feeding the dead

by peacefulpete 8 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  peacefulpete

  The detailed history of Yahwist cult is largely lost to us. We have only the work of narrowly focused compilers and editors to draw from in the OT and archaeological insights from such a distant past are sadly sporadic. Just how did the concept of death develope and at what point did the veneration/consultation of the dead become anathema to Yahwism? There are many evidences in the OT that the people in general clung to their past practices of necromancy and invocations despite the efforts of Yahwist reformers of the 7th-5th centuries.

  An interesting evidence that the Yahwists themselves retained the early practice of offering food for the dead is the presence of of bowls and vessels in assumed "Israelite" tombs in keeping with general Palestinian practice. Some have speculated that the bowls must have been for feeding the mourners in the Israelite cases but this defies the obvious.

  A verse that may demonstrate that this practice of gifting food to the dead was acceptable practice is Deut 26:12-14:

  12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me.

  At first it may be that the Deuteronomist was condemning the practice of offering food to the dead but upon closer examination we see that the issue is the ceremonial cleaness of the tithes gifted to the priests. IOW the practice itself is not condemned but simply that no part of the foods used as tithes should be handled when "unclean" (eg.having menstrual discharge or when touching a dead body).

  Even later in the 3rd century BC book of Tobit (4:17) the practice is to be encouraged: "17: Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners."

  Apparently the ancient practice that clearly manifest a reverence for the dead had lost is offensiveness to the Yahwists through years of fighting a losing battle.
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  Leolaia

  The fascinating thing about Tobit 4:17 is that it is actually a paraphrase of Ahiqar 2:10 (Syriac; cf. 2:7 for the Armenian), which reads: "My son, pour out your wine on the graves of the righteous, rather than drink it with evil men". Other sayings in the testamental section of ch. 4 of Tobit are also likely derived from Ahiqar. This is intriguing because Tobit otherwise makes several allusions to the story of Ahiqar (cf. 1:21-22, 2:10, 11:18, 14:10), so the saying you quoted from Tobit could go back to the sixth-fifth centuries BC, tho it is not in the Aramaic...Ahiqar is also interesting because it is polytheistic, at least in the sapiential section, which refers to El, Shamash, and Shamayn, rather than the Jewish god Yahweh.
  
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  peacefulpete

  Can you tell me more about this Aqihar? I come up empty.
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  peacefulpete

  Sirach 30:18 includes an ancient saying that speaks of this practice:18: "Good things poured out upon a mouth that is closed are like offerings of food placed upon a grave."
  

  Apparently he felt it a waste of food.
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  Leolaia

  Its an Aramaic court tale (set during the reigns of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon) that includes a collection of proverbs, and the story is reminiscent of (if not a direct influence on) the narratives of Daniel and Esther. The oldest manuscript dates to the fifth century BC.

  http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/ahiqar.html

  The text of Sirach 30:18 is somewhat uncertain. The Hebrew text has "in front of an idol" instead of "on a grave" (as in the Greek).
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  peacefulpete

  my bad spelling again...20 And when Haiqar heard this speech he went and took a cat, and bound her and began to flog her with a violent flogging till the Egyptians heard it, and they went and told the king about it.

  Monty Python?
  

  Anyway thanks again. This was of interest to me especially as I caretake a cemetery where a number of Hmong are burried. They regularly put out food and drinks (usually Pepsi) on the graves. A real blessing on hot days mowing grass
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  Leolaia

  It looks like the text of Ahiqar on that site is from the Arabic recension and not the Aramaic. Note how all the references to different gods have disappeared in the later recensions.

  BTW, it looks like the Old Latin and Vulgate of Tobit 4:17 refers to both "bread and wine". Is this a harmonization of Tobit with Ahiqar, or is there a Christian interpolation to turn this into an allusion of the eucharist?

  Here is another relevant text:

  "They slaughter their sacrifices to the dead, and to the demons they bow down. And they eat in tombs" (Jubilees 22:17).

  This seems to be an allusion to the practices of Gentiles than Jews or Israelites.
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  Leolaia

  Mark Smith draws attention to some other relevant texts. Deutero-Isaiah criticizes the popular Jewish practice of feeding the dead: "With the dead of the wadi is your portion, they are your lot. Even to them have you poured out a drink offering, you have brought a cereal offering" (Isaiah 57:6-7). A few chapters later, Deutero-Isaiah refers to "those who sit among graves" (65:4).

  Psalm 106:28 (alluding to the episode narrated in Numbers 25:2) refers to Israelites who "ate the sacrifices of the dead (zbch' mtym)". This is another clear post-exilic text, cf. v. 40-47.
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  peacefulpete

  The book Shades of Sheol, despite my issue with the author, has a great many such possible allusions to reverence of the dead in a context of condemnation but what i found most interesting is when the practice of feeding the dead seems to be countenanced by the Yahwist authors much like the way the WT condones traditions that have pagan origins after they became social norms.