuscular, and spend the daytime in their shelters. In northern latitudes, beaver activity is decoupled from the 24-hour cycle during the winter, and may last as long as 29 hours. They do not hibernate during winter, and spend much of their time in their lodges.
### Family life {#family_life}
The core of beaver social organization is the family, which is composed of an adult male and an adult female in a monogamous pair and their offspring. Beaver families can have as many as ten members; groups about this size require multiple lodges. Mutual grooming and play fighting maintain bonds between family members, and aggression between them is uncommon.
Adult beavers mate with their partners, though partner replacement appears to be common. A beaver that loses its partner will wait for another one to come by. Estrus cycles begin in late December and peak in mid-January. Females may have two to four estrus cycles per season, each lasting 12--24 hours. The pair typically mate in the water and to a lesser extent in the lodge, for half a minute to three minutes.
Up to four young, or kits, are born in spring and summer, after a three or four-month gestation. Newborn beavers are precocial with a full fur coat, and can open their eyes within days of birth. Their mother is the primary caretaker, while their father maintains the territory. Older siblings from a previous litter also play a role.
After they are born, the kits spend their first one to two months in the lodge. Kits suckle for as long as three months, but can eat solid food within their second week and rely on their parents and older siblings to bring it to them. Eventually, beaver kits explore outside the lodge and forage on their own, but may follow an older relative and hold onto their backs. After their first year, young beavers help their families with construction. Beavers sexually mature around 1.5--3 years. They become independent at two years old, but remain with their parents for an extra year or more during times of food shortage, high population density, or drought.
### Territories and spacing {#territories_and_spacing}
Beavers typically disperse from their parental colonies during the spring or when the winter snow melts. They often travel less than 5 km, but long-distance dispersals are not uncommon when previous colonizers have already exploited local resources. Beavers are able to travel greater distances when free-flowing water is available. Individuals may meet their mates during the dispersal stage, and the pair travel together. It may take them weeks or months to reach their final destination; longer distances may require several years. Beavers establish and defend territories along the banks of their ponds, which may be 1 -- in length.
Beavers mark their territories by constructing scent mounds made of mud and vegetation, scented with castoreum. Those with many territorial neighbors create more scent mounds. Scent marking increases in spring, during the dispersal of yearlings, to deter interlopers. Beavers are generally intolerant of intruders and fights may result in deep bites to the sides, rump, and tail. They exhibit a behavior known as the \"dear enemy effect\"; a territory-holder will investigate and become familiar with the scents of its neighbors and react more aggressively to the scents of strangers passing by. Beavers are also more tolerant of individuals that are their kin. They recognize them by using their keen sense of smell to detect differences in the composition of anal gland secretions. Anal gland secretion profiles are more similar among relatives than unrelated individuals.
### Communication
Beavers within a family greet each other with whines. Kits will attract the attention of adults with mews, squeaks, and cries. Defensive beavers produce a hissing growl and gnash their teeth. Tail slaps, which involve an animal hitting the water surface with its tail, serve as alarm signals warning other beavers of a potential threat. An adult\'s tail slap is more successful in alerting others, who will escape into the lodge or deeper water. Juveniles have not yet learned the proper use of a tail slap, and hence are normally ignored. Eurasian beavers have been recorded using a territorial \"stick display\", which involves individuals holding up a stick and bouncing in shallow water.
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# Beaver
## Interactions with humans {#interactions_with_humans}
Beavers sometimes come into conflict with humans over land use; individual beavers may be labeled as \"nuisance beavers\". Beavers can damage crops, timber stocks, roads, ditches, gardens, and pastures via gnawing, eating, digging, and flooding. They occasionally attack humans and domestic pets, particularly when infected with rabies, in defense of their territory, or when they feel threatened. Some of these attacks have been fatal, including at least one human death. Beavers can spread giardiasis (\'beaver fever\') by infecting surface waters, though outbreaks are more commonly caused by human activity.
Flow devices, like beaver pipes, are used to manage beaver flooding, while fencing and hardware cloth protect trees and shrubs from beaver damage. If necessary, hand tools, heavy equipment, or explosives are used to remove dams. Hunting, trapping, and relocation may be permitted as forms of population control and for removal of individuals. The governments of Argentina and Chile have authorized the trapping of invasive beavers in hopes of eliminating them. The ecological importance of beavers has led to cities like Seattle designing their parks and green spaces to accommodate the animals. The Martinez beavers became famous in the mid-2000s for their role in improving the ecosystem of Alhambra Creek in Martinez, California.
Zoos have displayed beavers since at least the 19th century, though not commonly. In captivity, beavers have been used for entertainment, fur harvesting, and for reintroduction into the wild. Captive beavers require access to water, substrate for digging, and artificial shelters. Archibald Stansfeld \"Grey Owl\" Belaney pioneered beaver conservation in the early 20th century. Belaney wrote several books, and was first to professionally film beavers in their environment. In 1931, he moved to a log cabin in Prince Albert National Park, where he was the \"caretaker of park animals\" and raised a beaver pair and their four offspring.
### Commercial use {#commercial_use}
Beavers have been hunted, trapped, and exploited for their fur, meat, and castoreum. Since the animals typically stayed in one place, trappers could easily find them and could kill entire families in a lodge. Many pre-modern people mistakenly thought that castoreum was produced by the testicles or that the castor sacs of the beaver were its testicles, and females were hermaphrodites. Aesop\'s Fables describes beavers chewing off their testicles to preserve themselves from hunters, which is impossible because a beaver\'s testicles are internal. This myth persisted for centuries, and was corrected by French physician Guillaume Rondelet in the 1500s. Beavers have historically been hunted and captured using deadfalls, snares, nets, bows and arrows, spears, clubs, firearms, and leg-hold traps. Castoreum was used to lure the animals.
Castoreum was used for a variety of medical purposes; Pliny the Elder promoted it as a treatment for stomach problems, flatulence, seizures, sciatica, vertigo, and epilepsy. He stated it could stop hiccups when mixed with vinegar, toothaches if mixed with oil (by administering into the ear opening on the same side as the tooth), and could be used as an antivenom. The substance has traditionally been prescribed to treat hysteria in women, which was believed to have been caused by a \"toxic\" womb. Castoreum\'s properties have been credited to the accumulation of salicylic acid from willow and aspen trees in the beaver\'s diet, and has a physiological effect comparable to aspirin. Today, the medical use of castoreum has declined and is limited mainly to homeopathy. The substance is also used as an ingredient in perfumes and tinctures, and as a flavouring in food and drinks.
Various Native American groups have historically hunted beavers for food, they preferred its meat more than other red meats because of its higher calorie and fat content, and the animals remained plump in winter when they were most hunted. The bones were used to make tools. In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church considered the beaver to be part mammal and part fish, and allowed followers to eat the scaly, fishlike tail on meatless Fridays during Lent. Beaver tails were thus highly prized in Europe; they were described by French naturalist Pierre Belon as tasting like a \"nicely dressed eel\".
Beaver pelts were used to make hats; felters would remove the guard hairs. The number of pelts needed depended on the type of hat, with Cavalier and Puritan hats requiring more fur than top hats. In the late 16th century, Europeans began to deal in North American furs due to the lack of taxes or tariffs on the continent and the decline of fur-bearers at home. Beaver pelts caused or contributed to the Beaver Wars, King William\'s War, and the French and Indian War; the trade made John Jacob Astor and the owners of the North West Company very wealthy. For Europeans in North America, the fur trade was a driver of the exploration and westward exploration on the continent and contact with native peoples, who traded with them. The fur trade peaked between 1860 and 1870, when over 150,000 beaver pelts were purchased annually by the Hudson\'s Bay Company and fur companies in the United States. The contemporary global fur trade is not as profitable due to conservation, anti-fur and animal rights campaigns.
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# Beaver
## Interactions with humans {#interactions_with_humans}
### In culture {#in_culture}
The beaver has been used to represent productivity, trade, tradition, masculinity, and respectability. References to the beaver\'s skills are reflected in everyday language. The English verb \"to beaver\" means working with great effort and being \"as busy as a beaver\"; a \"beaver intellect\" refers to a way of thinking that is slow and honest. Though it typically has a wholesome image, the beaver\'s name has been used as a sexual term for the human vulva.
Native American myths emphasize the beaver\'s skill and industriousness. In the mythology of the Haida, beavers are descended from the Beaver-Woman, who built a dam on a stream next to their cabin while her husband was out hunting and gave birth to the first beavers. In a Cree story, the Great Beaver and its dam caused a world flood. Other tales involve beavers using their tree chewing skills against an enemy. Beavers have been featured as companions in some stories, including a Lakota tale where a young woman flees from her evil husband with the aid of her pet beaver.
Europeans have traditionally thought of beavers as fantastical animals due to their amphibious nature. They depicted them with exaggerated tusk-like teeth, dog- or pig-like bodies, fish tails, and visible testicles. French cartographer Nicolas de Fer illustrated beavers building a dam at Niagara Falls, fantastically depicting them like human builders. Beavers have also appeared in literature such as Dante Alighieri\'s *Divine Comedy* and the writings of Athanasius Kircher, who wrote that on Noah\'s Ark the beavers were housed near a water-filled tub that was also used by mermaids and otters.
The beaver has long been associated with Canada, appearing on the first pictorial postage stamp issued in the Canadian colonies in 1851 as the so-called \"Three-Penny Beaver\". It was declared the national animal in 1975. The five-cent coin, the coat of arms of the Hudson\'s Bay Company, and the logos for Parks Canada and Roots Canada use its image. Frank and Gordon are two fictional beavers that appeared in Bell Canada\'s advertisements between 2005 and 2008. However, the beaver\'s status as a rodent has made it controversial, and it was not chosen to be on the Arms of Canada in 1921. The beaver has commonly been used to represent Canada in political cartoons, typically to signify it as a friendly but relatively weak nation. In the United States, the beaver is the state animal of New York and Oregon. It is also featured on the coat of arms of the London School of Economics
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# Bubble and squeak
**Bubble and squeak** is an English dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the \"great peasant dishes of the world\". The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, and in its early versions it contained cooked beef; by the mid-20th century the two vegetables had become the principal ingredients.
