Were rats and mice the ones who saved Judah during Sennacherib's captivity?
Rat: From Wikipedia
At the time of Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem, the following passage appears in the biblical text: "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of Assyria one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they will wake up in the morning and here they are all dead carcasses. And he traveled and went and Sennacherib king of Assyria stayed and stayed in Nineveh" (Malb 36:35-XNUMX).
The text in the Chronicles is quite similar - "And Jehovah sent an angel and destroyed every mighty man of valor and governor and minister in the camp of the king of Assyria, and he sat in shame in his country..." (Deva 21 Lev, XNUMX)
In his book "The Antiquity of the Jews" Josephus Ben Mattathias refers to the biblical text as follows, and cites the words from the writings of the famous Greek historian Herodotus in connection with another "miracle" in the same military campaign - Sennacherib's campaign to the aforementioned land of Egypt: "A multitude of mice gnawed the bows and other instruments of the Assyrians . Because of this the king (Sennacherib) had no bows and he returned his army from Pelusion. This is the story of Herodotus" (Antiquities, 19:XNUMX).
Josephus continues, quoting from the words of Brusus (a Greek historian, born in the third century BC, who reviewed the history of Assyria/Babylon, from its beginnings to its fall by the Macedonians): "However, Brusus, who wrote a book about the days of the Chaldeans, mentions King Sennacherib, who reigned over the Assyrians and went to war over all of Asia and Egypt, and thus his words - 'And when Sennacherib returned from the war in Egypt to Jerusalem, he found there the army, entrusted to Rabashka (one of the commanders, or senior officials, and in any case the king's third in rank) in danger of a plague, because God had sent his army An illness, which resembled the plague, and on the first night of the siege, one hundred and eighty-five thousand men died, among the army chiefs and their battalion chiefs. This disaster cast a terrible fear and terror upon him, and being anxious for the entire army, he fled with his remaining army to his kingdom called the Kingdom of Nineveh" (Joseph ben Mattathias, Antiquities of the Jews 22:20-XNUMX).
Beyond the exaggerated numbers, as used by the ancient historians, there is even a research hypothesis that the term "one thousand" in the Bible ("one hundred and eighty-five thousand") refers to a "man" (warrior), and not to a thousand soldiers, which seems more logical under the circumstances of the case, under the circumstances of a course The war and in the topographical context, we have before us a very interesting reference to the "miracle" event that appears in the Bible, and is linked to the "Angel of Jehovah", who struck the Assyrians and forced them to retreat in panic. Namely, in the Assyrian camp that besieged Jerusalem, a plague broke out, so it seems, which was quite common among armies that besieged cities in droughts due to nutritional deficiencies, hygiene and sanitation problems and the dense presence of humans for an extended period of time.
This situation probably alludes to the disease, which is transmitted by fleas that feed on the blood of rats infected with the disease.
History knows how to tell about the outbreak of the condemned disease in Europe in the middle of the 14th century and which resulted in the killing of approximately twenty-five million people, which are astronomical numbers in the demographic terms of the time. It is interesting to note that this disease was known as the "black death", and was often depicted as the angel of death reaping people. The source of the disease, it should be noted, stemmed from the Mongol (Tatar) soldiers who attacked Central Europe and who threw infected bodies into one of the besieged fortresses. Those who contract the terrible disease die after two or three days.
In the few times that mice are mentioned in the Bible, they are associated with the creators of plagues on the one hand and those with witchcraft abilities on the other hand, like the mouse photographers of the Philistines. This context is certainly interesting in relation to the above event.
It should also be noted that the fact that the Assyrian army hastened the way to return home, has nothing to do with the "angel of Jehovah". Although, under the circumstances of the outbreak of the disease in question, if anything, the frenzy of leaving, ending the siege and returning home could be understood. It was known and accepted in the fighting orders of the ancient, pre-Hellenic and pre-Roman world, that wars outside the borders of the embryonic kingdom were fought with forced haste. Any army that went outside the borders of the center, and especially under the leadership of a senior command, especially when the king himself was a participant in the war campaign, would try to conduct his "business" with reasonable speed, otherwise, by extending the duration of the battles, the king would risk a rebellion at home. Rebellions of this type would break out early in the Assyrian kingdom, which was involved in many military entanglements.
Indeed, although in the Bible it is depicted, somehow, as God's punishment, when the king returned to his country, he was exposed to a domestic connection and murdered by his eldest sons, while he was praying in the Nisrouch temple.
