Herodotus and the Delphic Oracles

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Delphic Oracles

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Herodotus and the Delphic Oracles

Polytheocracy vs Monotheocracy

This is the introduction from the upcoming 11-part article onpolytheism in the free commentary which you can download without

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THE DELPHIC ORACLES

INTRODUCTION

Bible Prophecy vs The Rest of the World

In my search for sacred writings on a level with the Bible, there are many whichdo not actually rohesy anything testable !such as the "oran# the $gytian te%ts#Buddhist writings&, or are otherwise 'false(rohecy' !Bhagavad )ita# Bahaiwritings# $noch& or are clearly inferior !*ammurabi's +aw Code# The rohet&-

The test of false(prophecyis simle. the rediction does not come true.

Deu/01.20(22 3nd if thou say in thy heart, *ow shall we 4now the wordwhich 5ehovah hath not so4en622 when a rohet sea4eth in the name of 5ehovah, if the thing follownot, nor come to ass, that is the thing which 5ehovah hath not so4en.the rohet hath so4en it resumtuously, thou shalt not be afraid ofhim-

7o you don't need to resect or fear the imitation scritures-

*owever, the ancient oraclesof the antheon of $gytian8)ree48Roman godsand demigods, heroes and heroines, come close to a fair comparison with Bibleprophecy-

The comarison is between Biblical rohecies which came true, and aganoracles which came true- This will surrise many of you, but that is where the faircomarison lies# and until you loo4 for and find the evidence for true oracles, youcannot get close enough to the real siritual owers behind the various claims onbeing )od-I am loo4ing for a contrast, not a similarity, between the two sets of redictions,for it is the heartof the sirits which must show through in the end-


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The onus is to detect the heart of the sirit of rohecy (( does it reach Christ6Does it lead you away from the true )od6 This oens u a second test.

The test of a false(miracleis whether the associated teaching aligns with othertrue and roven rohets in ointing eole to the worshi of 9ahweh- If not,

is is a false(sirit at wor4-

The validity of redictions of other sirits is in the Bible as follows.

Deu/0:.0(: If there arise in the midst of thee a rohet, or a dreamer ofdreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder,2 and the sign or the wonder come to ass, whereof he sa4e unto thee,saying, +et us go after other gods, which thou hast not 4nown, and let us servethem#: thou shalt not hear4en unto the words of that rohet, or unto thatdreamer of dreams.for 5ehovah your )od roveth you, to 4now whether ye love 5ehovah your)od with all your heart and with all your soul-

The historian *erodotus, circa ;;; age document translated by)eorge Rawlinson- The ?s@uare brac4etsA indicate my comments, and theunderlining is mine-There is more about *erodotus in searate sub(sections, '*erodotus' and '3nti(7emitism'-

The historical narrative of *erodotus wouldfall apartif it were derived of thesiritual bac4ground he uts into every story (( It is almost as if *erodotus isacting li4e the Chronicler of )ree4 historyequivalent to the books of Chroniclesfor Israel# or in the Bible Chronicles, the history is traced through a continuousfabric of miracles, dreams, visions, divinations, rohecies, sacrificial service andriesthood-Herodotus does the same, and it forms a fair comarison therefore!and for other reasons to come&, to @uote *erodotus alongside the Bible-

The simlicity of the historical ushot is.

One )od. Big Bible# rich and living legacy

any gods. oor record# scattered and lased legacy

A Lost World

The siritual world has, in modern times, been relaced by the secular world-That's good, because the world of sirits was one of constant warfare-


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The whole 4nown world, before Christianity, was in constant wars, guided by theoracles (of many different gods and goddesses, who fre@uented temles andsacred recincts&, and guided by dreams urorting to be from one or anothergod or demigod-any calamities were ut down to not obeying the gods- $merors were in fear of

their redictions- If the god ordered a siege, there was a siege# or if the god saidnot to attac4, they refrained- Camaigns were fought according to their words-hole arliaments were devoted to decihering the meaning of the oracles, andsoothsayers and diviners were aid to decide on ausicious dates and so forth-Temles multilied, and so did vows to honour each god in each new lace, ineretuity- In this 'ay honour to the gods' way, ever(increasing idolatry, and theassociated costs, was forced on the in@uirers- East sums of gold, silver, bronFeand iron were dedicated in resonse to a true oracle- ays were sought to getaround the wording of the rohecies, and cases of bribery were not un4nowneven amongst the most trusted oracles !which brought all of them into constantdoubt&- +ongstanding international and internal feuding was the order of the day-ost of the oracles concerned olitics and wars, and revolved around aybac4 inthis life,so that feuding was the only ossible result-

*ere is an e%amle, from *erodotus, ;=0, which illustrates about oracles, thatwhat eole were most interested in was warfareand that oracles were written down by the hearers,often without the @uestion needing to be first as4edand further that oracles were often in the form of unclear wording, re@uiringclever interretationand there was a game of 'hich oracle shall we listen to6'.

When the Athenians !ree"s# threatened by$ersians%# an&ious to consult the oracle# sent their

messengers to 'elphi# hardly had the enoyscompleted the customary rites about the sacredprecinct# and ta"en their seats inside thesanctuary of the god# when the $ythoness#

Aristonice by name# thus prophesied-

Wretches# why sit ye here *ly# fly to the ends ofcreation#+uitting your homes# and the crags which yourcity crowns with her circlet.

,either the head# nor the body is firm in itsplace# nor at bottom


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*irm the feet# nor the hands nor resteth themiddle uninurd.All- all ruined and lost. 0ince fire# and impetuous

Ares# ars# the god of War# the fiery-redplanet%

0peeding along in a 0yrian chariot# hastes todestroy her.,ot alone shalt thou suffer full many the towershe will leel#

any the shrines of the gods he will gie to afiery destruction.

2en now they stand with dar" sweat horriblydripping#Trembling and 3ua"ing for fear and lo4 from thehigh roofs tric"leth

5lac" blood# sign prophetic of hard distressesimpending.

!et ye away from the temple and brood on theills that await ye4

When the Athenian messengers heard this reply#they were filled with the deepest affliction:whereupon Timon# the son of Androbulus# one of

the men of most mar" among the 'elphians#seeing how utterly cast down they were at thegloomy prophecy# adised them to ta"e an olie-branch# and entering the sanctuary again# consult

the oracleas suppliants. The Athenians followed this adice#

and going in once more# said- 67 "ing4 we praythee reerence these boughs of supplication whichwe bear in our hands# and delier to us somethingmore comforting concerning our country. 2lse we


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will not leae thy sanctuary# but will stay here tillwe die.6 8pon this the priestess gae them asecond answer# which was the following:-

$allas has not been able to soften the lord of7lympus#Though she has often prayed him# and urgedhim with e&cellent counsel.9et once more address thee in words than

adamant firmer.When the foe shall hae ta"en whateer the

limit of ;ecrops


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meaning# many and arious were theinterpretations which men put on it...

The $ersians did indeed burn Arhens and all theirsacred places

And indeed there came a day when Athenians sawa reersal of defeat into ictory# at 0alamis.%

irst note that the suosed 'council of Olymian gods ands goddesses' !allas,Olymus, 5ove, 3thene, Cithaeron& is in direct contradiction to 9ahweh's versionof the unseen realms, and comes with far less roof, and was born only with theirnational ballads rather than from any ancient source-Now comare an e@uivalent Biblical oracle !one among hundreds&, from oses'

last words, in Deuteronomy, against olytheism in Israel.

Deu/:2.0G(2G They moved him to Healousy with strange gods#ith abominations rovo4ed they him to anger-0 They sacrificed unto demons, which were no )od,To gods that they 4new not, To new gods that came u of late,hich your fathers dreaded not-01 Of the Roc4 that begat thee thou art unmindful,3nd hast forgotten )od that gave thee birth-0> 3nd 5ehovah saw it, and abhorred them,Because of the rovocation of his sons and his daughters-

2


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It shall destroyboth young man and virgin,The suc4ling with the man of gray hairs-2G I said, I would scatter them afar,I would ma4e the remembrance of them to cease from among men#

9et 9ahweh adds a less harsh message of eventual redemtion, as is usual for*im.

