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This website describes, in a series of about 30 posts, a year’s worth of personal research into left-handedness in an early historic semitic society. Because blogs list chronologically, what you see on the summary posts page are the conclusions 🙂 To start at the beginning, check how it all started, then click on the Next… Continue reading See where it all started

So far, this research has been depressing to me. As a lefty, I found out that, for early historic Semitic cultures: The right is symbol of power and honor; Being left handed is weak and shameful; I can never be an Israelite (and likely Semitic) priest because I am left-handed. So much for keeping my… Continue reading Moses and the left-handers

It is now clear that the Right Hand of God is not to be taken as physical hand, but as a metaphor that uses the expectations of the reader. What exactly is the expected meaning of the Right Hnad of God in the context of the Song of the Sea? 4.1.2. Meaning – power, honor,… Continue reading “The Right Hand of God” in the Song of the Sea: un unabashed meaning of power to the right side

Categorization of the books of Tanakh into Poetry, Visions and Reality/ History Reality (615 pages): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua, Judges, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings Job, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I Chronicles, II Chronicles Visions (229 pages):  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,… Continue reading Note: how to divide Tanakh into three types of texts

the 28 uses of “the right Hand of God’ in Tanakh Exodus 15:6 Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; your right hand, o Lord, smashes the enemy.” POWER Exodus 15:12 You stretched your right hand, and the earth swallowed them.” POWER Deuteronomy 33:2 “Veata merivevot kodesh mimino esh dat lemo” “He said:… Continue reading Note: a list of the specific uses of “the Right Hand of God”

4.2 Actual use of “the right hand of God” in Tanakh 4.1.1 Anthropomorphic or not? Using a concordance website, I found 28 uses of the right hand of God in the whole of Tanakh – I will list them all in my next post. 2 are in Exodus, 1 in Deuteronomy, 3 in Isaiah, 1… Continue reading Use of “the Right Hand of God” in Tanakh: some statistics

4.1 . The Right hand of God in Beshalach There are several methods for analyzing Tanakh: The first is Pshat (“straight”) or “surface” meaning, i.e. the literal or the straightforward meaning of the sentence according to the vocabulary, grammar, direct context etc.  Remez (“deep”) is a deeper meaning, behind an allegorical expression, for instance. Drash… Continue reading Use of “the Right Hand of God” in Beshalach

4 The Right Hand of God So far, we have discussed anthropomorphism and the meaning of right and left in Tanakh. In analyzing anthropomorphism, we found that the Tanakh frequently uses anthropomorphic terms, and yet specifically forbids anthropomorphism. We also discovered that mainstream schools of Tanakh scholars  argue against anthropomorphism and explain away most references,… Continue reading The Right Hand of God: a problem analysis

3.5 Conclusion We find the same meanings as in Tanakh in several other semitic languages and cultures. So they are clearly not new concepts.  And yet: Ehud the Judge, hero of Tanakh, is left handed Judges 3:21 “And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it… Continue reading Left and right in Tanakh: a first conclusion

3.5 Goodness vs Badness The right side is seen as better than the left: “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left” (Ecclesiastes 10. 2). In the Temple ceremonies, “every turn must be made to the right of the way” (Yoma 15b, a tractate of the Mishnah).… Continue reading Left and right in the language of rightfulness (!)