After all, you have "rats at God's commandment"!
14 תגובות
I am a student at the seder yeshiva, and I have researched this topic in depth.
As written here in one of the responses, there is no contradiction between a logical explanation and the description of the Torah. In quite a few places, the Bible calls 'angel' natural things that happen, and the meaning is that the natural-rational thing is done by God's mission.
I wrote a long article on the subject, which establishes the knowledge that the Assyrian army was struck by a plague and in which there is also an answer to the first question asked here, what does it matter what exactly happened there. In my humble opinion, this has great importance and a great message for our daily lives. Anyone interested in the article is welcome to request through my email: amirbrow@gmail.com.
And regarding Ilan's response, it is very true that 20 years have passed. And I will tell you more than that, the siege in general was on Jerusalem and the blow of the Assyrians (which was 20 years later) was in general in Blava. But it seems to me that there is a misconception here about the purpose of the Bible in writing historical things.
In a prophetic perspective, the divine view, 20 years is not that important. There is an immediacy of divine perception. Sennacherib thought he would be king of the world - he lost, and returned home and was killed. For the prophet it is acceptable, for the historian it seems tendentious and unreliable. The Bible is not just a history book, but historiography, that is, looking at history as a sequence of events that have a relationship of cause and effect, and therefore things are presented this way.
You have the point sharpening. And I quote: "In the Bible it is depicted, of course, as God's punishment, when the king returns to his country, he is exposed to a domestic connection and is murdered by his eldest sons, while he is praying in the temple of Nisrouch."
What the biblical writer did not bother to tell (in order not to damage the sequence of sin - punishment) is that between the end of the siege (701 BCE) and the murder of Sennacherib (281 BCE) 20 years passed!
Well done!
Continue to enlighten our eyes with your abundant knowledge and unconventional angles on the various subjects, fascinating.
Waiting every month for your next article.
Thanks. 🙂
Dr. Yachiam Sorek whistles
In my opinion, there is no contradiction between finding the real reason, why Sennacherib decided to abandon the campaign for Jerusalem, and the theological reason.
Which are two parallel planes that do not collide.
The fact finders will find or guess what really happened. Suppose a plague carried by mice.
The believer will say, indeed yes, but the one who caused it was a higher power as you wrote in the title.
It cannot be contradicted, nor does it need to be.
another example:
Why does a person come to any decision?
The factual ones will say, based on such and such considerations
The believers will say, God made him think that way
Therefore, you should try to find out the facts related to the return of
Assyrian army, and leave it to the believers to think that the one who caused the facts is a higher power. They will be defeated.
post Scriptum
Epidemics have no physical boundaries. If the mice carried a disease, they would have severely hit the residents of Jerusalem as well, and there is no evidence for this anywhere. And so maybe the reason for the return is a rebellion in Assyria. Then the religious will say, that God initiated this... and came to Zion a redeemer
To Dr. Yachiam Shork Shalom:
Ptolemy the Greek, is a product (projection) of the expansion of Alexander, who is known to have also conquered Egypt; and according to the historical facts, Copernicus had to wait and dared to publish his story, in which he contradicted Ptolemy's teachings, only when he was dying; And since then it has been more difficult to curb the scientific and healthy logic of humans.
It is true that even today there is no lack of braking factors, but what to do, you need patience.
Alalam Hello!
First - Ptolemy? ignorance? And in Alexandria?
Second - the only miracle that I know of is a coffee miracle, or at least what used to be a coffee miracle and today splits between cappuccino, capucho and latte, which the Israelis still insist on calling "upside down", and in "English" - upside down coffee
Third - life is built on an infinity of accidental, random flashes.
In the historical past, in particular of the people of Israel, extraordinary events were defined as an act of God/superior power/miracle; The importance of researching extraordinary events has future consequences, as an example: Athenian democracy was eroded/damaged, as a result of, among other things, a plague, for which the Athenians were powerless, and did not find a cure, for its victims; Imagine that the Athenian democracy would have survived, and then at most it would have defeated its enemies, such as the Persians who were among others also its enemies; And instead humanity admittedly accepted Alexander the Great, but along with him, also distortions, like Ptolemy, who perpetuated ignorance for about one thousand six hundred years.
N. B . In one of the science programs, a doctor explained that a significant part of what was taught in medicine during his studies, turned out to be incorrect, and if he is right, and he probably is, then even in our time, humanity needs from time to time some kind of "miracle", the kind that will deal with the invulnerability of Torah bacteria violent; or hazards of various kinds, which humanity is still threatened by.
