Altering History and Altering Religion Deceptive Reasons

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

There is a movie about biblical David that is not following the story line found in the Torah (Bible).  

The "House of David" is a Prime Video series premiering February 27, 2025, that tells the story of David's rise to becoming King of Israel. The series, produced by Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn, features Michael Iskander as David, Ali Suliman as King Saul, and Martyn Ford as Goliath. Never-before-seen images of the series have been released, showcasing the cast and the series' visual style. 

"The TV series that portrays David as potentially born out of wedlock is House of David on Amazon Prime Video. 

While the biblical account doesn't explicitly state that David was illegitimate, the series takes "creative liberties" by suggesting this possibility or alluding to it. "

Of all things to be creative about, this is NOT one of them.  It's messing around with our family tree, our line of inheritance.  

"Some viewers have noted that this aspect of David's backstory in the show seems to be linked to "Jewish tradition" that posits David was considered illegitimate due to his mother's supposed lineage.  

Illegitimate means that the parents of a child were not married.

Jesse and the daughter of Ithra were married.  In those days,

men had many wives  (married them). It is not surprising that

Moses did not write down a woman's name while he did the men. What was he writing on?  Sheepskin, no doubt, something much harder than we use today.  Moses was a scribe of Egypt, schooled with the Egyptian princes.  It was common practice to leave out many women's names.  

 I take exception to this statement. I doubt very much that thisillegitimacy is in  our Jewish tradition.  

1. David, 8th son of Jesse, born (1000 BCE-died 960 BCE) of tribe ofJudah 4th son of Jacob and Leah.  Judah was one of the 12tribes that we Jews came from.    He was said to be a gingy(reddish hair).     Youngest son of Jesse, born in Bethlehem, married Saul's daughter, Michal. 

 The Book of Samuel states that Jesse had eight sons, namingthe first three as Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah, and David as the youngest.[8] The Book of Chronicles names seven sons ofJesse—Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem and David—as well as two daughters, Zeruiah and Abigail.[9]Among his grandchildren were the three sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab and Asahel; and Amasa, the son of Abigail.[10]

David became at age 25 armor-bearer of King Saul, was best friend of Saul's son, Jonathan.  David showed he was a great soldier when fightingPhilistines-husband of Saul's daughter, Michal. 

Of course, Davidas a teen had fought the giant Goliath, a Philistine from Gath (I Sam.17:21-10).  

Rather-King David, was the most important personage of the Jewish religion.Everyone wanted to be connected to his family.  To belong to the Sanhedrin, one hadto have a family tree showing the connection.  It was most important to have a family tree leading to king David for religious and political reasons.  Christians felt they had a family tree leading to David which differed from our established Jewishfamily tree.  This concept was part of the "proof" they needed to establish theirreligion.

I have pored over the Torah in the act of making a tree from the information which isthe only qualified information we have.  It is our research tool.

1   JESSE

b: in Bethlehem in 11th or 10th century BCE, grandson of Ruthand Boaz.

He lived in Bethlehem but for fear of King Saul; lived for a time in Moab.  The royal  house of David is known as "the stock or root of Jesse.  (Is.11:1, 10)  He married the daughter of Ithra.  

.. +Ithra's Daughter with Ithra having  DNA of J1haplotypeArab  or Jewish line

In the Torah (Hebrew Bible), Ithra is mentioned as the father of Amasa, who served as David's military commander. Ithra is also identified as Jether the Ishmaelite in some texts.

David's army would be made up of Israelites (Jewish) soldiers. 

A few of the soldiers might have been Ishmaelites, who werepeople who lived in N. Arabia between Egypt and the Assyrian border.  The Bible refers several times to their trade with Egypt.

Traditionally they are the Arab descendants of Ishmael and modern Arabs still claim this descent, which connects them to  Ithra's daughter and King David.  

In today's IDF, we have certain Arab tribes serving.  While Druze and Circassians are conscripted into the IDF, along with 
Jews, the Bedouin and Israeli Arabs, Christians and Muslims are not obliged to serve. 