## History
The name of the dish, according to the *Oxford English Dictionary* (OED), alludes to the sounds made by the ingredients when being fried. The first recorded use of the name listed in the OED dates from 1762; *The St James\'s Chronicle*, recording the dishes served at a banquet, included \"Bubble and Squeak, garnish\'d with Eddowes Cow Bumbo, and Tongue\". A correspondent in *The Public Advertiser* two years later reported making \"a very hearty Meal on fryed Beef and Cabbage; though I could not have touched it had my Wife recommended it to me under the fashionable Appellation of *Bubble and Squeak*\". In 1791 another London paper recorded the quarterly meeting of the Bubble and Squeak Society at Smithfield.
thumb\|upright=1.5\|alt=scan of early 19th century page of text, giving ingredients as in the adjoining paragraph to this image\|Maria Rundell\'s recipe, 1806 The dish as it is made in modern times differs considerably from its first recorded versions, in which cooked beef was the main ingredient and potatoes did not feature. The earliest-known recipe is in Maria Rundell\'s *A New System of Domestic Cookery*, published in 1806. It consists wholly of cabbage and rare roast beef, seasoned and fried. This method is followed by William Kitchiner in his book *Apicius Redivivus, or The Cook\'s Oracle* (1817); in later editions he adds a couplet at the top of his recipe:
` When 'midst the frying Pan in accents savage,`\
` The Beef, so surly, quarrels with the Cabbage.`` `
Mrs Beeton\'s recipe in her *Book of Household Management* (1861) similarly combines cooked beef with cabbage (and, in her recipe, onions) but no potato. An 1848 recipe from the US is similar, but adds chopped carrots. In all of these, the meat and vegetables are served next to each other, and not mixed together.
In 1872 a Lancashire newspaper offered a recipe for \"delicious bubble and squeak\", consisting of thinly-sliced beef fried with cabbage and carrot, but not potatoes, although by then they had been a major crop in Lancashire for decades. In the 1880s potatoes began to appear in recipes. In 1882 the \"Household\" column of *The Manchester Times* suggested: `{{blockindent|'''Bubble and Squeak'''. – Mash four potatoes, chop a plateful of cold greens, season with a small saltspoonful of salt and the same of pepper; mix well together, and fry in dissolved dripping or butter (three ounces), stirring all the time. Cut about three-quarters of a pound of cold, boiled beef into neat, thin slices. Fry slightly over a slow fire six minutes. Put the vegetables round the dish and the meat in the centre. Serve very hot.<ref>"The Household Column", ''The Manchester Times'', 11 March 1882, p. 7</ref>|}}`{=mediawiki}
Potatoes featured in a recipe printed in a Yorkshire paper in 1892 but, as in earlier versions, the main ingredients were beef and cabbage.
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# Bubble and squeak
## Modern versions {#modern_versions}
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Bubble and squeak, left Possibly because of the scarcity of beef during food rationing in and after the Second World War, by the latter half of the 20th century the basic ingredients were widely considered to be cooked and mashed (or coarsely crushed) potato and chopped cooked cabbage. Those are the only two ingredients in Delia Smith\'s 1987 recipe. Clarissa Dickson Wright\'s 1996 version consists of crushed cooked potatoes, finely chopped raw onion, and cooked cabbage (or brussels sprouts), seasoned with salt and pepper, mixed together and shallow-fried until browned on the exterior. Like Smith, Dickson Wright specifies dripping (or lard) for frying, finding vegetable oil unsuitable for frying bubble and squeak, because the mixture will not brown adequately. Several other cooks find oil or butter satisfactory.
Fiona Beckett (2008), like Smith and Dickson Wright, stipulates no ingredients other than potato and cabbage, but there are many published variants of the basic recipe. Gary Rhodes favours sliced brussels sprouts, rather than cabbage, with gently cooked sliced onions and mashed potato, fried in butter. He comments that although the basic ingredients of bubble and squeak and colcannon are similar, the two are very different dishes, the former being traditionally made from left-overs and fried to give a brown crust, and the latter \"a completely separate dish of potato, spring onion and cabbage, served almost as creamed potatoes\".
Jeff Smith (1987) adds grated courgettes and chopped ham and bacon. Mark Hix (2005) adds cooked and chopped leeks and swede to the mix. Jamie Oliver (2007) adds chestnuts and \"whatever veg you like -- carrots, Brussels, swedes, turnips, onions, leeks or Savoy cabbage\". Nigel Slater, in a 2013 recipe using Christmas leftovers, adds chopped goose, ham and pumpkin to the mixture.
The mixture is then shallow fried, either shaped into round cakes or as a single panful and then sliced. The first method is suggested by Delia Smith, Hix and Slater; Rhodes finds both methods satisfactory; Dickson Wright, Oliver and Jeff Smith favour the whole-pan method.
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# Bubble and squeak
## Outside Britain {#outside_britain}
Bubble and squeak is familiar in Australia; a 1969 recipe adds peas and pumpkin to the basic mix. The dish is not common in the US but is not unknown; an American recipe from 1913 resembles Rundell\'s version, with the addition of a border of mashed potato. In 1983 the American food writer Howard Hillman included bubble and squeak in his survey *Great Peasant Dishes of the World*. More recently *Forbes* magazine ran an article about the dish in 2004. A Canadian newspaper in 1959 reported a minor controversy about the origins of the dish, with readers variously claiming it as Australian, English, Irish and Scottish. In 1995, another Canadian paper called the dish \"universally beloved\".
## Similar dishes {#similar_dishes}
- Panackelty, from north-east England
- Rumbledethumps, stovies and clapshot from Scotland
- Colcannon and champ, from Ireland
- Stoemp from Belgium
- Calentao, from Colombia
- Biksemad, from Denmark
- Bauernfrühstück and Stemmelkort, from Germany
- Aloo tikki, from India
- Stamppot, from the Netherlands
- Trinxat, from the La Cerdanya region of Catalonia, northeast Spain and Andorra
- Matevž, from Slovenia
- Pyttipanna, Pyttipanne and Pyttipannu from Sweden, Norway and Finland
- Hash, from the United States
## Other uses of term {#other_uses_of_term}
The OED gives a secondary definition of \"bubble and squeak\": \"figurative and in figurative contexts. Something resembling or suggestive of bubble and squeak, especially in consisting of a variety of elements\". In 1825 a reviewer in *The Morning Post* dismissed a new opera at Covent Garden as \"a sort of bubble and squeak mixture of English and Italian\". The OED gives examples from the 18th to the 21st centuries, including, from Coleridge, \"\... the restless Bubble and Squeak of his Vanity and Discontent\", and from D. H. Lawrence, \"I can make the most lovely bubble and squeak of a life for myself\". In cockney rhyming slang the phrase was formerly used for \"beak\" (magistrate) and more recently \"Bubble\" has been used for \"Greek\".
The term has been borrowed by authors of children\'s books as names for a pair of puppies and (by two different authors) pairs of mice.
In the late 1940s, George Moreno Jr., an American animator living and working in England, borrowed the term, re-spelling it \"Bubble and Squeek,\" for a series of cartoon shorts released by Associated British-Pathe. The star characters of Moreno\'s cartoons were a humanized taxi (Squeek) and its driver (Bubble)
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# Breast reconstruction
**Breast reconstruction** is the surgical process of rebuilding the shape and look of a breast, most commonly in women who have had surgery to treat breast cancer. It involves using autologous tissue, prosthetic implants, or a combination of both with the goal of reconstructing a natural-looking breast. This process often also includes the rebuilding of the nipple and areola, known as nipple-areola complex (NAC) reconstruction, as one of the final stages.
Generally, the aesthetic appearance is acceptable to the woman, but the reconstructed area is commonly completely numb afterwards, which results in loss of sexual function as well as the ability to perceive pain caused by burns and other injuries.
## Timing
Breast reconstruction can be performed either immediately following the mastectomy or as a separate procedure at a later date, known as immediate reconstruction and delayed reconstruction, respectively. The decision of when breast reconstruction will take place is patient-specific and based on many different factors. Breast reconstruction is a large undertaking that usually requires multiple operations. These subsequent surgeries may be spread out over weeks or months.
### Immediate reconstruction {#immediate_reconstruction}
Breast reconstruction is termed \"immediate\" when it takes place during the same procedure as the mastectomy. Within the United States, approximately 35% of women who have undergone a total mastectomy for breast cancer will choose to pursue immediate breast reconstruction. One of the inherent advantages of immediate reconstruction is the potential for a single-stage procedure. This also means that the cost of immediate reconstruction is often far less to the patient. It can also reduce hospital costs by having fewer procedures and requiring a shorter length of the stay as an inpatient. Additionally, immediate reconstruction often has a better cosmetic result because of the preservation of anatomic landmarks and skin. With regards to psychosocial outcomes, opinions on timing have shifted in favor of immediate reconstruction. Originally, delayed reconstruction was believed to provide patients with time to psychologically adjust to the mastectomy and its effects on body image. However, this opinion is no longer widely held. Compared to delayed procedures, immediate reconstruction can have a more positive psychological impact on patients and their self-esteem, most likely due to the post-operative breast more closely resembling the natural breast compared to the defect left by mastectomy alone.
### Delayed reconstruction {#delayed_reconstruction}
Delayed breast reconstruction is considered more challenging than immediate reconstruction. Frequently not just breast volume, but also skin surface area needs to be restored. Many patients undergoing delayed breast reconstruction have been previously treated with radiation or have had a reconstruction failure with immediate breast reconstruction. In nearly all cases of delayed breast reconstruction tissue must be borrowed from another part of the body to make the new breast. Patients expected to receive radiation therapy as part of their adjuvant treatment are also commonly considered for delayed autologous reconstruction due to significantly higher complication rates with tissue expander-implant techniques in those patients. While waiting to begin breast reconstruction until several months after radiation therapy may decrease the risk of complications, this risk will always be higher in patients who have received radiation therapy. As with many other surgeries, patients with significant medical comorbidities (e.g., high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes) and smokers are higher-risk candidates. Surgeons may choose to perform delayed reconstruction to decrease this risk.
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# Breast reconstruction
## Techniques
There are several techniques for breast reconstruction. These options are broadly categorized into two different groups:
### Implant-based reconstruction {#implant_based_reconstruction}
This is the most common technique used worldwide. Implant-based reconstruction is an option for patients who have sufficient skin after mastectomy to cover a prosthetic implant and allow for a natural shape. For women undergoing bilateral mastectomies, implants provide the greatest opportunity for symmetrical shape and lift. Additionally, these procedures are generally much faster than flap-based reconstruction since tissue does not have to be taken from another part of the patient\'s body.