Deu/:2.:G or 5ehovah will Hudge his eole,3nd ?JThen *e willA reent himself for his servants#hen he seeth that theirower is gone,3nd there is none remaining, shut u or left at large-Deu :2.: 3nd he will say, here are their gods,The roc4 in which they too4 refuge#

3 second e%amle of a harsh message, reeated.5eremiah had ris4ed his life, and (( while all the false(rohets had rohesied'eaceK' (( had accurately redicted that the Babylonians would come andcon@uer 5erusalem- *e now tells the 4ing to leave the city and surrender to theenemy, which almost causes 5eremiah's death.

5er/20.0(0; The word which came unto 5eremiah from 5ehovah, when 4ingLede4iah sent unto him ashhur the son of alchiHah, and Lehaniah the sonof aaseiah, the riest, saying,2 In@uire, I ray thee, of 5ehovah for us# for NebuchadreFFar 4ing of Babylonma4eth war against us. eradventure 5ehovah will deal with us according toall his wondrous wor4s, that he may go u from us-: Then said 5eremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Lede4iah.

; Thus saith 5ehovah, the )od of Israel, Behold, I will turn bac4 the weaonsof war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the 4ing of Babylon,and against the Chaldeans that besiege you, without the walls# and I willgather them into the midst of this city-= 3nd I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with astrong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation-G 3nd I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. they shalldie of a great estilence- 3nd afterward, saith 5ehovah, I will deliver Lede4iah 4ing of 5udah, and hisservants, and the eole, even such as are left in this city from the estilence,from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of NebuchadreFFar 4ing

of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those thatsee4 their life. and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword# he shall notsare them, neither have ity, nor have mercy-1 3nd unto this eole thou shalt say, Thus saith 5ehovah. Behold, I setbefore you the way of life and the way of death-> *e that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, andby the estilence# but he that goeth out, and asseth over to the Chaldeansthat besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a rey-


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0


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hath read-0 Because they have forsa4en me, and have burned incense unto other gods,that they might rovo4e me to anger with all the wor4 of their hands,therefore my wrath shall be 4indled against this lace, and it shall not be@uenched-

01 But unto the 4ing of 5udah, who sent you to in@uire of 5ehovah, thus shallye say to him, Thus saith 5ehovah, the )od of Israel. 3s touching the wordswhich thou hast heard,0> because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before5ehovah, when thou heardest what I sa4e against this lace, and against theinhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, andhast rent thy clothes, and wet before me# I also have heard thee, saith5ehovah-2


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Paa! Oracles i! the Bibletreated as tr"e#

3ct/0.2(21 that they should see4 )od, if haly they might feel after himand find him,

though he is not far from each one of us.21 for in him we live, and move, and have our being#as certain even of your own oets have said,

or we are also his offsring-

?identified as lautus !=, ;,0;ratus, MhaenomenaM, v- =#Cleanthes' *ymn to 5uiter#*omer#and several other oets and hilosohers, according to the commentatorsA

Can you say that aul treats the following self(denying arado% as true or false69es# both-

Tit/0.02(0: One of themselves, a rohet of their own, said,Cretans are always liars,

evil beasts, idle gluttons-0: This testimony is true-

or which cause rerove them sharly, that they may be sound in the faith,

?aul turns the arado% against itself,to declare that it roves them to be decetive, tric4y and unreliable,and false in what they affirmA

$over!%e!t by Oracle

: Oracles were trusted.

The


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interred within sight of the temple he dug up# andremoed to another part of the isle.

< eole(movements were to order.

..the $hocaeans# as Arganthonius was now dead#

made up their minds to sail to ;yrnus (;orsica)#where# twenty years before# following the directionof an oracle# they had founded a city# which wascalled Alalia.

0acedaemonians were to hae


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colonised# according to an oracle.

:


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humiliated and 4illed !by 9ahweh as it were, for 9ahweh had redicted it all toIsrael&.

Isa/:G.0


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The olytheistic scene is one of real and powerful rebellious spirits, ractisingreal decetion uon their followers, for there is room for one true )od, and all therest must be retenders, necessarily in the service of the Deceiver, refusing tobow to 9ahweh and *is chosen 7on(and(heir of all creation, who was wellrohesied-

The oracles 'ere collected a!d re%e%bered

::G-

They were also moed by certain prophecies#which declared that many dire calamities should

befall them at the hands of the Athenians. 7fthese in times past they had been ignorant but

now they had become ac3uainted with them bymeans of ;leomenes# who had brought them withhim to 0parta# haing found them in the Atheniancitadel# where they had been left by the

$isistratidae when they were drien from Athens:they were in the temple# and ;leomenes haing

discoered them# carried them off. 0o when the >acedaemonians obtainedpossession of the prophecies# and saw that theAthenians were growing in strength...

Consider this similar story from the Bible, already half(given above, but nownotice, that it is itched againstthe use of other oracles, sacred recincts, imagesand such.

2"i/22.0


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all that which is written concerning us-0; 7o *il4iah the riest, and 3hi4am, and 3chbor, and 7hahan, and 3saiah,went unto *uldah the rohetess, the wife of 7hallum the son of Ti4vah, theson of *arhas, 4eeer of the wardrobe !now she dwelt in 5erusalem in thesecond @uarter and they communed with her-

0= 3nd she said unto them, Thus saith 5ehovah, the )od of Israel. Tell ye theman that sent you unto me,0G Thus saith 5ehovah, Behold, I will bring evil uon this lace, and uon theinhabitants thereof, even all the words of the boo4 which the 4ing of 5udahhath read-0 Because they have forsa4en me, and have burned incense unto other gods,that they might rovo4e me to anger with all the wor4 of their hands ?moltenand engraven imagesA, therefore my wrath shall be 4indled against this lace,and it shall not be @uenched-

:;< of *erodotus# Oracles were able to be studied.

When 0osicles# the deputy from ;orinth# had thus

spo"en#


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Israel had once rediscovered that long(neglected boo4 of scriture mentionedabove.

2"i/2:.2; oreover them that had familiar sirits, and the wiFards, and the

terahim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of5udah and in 5erusalem,did 5osiah ut away,that he might confirm the words of the law which were writtenin the boo4 that *il4iah the riest found in the house of 5ehovah-

9ahweh's boo4 insisted on *is words, and *is ways only, not their words andtheir gods and their ways-

;(00 3nd further, because the reacher was wise, he still taught theeole 4nowledge#yea, he ondered, and sought out, andset in order many roverbs-0


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astonished# hearing a strange language when theye&pected !ree"# and did not "now what to do.ys# howeer# the 2uropean# snatched from their

hands the tablet which they had brought withthem# and wrote down what the prophet uttered.

The reply# he told them# was in the ;arian dialect.After this# ys departed and returned to Thessaly.

rom this there is an immediate telling contrast with the *ebrew scritureswritten by rohets, or under their direct suervision.

5eremiah.5er/:G.0(; 3nd it came to ass in the fourth year of 5ehoia4im the son of5osiah, 4ing of 5udah, that this word came unto 5eremiah from 5ehovah?9ahwehA, saying,2 Ta4e thee a roll of a boo4, and write therein all the words that I have so4enunto thee against Israel, and against 5udah, and against all the nations, fromthe day I sa4e unto thee, from the days of 5osiah, even unto this day-: It may be that the house of 5udah will hear all the evil which I urose to dounto them# that they may return every man from his evil way# that I mayforgive their ini@uity and their sin-; Then 5eremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah# and Baruch wrote from themouth of 5eremiah all the words of 5ehovah, which he had so4en unto him,uon a roll of a boo4-?Reeated in 5er/:G.01, 5er/:G.2, 5er/:G.:2, 5er/;=.0A

The reliability of having the rohet himself dictate the rohecy at writingseed, and resumably have them read bac4 to him for chec4ing, is crucial totrusting the words forever(after reserved-

The records of oracles 'ere s"b)ect to corr"ptio!

*ere are some e%amles.;


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they remoed to 0usa. asus of The wise men are ut to shame, they are dismayed and ta4en.lo, they have reHected the word of 5ehovah# and what manner of wisdom is inthem6

It is unclear what falsity is afoot in 5eremiah's time, but the conte%t is 'false(rohets' in Israel, and it suggests the mi%ing of false(rohecies in amongst thetrue rohecies of the true rohets-

:2;.

