Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22 (Weekly Portion) with Brief Explanation and Commentary. Includes: The Midrash About Jacob and Esau in the Future (12 July, 2013, Av 5, 5773)
Includes:
The Midrash About Jacob and Esau in the Future
Afghanistan and Esau
Gilead in Syria
Duration ca. 21.43 minutes
The portion for this week is "Devorim". In Hebrew "Devorim" means "words".
We are now beginning the Book of Deuteronomy which in Hebrew is called Sefer (Book of) Devorim.
The book Sefer (Book of) Devorim is also known as Mishneh Torah which could be translated as meaning "The Second Torah". The Book of Devorim (Deuteronomy) is built around repetitions in summarized form of events and commandments that have already begin along with the insertion of new information and some new commandments. The new commandments in this book include (Levirate marriage, the punishment for making an Evil Report about one's wife, divorce laws, false witnesses, etc (Nachmanides).
This week's portion is also called "Devorim" meaning "words" because of the expresion "the words which Moses spake" in the first verse.
This week's portion, "Devorim", includes the first part of the Book of Deuteronomy (verses 1:1 to 3:22).
For an earlier version of this study with more detail on some points, see:
Devorim, Recalling the Past, Some Gentile Ethnic Identifications Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22
This portion encompasses chapters 1 and 2, and most of chapter 3 from the Book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 1:
1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. 3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him as commandments to them, 4 after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.
5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, 6 The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.
These are the borders of the Promised Land.
All of Lebanon, all of Syria, right up to the Euphrates River belongs to Israel.
Deuteronomy 1:
8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them and their descendants after them.
We are commanded to conquer the Land, take control of it, and induce the non-Israelite squatters in it to leave.
They should be enabled to emigrate to somewhere such as Paraguay and assisted to resettle there.
The Land of Israel was promised to the Children of Israel forever. It was promised to them and to their seed after them forever, as an inalienable possession.
If however the Israelites practise idolatry they loose (temporarily until they repent) their right to stay in the Land.
See:
Nachmanides: The Connection Between Law and Land
Exile and Idolatry
Deuteronomy 1:
9 And I spoke to you at that time, saying: I alone am not able to bear you.
10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. 11 May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!
At that time they numbered 600,000 plus men between the ages of 20 and 60 plus women and children and elder. This was a population of at least 3 million. Colbert ("Bert") Bryan first pointed out to us that it was prophesied that the number of Israelites as it then was would multiplied a thousand times over. They were then ca. 3 million (or more) so that would mean ca. 3000 million!
At present we do not know exactly how many the descendants of Israel meaning the Ten Tribes , Jews, and descendants of Jews who are not aware of it, number but it could be a great many and in the past we have tentatively suggested several hundred million!
Deuteronomy 1:
12 How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? 13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. 14 And you answered me and said, The thing which you have told us to do is good.
15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
The ancient pagan Anglo-Saxons (who conquered England and settled there) also divided themselves into tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands.
Deuteronomy 1:
16 Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man's presence, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it. 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
The "STRANGER" (meaning the foreign non-Israelite) is to be respected and treated equally. This does not necessarily mean that the land is to be turned over to masses of newcomers of entirely different origin and values. The STRANGER was an exception. The stranger had certain rights and in turn had to accept minimum standards of behavior.
Everyone was to be equal before the Law. This is what Moses taught. It was always there in the Bible. Not until the French and American Revolutions did this principle become widely accepted amongst civilized peoples. It is interesting that the French and American Revolutions began a rethinking about man and government and human rights. One was began by descendants of Reuben (in France) the natural first-born and the other by descendants of Joseph (in Britain and America) who received the rights of the first-born instead of Reuben.
They were commanded then to do these things forever. In principle the Law was given for all time. The Ten Tribes may for now be considered technically "Gentiles" and not obligated by the Law but this will change in the future.