Implant-based reconstruction may be one- or two-staged. In one-stage reconstruction, a permanent implant is inserted at the time of mastectomy. During two-stage reconstruction, the surgeon will insert a tissue expander underneath the pectoralis major muscle of the chest wall at the time of mastectomy. This temporary silastic implant is used to hold tension on the mastectomy flaps. In doing so, the tissue expander prevents the breast tissue from contracting and allows for use of a larger implant later on compared to what would be safe at the time of the mastectomy. Following this initial procedure, the patient must return to the clinic on multiple occasions for saline to be injected into a tube inside the tissue expander. By doing this slowly over the course of several weeks, the space beneath the pectoralis major muscle is safely expanded to an appropriate size without causing too much stress on the breast tissue. A second procedure is then necessary to remove the tissue expander and replace it with the final, permanent prosthetic implant.
Although in the past, prosthetic implants were placed directly under the skin, this method has fallen out of favor because of the greater risk of complications, including visible rippling of the implant and capsular contracture. The sub-pectoral technique described above is now preferred because it provides an additional muscular layer between the skin and the implant, decreasing the risk of visible deformity. Oftentimes, however, the pectoralis major muscle is not sufficiently large enough to cover the inferior portion of the prosthetic implant. If this is the case, one option is to use an acellular dermal matrix to cover the exposed portion of the prosthetic implant, improving both functional and aesthetic outcomes. This prepectoral space has recently, however, come back into practice, with comparable rates of post-operative complications and implant loss to submuscular placement. Both delayed and direct-to-implant reconstruction in this plane has been shown to be favourable.
Of note, a Cochrane review published in 2016 concluded that implants for use in breast reconstructive surgery have not been adequately studied in good quality clinical trials. \"These days - even after a few million women have had breasts reconstructed -- surgeons cannot inform women about the risks and complications of different implant-based breast reconstructive options on the basis of results derived from Randomized Controlled Trials.\"
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# Breast reconstruction
## Techniques
### Flap-based reconstruction {#flap_based_reconstruction}
Flap-based reconstruction uses tissue from other parts of the patient\'s body (i.e., autologous tissue) such as the back, buttocks, thigh or abdomen. In surgery, a \"flap\" is any type of tissue that is lifted from a donor site and moved to a recipient site using its own blood supply. Usually, the blood supply is a named vessel. Flap-based reconstruction may be performed either by leaving the donor tissue connected to the original site (also known as a pedicle flap) to retain its blood supply (where the vessels are tunneled beneath the skin surface to the new site) or by cutting the donor tissue\'s vessels and surgically reconnecting them to a new blood supply at the recipient site (also known as a free flap or free tissue transfer). The latissimus dorsi is a prime example of such a flap since it can remain attached to its primary blood source which preserves the skins functioning, and is associated with better outcomes in comparison to other muscle and skin donor sites.
One option for breast reconstruction involves using the latissimus dorsi muscle as the donor tissue. As a back muscle, the latissimus dorsi is large and flat and can be used without significant loss of function. It can be moved into the breast defect while still attached to its blood supply under the arm pit (axilla). A latissimus flap is often used to recruit soft-tissue coverage over an underlying implant; however, if the latissimus flap can provide enough volume, then occasionally it is used to reconstruct small breasts without the need for an implant. The latissimus dorsi flap has a number of advantages, but despite the advances in surgical techniques, it has remained vulnerable to skin dehiscence or necrosis at the donor site (on the back). The Mannu flap is a form of latissimus dorsi flap which avoids this complication by preserving a generous subcutaneous fat layer at the donor site and has been shown to be a safe, simple and effective way of avoiding wound dehiscence at the donor site after extended latissimus dorsi flap reconstruction.
Another possible donor site for breast reconstruction is the abdomen. The TRAM (transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous) flap or its technically distinct variants of microvascular \"perforator flaps\" like the DIEP/SIEA flaps are all commonly used. In a TRAM procedure, a portion of the abdominal tissue, which includes skin, subcutaneous fat, minor muscles, and connective tissues, is taken from the patient\'s abdomen and transplanted to the breast site. Both TRAM and DIEP/SIEA use the abdominal tissue between the umbilicus (or \"belly button\") and the pubis. The DIEP flap and free-TRAM flap require advanced microsurgical technique and are less common as a result. Both can provide enough tissue to reconstruct large breasts and are a good option for patients who would prefer to maintain their pre-operative breast volume. These procedures are preferred by some breast cancer patients because removal of the donor site tissue results in an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and allow the breast to be reconstructed with one\'s own tissues instead of a prosthetic implant that uses foreign material. That said, TRAM flap procedures can potentially weaken the abdominal wall and torso strength, but they are generally well tolerated by most patients. Perforator techniques such as the DIEP (deep inferior epigastric perforator) flap and SIEA (superficial inferior epigastric artery) flap require precise dissection of small perforating vessels through the rectus muscle and, thus, do not require removal of abdominal muscle. Because of this, these flaps have the advantage of maintaining the majority of abdominal wall strength.
Other donor sites for autologous breast reconstruction include the buttocks, which provides tissue for the SGAP and IGAP (superior and inferior gluteal artery perforator, respectively) flaps. The purpose of perforator flaps (DIEP, SIEA, SGAP, IGAP) is to provide sufficient skin and fat for an aesthetic reconstruction while minimizing post-operative complications from harvesting the underlying muscles. DIEP reconstruction generally produces the best outcome for most women. See free flap breast reconstruction for more information.
Mold-assisted reconstruction is a potential adjunctive process to help in flap-based reconstruction. By using a laser and 3D printer, a patient-specific silicone mold can be used as an aid during surgery, used as a guide for orienting and shaping the flap to improve accuracy and symmetry.
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# Breast reconstruction
## Adjunctive procedures {#adjunctive_procedures}
To restore the appearance of the pre-operative breast, there are a few options regarding the nipple-areolar complex (NAC):
- A nipple prosthesis can be used to restore the appearance of the reconstructed breast. Impressions can be made and photographs can be used to accurately replace the nipple lost with some types of mastectomies. This can be instrumental in restoring the psychological well-being of the breast cancer survivor. The same process can be used to replicate the remaining nipple in cases of a single mastectomy. Ideally, a prosthesis is made around the time of the mastectomy and it can be used just weeks after the surgery.
- Nipple-areolar complex reconstruction can also be performed surgically. Within the first year following breast reconstruction, flaps can undergo contraction and decrease in size by up to 50%. Although flaps are made larger initially for this reason, it is hard to accurately predict the final breast volume. Because of this, NAC reconstruction is considered the very last stage of breast reconstruction, delayed until after breast mound reconstruction is completed (including additional procedures such as fat grafting or excess tissue removal) so that the positioning of the NAC can be planned precisely. There are several methods of reconstructing the nipple-areolar complex:
- **Nipple grafting (nipple sharing):** If a patient undergoes a single mastectomy with reconstruction and the opposite breast is preserved, then one option is to remove part of the preserved nipple and transfer it to the reconstructed breast. This also requires that the patient has sufficient nipple-areolar tissue to be removed as nipple grafting will decrease the native nipple\'s projection by about 50%. One of the benefits of this procedure is that the color and texture of the NAC is identical to that of the opposite breast.
- **Local tissue flaps:** For patients who have undergone bilateral mastectomies (as well as patients receiving a unilateral mastectomy who do not want to pursue nipple grafting), a nipple can be created by raising a small, local flap in the target area and producing a raised mound of skin very similar in shape to a nipple. To create an areola, a circular incision may be made around the new nipple and sutured back again. While this option does produce the shape and outline of the NAC, it does not affect the skin color. To make it appear more natural, the nipple and areolar region may then be tattooed to produce a darker skin color more similar to a natural nipple and areola.
- **Local tissue flaps, with acellular dermis graft:** As above, a nipple may be created by raising a small flap in the target area and producing a raised mound of skin. A graft of acellular dermis (such as cadaver-derived material) can then be inserted into the core of the new nipple acting as a support which may help maintain the projection of the nipple for a longer time.
- The nipple and areolar region may be tattooed later. There are, however, some important issues in relation to NAC tattooing that should be considered prior to opting for tattooing, such as the choice of pigments and equipment used for the procedure.
When looking at the entire process of breast reconstruction, patients typically report that NAC reconstruction is the least satisfying step. Compared to a normal nipple, the reconstructed nipple often has less projection (how far the nipple extends beyond the breast mound) and lacks sensation. In women who have undergone a single mastectomy with reconstruction, another challenge is aesthetically matching the reconstructed NAC to the native breast.
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# Breast reconstruction
## Outcomes
The typical outcome of breast reconstruction surgery is a breast mound with a pleasing aesthetic shape, with a texture similar to a natural breast, but which feels completely or mostly numb for the woman herself. This loss of sensation, called *somatosensory loss* or the inability to perceive touch, heat, cold, and pain, sometimes results in women burning themselves or injuring themselves without noticing, or not noticing that their clothing has shifted to expose their breasts. \"I can\'t even feel it when my kids hug me,\" said one mother, who had nipple-sparing breast reconstruction after a bilateral mastectomy. The loss of sensation has long-term medical consequences, because it makes the affected women unable to feel itchy rashes, infected sores, cuts, bruises, or situations that risk sunburns or frostbite on the affected areas.
More than half of women treated for breast cancer develop upper quarter dysfunction, including limits on how well they can move, pain in the breast, shoulder or arm, lymphedema, loss of sensation, and impaired strength. The risk of dysfunction is higher among women who have breast reconstruction surgery. One in three have complications, one in five need further surgery and the procedure fails in 5%.
Some methods have specific side effects. The transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap method results in weakness and loss of flexibility in the abdominal wall. Reconstruction with implants have a higher risk of long-term pain.
Outcomes-based research on quality of life improvements and psychosocial benefits associated with breast reconstruction served as the stimulus in the United States for the 1998 Women\'s Health and Cancer Rights Act, which mandated that health care payer cover breast and nipple reconstruction, contralateral procedures to achieve symmetry, and treatment for the sequelae of mastectomy. This was followed in 2001 by additional legislation imposing penalties on noncompliant insurers. Similar provisions for coverage exist in most countries worldwide through national health care programs
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# Β-Lactam
A **β-lactam** (***beta-*lactam**) ring is a four-membered lactam. A *lactam* is a cyclic amide, and *beta*-lactams are named so because the nitrogen atom is attached to the β-carbon atom relative to the carbonyl. The simplest β-lactam possible is 2-azetidinone. β-lactams are significant structural units of medicines as manifested in many β-lactam antibiotics. Up to 1970, most β-lactam research was concerned with the penicillin and cephalosporin groups, but since then, a wide variety of structures have been described.