These same men# if we may beliee theAthenians# during their stay at 'elphi persuadedthe $ythoness by a bribe to tell the 0partans#

wheneer any of them came to consult the oracle#either on their own priate affairs or on the

business of the state# that they must free Athens.0o the >acedaemonians# when they found noanswer eer returned to them but this# sent at last

Anchimolius# the son of Aster- a man of noteamong their citi?ens- at the head of an armyagainst Athens# with orders to drie out the

$isistratidae# albeit they were bound to them bythe closest ties of friendship. *or they esteemedthe things of heaen more highly than the things


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of men.

?They were routed, but a later attemt succeededA

::G continues, as if we may indeed 'believe the 3thenians'.

0uch then was the origin of the feud whiche&isted between the 2ginetans and the Athenians.


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>acedaemonians hindered their proects. Theselast had become aware of the truth- how that theAlcmaeonidae had practised on the $ythoness# and

the $ythoness had schemed against themseles#and against the $isistratidae and the discoery

was a double grief to them# for while they haddrien their own sworn friends into e&ile# theyfound that they had not gained thereby a particleof good will from Athens.---

6*riends and brothers in arms# we are free to

confess that we did lately a thing which was not

right. isled by counterfeit oracles# we droe fromtheir country those who were our sworn and truefriends...

:2. This incident was treated as serious corrution.

At last# as there came to be much strife concerningthis matter# the 0partans made a decree that the

'elphic oracle should be as"ed to say whether'emaratus were Aristons son or no. ;leomenes

set them upon this plan and no sooner was thedecree passed than he made a friend of by

bribery% ;obon# the son of Aristophantus# a manof the greatest weight among the 'elphians andthis ;obon preailed upon by bribery% $erialla#the prophetess# to gie the answer which

;leomenes wished.Accordingly# when the sacred messengers came

and put their 3uestion# the $ythoness returned foranswer 6that 'emaratus was not Aristons son.60ome time afterwards all this became "nown and


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;obon was forced to fly from 'elphi while $eriallathe prophetess was depried of her office.

Comare Nehemiah, a rohet himself, discerning bribery.

Neh/G.0;

*or these last did but e&asperate the other$isistratidae by slaying acedaemoniansset Athens free#

as hae already related.

In the Bible, rohets who rohesied warnings of disaster were almost alwaysoosed by false rohets- 7everal times these false(rohets had been bribed todeny the warnings, and had been hired to rohesy eace instead- This is wherethe 'testing of rohets' comes into its own (( the rohets who rohesied ofthings which did haen have been included in the Bible, while those who did not


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rohesy truly have been e%cluded- rohecy is something which by its verynature needs to be tested for truth- The Bible asses the test with flying colours,setting a high standard# but other writings don't set out to distinguish truth- TheBible secified a death(enalty for false(rohets, which is a good law from )od,but in man's hands it seems not to have been alied, e%cet against unoular

rohets !i-e- true warners&-

Oracles 'ere ofte! Delivered i! He(a%eter *erse

*e%ameter verse simly has 'si%' feet or long sounds, in various combinations- Itis not unusual or difficult- 3n e%amle is given below-In $nglish it can be rendered with accented syllables rather than lengthenedones- These are indicated below-

2= Riddles are ambiguous, but this one was correctly guessed.


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rom I7B$ on )ree4 religion Oracles---

3fter reliminary sacrifices, the riestess urified herself and mounted thetriod in the temle# the @uestion was roounded to her by a temle official,

and it was his function also to ut her wild ravings into he%ameter verse forthe erson consulting the oracle- 3 considerable number of these answersremain to us, all, of course, somewhat vague, many of them containing shrewdadvice on the @uestion that was brought to the oracle-

Note that the Bible itself is written in elegant style.

irstly, *ebrew has rhythmic atterns, suitable for recitation-The rohecies esecially, are liable to be written in versified form which ma4ethem stand out from the rest of the te%t-

ore imortantly, the Bible's style is often in chiasmatic verse, where ideas arerevisited in reverse order. In the following e%amle, '3dam and $ve', aears in0 then again in 2 in the sweat of thy faceshalt thou eat bread,

till thou return unto the ground#for out of it wast thou ta4en.

for dust thou art,and unto dust shalt thou return- ?deathJcurseA


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2


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After this reply# the >acedaemonians were nonearer discoering the burial-place than before#though they continued to search for it diligently

until at last a man named >ichas# one of the0partans called Agathoergi# found it.

...he went to Tegea# and# happening to enter into thewor"shop of a smith# he saw him forging someiron. As he stood marelling at what he beheld# he

was obsered by the smith who# leaing off hiswor"# went up to him and said#

6;ertainly# then# you 0partan stranger# youwould hae been wonderfully surprised if you hadseen what hae# since you ma"e a marel eenof the wor"ing in iron. wanted to ma"e myself a

well in this room# and began to dig it# when whatthin" you came upon a coffin seen cubits long.

had neer belieed that men were taller in theolden times than they are now# so opened the

coffin. The body inside was of the same length: measured it# and filled up the hole again.6

0uch was the mans account of what he hadseen. The other# on turning the matter oer in his

mind# conectured that this was the body of7restes# of which the oracle had spo"en.


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whole matter before his countrymen. 0oon after#by a concerted plan# they brought a chargeagainst him# and began a prosecution. >ichas

betoo" himself to Tegea# and on his arrialac3uainted the smith with his misfortune# and

proposed to rent his room of him. The smithrefused for some time but at last >ichaspersuaded him# and too" up his abode in it. Thenhe opened the grae# and collecting the bones#

returned with them to0parta. *rom henceforth# wheneer the 0partans

and the Tegeans made trial of each others s"ill inarms# the 0partans always had greatly theadantage and by the time to which we are nowcome they were masters of most of the

$eloponnese.

*ere is a Biblical arallel (( 7amson's riddle

5dg/0;.=(0; Then went 7amson down, and his father and his mother, toTimnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah.

and, behold, a young lion roared against him-G 3nd the 7irit of 5ehovah came mightily uon him,and he rent him as he would have rent a 4id# and he had nothing in hishand.

but he told not his father or his mother what he had done- 3nd he went down, and tal4ed with the woman, and she leased 7amsonwell-1 3nd after a while he returned to ta4e her#

and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion.and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey-> 3nd he too4 it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went#

and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat.but he told them not that he had ta4en the honey out of the body of the lion-0


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if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find itout,then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment#0: but if ye cannot declare it unto me, then shall ye give me thirty linengarments and thirty changes of raiment-

3nd they said unto him, ut forth thy riddle, that we may hear it- 0; 3nd hesaid unto them,Out of the eater came forth food, 3nd out of the strong came forthsweetness-

3nd they could not in three days declare the riddle----5dg/0;.01 3nd the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day beforethe sun went down,

hat is sweeter than honey6and what is stronger than a lion6

3nd he said unto them,If ye had not lowed with my heifer,9e had not found out my riddle-

*ere is a Bible 'bones' story- It is shorter, but taller !in a good sense&.

2"i/0:.20 3nd it came to ass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, theysied a band# and they cast the man into the seulchre of $lisha. and as soonas the man touched the bones of $lisha, he revived, and stood u on his feet-

*ere is an e@uivalent story from the Bible- The famine in the land was stoedafter reburying the bones.

27a/20.02(0; 3nd David went and too4 the bones of 7aul and the bones of5onathan his son from the men of 5abesh(gilead, who had stolen them fromthe street of Beth(shan, where the hilistines had hanged them, in the daythat the hilistines slew 7aul in )ilboa#0: and he brought u from thence the bones of 7aul and the bones of5onathan his son. and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged-0; 3nd they buried the bones of 7aul and 5onathan his son in the country ofBenHamin in Lela, in the seulchre of "ish his father.and they erformed all that the 4ing commanded-3nd after that )od was entreated for the land-

The oracles 'ere ofte! "!helpf"l+ so%eti%es deliberatelytreachero"s

3n oracle or sooth(sayer is resenting the answer from many gods- 7ince thesemany gods have differing owers and loyalties and authority, the in@uirer will not4now whether the answer will be favourable, and could not 4now that it should beaccording to a 4nown agenda, or against a clear enemy- The gods themselves


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don't seem to 4now what will haen ne%t between themselves- The eole didn't4now which one to call their loving ather-The intention of agan oracles was to tell of what would haen, without anoverriding regard to morality or faithfulness-9ahweh however, ma4es *is will clear, defines the enemies clearly, is there to

hel *is eole when they are loyal to *im, and doesn't lay one tribe off againstanother- *is redictions had a urose of turning Israel from its evil ways, withthe intention of avoiding the calamity- *e was bringing u *is own children,discilining them, without trying to disciline the children of any otherhouseholds- *is redictions are longer(term and reliable-

There are some engrossing e%amles of treacherous oracles in the subsection onoracles- One is a se@uel to Croesus testing the Delhic oracle !which is givenimmediately below&, but is too intricate to rerint in full here in the introduction-

,a-i! trial of the Oracles before tr"sti! the%

?3n e%amle e%tracted from *erodotus, 01- It teaches us about oracles, thatthey---

were tested by their userswere often delivered with mind(readingoften in he%ameter versewere written down by the eole consulting themA.