An estimated 1,500 Bedouin are currently serving in the IDF. Around 606 Muslim Arabs volunteered to serve in 2020 compared with 436 in 2018.

Unlike today, Judaism is legally figured to have been carried in the family by the father.  The male line is the important line. 

Sometime during the Middle Ages, this proof of being Jewish switched to the mother.  If your mother was Jewish, you were legally Jewish.  

  Boaz was the son of Judah.  David was also said to be the son of Jesse,  an Ephrathite man from Bethlehem in Judah, who had 8 sons.  After fighting Goliath he became a soldier fighting the Philistines like his 3 older brothers did. "   Was Jesse the son of Judah or from Ephriam?  They still should produce the same DNA haplotype.  

History  from Aggadah (Haggadah) (below)

The part of Oral Law distinct from Haslakhah, ie that which does not deal with the laws incumbant upon the Jew in his daily activities.  From this follows the positive definition:  the Aggadah is primarily the sequel to those parts of the Bible which include stories and chronicles, sayings of the wise and moral instructions, and the admonitions and consolation of the prophets.   

"Jesse merited to be the ancestor of the royal house by virtue of his own good deeds. He expounded Torah to a multitude of 60 myriads (Yev. 76b). His father-in-law Ithra, an Ishmaelite, converted to Judaism and gave Jesse his daughter in marriage, when he heard him recite Isaiah 45:22 "Look unto Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth" (TJ, Yev. 8:3, 9b). After the birth of his sixth son, Jesse separated from his wife for three years but on one occasion attempted to seduce one of his female slaves. His wife, however, disguised herself as the slave girl (on the latter's advice), and it was thus that David was conceived (Yal. Mak. to Ps. 118:28). It was Jesse who encouraged David to slay Goliath and thus protect King Saul, seeing in it a continuation of the protection which Judah (David's ancestor) had afforded to Benjamin (Saul's ancestor) in Egypt (Tan?. B., Gen. 104). David's cruelty toward the Moabites (II Sam. 8:2) is justified by the fact that it was they who had treacherously killed Jesse after David had entrusted him to their care while he fled from Saul (cf. I Sam. 22:3; Num. R. 14:1). It is also stated, however, that Jesse was one of the four persons who were untainted by sin and died merely because death was decreed upon all mankind, as a result of the serpent's seduction of Eve. It is for this reason that Abigail, who was really Jesse's daughter, is referred to by Scripture (II Sam. 17:25) as "the daughter of Nahash" ("serpent"; BB 17a). Jesse is one of the eight "messianic princes among men" referred to in Micah 5:4 (Suk. 52b)."  

The show is noted for taking some creative liberties with the biblical narrative, though it also attempts to portray some aspects of David's story with biblical authenticity. It is important to note that this depiction in "House of David" is a creative choice made for the series and is not the traditional biblical account of David's birth."   THAT'S FOR SURE!

I ask, why change history?  Cecil B DeMille knew not to change the Ten Commandments in 1956.   

To change something so dear, so historical to us in our Bible is tochange much more. In this case, it is altering a legality;   a legal point in something that was very important;  our rights of descendancy.   

Today, people are trying to change historical facts recorded to benefitother groups about our historical religion.  

  That's not history. David lives in our history:

City of David is Jerusalem.  Then there's the Shield or Star of David  that was worn during the Holocaust forcing Jews to be identified;and there's the Tomb of David of the present Old City of Jerusalem,which is site E.  What I love is the song, David, king of Israel:Dah-veed, melekh Yisrael...chai, chai...It’s one of the first songs Jewish kids learn in Jewish preschool or summer camp:Dovid, Melech Yisrael, Chai Vikayam…. David, King of Israel, Lives Forever…

....The song's lyrics are simple and consist of only five words, which are repeated many times in some tunes.

English:

David, king of Israel, lives and endures.