## Clinical significance {#clinical_significance}
The β-lactam ring is part of the core structure of several antibiotic families, the principal ones being the penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and monobactams, which are, therefore, also called β-lactam antibiotics. Nearly all of these antibiotics work by inhibiting bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. This has a lethal effect on bacteria, although any given bacteria population will typically contain a subgroup that is resistant to β-lactam antibiotics. Bacterial resistance occurs as a result of the expression of one of many genes for the production of β-lactamases, a class of enzymes that break open the β-lactam ring. More than 1,800 different β-lactamase enzymes have been documented in various species of bacteria. These enzymes vary widely in their chemical structure and catalytic efficiencies. When bacterial populations have these resistant subgroups, treatment with β-lactam can result in the resistant strain becoming more prevalent and therefore more virulent. β-lactam derived antibiotics can be considered one of the most important antibiotic classes but prone to clinical resistance. β-lactam exhibits its antibiotic properties by imitating the naturally occurring d-Ala-d-Ala substrate for the group of enzymes known as penicillin binding proteins (PBP), which have as function to cross-link the peptidoglycan part of the cell wall of the bacteria.
The β-lactam ring is also found in some other drugs such as the cholesterol absorption inhibitor drug ezetimibe.
## Synthesis
The first synthetic β-lactam was prepared by Hermann Staudinger in 1907 by reaction of the Schiff base of aniline and benzaldehyde with diphenylketene in a \[2+2\] cycloaddition (Ph indicates a phenyl functional group):
:
Many methods have been developed for the synthesis of β-lactams.
The **Breckpot β-lactam synthesis** produces substituted β-lactams by the cyclization of beta amino acid esters by use of a Grignard reagent. Mukaiyama\'s reagent is also used in modified Breckpot synthesis.
:
## Reactions
Due to ring strain, β-lactams are more readily hydrolyzed than linear amides or larger lactams. This strain is further increased by fusion to a second ring, as found in most β-lactam antibiotics. This trend is due to the amide character of the β-lactam being reduced by the aplanarity of the system. The nitrogen atom of an ideal amide is sp^2^-hybridized due to resonance, and sp^2^-hybridized atoms have trigonal planar bond geometry. As a pyramidal bond geometry is forced upon the nitrogen atom by the ring strain, the resonance of the amide bond is reduced, and the carbonyl becomes more ketone-like. Nobel laureate Robert Burns Woodward described a parameter *h* as a measure of the height of the trigonal pyramid defined by the nitrogen (as the apex) and its three adjacent atoms. *h* corresponds to the strength of the β-lactam bond with lower numbers (more planar; more like ideal amides) being stronger and less reactive. Monobactams have *h* values between 0.05 and 0.10 angstroms (Å). Cephems have *h* values in of 0.20--0.25 Å. Penams have values in the range 0.40--0.50 Å, while carbapenems and clavams have values of 0.50--0.60 Å, being the most reactive of the β-lactams toward hydrolysis
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# Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg
The **Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg** (*Hochstift Brandenburg*) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th century until it was secularized during the second half of the 16th century. It should not be confused with the larger Diocese of Brandenburg (*Dioecesis Brandenburgensis*) established by King Otto I of Germany in 948, in the territory of the *Marca Geronis* (Saxon Eastern March) east of the Elbe river. The diocese, over which the prince-bishop exercised only spiritual authority, was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, its seat was Brandenburg an der Havel.
## History
The Prince-Bishopric of Brandenburg was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire for some time, probably starting about 1161/1165. However, the Brandenburg bishops never managed to gain control over a significant territory, being overshadowed by the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which was originally seated in the same city. Chapter and cathedral, surrounded by further ecclesiastical institutions, were located on the *Dominsel* (Cathedral Island), which formed a prince-episcopal cathedral immunity district (*Domfreiheit*), distinct from the city of Brandenburg. Only in 1929 the - meanwhile former - immunity district was incorporated into the city itself.
As rulers of imperial immediacy, regnant in a, however, dispersed territory partitioned into the four bailiwicks (*Ämter*) of Brandenburg/Havel, Ketzin, Teltow and Ziesar. The prince-bishops from the early 14th century onwards resided in their fortress in Ziesar on the road to Magdeburg. The last actual bishop was Matthias von Jagow (d. 1544), who took the side of the Protestant Reformation, married, and in every way furthered the undertakings of the Hohenzollern elector Joachim II.
There were two more nominal bishops, but on the petition of the latter of these, the electoral prince John George of Brandenburg appointed in 1560, the secularisation of the bishopric was undertaken and finally accomplished in 1571, in spite of legal proceedings to reassert the imperial immediacy of the prince-bishopric within the Empire and so to likewise preserve the diocese, which dragged on into the 17th century.
## Prince-bishops {#prince_bishops}
### Catholics
- 1138--1160: Wiggar
- 1160--1173: Wilman
- 1173--1179: Sigfried I
- 1179--1190: Baldran
- 1190--1192: Alexius
- 1192--1205: Norbert
- 1205--1216: Baldwin
- 1216--1220: Siegfried II
- 1221--1222: Ludolf von Schanebeck, claimant, but not enthroned
- 1221--1222: Wichmann von Arnstein, counter-claimant, also not enthroned
- 1222--1241: Gernot
- 1241--1251: Ruotger von Kerkow
- 1251--1261: Otto von Mehringen
- 1261--1278: Heinrich I von Osthenen (or *Ostheeren*)
- 1278--1287: Gebhard
- 1287--1290: Heidenreich
- 1290--1291: Richard, refused the appointment
- 1291--1296: Dietrich, not enthroned
- 1296--1302: Vollrad von Krempa
- 1303--1316: Friedrich von Plötzkau
- 1316--1324: Johann I von Tuchen
- 1324--1327: Heinrich II Count of Barby, not enthroned
- 1327--1347: Ludwig Schenk von Reindorf (or *Neuendorf*)
- 1347--1365: Dietrich II Kothe
- 1366--1393: Dietrich III von der Schulenburg
- 1393--1406: Heinrich III von Bodendiek (or *Bodendieck*)
- 1406--1414: Henning von Bredow
- 1414: Friedrich von Grafeneck, Prince-Bishop of Augsburg 1413--1414
- 1415--1420: Johann von Waldow, Bishop of Lebus 1420--1423
- 1420: Friedrich von Grafeneck, again
- 1421--1459: Stephan Bodecker
- 1459--1472: Dietrich IV von Stechow
- 1472--1485: Arnold von Burgsdorff
- 1485--1507: Joachim I von Bredow
- 1507--1520: Hieronymus Schulz (or *Scultetus*), Bishop of Havelberg 1521--1522
- 1520--1526: Dietrich V von Hardenberg
### Lutherans
- 1526--1544: Matthias von Jagow
- 1544--1546: *Sede vacante*
- 1546--1560: Joachim of Münsterberg-Oels
- 1560--1569/71: John George of Brandenburg, regent (*Verweser*)
- 1569/71: Joachim Frederick of Brandenburg
Secularized and merged into Brandenburg
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# Book of Obadiah
The **Book of Obadiah** is a book of the Bible whose authorship is attributed to Obadiah. Obadiah is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the final section of Nevi\'im, the second main division of the Hebrew Bible. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses with 440 Hebrew words, making it the shortest book in the Tanakh (The Hebrew Bible), though there are three shorter New Testament epistles in Greek (Philemon with 335 words, 2 John with 245 words, and 3 John with 219 words). The Book of Obadiah is a prophecy concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel.
The majority of scholars date the Book of Obadiah to shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Other scholars hold that the book was shaped by the conflicts between Yehud and the Edomites in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE and evolved through a process of redaction.
## Content
The Book of Obadiah is based on a prophetic vision concerning the fall of Edom, a mountain-dwelling nation whose founding father was Esau. Obadiah describes an encounter with Yahweh, who addresses Edom\'s arrogance and charges them for their \"violence against your brother Jacob\".
Throughout most of the history of Judah, Edom was controlled absolutely from Jerusalem as a vassal state. Obadiah said that the high elevation of their dwelling place in the mountains of Seir had gone to their head, and they had puffed themselves up in pride. \"\'Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,\' declares the `{{Lord}}`{=mediawiki}\".
In the Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC), Nebuchadnezzar II sacked Jerusalem, carted away the King of Judah, and installed a puppet ruler. The Edomites helped the Babylonians loot the city. Obadiah, writing this prophecy around 590 BCE, suggests the Edomites should have remembered that blood was thicker than water. \"On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them\... You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.\"
Obadiah said in judgment that Yahweh would wipe out the house of Esau forever, and not even a remnant would remain. The Edomites\' land would be possessed by the lands of the south and they would cease to exist as a people. The Day of the Lord was at hand for all nations, and one day, the children of Israel would return victorious from their exile and possess the land of Edom, the fields of Ephraim, the land of Gilead, the lowland of Philistia, and the fields of Samaria.
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# Book of Obadiah
## Scholarly issues {#scholarly_issues}
### Dating Obadiah {#dating_obadiah}
The date of composition is disputed and is difficult to determine due to the lack of personal information about Obadiah, his family, and his historical milieu: the date must therefore be determined based on the prophecy itself. Edom is to be destroyed due to its lack of defense for its brother nation, Israel, when it was under attack. There are two major historical contexts within which the Edomites could have committed such an act. These are during 853--841 BCE when Jerusalem was invaded by Philistines and Arabs during the reign of Jehoram of Judah (recorded in 2 Kings `{{bibleverse-nb|2 Kings|8:20–22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} and 2 Chronicles `{{bibleverse-nb|2 Chronicles|21:8–20|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} in the Christian Old Testament) and 607--586 BCE when Jerusalem was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, which led to the Babylonian exile of Israel (recorded in Psalm 137). The earlier period would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet Elijah.