01-

At the end of this time the grief of ;roesus wasinterrupted by intelligence from abroad. ibya. 0o he sent his messengers in differentdirections# some to 'elphi# some to Abae in

$hocis# and some to 'odona others to the oracleof Amphiaraus others to that of Trophonius


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others# again# to 5ranchidae in ilesia. These werethe !ree" oracles which he consulted. To >ibya hesent another embassy# to consult the oracle of

Ammon. These messengers were sent to test the"nowledge of the oracles# that# if they were found

really to return true answers# he might send asecond time# and in3uire if he ought to attac" the$ersians.

Different oracles could sea4 for different gods- The dynamics in the realm of thegods allowed no certainty of the future- They would suosedly fight betweenthemselves, double(cross and outwit each other- Therefore one could not e%ectconsistency, even if all the oracles were true oracles-

By contrast, 9ahweh, the One )od, so4e through many different rohets androhetesses, but they individually gave a consistent message from a single )od,across centuries-hich would you refer to hold the reins of ower over the future6

The messengers who were despatched to ma"e

trial of the oracleswere gien the following instructions: they were to

"eep count of the days from the time of their

leaing 0ardis# and# rec"oning from that date# onthe hundredth day they were to consult theoracles#

and to in3uire of them what ;roesus the son ofAlyattes# "ing of >ydia# was doing at that moment.

The answers gien them were to be ta"en down inwriting# and brought bac" to him.

,one of the replies remain on record e&cept that of

the oracle at 'elphi. There# the moment that the>ydians entered the sanctuary# and before they puttheir 3uestions# the $ythoness thus answeredthem in he&ameter erse:-

can count the sands# and can measure the


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ocean hae ears for the silent# and "now what thedumb man meaneth

>o4 on my sense there stri"eth the smell of ashell-coered tortoise#

5oiling now on a fire# with the flesh of a lamb#in a cauldron- 5rass is the essel below# and brass the coeraboe it.

These words the >ydians wrote down at the mouth

of the $ythoness as she prophesied# and then set

off on their return to 0ardis. When all themessengers had come bac" with the answerswhich they had receied# "ing% ;roesus undid the

rolls# and read what was written in each. 7nly oneapproed itself to him# that of the 'elphic oracle.

This he had no sooner heard than he instantlymade an act of adoration# and accepted it as true#declaring that the 'elphic was the only really

oracular shrine# the only one that had discoeredin what way he was in fact employed. *or on thedeparture of his messengers he had set himself to

thin" what was most impossible for any one toconceie of his doing# and then# waiting till the dayagreed on came# he acted as he had determined.


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shalt smite the idianites as one man-0 3nd he said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, then show mea sign that it is thou that tal4est with me-01 Deart not hence, I ray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth myresent, and lay it before thee- 3nd he said, I will tarry until thou come again-

0> 3nd )ideon went in, and made ready a 4id, and unleavened ca4es of anehah of meal. the flesh he ut in a bas4et, and he ut the broth in a ot, andbrought it out unto him under the oa4, and resented it-2


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number, as the sand which is uon the sea(shore for multitude-0: 3nd when )ideon was come, behold, there was a man telling a dream untohis fellow# and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream# and, lo, a ca4e of barleybread tumbled into the cam of idian, and came unto the tent, and smote itso that it fell, and turned it uside down, so that the tent lay flat-

0; 3nd his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of)ideon the son of 5oash, a man of Israel. into his hand )od hath deliveredidian, and all the host-0= 3nd it was so, when )ideon heard the telling of the dream, and theinterretation thereof, that he worshied# and he returned into the cam ofIsrael, and said, 3rise# for 5ehovah hath delivered into your hand the host ofidian-

*ere is a agan in the Bible, ma4ing trial of his interreters, to see whether theywere telling the truth.

Dan/2.0(> 3nd in the second year of the reign of NebuchadneFFar,NebuchadneFFar dreamed dreams# and his sirit was troubled, and his sleewent from him-2 Then the 4ing commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, andthe sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the 4ing his dreams ?i-e- e%lainthemA- 7o they came in and stood before the 4ing-: 3nd the 4ing said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my sirit istroubled to 4now the ?meaning of theA dream-; Then sa4e the Chaldeans to the 4ing in the 7yrian language, O 4ing, livefor ever. tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interretation-= The 4ing answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing ?lawA is gone?forthA from me. if ye ma4e not 4nown unto me the dream and the

interretation thereof, ye shall be cut in ieces, and your houses shall be madea dunghill-G But if ye show the dream and the interretation thereof, ye shall receive ofme gifts and rewards and great honor.therefore show me the dream and the interretation thereof- They answered the second time and said, +et the 4ing tell his servants thedream, and we will show the interretation-1 The 4ing answered and said, I 4now of a certainty that ye would gain time,because ye see the thing is gone from me-> But if ye ma4e not 4nown unto me the dream, there is but one law for you#for ye have reared lying and corrut words to sea4 before me, till the time

be changed.therefore tell me the dream, and I shall 4now that ye can show me theinterretation thereof-

Daniel saved the s4ins of the assembled agan interreters, and so ut them toshame, while the )od of the *ebrews was e%alted in their midst- That is arecurring theme, of a ublic roof of 9ahweh's sovereignty over these 'othergods'-


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Daniel outclassed the diviners and astrologers and wise counsellors of Babylon,for which it was famous.

0; age history&.---

:0

he found on sacrificing that the ictims were notfaourable to an attac" on ;rotona.0uch is the account which each party gies ofthese matters.

:>0

0o when the battle was set in array# and the

ictims showed themseles faourable#


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instantly the Athenians# so soon as they were letgo# charged the barbarians at a run.

=;

A prodigy had caused him to bring his army homefor while he was offering sacrifice to "now if he

should march out against the $ersian#the sun was suddenly dar"ened in mid s"y.

=1:

The !ree"s# as soon as the ictims were

faourable#put to sea# and sailed across from 'elos to 0amos.

The interest is not in what they did, or how, but in whether there was any truth atall in what results they got-7uch omens from a sooth(sayer !truth(teller& are not words of rohecy writtendown, but are of li4e 4ind to a rediction by a rohet-

These will be dealt with in a searate section, 'Divinations'-

Prophetic Drea%s

These also house redictions, worthy of attention-There is a longer catalogue in the searate sub(toic, 'Dreams, 3aritions andEisions'-

*ere is an e%amle of a vision, recorded by *erodotus :>:

There fell in this battle of arathon# on the side of

the barbarians# about si& thousand and fourhundred men on that of the Athenians# onehundred and ninety-two. 0uch was the number ofthe slain on the one side and the other. A strangeprodigy li"ewise happened at this fight. 2pi?elus#

the son of ;uphagoras# an Athenian# was in the


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thic" of the fray# and behaing himself as a braeman should# when suddenly he was stric"en withblindness# without blow of sword or dart and this

blindness continued thenceforth during the wholeof his after life. The following is the account which

he himself# as hae heard# gae of the matter:he said that a gigantic warrior# with a huge beard#which shaded all his shield# stood oer againsthim but the ghostly semblance passed him by#

and slew the man at his side. 0uch# as understand# was the tale which 2pi?elus told.

I hoe the comarisons with the Bible are an eye(oener for you-or the Bible has not dissimilar stories of suernatural e%lanations and owers.

2"i/G.1(2 3nd the man of )od sent unto the 4ing of Israel, saying, Beware that thouass not such a lace# for thither the 7yrians are coming down-0


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7mite this eole, I ray thee, with blindness-3nd he smote them with blindness according to the word of $lisha-0> 3nd $lisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city.follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye see4- 3nd he led them to7amaria-

2


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rodigies and their fulfilments-*e rightly regards them as an essential ingredient to e%laining the history of thetimes-

3gain, he has an agenda to record snatches of wise counsel and ublic oratory, as

reconstructed after the event or recorded from the time- 7ince war(counsel !inthe Bible also& was the rovince of siritually wise men, able to interret omens,dreams, oracles and circumstances, these are one"piece with the idea ofprophecies come true- *owever, since olitical interretation and military adviceis less rovably siritual than the dreams, oracles and sooth(saying itself, I omitthis dimension from the mi%-

*ere is a Biblical e@uivalent.