Hebrew transliteration:

David, melekh Yisra'el, Ḥai veqayam.(vik-iy yam)

Hebrew:

דוד מלך ישראל חי וקיים

Source

      Known as the star of David; a Mogan David

 

Resource:

Tanach (Torah), the Stone Edition-Bible, ArtScrollSeries

 The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2024/11/wasnt-david-chosen-as-moral-person-and.html

https://aish.com/dovid-melech-yisrael-4-facts-about-this-iconic-jewish-song/

Ancient Israel's Animal Life Part II, Aryeh אַריֵה the Lion

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

Lions are featured regularly throughout the Bible, both in symbolism as well as historical reference. 

Samson killed a lion with his bare hands on a journey to the then-Philistine territory of Timnath (Judges 14—This is when Samson saw a Philistine woman, fell in love with her, and wanted her as a wife, but his parents were saying, those uncircumcized people?  You couldn't fall for one of our women?

                                                               

 When they reached the vineyards of Timnath, a young lion was roaring toward him! He tore it apart as one tears apart a kid (goat) though he had nothing in his hand.  He did not tell his parents what he had done.  ...Later, he returned after some time to marry her, but he turned aside to see the fallen carcass of the lion, and a swarm of bees was in the body of the lion, with honey.  He scraped it into his hands and went, walking and eating.....

Lions are, in fact, referenced over 150 times in the Hebrew Bible.                                                    

 David ( ruled from 1010-970 BCE) killed a lion while protecting his father’s flocks in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17). David was telling King Saul, "HaShem (G-d)  who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will rescue me from this Philistine!"

                                                              

Here's David a young teen, ready to kill a lion; fearless.  In those days, the job of a shepherd could be very dangerous.         

                                                           

 A disobedient prophet was killed by a lion in Bethel (1 Kings 13).  But really, lions in Israel? It's a story of a false prophet who meets up with a real prophet.   "It happened after he had eaten a meal and after he had drunk that he saddled the donkey for the prophet who he had brought back.  He went and a lion encountered him on the way and killed him, and his corpse was cast down on the road, and the donkey stood next to it, and the lion also stood next to the corpse.  People came by and saw the lion and they related it to the city, where the old prophet lived. " 

                                                       

The riddle was impossible to discern with deduction alone, since it was based on a private experience of Samson's, who killed a young lion and found bees and honey in its corpse. Hence, the answer to the riddle is as follows: "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?" (Judges 14:18).

                                                     

    Assyrian relief depicting  King Ashurbanipal hunting lions (645-635 BCE) now in British Museum in London---during Judah's days with King Amon who became King when 22 years old after his father, Manasseh, ruled for 2 years, then was killed by conspirators (servants or officials).  

The Lion of Judah (Hebrew: אריה יהודה‎ Aryeh Yehudah) is a Jewish national and cultural symbol, traditionally regarded as the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah. According to the Torah, the tribe consists of the descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The association between Judah and the lion can first be found in the blessing given by Jacob to his son Judah in the Book of Genesis.(Gen.49:8)  "A lion cub is Judah;  from the prey, my son, you elevated yourself. 

 He crouches, lies down like a lion, and like an awesome lion, who dares rouse him?"

                                                            

Actually, lions did once flourish in and around the Holy Land. The species is known as the Asiatic lion. They are believed to have become extinct within Israel at the time of the Crusades—around 1200 c.e.—and became extinct in the wider Middle East during the 20th century. These animals can now be found only in the Indian state of Gujarat, and they are endangered. Modern examples of these lions are about the same size as central African lions, with males weighing up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds). However, a 17th-century Indian emperor reportedly killed a beast weighing just over 300 kilograms (660 pounds). This gives some idea of the potential size of beasts faced by Samson and David.

                                                           

The biblical Judah (in Hebrew: Yehuda) is the eponymous ancestor of the Tribe of Judah, which is traditionally symbolized by a lion. In Genesis, the patriarch Jacob ("Israel") gave that symbol to this tribe when he refers to his son Judah as a Gur Aryeh גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה, "Young Lion" (Genesis 49:9) when blessing him. In Jewish naming tradition the Hebrew name and the substitute name are often combined as a pair, as in this case.                                                             

The Lion of Judah was used as a Jewish symbol for many years, and as Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah;  in 1950 it was included in     the Emblem of Jerusalem.