The later date would place Obadiah as a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. A sixth-century date for Obadiah is a \"near consensus\" position among scholars. `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1-9|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} contains parallels to the Book of Jeremiah `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|49:7-22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}. The passage in the Book of Jeremiah dates from the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim (604 BCE), and therefore `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|11-14|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} seems to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II (586 BCE). It is more likely that Obadiah and the Book of Jeremiah together were drawing on a common source presently unknown to us rather than Jeremiah drawing on previous writings of Obadiah as his source. There is also much material found in `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|10-21|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} which Jeremiah does not quote, and which, had he had it laid out before him, would have suited his purpose admirably.
### Sepharad
The term \"Sepharad\" mentioned in the 20th verse of Obadiah comes from the Hebrew word for Spain`{{dubious|date=June 2025}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Scriptural parallels {#scriptural_parallels}
The exact expression \"the Day of the Lord\", from `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1:15|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, has been used by other authors throughout the Old and New Testaments, as follows:
### Old Testament {#old_testament}
- Isaiah 2, 13, 34, 58, Jeremiah `{{bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|46:10|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Lamentations `{{bibleverse-nb|Lamentations|2:22|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Ezekiel `{{bibleverse-nb|Ezekiel|13:5|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Joel 1, 2, 3, Amos `{{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:18|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:20|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Zephaniah 1, 2, Zechariah `{{bibleverse-nb|Zechariah|14:1|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Malachi 4:5
### New Testament {#new_testament}
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2, `{{bibleverse|2 Peter|3:10|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, Acts 2:20, `{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|5:5|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|1:14|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}
For other parallels, compare `{{bibleverse|Obadiah|1:1–8|KJV}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|49:7–16|KJV}}`{=mediawiki}
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# Book of Jonah
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Illustrated *Jonah* from the 15th-century Kennicott Bible `{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|prophetic}}`{=mediawiki}
The **Book of Jonah** is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi\'im (\"Prophets\") in the Hebrew Bible, and an individual book in the Christian Old Testament where it has four chapters. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, but attempts to escape his divine mission.
The story has a long interpretive history and has become well known through popular children\'s stories. In Judaism, it is the Haftarah portion read during the afternoon of Yom Kippur to instill reflection on God\'s willingness to forgive those who repent, and it remains a popular story among Christians. The story is also retold in the Quran.
Mainstream Bible scholars generally regard the story of the Book of Jonah as fictional, and often at least partially satirical. Most scholars consider the Book of Jonah to have been composed long after the events it describes due to its use of words and motifs exclusive to postexilic Aramaic sources.
## Date
The prophet Jonah (*יוֹנָה*, *Yonā*) is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, which places Jonah\'s life during the reign of Jeroboam II, King of Israel, (786--746 BC), but the book of Jonah itself does not name a king or give any other details that would give the story a firm date. Most scholars consider the Book of Jonah to have been composed long after the events it describes due to its use of words and motifs exclusive to postexilic Aramaic sources. A later date is sometimes proposed, with Katherine Dell arguing for the Hellenistic period (332--167 BC).
Evangelical Assyriologist Donald Wiseman takes issue with the idea that the story is late (or a parable). Among other arguments he mentions that the \"Legends of Agade\" (see Sargon of Akkad and Rabisu) date to the time of the Old Babylonian Empire, though later versions \"usually taken as a late composition, propagandistic fairy tale or historical romance can now, on the basis of new discoveries of earlier sources, be shown to be based on a serious and reliable historical record\".
## Narrative
Unlike the other Minor Prophets, the book of Jonah is almost entirely narrative with the exception of the psalm in the second chapter. The actual prophetic word against Nineveh is given only in passing through the narrative. The story of Jonah has a setting, characters, a plot, and themes; it also relies heavily on such literary devices as irony.
## Chapter and verse divisions {#chapter_and_verse_divisions}
The original text was written in Hebrew language. Chapters 1 and 2 are divided differently in the Hebrew and English versions: verse 2:1 in the Hebrew version is equivalent to Jonah 1:17 in the English version.
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# Book of Jonah
## Outline
An outline of the book of Jonah:
1. Jonah flees his mission (chapters 1--2)
1. Jonah\'s disobedience, and its consequences (1:1--17)
2. Jonah\'s deliverance and thanksgiving (2:2--9)
2. Jonah fulfills his mission (chapters 3--4)
1. Jonah\'s obedience and Nineveh\'s repentance (3:1--10)
2. Jonah\'s displeasure at the Lord\'s salvation.
### Summary
Jonah is the central character in the Book of Jonah, in which God (\"the `{{LORD}}`{=mediawiki}\") commands him to go to the city of Nineveh to prophesy against it for their great wickedness against God. However, Jonah instead attempts to run from God by going to Jaffa and sailing to Tarshish. A huge storm arises and the sailors, realizing that it is no ordinary storm, cast lots and discover that Jonah is to blame. Jonah admits this and states that if he is thrown overboard, the storm will cease. The sailors refuse to do this and continue rowing, but all their efforts fail and they are eventually forced to throw Jonah overboard. As a result, the storm calms and the sailors then offer sacrifices to God. Jonah is miraculously saved by being swallowed by a \"great fish\", in whose belly he spends three days and three nights.
While inside the great fish, Jonah prays to God in thanksgiving and commits to paying what he has vowed. Jonah\'s prayer has been compared with some of the Psalms, and with the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
God then commands the fish to vomit Jonah out.
In **chapter 3**, God once again commands Jonah to travel to Nineveh and to prophesy to its inhabitants. This time he obeys God\'s command, and goes into the city, crying, \"In forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown.\" After Jonah has walked across Nineveh, the people of Nineveh begin to believe his word and proclaim a fast. The king of Nineveh then puts on sackcloth and sits in ashes, making a proclamation which decrees fasting, the wearing of sackcloth, prayer, and repentance. God sees their repentant hearts and spares the city at that time. The entire city is humbled and broken, with the people (and even the animals) in sackcloth and ashes.
In **chapter 4**, displeased by the Ninevites\' repentance, Jonah refers to his earlier flight to Tarshish while asserting that, since God is merciful, it was inevitable that God would turn from the threatened calamities. He then leaves the city on its eastern side, and makes himself a shelter, waiting to see whether or not the city will be destroyed. God causes a plant, in Hebrew a `{{transliteration|he|[[kikayon]]}}`{=mediawiki}, also called a gourd in the King James Version, to grow over Jonah\'s shelter to give him some shade from the sun. Later, God causes a worm to bite the plant\'s root and it withers. Jonah, now being exposed to the full force of the sun, becomes faint and pleads for God to kill him. In response, God offers Jonah one final rebuke:
The book ends abruptly at this point.
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# Book of Jonah
## Interpretive history {#interpretive_history}
### Early Jewish interpretation {#early_jewish_interpretation}
Fragments of the book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, most of which follow the Masoretic Text closely and with Mur XII reproducing a large portion of the text. As for the non-canonical writings, the majority of references to biblical texts were made as appeals to authority. The Book of Jonah appears to have served less purpose in the Qumran community than other texts, as the writings make no references to it.
### Late Jewish interpretation {#late_jewish_interpretation}
The 18th century Lithuanian master scholar and kabbalist, Elijah of Vilna, known as the Vilna Gaon, authored a commentary on the biblical Book of Jonah as an allegory of reincarnation.
### Early Christian interpretation {#early_christian_interpretation}
#### New Testament {#new_testament}
thumb\|upright=1.25\|Christ rises from the tomb, alongside Jonah spit onto the beach, a typological allegory. From a 15th-century Biblia pauperum. The earliest Christian interpretations of Jonah are found in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Both Matthew and Luke record a tradition of Jesus\' interpretation of the Book of Jonah (notably, Matthew includes two very similar traditions in chapters 12 and 16).
As with most Old Testament interpretations found in the New Testament, the interpretation ascribed to Jesus is primarily typological. Jonah becomes a \"type\" for Jesus. Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish; Jesus will spend three days in the tomb. Here, Jesus plays on the imagery of Sheol found in Jonah\'s prayer. While Jonah metaphorically declared, \"Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,\" Jesus will literally be in the belly of Sheol. Finally, Jesus compares his generation to the people of Nineveh. Jesus fulfills his role as a type of Jonah, however his generation fails to fulfill its role as a type of Nineveh. Nineveh repented, but Jesus\' generation, which has seen and heard one even greater than Jonah, fails to repent. Through his typological interpretation of the Book of Jonah, Jesus has weighed his generation and found it wanting.
#### Augustine of Hippo {#augustine_of_hippo}
The debate over the credibility of the miracle of Jonah is not simply a modern one. The credibility of a human being surviving in the belly of a great fish has long been questioned. In c. 409 AD, Augustine of Hippo wrote to Deogratias concerning the challenge of some to the miracle recorded in the Book of Jonah. He writes:
Augustine responds that if one is to question one miracle, then one should question all miracles as well (section 31). Nevertheless, despite his apologetic, Augustine views the story of Jonah as a figure for Christ. For example, he writes: \"As, therefore, Jonah passed from the ship to the belly of the whale, so Christ passed from the cross to the sepulchre, or into the abyss of death. And as Jonah suffered this for the sake of those who were endangered by the storm, so Christ suffered for the sake of those who are tossed on the waves of this world.\" Augustine credits his allegorical interpretation to the interpretation of Christ himself (Matthew 12:39--40), and he allows for other interpretations as long as they are in line with Christ\'s.
### Medieval commentary tradition {#medieval_commentary_tradition}
The *Ordinary Gloss*, or *\[\[Glossa Ordinaria\]\]*, was the most important Christian commentary on the Bible in the later Middle Ages. Ryan McDermott comments that \"The Gloss on Jonah relies almost exclusively on Jerome\'s commentary on Jonah (c. 396), so its Latin often has a tone of urbane classicism. But the Gloss also chops up, compresses, and rearranges Jerome with a carnivalesque glee and scholastic directness that renders the Latin authentically medieval.\" \"The Ordinary Gloss on Jonah\" has been translated into English and printed in a format that emulates the first printing of the Gloss.