27a/0G.2: 3nd the counsel of 3hithohel, which he gave in those days,was as if a man in@uired at the oracle of )od.so was all the counsel of 3hithohel both with David and with 3bsalom-

7ince *erodotus is a )ree4, in the times of )ree4 resistance to the ersian$mire, the )ree4s shine a little too brightly in his telling of their wisdom ands4ill, and the ower of their gods-In his travels throughout the iddle($ast, from $thioia to India, he collectedthe history and customs and religion of many eole, and as such his record is analmost erfect match with the e%tent of the ersian $mire as described in theBible (( which allowsa direct comparison between the pagan oracles and theHebrew prophets(( who dealt with those same events#

rom this history of his, I have gleaned my information on the character of the

oracles# and conse@uently, when I comlain that the oracles are mainly to do witholitics and war, it is artly due to the biassed selection ut forward in the historyof the wars- The other art of the e%lanation is that they were indeed war(gods,which is why the )ree4 wars arethe focus of history, and whythey have adecidedly religious flavour attached to them-

The whole history of *erodotus is a very entertaining read, since he is ane%cellent story(teller, who made it his business to collect the 'stories' handeddown, and he lays uon the very idea of story(telling, by first drawing the readerinto a good tale, then adding. '9et another version of this event, is told by theother side, as follows---'-

9ou can read the whole of it for yourself, as it is in length no more than a mediumnovel-

*is attitude to such 'stories' is stated thus, ;=.

*or myself# my duty is to report all that is saidbut am not obliged to beliee it all ali"e


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- a remar" which may be understood to apply tomy whole


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"ing has a number of them# which hae beencaught by the hunters in the land whereof we arespea"ing. Those ants ma"e their dwellings under

ground# and li"e the !ree" ants# which they erymuch resemble in shape# throw up sand-heaps as

they burrow. ,ow the sand which they throw up isfull of gold.... When the ndians reach the place where the

gold is# they fill their bags with the sand# and rideaway at their best speed: the ants# howeer#

scenting them# as the $ersians say# rush forth inpursuit. ,ow these animals are# they declare# soswift# that there is nothing in the world li"e them:if it were not# therefore# that the ndians get a

start while the ants are mustering# not a singlegold-gatherer could escape.

)od's 'traveller's tales' have stood the scrutiny of alaeontology and science andhistorical accounts and reason and theology-Name one other ancient boo4 which has stood such scrutiny-

*ere is a time(traveller's tale from the Bible.

Isa/00.G(> 3nd the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leoard shall liedown with the 4id# and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together#and a little child shall lead them- 3nd the cow and the bear shall feed# their young ones shall lie downtogether# and the lion shall eat straw li4e the o%-1 3nd the suc4ing child shall lay on the hole of the as, and the weanedchild shall ut his hand on the adder's den-> They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain# for the earth shall

be full of the 4nowledge of 5ehovah, as the waters cover the sea-

Isa/G=.2= The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eatstraw li4e the o%# and dust shall be the serent's food- They shall not hurt nordestroy in all my holy mountain, saith 5ehovah-

3nd in image(language, here is a flying goat, but in reality it was a swift con@uest.


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Dan/1.= 3nd as I was considering, behold, a he(goat came from the westover the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground. and the goat hada notable horn between his eyes-

The oint is that )od does not need third hand ub(tal4 to fill in the sace-

*e doesn't need to rely on historians writing decades after the events-

*ere, in contrast, *erodotus himself records a second(hand but an eye(witnessedstory, of the truth of a rohecy, =;>.

What follows was recounted to me by Thersander#a natie of 7rchomenus# a man of the first ran" in

that city. Thersander told me that he was himselfamong those inited to the feast# and that besides

the $ersians fifty Thebans were as"ed and the twonations were not arranged separately# but a$ersian and a Theban were set side by side uponeach couch. After the feast was ended# and the

drin"ing had begun# the $ersian who sharedThersanders couch addressed him in the !ree"

tongue# and in3uired of him from what city hecame.


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As he spa"e# the $ersian let fall a flood of tears:whereon Thersander# who was astonished at hiswords# replied-

60urely thou shouldest say all this to $ersianarmy leader% ardonius# and the $ersians who are

ne&t him in honour6- but the other reoined-

6'ear friend# it is not possible for man to aertthat which !od has decreed shall happen.

,o one beliees warnings# howeer true.any of us $ersians "now our danger#

but we are constrained by necessity to do as ourleader bids us.@erily tis the sorest of all human ills# to aboundin "nowledge and yet hae no power oer

action.6All this heard myself from Thersander the

7rchomenianwho told me further# that he mentioned what had

happened to diers persons# before the battle wasfought at $lataea.

*erodotus's credence of the oracles and omens has earned him a reutationamong historians as 'gullible', but historians themselves have a reutation forbeing one(eyed, and by rofessing s4eticism, they are Hust drin4ing in the !anti(&religious roaganda of their own times themselves- The Bible has outlasted all ofthem, and it sides with *erodotus, not with modern academics-

*ere is a comment of his which shows how he considers that when 4ing er%esunished a river for a storm, it was a gross sacrilege-

The icture therefore, is of both intelligent )ree4 and mighty ersian ta4ingseriously what we gag at swallowing.

;01---

er&es# who chose this way# found here a plane-

tree so beautiful# that he presented it with goldenornaments...


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...When# therefore# the channel had been bridgedsuccessfully# it happened that a great storm arising

bro"e the whole wor" to pieces# and destroyed allthat had been done.

0o when er&es heard of it he was full of wrath#and straightway gae orders that the 3nd seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and foundnothing thereon, but leaves only# and he saith unto it, +et there be no fruitfrom thee henceforward for ever- 3nd immediately the fig tree withered away-

--- ;2G---

And now let us offer prayers to the gods who


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watch oer the welfare of $ersia# and then crossthe channel.6 All that day the preparations for the passage

continued and on the morrow they burnt all "indsof spices upon the bridges# and strewed the way

with myrtle boughs# while they waited an&iouslyfor the sun# which they hoped to see as he rose.And now the sun appeared and er&es too" agolden goblet and poured from it a libation into the

sea# praying the while with his face turned to thesun 6that no misfortune might befall him such as

to hinder his con3uest of 2urope# until he hadpenetrated to its uttermost boundaries.6 After hehad prayed# he cast the golden cup into the


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0, after er%es numbered his land army and fleet, before it grew---

>et them the best of the !ree"s% be fiethousand# and we shall hae more than athousand men to each one of theirs.

;1

This will gie C#DEF#DDG as the whole number of

men brought by er&es# the son of 'arius# as faras 0epias and Thermopylae.

;1=


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5e sure we hae not done this drien off the$ersians% by our own might. t is the wor" of godsand heroes# who were ealous that one man should

be "ing at once of 2urope and of Asia- moreespecially a man li"e this# unholy and

presumptuous- a man who esteems ali"e thingssacred and things profane who has cast down andburnt the ery images of the gods themseleswho een caused the sea to be scourged with rods

and commanded fetters to be thrown into it.

=:


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their passage# and three-fifths still remainedbefore they could reach $alline# when the tidecame in with a ery high flood# higher than had

eer been seen before# as the inhabitants of thoseparts declare# though high floods are by no means

uncommon. All who were not able to swimperished immediately the rest were slain by the$otidaeans# who bore down upon them in theirsailing essels. The $otidaeans say that what

caused this swell and flood# and so brought aboutthe disaster of the $ersians which ensued

therefrom# was the profanation# by the ery mennow destroyed in the sea# of the temple and imageof ,eptune# situated in their suburb. And in thisthey seem to me to say well.

This similar occurrence was !0& on cue and immediate, !2& larger by far, !:&clearly e%lained, !;& stated to be comrehensive.

$%o/0;.21(2> 3nd the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and thehorsemen, even all the host of haraoh that went in after them into the sea#

there remained not so much as one of them-2> But the children of Israel wal4ed uon dry land in the midst of the sea#and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left-

=1=- *erodotus is convinced of the gods.