Resource:

https://watchjerusalem.co.il/592-the-animals-of-the-bible

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_of_Judah#:~:text=The%20Lion%20of%20Judah%20(Hebrew,the%20fourth%20son%20of%20Jacob.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson%27s_riddle

Judah, the Surviving State, which is Now a Piece of the Original Judah, as the Modern Israel Part II

Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

     Pictured by Middle Ages artist, Jacob Blessing His Sons by François Maitre. The mention of a bed in Genesis 49:33 indicates that this is a deathbed speech.

Judah, the state created b the tribe of Judah from which Jews have come from, lives.  It was prophesied to do so inadvertently by Jacob on his deathbed.   He had told each of his 12 sons what was to happen to all their descendants.  Judah and the Joseph tribes both receive extensive blessings, suited to their pre-eminence, Judah's as the major component of the Kingdom of Judah, and the Joseph tribes, in particular Ephraim, as the pre-eminent group in the Kingdom of Israel. In particular, Joseph is described as mighty, and thus as conquering, but Judah's authority is described as given directly by God, and consequently it arguably suits the southern (i.e. Judah) bias of the source (Jahwist), according to the Documentary Hypothesis.

Judah was the 4th son of Jacob and Leah.  This state included not only the tribe of Judah but also most of Benjamin and presumably absorbed the tribe of Simeon as well which was isolated in the extreme South.  

Judah didn't have any normal access to the sea, and commanded no great trade route, and occupied no more than a 1/3 of the area of the northern kingdom of Israel.  It was poor and unimportant as compared with Israel.  

On the other hand, for these very reasons, it did not become involved to the same extent in international rivalries, and its existence was more tranquil.  

Moreover, partly owing to the presence in its territory of Jerusalem and its Temple, it preserved Mosaic monotheism in a purer form.  Until toward its last days, Judah's dynastic history was more settled, the monarchy generally passing peacefully from father to son in the Davidic house, except for the usurpation of Queen Athaliah in 843-`837BCE.  It did not have the shocking reputation of killing kings for power that Israel did.   

Israel was created by the kingship of Saul, and David was a soldier under him, who established the House of David's dynasty that continued on in Judah with David's son, Rehoboam (933-917 BCE).  David had been the youngest son of Jesse, a farmer and sheep breeder from the tribe of Judah.  In fact, Jesse was a direct descendant of Judah, himself.  

The last king was Zedekiah  (597-586 BCE), son of the previous King Josiah(637-608 BCE) - was an appointee by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to succeed the exiled King Jehoiachin (608-598 BCE) , and was only 21 years old at this time.  This is when Babylonia attacked and took away large numbers of the best of the inhabitants.  Zedekiah died a a terrible death by the Babylonians by witnessing the death of his sons and then having his eyes put out and living in a prison till he was executed.  

Gedaliah, the governor of Judah appointed by the Babylonians after the first Temple in 586 BCE was destroyed,  a member of the former Royal House of Judah,  was left as a leader who tried to carry on, but his rule ended with an assassination in 582 BCE by the commander, Ishmael ben Nethaniah and his followers, who were planning a revolt against Babylon in concert with neighboring powers.  Gedaliah's supporters were forced to flee to Egypt.  

These descendants of the exiles in Babylonia continued to cherish their national and religious ideals so steadfastly as to make possible the renewal of Jewish life after 839 BCE in the area of the former kingdom of Judah.                                       

Ezra in the 5th century BCE returned with his Babylonian followers to Jerusalem, a sinking city needing his teachings, and rebuilt the Temple into the 2nd one, renewing his ancient religion of Judaism.  He was a Cohen from the family of the high priest, Zadok, descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses.  In 438 BCE he received the permission from Artaxerses I of Persia to leave and went to Jerusalem with 1,754 returning exiles.  together with Nehemiah, the governor of Judah they persuaded the people to keep the Torah, to observe the Sabbath and the sabbatical year, to pay their Temple dues, and to reject intermarriage with gentiles in 444 BCE. Nehemiah had been the one who had heard of the deplorable conditions in Judah and had asked the king Artaxerses if he could return.  He was appointed its governor in 444 BCE.  When he got back, he organized the repair of its walls, and it was finished in 52 days despite interference by neighboring peoples.   Ezra's spiritual level is compared with Moses.  Ezra is not mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  