The relationship between Jonah and his fellow Jews is ambivalent, and complicated by the Gloss\'s tendency to read Jonah as an allegorical prefiguration of Jesus Christ. While some glosses in isolation seem crudely supersessionist (\"The foreskin believes while the circumcision remains unfaithful\"), the prevailing allegorical tendency is to attribute Jonah\'s recalcitrance to his abiding love for his own people and his insistence that God\'s promises to Israel not be overridden by a lenient policy toward the Ninevites. For the glossator, Jonah\'s pro-Israel motivations correspond to Christ\'s demurral in the Garden of Gethsemane (\"My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me\") and the Gospel of Matthew\'s and Paul\'s insistence that \"salvation is from the Jews\" (John 4:22). While in the Gloss the plot of Jonah prefigures how God will extend salvation to the nations, it also makes abundantly clear---as some medieval commentaries on the Gospel of John do not---that Jonah and Jesus are Jews, and that they make decisions of salvation-historical consequence as Jews.`{{opinion|date=February 2022}}`{=mediawiki}
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# Book of Jonah
## Interpretive history {#interpretive_history}
### Modern
In Jungian analysis, the belly of the whale can be seen as a symbolic death and rebirth, which is also an important stage in comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell\'s \"hero\'s journey\".
NCSY Director of Education David Bashevkin sees Jonah as a thoughtful prophet who comes to religion out of a search for theological truth and is constantly disappointed by those who come to religion to provide mere comfort in the face of adversity inherent to the human condition. \"If religion is only a blanket to provide warmth from the cold, harsh realities of life,\" Bashevkin imagines Jonah asking, \"did concerns of theological truth and creed even matter?\" The lesson taught by the episode of the tree at the end of the book is that comfort is a deep human need that religion provides, but that this need not obscure the role of God.
## Jonah and the \"big fish\" {#jonah_and_the_big_fish}
thumb\|upright=1.5\|*Jonah and the Whale* (1621) by Pieter Lastman
The Hebrew text of Jonah reads `{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki} (*דג גדול*, `{{transliteration|he|dāḡ gāḏōl}}`{=mediawiki}), literally meaning \"great fish\". The Septuagint translated this into Greek as `{{transliteration|grc|kētos megas}}`{=mediawiki} (*κῆτος μέγας*), \"huge whale/sea monster\"; and in Greek mythology the term was closely associated with sea monsters. Saint Jerome later translated the Greek phrase as *piscis grandis* in his Latin Vulgate, and as *cētus* in Matthew. At some point, *cētus* became synonymous with whale (cf. cetyl alcohol, which is alcohol derived from whales). In his 1534 translation, William Tyndale translated the phrase in Jonah 2:1 as \"greate fyshe\", and he translated the word `{{transliteration|grc|kētos}}`{=mediawiki} (Greek) or *cētus* (Latin) in Matthew as \"whale\". Tyndale\'s translation was later followed by the translators of the King James Version of 1611 and has enjoyed general acceptance in English translations.
In the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 17, the Hebrew bible refers to the fish as `{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki}, \"great fish\", in the masculine. However, in chapter 2 verse 1, the word which refers to fish is written as `{{transliteration|he|dagah}}`{=mediawiki}, meaning female fish. The verses therefore read: \"And the lord provided a great fish (`{{transliteration|he|dag gadol}}`{=mediawiki}, *דָּג גּדוֹל*, masculine) for Jonah, and it swallowed him, and Jonah sat in the belly of the fish (still male) for three days and nights; then, from the belly of the (`{{transliteration|he|dagah}}`{=mediawiki}, *דָּגָה*, female) fish, Jonah began to pray.\"
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# Book of Jonah
## Jonah and the gourd vine {#jonah_and_the_gourd_vine}
The Book of Jonah closes abruptly, with an epistolary warning based on the emblematic trope of a fast-growing vine present in Persian narratives, and popularized in fables such as *The Gourd and the Palm-tree* during the Renaissance, for example by Andrea Alciato.
St. Jerome differed from St. Augustine in his Latin translation of the plant known in Hebrew as *קיקיון* (`{{transliteration|he|qīqayōn}}`{=mediawiki}), using *hedera* (from the Greek, meaning \"ivy\") over the more common Latin *cucurbita*, \"gourd\", from which the English word *gourd* (Old French *coorde*, *couhourde*) is derived. The Renaissance humanist artist Albrecht Dürer memorialized Jerome\'s decision to use an analogical type of Christ\'s \"I am the Vine, you are the branches\" in his woodcut *Saint Jerome in His Study*.
## Surviving ancient manuscripts {#surviving_ancient_manuscripts}
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Fragments of this book in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (cumulatively covering the whole book), including 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1:1‑9, 2:3‑11, 3:1, 3:3, and 4:5‑11; and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75--100 CE) with extant verses 1:14‑16, 2:1‑7; 3:2‑5, 3:7‑10; 4:1‑2, and 4:5.
The oldest known complete version of the book is the Crosby-Schøyen Codex, part of the Bodmer Papyri, which dates to the 3rd century, and is written in Coptic.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century).
Fragments containing parts of this book in Greek were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q76 (4QXII^a^; 150--125 BCE) with extant verses 1:1--5, 1:7--10, 1:15--17 (1:17 = 2:1 in Hebrew Bible), 2:6 (verses 2:1,7 in Masoretic Text), and 3:2; 4Q81 (4QXII^f^; 175--50 BCE) with extant verses 1:6--8, 1:10--16; 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1:1--9, 2:2--10 (verses 2:3--11 in Masoretic Text), 3:1--3, and 4:5--11; and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75--100 CE) with extant verses 1:1--17 (1:1--16, 2:1 in Hebrew Bible), 2:1--10 (verses 2:1--11 in Masoretic Text), 3:1--10, and 4:1--11., and Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr^; 1st century CE) with extant verses 2:1--6 (verses 2:1--7 in Masoretic Text), 3:2--5, 3:7--10, 4:1--2, and 4:5
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# Book of Micah
The **Book of Micah** is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The book has seven chapters. Ostensibly, it records the sayings of Micah, whose name is *Mikayahu* (*מִיכָיָ֫הוּ*), meaning \"Who is like Yahweh?\", an 8th-century BCE prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah (Hebrew name from the opening verse: מיכה המרשתי).
The book has three major divisions, chapters 1--2, 3--5 and 6--7, each introduced by the word \"Hear\", with a pattern of alternating announcements of doom and expressions of hope within each division. Micah reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor against the rich and powerful; while looking forward to a world at peace centered on Zion under the leadership of a new Davidic monarch.
While the book is relatively short, it includes lament (1:8--16; 7:8--10), theophany (1.3--4), a hymnic prayer of petition and confidence (7:14--20), and the \"covenant lawsuit\" (6:1--8), a distinct genre in which Yahweh (God) sues Israel for breach of contract of the Mosaic covenant.
The formation of the Book of Micah is debated, with a consensus that its final stage occurred during the Persian period or Hellenistic period, but uncertainty remains about whether it was formed at the time or merely finalized.
## Setting
`{{See also|Nevi'im|Prophets in Judaism}}`{=mediawiki} The opening verse identifies the prophet as \"Micah of Moresheth\" (a town in southern Judah), and states that he lived during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, roughly 750--700 BCE.
This corresponds to the period when, after a long period of peace, Israel, Judah, and the other nations of the region came under increasing pressure from the aggressive and rapidly expanding Neo-Assyrian empire. Between 734 and 727 Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria conducted almost annual campaigns in the Levant, reducing the Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah and the Philistine cities to vassalage, receiving tribute from Ammon, Moab and Edom, and absorbing Damascus (the Kingdom of Aram) into the Empire. On Tiglath-Pileser\'s death Israel rebelled, resulting in an Assyrian counter-attack and the destruction of the capital,`{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-31|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)#Destruction of the kingdom|reason= The anchor (Destruction of the kingdom) [[Special:Diff/1061590831|has been deleted]].}}`{=mediawiki} Samaria, in 721 after a three-year siege. Micah 1:2--7 draws on this event: Samaria, says the prophet, has been destroyed by God because of its crimes of idolatry, oppression of the poor, and misuse of power. The Assyrian attacks on Israel (the northern kingdom) led to an influx of refugees into Judah, which would have increased social stresses, while at the same time the authorities in Jerusalem had to invest huge amounts in tribute and defense.
When the Assyrians attacked Judah in 701 they did so via the Philistine coast and the Shephelah, the border region which included Micah\'s village of Moresheth, as well as Lachish, Judah\'s second largest city. This in turn forms the background to verses 1:8--16, in which Micah warns the towns of the coming disaster (Lachish is singled out for special mention, accused of the corrupt practices of both Samaria and Jerusalem). In verses 2:1--5 he denounces the appropriation of land and houses, which might simply be the greed of the wealthy and powerful, or possibly the result of the militarizing of the area in preparation for the Assyrian attack.
## Composition
The formation of the Book of Micah is a topic of scholarly debate. The 2021 Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets summarizes:
"There is a consensus that the book has a long history of formation with the Persian (or even Hellenistic) period as its last stage. However, it is contested whether it was formed in these days or only finalized after a longer history of tradition."
Some, but not all, scholars accept that only chapters 1--3 contain material from the late 8th-century BCE prophet Micah. According to scholars, the latest material comes from the post-Exilic period after the Temple was rebuilt in 515 BCE, so that the early 5th century BCE seems to be the period when the book was completed. The first stage was the collection and arrangement of some spoken sayings of the historical Micah (the material in chapters 1--3), in which the prophet attacks those who build estates through oppression and depicts the Assyrian invasion of Judah as Yahweh\'s punishment on the kingdom\'s corrupt rulers, including a prophecy that the Temple will be destroyed.
The prophecy was not fulfilled in Micah\'s time, but a hundred years later when Judah was facing a similar crisis with the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Micah\'s prophecies were reworked and expanded to reflect the new situation. Still later, after Jerusalem fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the book was revised and expanded further to reflect the circumstances of the late exilic and post-exilic community.
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# Book of Micah
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
The oldest surviving manuscripts were made hundreds of years after the period or periods of authorship. The earliest surviving Masoretic Text versions include the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Since 1947, the current text of the Aleppo Codex is missing Micah 1:1 to 5:1.
Fragments containing parts of this book in the original Biblical Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q82 (25 BCE); and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (75--100 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (6th century). The Book of Micah is missing in the extant Codex Sinaiticus. Some fragments containing parts of this book in Greek were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 (late 1st century BCE).
## Content
### Structure
At the broadest level, Micah can be divided into three roughly equal parts:
- Judgment against the nations and their leaders
- Restoration of Zion (chapters 4--5, which belong together despite their possibly unclear connection, probably exilic and post-exilic);
- God\'s lawsuit against Israel and expression of hope (chapters 6--7, also probably exilic and post-exilic).
James Limburg sees the word \"Hear\" in Micah 1:2, 3:1 and 6:1 as the marker for three separate sections, noting that Amos 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 8:4 mark similar divisions within the Book of Amos, another of the minor prophets.