The !ree"s now# haing finished theirpreparations# began to moe towards the

barbarians when# lo4 as they adanced# a rumourflew through the !ree"% host from one end to the

other- that the !ree"s had fought and con3ueredthe army of ardonius in 5oeotia. At the same

time a heralds wand was obsered lying upon thebeach. any things proe to me that the gods ta"e

part in the affairs of man.


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battles of ycale and $lataea a long wayseparated -- FGG"m by sea% were about to happenon the self same day# should such a rumour hae

reached the !ree"s in that region# greatly cheeringthe whole army# and ma"ing them more eager

than before to ris" their lies. A strange coincidence too it was# that both thebattles should hae been fought near a precinct of2leusinian ;eres. The fight at $lataea too" place#

as said before# 3uite close to one of ;erestemples and now the battle at ycale was to be

fought hard by another....5ut when the oice fell on them# their fearanished# and they charged

Herodot"s bri!s for'ard evide!ce for believi! i! the ods a!dspirits

In the @uotes from *erodotus, which show that rohecies come true, you canget the feeling that he is adding the receding omens and oracles and wise(adviceinto the early art of the story, whose outcome is already 4nown to him, and

therefore the feeling of surrise to read of the omens coming true is somewhatartificial- 9ou could simly select all the bits which wor4ed, and reHect thosewhich didn't, and the resulting biassed selection would read with astoundingaccuracy-The real test is erhas that he should show that more remonitions came truethan chance could account for- *owever, an alternative view is more resectful tohis researches as a careful historian. "nowing the need to satisfy the s4etics, heis deliberately setting out to reserve the evidences for the truth behind thereligious ractices of the sooth(sayers and similar- Therefore, although thisbiasses his selections, all that is needed is to show that clear redictions weremade beforehand, of things unli4ely to haen, even by chance- The sum total of

such events then tells a stronger story than chance- e should trust him, whooutshone his eers, to be no dimwitted deceiver, but to ma4e a careful and vettedselection for us-

The Bible has a similar aroach, but has another coule of ways of beingconvincing- One way is to redict what the other rohets will redictK

In this e%amle, the rognosticators cast around for omens by sha4ing the arrows


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and reading the entrails (( but 9ahweh simly redicts the outcome before theyeven get around to doing itK *e even redicts the lace where they will do so, andma4es a monument there, to rove it, and e%lains why fate will turn against *isown eole.

$Fe/20.01(2: The word of 5ehovah came unto me again, saying,0> 3lso, thou son of man, aoint thee two ways, that the sword of the 4ing ofBabylon may come#they twain shall come forth out of one land.and mar4 out a lace, mar4 it out at the head of the way to the city-2


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the sculptors# ust as he is in !reece# with the faceand legs of a goat. They do not# howeer# belieethis to be his shape# or consider him in any respect

unli"e the other gods but they represent him thusfor a reason which prefer not to relate.

000

There is a reason alleged by them for theirdetestation of swine at all other seasons#and their use of them at this festial# with which am well ac3uainted#

but which do not thin" it proper to mention.

00= and also at 0;;, 0G


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them# e&cept so far as may be done withoutimpiety.

00

f were to e&plain why they are consecrated tothe seeral gods# should be led to spea" of religious matters# which

particularly shrin" from mentioning

02:

These persons# when a body is brought to them#

show the bearers arious models of corpses# madein wood# and painted so as to resemble nature.

The most perfect is said to be after the manner ofhim whom do not thin" it religious to name in

connection with such a matter

201

7roetes# howeer# slew him in a mode which is not

fit to be described#and then hung his dead body upon a cross.

3dd to this the fact that this $nglish translation at least, has been censored

:::- 7ecret orgies concerning 'men and women', only worse, must be guardedfrom disclosure for a bad reason.

This done# they fi&ed a worship for the images#which consisted in part of sacrifices# in part of

female satiric choruses while at the same timethey appointed certain men to furnish the

choruses# ten for each goddess. These chorusesdid not abuse men# but only the women of the

country.


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spea".

;02

The dreams that wander to and fro among

man"ind# will tell thee of what nature they are- detailomitted%

--the details of the sort of dream a man has are missing- In another translationit mentions a man sleeing with his mother-

By contrast, the Bible does not shy away from naming, e%osing and shaming thesecret sins of men-7ome of its assages are notorious for being se%ually e%licit-

I will censor myself, and not reroduce them-)od's laws were e%licit about what was outlawed, and were alied nation(wide,without granting licence to secret religious cults-

7o the oint is that we are not hearing of the worst abuses of paganpractices (( hardly any of the se%ual rites, temle rostitution and sodomites#no details about cutting out the beating hearts of virgins, or child(sacrifice by fire#no blac4 magic and oisoning or other witchcrafts# nothing about incest orhomose%uality# very little about the secret mysteries-Ta4e warning, therefore, against you yourself warming to the religious wayswhich 9ahweh called 'abominable# worthy of death# worthy of genocide'-The Bible addresses these abominable ractices head(on, and has single(handedly largely cleaned the world of the worst of them-e have much to be grateful for, whether atheist or Christian, for we all benefitfrom the welcome changes from the ast# but first we have to realise what hasbeen censored from our newly delicate ears-

+ac4 of areciation of the e%cesses of aganism has allowed many of theseractices to resurface- That is why I say 'we need to realise'-

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

HERODOT/S A&D A&TI.SE,ITIS,

*erodotus was convinced of the gods and of their rohetic oracles, so we allwould e%ect that he also had very decided oinions on the )od of the *ebrewsand on the *ebrew rohets and the *ebrew scritures- *ere is his oinion---

Herodot"s0 opi!io! of the Hebre' prophecies222


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?a studiedsilenceA

This is common in all )ree4 hilosohy and religion (( to wilfully ignore what hasbecome world famous desite their best efforts-3ncient $gyt similarly @uashed the history of 3braham, 5oseh and oses asmighty rohets of a )od who reeatedly defeated them-

*erodotus' careful avoidance of the *ebrew 'rohets', is desite using the word'rohecy' many times in his history-

or a historian of e%tensive and careful researches across the 4nown world, thissilence about *ebrew rohecy, has to be a deliberate olicy decision-

The *ebrew scritures were a treasure trove of history of $gyt, which he was4eenly interested in,and touched on the very wars he was addressing as to their causes and religioussignificance,and were full of rohecy in general and of articular fulfilled rohecies, whichhe ta4es such care to record, uhold and defend-

*erodotus had visited alestine, 0:0.

The pillars which 0esostris erected in the

con3uered countries hae for the most partdisappeared but in the part of 0yria called

$alestine# myself saw them still standing# withthe writing aboe-mentioned# and the emblemdistinctly isible.

*e made en@uiries of the other religions of that area, ;.

hae in3uired and find that the temple at AscalonAsh"elon% is the most ancient of all the temples to

this goddess for the one in ;yprus# as the;yprians themseles admit# was built in imitation


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of it and that in ;ythera was erected by the$hoenicians# who belong to this part of 0yria.

The closest he gets to even mentioning the *ebrews or Israel, is their neighbours,'the 7yrians of alestine', 0:


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The triremes amounted in all to twele hundredand seen and were furnished by the followingnations:-

(i.) The $hoenicians# with the 0yrians of$alestine# furnished three hundred essels# the

crews of which were thus accoutred: upon theirheads they wore helmets made nearly in the!recian manner about their bodies they hadbreastplates of linen they carried shields without

rims and were armed with aelins. This nationWhich one of the two mentioned% # according to

their own account# dwelt anciently upon the2rythraean Hed% 0ea# but crossing thence# fi&edthemseles on the seacoast of 0yria# where theystill inhabit. This part of 0yria# and all the region

e&tending from hence to 2gypt# is "nown by thename of $alestine.

The descrition seems to refer to the origins of the hoenicians, a sea(faringeole, who settled on the sea(coast of alestine, which hardly describes theIsraelites- They were not a sea(side eole-The sea coast of 'alestine' had been inhabited in the south by the hilistines, andin the north by the Tyrians and 7idonians, without Israel ever successfullyoulating the full coastal stri-But still 'alestine' accurately enough locates Israel-

The *ebrews were from addam(3ram, now 4nown as 7yria- *e could thereforeossibly be tal4ing of Israel as coming from addam 3ram !in other words, via3braham and his comany&, while also saying that they as a full(grown nationhad later come from across the Red 7ea.

