(sigh) Once again, you ought first to read the history surrounding the Amalekites and the Hebrews before you try this approach. These people had warred against innocent Hebrews for ages. Try reading your verse 19 in context of verse 17. You will see that when the Hebrews were leaving Egypt during the Great Exodus, the Amalekites came up behind the tired group of people and murdered the stragglers. For this they were cursed by God Himself. This was a situation of clear and just retaliation for war.
Read the text for yourself (as opposed to a snippet from some heathen site) and you will find it is a particular command directed toward a particular people. This is quite a bit different from the Quran’s claim to slaughter people wherever muslims find them. Unlike with the Quran, there just is no scriptural command for believers to simply go out and murder folks.
It's a command from God to blot out the seed of Amalek for all time. (This all time genocide command is also believed by Jewish scholars to apply to 6 other nations of Caanan.)
Well, the Jewish scholars are not the Bible. Read the text. It is quite clear that it applies to Amalek. It even tells why Amalek should be wiped out (verse 17). It was given by God Himself, directly. Deuteronomy only records that history. It does not tell us to go out and kill innocent people. This is a far cry from what the muslims do when they read a general command in their Quran to go out and kill innocent people who’ve done nothing to them except be Jews or Christians or atheists or people who happen to live in a country that is allied with Israel.
The Bible tells us that King David was still doing battle with Amalek
Uh… that is because there was a war on between the Amalekites and the Hebrews. It was a war started by the Amalekites. People fight wars, dontcha know? The Amalekites were not wiped out until about 300 years after David, in Hezikiah’s time. This supports that the command was directed toward the Amalekites as judgment of them for their wars against a once helpless Israel.
, and the Maimonides quote i offered makes it clear that he believed the seed of Amalek persisted in his time (about 900 years ago).
Well, as I have told you repeatedly, Maimonides ain’t the friggin’ Bible. The Bible clearly tells us in 1 Chronicles 4:41-43 that the rest of the Amalekites were destroyed in Hezikiah’s day.
Some fundamentalist Jews equate the Palestinians with Amalek.
Well some fundamentalist Jews ain’t the friggin’ Bible.
All this to show that the Bible can easily be read to condone genocide.
It does not show a dang thang except that you got some small pockets of dumb folks who can’t friggin’ read. But the fact that there is no worldwide movement, based on the scriptures, to kill innocent folks ought to be at least some kind of a clue to you that most folks ain’t so retarded. Only with Islam do we see a worldwide movement of murder based on the Quran. And that is because in the Quran we see several flagrant and general commands to murder people.
You too are not God. So why is your understanding of the Bible any more credible than his, or than the Church Fathers?
Because many of the opinions you've cited are minority opinions that have not stood up to the test of biblical scholarship. In other words, most fokes with half a brain who read the Bible clearly see that Maimonides and the Fathers were mere fallible men. Moreover, I can read and I have no axe to grind against muslims simply because they are muslims. And I have no axe to grind against Jews simply because they are Jews.
Weren't they closer to the original language and intent than whomever's commentary you prefer?
And they were also closer to their enemies… |