Within this broad three-part structure are a series of alternating oracles of judgment and promises of restoration:
- 1.1 Superscription
- 1.2--2.11 Oracles of judgment
- 2.12--13 Oracles of restoration
- 3.1--12 Oracles of judgment
- 4.1--5.15 Oracles of restoration
- 6.1--7.6 Oracles of judgment
- 7.7--20 Oracles of restoration
### Verse numbering {#verse_numbering}
There is a difference in verse numbering between English Bibles and Hebrew texts, with Micah 4:14 in Hebrew texts being Micah 5:1 in English Bibles, and the Hebrew 5:1 etc. being numbered 5:2 etc. in English Bibles. This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions.
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# Book of Micah
## Content
### Subsections
- **The Heading**: As is typical of prophetic books, an anonymous editor or scribe has supplied the name of the prophet, an indication of his time of activity, and an identification of his speech as the \"word of Yahweh\", a generic term carrying a claim to prophetic legitimacy and authority. Samaria and Jerusalem are given prominence as the foci of the prophet\'s attention. Unlike prophets such as Isaiah and Hosea, no record of his father\'s name has been retained.
- **Judgment against Samaria (1:2--7)**: Drawing upon ancient traditions for depicting a theophany, the prophet depicts the coming of Yahweh to punish the city, whose sins are idolatry and the abuse of the poor.
- **Warnings to the cities of Judah (1:8--16)**: Samaria has fallen, Judah is next. Micah describes the destruction of the lesser towns of Judah (referring to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib, 701 BCE). For these passages of doom on the various cities, paronomasia is used. Paronomasia is a literary device which \'plays\' on the sound of each word for literary effect. For example, the inhabitants of Beth-le-aphrah (\"house of dust\") are told to \"roll yourselves in the dust\" (1:14). Though most of the paronomasia is lost in translation, it is the equivalent of \'Ashdod shall be but ashes,\' where the fate of the city matches its name.
- **Misuse of power denounced (2:1--5)**: Denounces those who appropriate the land and houses of others. The context may be simply the amassing wealth for its own sake, or could be connected with the militarisation of the region for the expected Assyrian attack.
- **Threats against the prophet (2:6--11)**: The prophet is warned not to prophesy. He answers that the rulers are harming God\'s people, and want to listen only to those who advocate the virtues of wine.
- **A later promise (2:12--13)**: These verses assume that judgment has already fallen and Israel is already scattered abroad.
- **Judgment on wicked Zion (3:1--4)**: Israel\'s rulers are accused of gaining more wealth at the expense of the poor, by any means. The metaphor of flesh being torn from the people illustrates the length to which the ruling classes and socialites would go to further increase their wealth. Prophets are corrupt, seeking personal gain. Jerusalem\'s rulers believe that God will always be with them, but God will be with his people, and Jerusalem will be destroyed.
- **Prophets for Profit (3:5-8)**: those condemned by Micah are explicitly called \"prophets\", while he appears to distance himself from personally being called a prophet.
- **A concluding judgment (3:9-12)** drawing together chapters 2--3.
- **Zion\'s future hope (4:1--5)**: This is a later passage, almost identical to Isaiah 2:2--4. In the \"latter days\", \"last days\", or \"the days to come\", Zion (meaning the Temple) will be rebuilt, but by God, and based not on violence and corruption but on the desire to learn God\'s laws, beat swords to ploughshares and live in peace.
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- **Further promises to Zion (4:6--7)**: This is another later passage, promising Zion that she will once more enjoy her former independence and power.
- **Deliverance from distress in Babylon (4:9--5:1, 4:9-14 in Hebrew Bible numbering)** The similarity with Isaiah 41:15--16 and the references to Babylon suggest a later period for this material, although it is unclear whether a period during or after the siege of 586 is meant. Despite their trials, God will not desert his people.
- **The promised ruler from Bethlehem (5:1\[2\]--14)**: This passage is usually dated to the exile. Although Micah 4:9 has asked \"is there no king\" in Zion, this chapter predicts that the coming Messiah will emerge from Bethlehem, the traditional home of the Davidic monarchy, to restore Israel. Assyria will invade (some translations prefer \"*if* the Assyrians invade\"), but she will be stricken, and Israel\'s punishment will lead to the punishment of the nations. Williamson treats Micah 4:8-5:6 as one unit, with \"a clear and balanced structure\".
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- **A Covenant lawsuit (6:1--5)**: Yahweh accuses Israel (the people of Judah) of breaking the covenant through their lack of justice and honesty, after the pattern of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom).
- **Torah Liturgy (6:6--8)**: Micah speaks on behalf of the community asking what they should do in order to get back on God\'s good side. Micah then responds by saying that God requires only \"to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God\", thus declaring that the burnt offering of both animals and humans (which may have been practiced in Judah under Kings Ahaz and Manasseh) is not necessary for God.
- **The City as a Cheat (6:9--16)**: The city is reprimanded for its dishonest trade practices.
- **Lament (7:1--7)**: The first passage in the book in the first person: whether it comes from Micah himself is disputed.`{{by whom|date=September 2024}}`{=mediawiki} Honesty and decency have vanished, families are filled with strife. The Jerusalem Bible suggests that verse 7, *For my part, I look to Yahweh \...* may have been the conclusion of the original book, before additional poems on Israel\'s restoration were added.
- **A song of fallen Jerusalem (7:8--10)**: The first person voice continues, but now it is the city who speaks. She recognises that her destruction is deserved punishment from God. The recognition gives grounds for hope that God is still with her.
- **A prophecy of restoration (7:11--13)**: Fallen Jerusalem is promised that she will be rebuilt and that her power will be greater than ever (a contrast with the vision of peace in 4:1--5).
- **A prayer for future prosperity (7:14--17)**: The mood switches from a request for power to grateful astonishment at God\'s mercy. Hermann Gunkel and Bo Reicke identify the last chapter as a ritual text possibly connected to a festival such as the Israelite New Year.
- **A hymn of praise for the incomparable God (7:18-20)**: the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the United States notes that these final verses \"contain a hymn of praise for the incomparable God, who pardons sin and delights in mercy\".
## Themes
Micah addresses the future of Judah/Israel after the Babylonian exile. Like Isaiah, the book has a vision of the punishment of Israel and creation of a \"remnant\", followed by world peace centered on Zion under the leadership of a new Davidic monarch; the people should do justice, turn to Yahweh, and await the end of their punishment. However, whereas Isaiah sees Jacob/Israel joining \"the nations\" under Yahweh\'s rule, Micah looks forward to Israel ruling over the nations. Insofar as Micah appears to draw on and rework parts of Isaiah, it seems designed at least partly to provide a counterpoint to that book.
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# Book of Micah
## Allusions in the New Testament {#allusions_in_the_new_testament}
There are several allusions to the Book of Micah in the New Testament:
- Matthew\'s Gospel quotes from the Book of Micah in relation to Jesus being born in Bethlehem:
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- Jesus\' words in Matthew 10:36 reflect Micah\'s warning that families will be divided:
: Although the wording is different, Jerome comments that \"we should always take note when a passage is cited out of the Old Testament, whether the sense only, or the very words are given\"
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# Book of Nahum
The **Book of Nahum** is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. The book has three chapters. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum. The most general historical setting of Nahum as a prophet was 663 BC to 612 BC, while the historical setting that produced the book of Nahum is debated, with proposed timeframes ranging from shortly after the fall of Thebes in 663 BC to the Maccabean period around 175-165 BC. Another view, held by the ancient historian Josephus, proposes that the book of Nahum was from the reign of Jotham. This identification is supported by both the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, both of which refer to Thebes in the present tense rather than the past tense. Its principal theme is the destruction of the Assyrian city of Nineveh.
## Background
Scholars with a preference for Hebrew manuscripts place the writing of the book after the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal\'s Sack of Thebes in 663 B.C. This view is the current majority opinion because the city of Thebes is referred to in the past tense in the Masoretic Text of Nahum 3:8-10. However, both the Septuagint and Vulgate refer to the city in the present tense, and the former opinion held by scholars was that Nahum lived about a century earlier, before both the captivity of the ten lost tribes and the Sack of Thebes.
The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus places Nahum\'s life during the reign of Jotham. This view was also held by the Catholic scholar Thomas Worthington in his notes for the original Douay-Rheims Bible, writing: \"Nahum prophesied about 50 years after Jonah \... 135 before the destruction of Niniveh.\" In this view, rather than Ashurbanipal, Nahum\'s prophecy would have been directed at Tiglath-Pileser III, who revitalized the Neo-Assyrian Empire into a world power again and conquered most of the Levant, defeating and subjugating previously influential kingdoms, including Aram-Damascus. Tiglath-Pileser was contemporary with the reign of Jotham.
Some scholars hold that \"the book of the vision\" was written at the time of the fall of Nineveh, at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians in 612 BC. possibly around 615 BC, before the downfall of Assyria. The oracles must be dated after the Assyrian destruction of Thebes, Egypt in 663 BC, as this event is mentioned in Nahum 3:8.
### Author
Little is known about Nahum\'s personal history. His name means \"comfort\", and he came from the town of *Elkosh* or *Alqosh* (Nahum 1:1), which scholars have attempted to identify with several cities, including the modern \`Alqush of Assyria and Capernaum of northern Galilee. He was a very nationalistic Hebrew, and lived among the Elkoshites in peace.
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# Book of Nahum
## Background
### Historical context {#historical_context}
The subject of Nahum\'s prophecy is the approaching complete and final destruction of Nineveh, which was the capital of the great and flourishing Assyrian empire at that time. Ashurbanipal was at the height of his glory. Nineveh was a city of vast extent, and was then the center of the civilization and commerce of the world, according to Nahum a \"bloody city all full of lies and robbery\", a reference to the Neo-Assyrian Empire\'s military campaigns and demand of tribute and plunder from conquered cities.
Jonah had already uttered his message of warning, and Nahum was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted the destruction of the city.
Nineveh was destroyed apparently by fire around 625 BC, and the Assyrian empire came to an end, an event which changed the face of Asia. Archaeological digs have uncovered the splendor of Nineveh in its zenith under Sennacherib (705--681 BC), Esarhaddon (681--669 BC), and Ashurbanipal (669--633 BC). Massive walls were eight miles in circumference. It had a water aqueduct, palaces and a library with 20,000 clay tablets, including accounts of a creation in Enuma Elish and a flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Babylonian chronicle of the fall of Nineveh tells the story of the end of Nineveh. Nabopolassar of Babylon joined forces with Cyaxares, king of the Medes, and laid siege for three months.