Is it mentioning the crossing of the 'Red 7ea' by Israel6

'by their own account' might refer to their scritures,in which case Herodotus would surely have a more thorough knowledge ofthem than this, and be proven to be very quiet about their scripturalaccounts of the history of the region which he is so interested in otherwise-

'Dwelt anciently uon the Red 7ea' might refer to their own scritural accountby oses, of over a thousand years before, when they had crossed the 'Red


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7ea' or 'Reedy River' in order to escae $gyt from the Delta region- 3t thedistance of 0 3nd he said, Behold, I will ma4e thee 4now what shall be in the latter timeof the indignation# for it belongeth to the aointed time of the end-2


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interretations, esecially ones touching on the emires-

It is not as if he had to travel to alestine to find the records, since 5ews had beenscattered all over the successive emires (( 3ssyrian, Babylonian, ersian, )ree4-

7imilar divine occurrences had been officially published all over the Babylonian,$edian and %ersian empires (( how could that escae the notice of a historianresearching the religious history of these very emires6 Daniel was mentioned byname.

Babylonian.

Dan/;.0(2 NebuchadneFFar the 4ing, unto all the eoles, nations, andlanguages, that dwell in all the earth.eace be multilied unto you-2 It hath seemed good unto me to show the signs and wonders that the ost*igh )od hath wrought toward me----Dan/;.(1 Then came in the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, andthe soothsayers# and I told the dream before them#but they did not ma4e 4nown unto me the interretation thereof-1 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was BelteshaFFar,according to the name of my god, and in whom is the sirit of the holy gods.and I told the dream before him, saying,---Dan/;.: Now I, NebuchadneFFar, raise and e%tol and honor the "ing ofheaven#for all his wor4s are truth, and his ways Hustice# and those that wal4 in ride

he is able to abase-

edes and ersians.

Dan/G.2=(21 Then 4ing Darius wrote unto all the eoles, nations, andlanguages, that dwell in all the earth.eace be multilied unto you-2G I ma4e a decree, that in all the dominion of my 4ingdom men tremble andfear before the )od of Daniel#for he is the living )od, and stedfast for ever, 3nd his 4ingdom that whichshall not be destroyed# and his dominion shall be even unto the end-

2 *e delivereth and rescueth, and he wor4eth signs and wonders in heavenand in earth,who hath delivered Daniel from the ower of the lions-21 7o this Daniel rosered in the reign of Darius ?the edeA , and in thereign of Cyrus the ersian-

I have made the oint that 9ahweh oosed olytheism- There are two ways to


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regard this- The first way is to say to yourself,

'Oh, in Israel things were done differently- Their )od told them to follow *is lawsand not to follow other gods# The rest of the world did it the ordinary way-'

The second way is more to the oint.

'9ahweh made a stand against olytheism as *is oint, because that is the veryoint- It is the issue- It is Creator )od vs created sirits in oosition- It is Truthvs Decetion- Therefore *e chose a eole to ma4e a stand, to show u thedifferences-'

3 third way to regard '9ahweh vs the Rest of the orld', is historical.

A!ti.Se%itis% E(plai!s It

3nti(7emitism is old, as old as the lood, but not as old as 3dam, $noch andNoah-olytheism is old, but not as old as 3dam wal4ing with Creator )od-The two !olytheism and anti(7emitism& are related afterthe lood-

The original religion, stemming from 3dam wal4ing with his Creator was, atleast since the lood, that which survived the lood with Noah, for Noahfound favour with 9ahweh because of his righteousness- 9et even then, Noahwas surrounded by unrighteousness-

The rest of the world, at that time, was called violent, immoral, sinful and

unrighteous- 9ou could e%ect that to be some form of olytheism-$gyt's olytheism is therefore not the most ancient religion# It is thebrea4away religion-

$gyt's religion began after the lood, with *am, who was the father of$gyt and Canaan !and +ibya and $thioia&-9ou could say that *am imorted re(lood olytheism, and its sins, intothe ost(lood world-

rom $gyt, )reece later learned the names of their gods, and the religiousractices, li4e rocessions and methods of divination-

*am, after the lood, was cursed, for his immorality, while his older brother7hem was blessed, for his righteousness- 7hem was blessed in the name of Noah's)od, 9ahweh-Therefore *am hated 7hem-That is called 'anti(7em(itism'# It is the hatred of )od and *is choices-It redates Babylon, $gyt, ersia, )reece-It is no wonder that a brea4away religion must deart from a single )od, who


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chose a single man, 7hem, to bless, into olytheism, which ignores the claims of7hem's line-

Thespiritof anti(semitism must have always been there before the lood,oosing the Creator )od, and *is chosen creature, man, but the name 'anti(

7emitism' cannot redate 7hem-

olytheism degrades 'god' down to share the level of an, and raises an tothe level of 'gods'-*ebrew scriture raises sinful and created man to eventually share the level ofrighteous Creator )od-

7o the humanism of )ree4 hilosohy is tied u with the brea4away religion of*am's children-

9ou can see that the Bible's history e%lains later olytheism as a direct result ofrevious sinful ractices-olytheism therefore, is the $nemy, to the True )od-3nti(7emitism is simly its ost(lood e%ression, the flagshi of 7atan'soosition forces-

A!ti.Se%itis% 'as thrivi! i! each s"ccessive e%pire

$gytian.

$%o/0.1(22 Now there arose a new 4ing over $gyt, who 4new not ?Jwouldnot ac4nowledge the man very famous in $gyt for being a rohet of the one

)od of the *ebrews,A 5oseh-> 3nd he said unto his eole, Behold, the eole of the children of Israel aremore and mightier than we.0


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0 But the midwives feared )od, and did not as the 4ing of $gyt commandedthem, but saved the men(children alive-01 3nd the 4ing of $gyt called for the midwives, and said unto them, hyhave ye done this thing, and have saved the men(children alive60> 3nd the midwives said unto haraoh, Because the *ebrew women are not

as the $gytian women# for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwifecome unto them-2


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0; Thus saith the 4ing, +et not *eFe4iah deceive you# for he will not be able todeliver you.0= neither let *eFe4iah ma4e you trust in 5ehovah, saying, 5ehovah willsurely deliver us# this city shall not be given into the hand of the 4ing of3ssyria-

0G *ear4en not to *eFe4iah. for thus saith the 4ing of 3ssyria, a4e youreace with me, and come out to me# and eat ye every one of his vine, andevery one of his fig(tree, and drin4 ye every one the waters of his own cistern#0 until I come and ta4e you away to a land li4e your own land, a land of grainand new wine, a land of bread and vineyards-01 Beware lest *eFe4iah ersuade you, saying, 5ehovah will deliver us- *athany of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the 4ing of3ssyria60> here are the gods of *amath and 3rad6 where are the gods of7eharvaim6 and have they delivered 7amaria out of my hand6 2 They answered and said to NebuchadneFFar the 4ing, O 4ing, live for ever-0


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satras, because an e%cellent sirit was in him# and the 4ing thought to sethim over the whole realm-; Then the residents and the satras sought to find occasion against Danielas touching the 4ingdom# but they could find no occasion nor fault, forasmuchas he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him-

= Then said these men, e shall not find any occasion against this Daniel,e%cet we find it against him concerning the law of his )od-G Then these residents and satras assembled together to the 4ing, and saidthus unto him, "ing Darius, live for ever- 3ll the residents of the 4ingdom, the deuties and the satras, thecounsellors and the governors, have consulted together to establish a royalstatute, and to ma4e a strong interdict, that whosoever shall as4 a etition ofany god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O 4ing, he shall be cast into theden of lions-1 Now, O 4ing, establish the interdict, and sign the writing, that it be notchanged, according to the law of the edes and ersians, which altereth not-> herefore 4ing Darius signed the writing and the interdict-0


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women, in one day, even uon the thirteenth dayof the twelfth month, whichis the month 3dar, and to ta4e the soil of them for a rey-0; 3 coy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in everyrovince, was ublished unto all the eoles, that they should be readyagainst that day-

0= The osts went forth in haste by the 4ing's commandment, and the decreewas given out in 7hushan the alace-3nd the 4ing and *aman sat down to drin4# but the city of 7hushan waserle%ed-