In contrast to its relative political obscurity, the intellectual and spiritual life of Judah was extraordinarily rich.  It was there that most of the canonical prophets carried on their activity.  Great parts of the bible were composed and the essential traditions of Judaism were developed and preserved.  

In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem. The Romans ruled through a local client king and largely allowed free religious practice in Judaea. At times, the divide between monotheistic and polytheistic religious views caused clashes between Jews and Gentiles.                                       

By 70 CE the Romans burned down Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple as shown for posterity in the Arch of Titus, above.  Titus was a Roman emperor from 79 to i1 CE.  He had taken over the command of the Roman army in Judea from his father in 70 when he destroyed Ajerusalem after a 5 month siege.  According to Josephus, Titus was unsuccessful in preserving the Temple, but he was writing for the Roman readers.  We feel, after reading other sources, that it was set on fire deliberately after emptying it of its riches.  Jews then called Titus "The wicked one."  Jews were taken to Rome as slaves for the circus, slaughtered and scattered throughout Europe.                           

Titus had a mistress, Berenice, who was a Jewish princess, daughter of Herod's sister, Salome.  Because of her, no doubt, he  didn't give in to the people of Antioch to abolish Jewish privileges there.  He had bitter battles in Judea, but did not interfere with Jewish rights elsewhere.  it was in the year 60 that Berenice had rejoined Agrippa and supported his efforts to prevent the outbreak of the great Revolt of 66, and later fled with him to the romans.  It was then that she became mistress and followed Titus to Rome, but was forced by roman popular opinion, to leave him. When Vespasian died, she tried to reconcile with Titus, but it ended in failure.   

• 135 CE - Jerusalem Rebuilt as a Roman City after the Bar Kokhba revolt from 132-135 when this general held Jerusalem for 3 years.  

Byzantine Period (324-638 CE)

• 335 CE - Church of the Holy Sepulchre Built
• 614 CE - Persians Capture Jerusalem
• 629 CE - Byzantine Christians Recapture Jerusalem from Persians

First Muslim Period (638-1099 CE)

• 638 CE - Caliph Omar Enters Jerusalem
• 661-750 CE - Jerusalem Ruled Under Umayyad Dynasty
• 691 CE - Dome of the Rock Built on Site of Destroyed Jewish Temples
• 750-974 CE - Jerusalem Ruled Under Abassid Dynasty

Crusader Period (1099-1187 CE)

• 1099 CE - First Crusaders Capture Jerusalem

Ayyubid Period (1187-1259 CE)

• 1187 CE - Saladin Captures Jerusalem from Crusaders
• 1229-1244 CE - Crusaders Briefly Recapture Jerusalem Two Times

Mamluk Period (1250-1516)

• 1250 - Muslim Caliph Dismantles Walls of Jerusalem; Population Rapidly Declines

Ottoman Period (1516-1917)

• 1517 - Ottoman Empire Captures Jerusalem
• 1538-1541 - Suleiman the Magnificent Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem
•                                                                     
  
  
  
• British Mandate (1917-1948)

• 1917 - British Capture Jerusalem in World War I
•                      
  
                                                    Israel of 1956 

Divided City (1948-1967)

• 1948 - State of Israel Established; Jerusalem Divided By Armistice Lines Between Israel & Jordan
•                                                          
  
                              Gave back the Sinai to Egypt in the name of peace.  
•                                                                   
  
  
  

Reunification (1967-Present)

• 1967 - Israel Captures Jerusalem's Old City and Eastern Half; Reunites City
• And there we are;  everyone wanting Jerusalem.