Assyria lasted a few more years after the loss of its fortress, but attempts by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II to rally the Assyrians failed due to opposition from king Josiah of Judah, and it seemed to be all over by 609 BC.
## Overview
Beyond its superscription, Nahum 1:1, the Book of Nahum consists of two parts: a prelude in chapter one, followed by chapters two and three, which describe the fall of Nineveh, which later took place in 612 BC. Davidson notes that there are two parts to the superscription:
- *The burden of Nineveh*, or \"an oracle against Nineveh\", probably an editorial addition, and
- *The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite*, which \"may \... have come from the hand of the prophet himself\".
Nineveh is compared to Thebes, the Egyptian city that Assyria itself had destroyed in 663 BC. Nahum describes the siege and frenzied activity of Nineveh\'s troops as they try in vain to halt the invaders. Poetically, he becomes a participant in the battle, and with subtle irony, barks battle commands to the defenders. Nahum uses numerous similes and metaphor that Nineveh will become weak \"like the lion hiding in its den\". It concludes with a taunt song and funeral dirge of the impending destruction of Nineveh and the \"sleep\" or death of the Assyrian people and demise of the once great Assyrian conqueror-rulers.
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# Book of Nahum
## Surviving early manuscripts {#surviving_early_manuscripts}
The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Fragments of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including **4QpNah**, known as the \"Nahum Commentary\" (1st century BC); 4Q82 (4QXII^g^; 1st century BC). and Wadi Murabba\'at MurXII (1st century AD).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC, with extant manuscripts including Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter (a revision of the Septuagint) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr^; 1st century AD).
## Themes
### The fall of Nineveh {#the_fall_of_nineveh}
Nahum\'s prophecy carries a particular warning to the Ninevites of coming events, although he is partly in favor of the destruction. One might even say that the book of Nahum is \"a celebration of the fall of Assyria\". And this is not just a warning or speaking positively of the destruction of Nineveh, it is also a positive encouragement and \"message of comfort for Israel, Judah, and others who had experienced the \"endless cruelty\" of the Assyrians.\"
The prophet Jonah shows us where God shows concern for the people of Nineveh, while Nahum\'s writing testifies to his belief in the righteousness/justice of God and how God dealt with those Assyrians in punishment according to \"their cruelty\". The Assyrians had been used as God\'s \"rod of \[...\] anger, and the staff in their hand \[as\] indignation.\"
### The nature of God {#the_nature_of_god}
From its opening, Nahum affirms God to be slow to anger, but that God will by no means ignore the guilty; God will bring his vengeance and wrath to pass. God is presented as a God who will punish evil, but will protect those who trust in Him. The opening passage states: \"God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked\".
\"The LORD is slow to anger and Quick to love; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.\"
\"The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.\"
## Importance
God\'s judgement on Nineveh is \"all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft.\" Infidelity, according to the prophets, related to spiritual unfaithfulness. For example: \"the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.\" John of Patmos used a similar analogy in Revelation chapter 17.
The prophecy of Nahum was referenced in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. In Tobit 14:4 (NRSV) a dying Tobit says to his son Tobias and Tobias\' sons:
> \[My son\] hurry off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel, whom God sent, will occur.
However, some versions, such as the King James Version, refer to the prophet Jonah instead
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# Book of Haggai
The **Book of Haggai** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|æ|ɡ|aɪ}}`{=mediawiki}; *Sefer Ḥaggay*) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 520 BC, before the Temple had been rebuilt. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
## Authorship
The Book of Haggai is named after the prophet Haggai whose prophecies are recorded in the book. The authorship of the book is uncertain. Some presume that Haggai wrote the book himself but he is repeatedly referred to in the third person which makes it unlikely that he wrote the text: it is more probable that the book was written by a disciple of Haggai who sought to preserve the content of Haggai\'s spoken prophecies.
There is no biographical information given about the prophet in the Book of Haggai. Haggai\'s name is derived from the Hebrew verbal root *hgg*, which means \"to make a pilgrimage\". W. Sibley Towner suggests that Haggai\'s name might come \"from his single-minded effort to bring about the reconstruction of that destination of ancient Judean pilgrims, the Temple in Jerusalem\".
## Date
The *Book of Haggai* records events in 520 BC, some 18 years after Cyrus had conquered Babylon and issued a decree in 538 BC, allowing the captive Judahites to return to Judea. Cyrus saw the restoration of the temple as necessary for the restoration of religious practices and a sense of peoplehood, after the long exile. The precise date of the written text is uncertain but most likely dates to within a generation of Haggai himself. A traditional consensus dates the completion of the text to c. 515 BC. Other scholars consider the book to be completed around 417 BC, arguing that it did not refer to Darius the Great (Darius I), but to Darius II (424-405 BC).
## Early surviving manuscripts {#early_surviving_manuscripts}
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this book in Biblical Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments of the Hebrew text of this book were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q77 (4QXII^b^; 150--125 BCE) 4Q80 (4QXII^e^; 75--50 BCE); and Wadi Murabba\'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (**B**; $\mathfrak{G}$^B^; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (**S**; BHK: $\mathfrak{G}$^S^; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (**A**; $\mathfrak{G}$^A^; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (**Q**; $\mathfrak{G}$^Q^; 6th century).
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# Book of Haggai
## Synopsis
`{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction = horizontal
| image1 = CodexGigas 116 MinorProphets.jpg
| width1 = 135
| alt1 =
| image2 = CodexGigas 117 MinorProphets.jpg
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| footer = The whole Book of Haggai in [[Latin]] as a part of [[Codex Gigas]], made around 13th century.
}}`{=mediawiki} Haggai\'s message is filled with an urgency for the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple. Haggai attributes a recent drought to the people\'s refusal to rebuild the temple, which he sees as key to Jerusalem's glory. The book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms, with one Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, as the Lord\'s chosen leader.
The first chapter contains the first address (2--11) and its effects (12--15). The second chapter contains the second prophecy (1--9), delivered a month after the first; the third prophecy (10--19), delivered two months and three days after the second; and the fourth prophecy (20--23), delivered on the same day as the third.
These discourses are referred to in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. (Compare Haggai 2:7, 8 and 22) Haggai reports that three weeks after his first prophecy the rebuilding of the Temple began on September 7 521 BC. \"They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the King.\" (Haggai 1:14--15) and the Book of Ezra indicates that it was finished on February 25 516 BC \"The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.\" (Ezra 6:15)
## Outline
1. Divine Announcement: The Command to Rebuild the Temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:1–15}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. Introduction: Reluctant Rebuilders (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:1–2}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Consider your ways: fruitless prosperity (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:3–12}}`{=mediawiki} )
3. Promise and Progress (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|1:13–15}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Divine Announcement: The Coming Glory of the Temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:1–2.9}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. God will fulfill his promise (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:1–5}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Future Splendor of the temple (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2:6–9}}`{=mediawiki} )
3. Divine Announcement: Blessings for a Defiled People (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.10–19}}`{=mediawiki} )
1. Former Misery (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.10–17}}`{=mediawiki} )
2. Future Blessing (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.18–19}}`{=mediawiki} )
4. Divine Announcement: Zerubbabel Chosen as a Signet (`{{Bibleref2-nb|Haggai|2.20–23}}`{=mediawiki} )
## Musical usage {#musical_usage}
The King James Version of Haggai 2:6--7 is used in the libretto of the English-language oratorio \"Messiah\" by George Frideric Handel (HWV 56)
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# Book of Zechariah
The **Book of Zechariah** is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work. In the Christian Old Testament, the Book of Zechariah is considered to be a separate book and consists of fourteen chapters.
## Historical context {#historical_context}
One of the three prophets from the post-exilic period, Zechariah\'s prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great. Chapters 1--8 of the book are contemporary with the prophecies of Haggai, while chapters 9--14 (often termed Second Zechariah) are thought to have been written much later---in the 5th century, during the late Persian or early Ptolemaic period. Scholars believe that Ezekiel, with his blending of ceremony and vision, heavily influenced the visionary works of Zechariah 1--8.
During the exile, a significant portion of the population of the Kingdom of Judah was taken to Babylon, where the prophets told them to make their homes, suggesting they would spend a long time there. Cyrus the Great conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BC. The following year, he released the Edict of Cyrus, which marked the beginning of the first return to Judah under Sheshbazzar.
Darius acceded to the throne in 522 BC. He divided the many regions of the empire into provinces, each of which was overseen by a governor. Zerubbabel was appointed by Darius as governor over Judah (now redesignated the province of Yehud Medinata of the Persian Empire). Under the reign of Darius, Zechariah also emerged, focusing his prophecies on the rebuilding of the Temple. Unlike the Babylonians, the Persian Empire went to great lengths to keep cordial relations between vassal and lord. The rebuilding of the Temple was encouraged by the Persian monarchs in hopes that it would stabilize the local population. This policy was good politics on the part of the Persians, and the Jews viewed it as a blessing from God.
## Prophet
The name \"Zechariah\" means \"God remembered.\" Not much is known about Zechariah\'s life other than what may be inferred from the book. It has been speculated that his grandfather Iddo was the head of a priestly family who returned with Zerubbabel and that Zechariah may have been a priest as well as a prophet. This is supported by Zechariah\'s interest in the Temple and the priesthood, and from Iddo\'s preaching in the Books of Chronicles.
## Authorship
Most modern scholars believe the Book of Zechariah was written by at least two different people. Zechariah 1--8, sometimes referred to as First Zechariah, was written in the 6th century BC and contains oracles from the historical prophet Zechariah, who lived in the Achaemenid Empire during the kingdom of Darius the Great. Zechariah 9--14, often called Second Zechariah, contains within the text no datable references to specific events or individuals, but most scholars give the text a date in the 5th century BC. Second Zechariah, in the opinion of some scholars, appears to make use of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the Deuteronomistic history, and the themes from First Zechariah. This has led some to believe that the writer(s) or editor(s) of Second Zechariah may have been a disciple of the prophet Zechariah. There are some scholars who go even further and divide Second Zechariah into Second Zechariah (9--11) and Third Zechariah (12--14) since each begins with a heading oracle.
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Book of Zechariah
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