$st/1.0(0; On that day did the 4ing 3hasuerus give the house of *aman the5ews' enemy unto $sther the @ueen- 3nd ordecai came before the 4ing# for$sther had told what he was unto her-2 3nd the 4ing too4 off his ring, which he had ta4en from *aman, and gave itunto ordecai- 3nd $sther set ordecai over the house of *aman-: 3nd $sther sa4e yet again before the 4ing, and fell down at his feet, andbesought him with tears to ut away the mischief of *aman the 3gagite, andhis ?wic4edA device that he had devised against the 5ews-; Then the 4ing held out to $sther the golden scetre- 7o $sther arose, andstood before the 4ing-= 3nd she said, If it lease the 4ing, and if I have found favor in his sight, andthe thing seem right before the 4ing, and I be leasing in his eyes,let it be written to reverse the letters devised by *aman, the son of*ammedatha the 3gagite, which he wrote to destroy the 5ews that are in allthe 4ing's rovinces.G for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my eole6 or howcan I endure to see the destruction of my 4indred6 Then the 4ing 3hasuerus said unto $sther the @ueen and to ordecai the

5ew,Behold, I have given $sther the house of *aman, and him they have hangeduon the gallows, because he laid his hand uon the 5ews-1 rite ye also to the 5ews, as it leaseth you, in the 4ing's name, and seal itwith the 4ing's ring#for the writing which is written in the 4ing's name, and sealed with the 4ing'sring, may no man reverse-> Then were the 4ing's scribes called at that time, in the third month 7ivan,on the three and twentieth daythereof#and it was written according to all that ordecai commanded unto the 5ews,and to the satras, and the governors and rinces of the rovinces which are

from India unto $thioia, a hundred twenty and seven rovinces, unto everyrovince according to the writing thereof, and unto every eole after theirlanguage, and to the 5ews according to their writing, and according to theirlanguage-0


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themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and tocause to erish, all the ower of the eole and rovince that would assaultthem, theirlittle ones and women, and to ta4e the soil of them for a rey,02 uon one day in all the rovinces of 4ing 3hasuerus, namely, uon thethirteenth dayof the twelfth month, which is the month 3dar-

0: 3 coy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in everyrovince, was ublished unto all the eoles, and that the 5ews should beready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies-0; 7o the osts that rode uon swift steeds that were used in the 4ing's servicewent out, being hastened and ressed on by the 4ing's commandment# andthe decree was given out in 7hushan the alace-

Comare =22.

,othing mortal traels so fast as these $ersian

messengers. The entire plan is a $ersian inentionand this is the method of it. Along the whole lineof road there are men (they say) stationed withhorses# in number e3ual to the number of days

which the ourney ta"es# allowing a man and horseto each day and these men will not be hindered

from accomplishing at their best speed thedistance which they hae to go# either by snow# orrain# or heat# or by the dar"ness of night. The firstrider deliers his despatch to the second and the

second passes it to the third and so it is bornefrom hand to hand along the whole line# li"e the

light in the torch-race# which the !ree"s celebrateto @ulcan. The $ersians gie the riding post in this

manner# the name of 6Angarum.6

)ree4 $mire.

*ere are : non(Biblical 5ewish records of the intense and bitter rivalry betweenIsrael and )reece.!or more, read the searate commentary on the )ree4 )ames'&

?I need to oint out that the most sacreligious indignity ossible to a 5ew, was tobe forced to give u 5ewishness, 5ewish law and custom, and 5ewish worshi of


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their )od-AIsrael was forced into bitter division about whether to give in to )ree4domination or to remain faithful to their )od---

rom 5osehus, 3nti@uities, B4 02, Ch- =.

And the sons of Tobias too" the part of enelaus# but thegreater part of the people assisted =asonand by that means enelaus and the sons of Tobias weredistressed# and retired to Antiochus#and informed him that they were desirous to leae thelaws of their country# and the =ewish way of liingaccording to them# and to follow the "ings laws# and the!recian way of liing.

Wherefore they desired his permission to build them a!ymnasiumI at =erusalem.I 2ditors footnote%: This word 6!ymnasium6 properlydenotes a place where the e&ercises were performedna"ed# which because it would naturally distinguishcircumcised =ews from uncircumcised !entiles# these=ewish apostates endeaored to appear uncircumcised# bymeans of a surgical operation# hinted at by 0t. $aul#1;oJK:1E# and described by ;elsus# 5. @. ch. DC.# as 'r.


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and they persuaded many# saying: >et us go and ma"e acoenant with the heathens that are round about us: forsince we departed from them# many eils hae befallenus.

1F And the word seemed good in their eyes.1L And some of the people determined to do this# andwent to the "ing: and he gae them license to do afterthe ordinances of the heathens !ree"s%.1C And they built a place of e&cercise in =erusalem#according to the laws of the nations non-=ews%:...LM 0o the "ing Antiochus sent his messengers with hiscommission unto =erusalem# and to all the cities of =udah#

that they should follow the laws of the heathen:LK And he forbade either burnt-offering# meat-offering# orpeace-offering to be made in the temple of !od# Ncommanded% that there should no 0abbath nor high feastday be "ept:LE 5ut commanded that the sanctuary and the holypeople of srael should be defiled:LO ord found with him# yea whosoeer endeaored


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himself to "eep the law of the >ord# the "ingscommandment was# that they should put him to death.1 ,ot long after this# the "ing sent an old man of Antioch#to compel the =ews to transgress the ordinances of the

fathers# N of the law of !od#D To defile the temple that was at =erusalem# and to call itthe temple of =upiter 7lympius: and that they should bein !eri?im# as those which dwell at the place of =upiter.

rom the 7econd boo4 of the history of the accabees.

DaJL:K 5ut after the death of 0eleucus# when Antiochus#who was called the llustrious# had ta"en possession of

the "ingdom# =ason# the brother of 7nias# ambitiouslysought the high priesthood: E And went to the "ing#promising him three hundred and si&ty talents of siler#and out of other reenues fourscore talents.O 5esides this he promised also a hundred and fifty more#if he might hae license to set him up a place for e&ercise#and a place for youth# and to entitle them that were at=erusalem# Antiochians.1G Which when the "ing had granted# and he had gotten

the rule into his hands# forthwith he began to bring oerhis countrymen to the fashion of the heathens.11 And abolishing those things# which had been decreedof special faour by the "ings in behalf of the =ews# by themeans of =ohn# the father of that 2upolemus# who wentambassador to Home to ma"e amity and alliance# hedisannulled the lawful ordinances of the citi?ens# andbrought in fashions that were pererse.1D *or he had the boldness to set up# under the ery

castle# a place of e&ercise# and to put all the choicestyouths in brothel houses.1F ,ow this was not the beginning# but an increase# andprogress of heathenish and foreign manners# through theabominable and unheard of wic"edness of =ason# thatimpious wretch# and no priest.1L nsomuch that the priests were not now occupied


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about the offices of the altar# but despising the templeand neglecting the sacrifices# hastened to be parta"ers ofthe games# and of the unlawful allowance thereof# and ofthe e&ercise of the discus.

1C And setting nought by the honours of their fathers#they esteemed the !recian glories for the best:1M *or the sa"e of which they incurred a dangerouscontention# and followed earnestly their ordinances# andin all things they coeted to be li"e them# who were theirenemies and murderers.1K *or acting wic"edly against the laws of !od doth notpass unpunished: but this the time following will declare.1E ,ow when the game that was used eery fifth year

was "ept at Tyre# the "ing being present#...DD Where he was receied in a magnificent manner by=ason# and the city# and came in with torch lights# andwith praises# and from thence he returned with his armyinto $henicia.

7o do not be surrised that the )ree4 *erodotus will not enlighten you about a)od who hates the )ree4 gods-

*e will tell you about $gytian gods, from whom, he says, )reece too4 most oftheir religion-But he won't tell you about the $gytian gods being humiliated-*e will tell you about ersian religion, but not about how 9ahweh redicted itbetter than all their gods could-

If there is a lesson to re(learn from this, it is that the true )od is hated by all men,and that there is a consiracy of silence about *is history, chamions, miracles,rohecies, triumhs and romises- )ree4 democracy is based on it-arliamentarians are ractised at it- The modern media are s4ilful at it-*istorians are mastersof it-

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

;ontents in the full article in the freecommentary at

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$art 1: ntroduction. The 'elphic 7racles

$art D:


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$art F:

Documents

Herodotus and the Delphic Oracles