First, it is written beautifully, fluently, and in eloquent Hebrew that looks like it has been torn apart from the world - and for that, good luck!
As for the content:
While reading it turns out that there is nothing new under the sun, the Bible is replete with examples in which the Hebrew God was harnessed to sow panic in the enemy.
All our customs, our army ministers, our prophets, our judges, and our priests throughout the biblical period made extraordinary use of the name Yatbach and used it to strengthen their political power, to enthrall the masses, to instill fear in the people and to control the public order.
The article gives one example, reasoned and very convincing.
I enjoyed reading
Every person with an academic degree will be proud of his own degree. The question, of course, is whether this is a good and talented historian or not? It's already up for debate and that's a good thing. Regarding the question of the necessity of the historical studies? As a student of archeology studies and as a man of the spirit, I have no argument about his low contribution to technology, medicine. But the high importance of history and archeology to the natural curiosity of man and the need to know the truth and to bring back the past cultures that have disappeared from the world. But to ask this question is to me like asking why we need the beauty of the sunset or Van Gogh's painting of sunflowers
to google
Everything you said is true, just one question - it is not clear on what basis you determined that the author of this letter is a "historian"???
The title of "historian" can only be boasted by a personality recognized as having a stature and acceptance in the field of history.
A university degree from some remote institution does not automatically make someone a "historian" just as not every politician is necessarily also a "leader" and just as not everyone who stares at the National Geographic channel is defined as a "scientist" and just as not everyone who sings for pleasure in the shower is defined as a "singer".
Hello Google friend
Thank you for your response, and mine in brief:
First - referring to historical research as nonsense, as far as I was concerned, was tantamount to seg Nehor. What a shame that your eagerness prevented you from descending into the depths of cynicism.
Second - what is the connection between bed linen and bed linen? What is between my research assumptions and my postmodernism/Zionism? Fly high, my friend, and to such ionospheric levels that no spacecraft can touch.
Third - the simulation for policing and judging was completely allegorical. Even here your eagerness prevented you from understanding it.
Fourth - and I thought to Tomi that atheism (by the way, without a Yod between the XNUMXth and the XNUMXth) is individual-voluntary. But it turns out that I need approval from some kind of atheological authority. Sorry!
Fifth - I humbly accepted your wishes and not without satisfaction. Joining them!
Response to whistler:
1. Historical research is no nonsense
2. The "puzzle" you are putting together is the most crooked I have come across and it is quite obvious and necessary in light of the fact that you rape the facts to suit your post-Zionist agenda. Your mouth answered "obsessive mythbuster".
3. You are a historian - only a historian! Not an MZP investigator, not a policeman, not a judge and certainly not a hangman. Put yourself in proportion.
4. You are not an atheist, you do not have the necessary knowledge to be an atheist. The last person I met who had the nerve to argue for atheism was the late judge Haim Cohen.
I wish you health and longevity and I hope to see scientific historical studies come out under your hands without theological and political polemics. This article was not far from that.
Dear Friend,
Apparently you were right. Why bother with petty nonsense like these: rats or not? A person or a thousand? etc.
But, first - the work of the historian is like the work of a detective who slowly fills in the historical complex (puzzle). Like him and like his colleagues in cumulative research moves. So that what now seems seemingly trivial and of little value, can, in some context, be valuable. And it is similar, as mentioned, to the examination of the crime scene by the police forces, when every item and particle of information may be important and valued, and sometimes even determine fates.
Second - for me, as an "obsessive myth buster", it is very important, both in principle and pragmatically, to descend, as far as possible, to research the truth. I cannot, and not only because of my atheistic nature, take for granted miracles and wonders described in the Bible. Although this book was not written from a historical point of departure, it contains, so it seems, solid and important historical gems. But what, the chaff and the straw must be dug up and get to the core of the historical kernel/fruit, in order to present the stories of peoples and cultures that grew here in the eastern region of the Mediterranean basin.
Interesting anecdote! interesting story!
But kill me if I understand why anyone would devote their life to researching such ancient stories. It's intriguing, right... but what does this knowledge give us? 185 thousand? or 185? Did they die of a plague? rats? beech? What… what's in it? I can't understand. It's a great story, but I don't understand why anyone would fund such research. At the same time, I am very much in favor of continuing to fund such studies as well - although personally I do not understand this. Not everything I understand or don't understand should get or not get funding. I am sure that there are many older and wiser than me who understand very well the importance of such studies.