REMEMBER YE THE LAW OF MOSES MY SERVANT, WHICH I COMMANDED UNTO HIM IN HOREB FOR ALL ISRAEL, WITH THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS [Malachi 4:4].
Deuteronomy 1:
19 So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 And I said to you, You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 21 Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.
Do not fear. We are commanded to conquer and settle the whole of the Land of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates. Ephraimites who wish to live in the Land of Israel should consider taking over regions not being settled by Judah such as Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
See:
The Return of Ephraim
Zechariah 10:10 speaks of Ephraim taking control of Lebanon and Gilead meaning Lebanon and Syria and settling in them!
Micah 7:12 Exiles returning from Matsor (Kurdistan in Northern (Iraq) and Assyria.
Micah 7:14 Exiles to settle in Bashan (Northern Syria) and Gilead (southern Syria and Jordan).
It may be worth pointing out that the UK (dominated by Ephraim) was beeen traditionally the protector of Jordan. On several occasions the UK in the past intervened on behalf of Jordan to the point of threatening intervention against the State of Israel.
On the one hand such attitudes against the Jews of Judah reflect treachery against the Israelite nation and a dastardly streak of non-Israelite tendencies. On the other hand it may also to some degree reflect an instinctive jealousy and some kind of recognition that the region east of the Jordan may ultimately belong to them.
Britain helped the Jewish settlement in Palestine which lead to the State of Israel. Britain also helped Israel on many occasions. The possession of the Atom Bomb by Israel is in part thanks to British connivance. Both Britain and Israel prefer to downplay the fact of British assistance and in stead stress periods of hostility between each other that also existed and must be owned up to, e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Mandate_of_Syria
There is a claim that in the 1940s, Britain secretly advocated the creation of a Greater Syrian state that would secure Britain preferential status in military, economic and cultural matters, in return for putting a complete halt to Jewish ambition in Palestine. [We do not know how correct this claim is and if it was made how serious it could really have ever bee. A lot of different possibilities are examined by governments before they reach decisions.] France and the United states opposed British hegemony in the region, which eventually lead to the creation of Israel.[1]
[1] https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/950373.html
Similarly in Biblical Times Reuben was located in Gilead and Bashan. We identifiy Reuben as part of the French and in the recent past France had strong interests in Syria and Lebanon. France once ruled over Syria (1918-1943). France still has a strong interest in the Middle East. For a good time France was very pro-Israel and helped Israel arm itself and develop economically. In recent years (and especially at present) however France has become pro-Arab.
Deuteronomy 1:
22 And every one of you came near to me and said, Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.
23 The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. 24 And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, It is a good land which the LORD our God is giving us.
26 Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; 27 and you complained in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
29 Then I said to you, Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. 32 Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying,
35 Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,
This whole affair of the spies is repeated here in this section of Deuteronomy for future generations since (says the Sefat Emet) the sins of one generation must be atoned for by another.
The spies brought back a bad report about the Land on the 9th day of the Month of Av. On this day the first and second Temples were destroyed.
We are commanded to make spiritual and physical efforts to rebuild the Temple.
Every good deed we perform is one more step towards rebuilding the Temple.
Similarly our forefathers (in Judah and Joseph) split away from each other. It is our duty to attempt to rectify that action.
Deuteronomy 1:
36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD. 37 The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, Even you shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
Calev was from Judah, Joshua from Ephraim.
The Represent the future leaders of Israel: Mashiach [Anonted Leader i.e. Messiah] son of David and Mashiach son of Joseph.
Deuteronomy 1:
39 Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.
41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us. And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
42 And the LORD said to me, Tell them, Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.
We have a warning that not every moment is propitious to go up tot he Land of Canaan and settle in it. We should be careful to do what the Almighty wants to do, when HE wants it.
Deuteronomy 1:
43 So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. 44 And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.
If they had have listened wasps (that are similar to bees) or wasp-like insects would have driven out their enemies (Exodus 23:28. Deuteronomy 7:20) as indeed later happened (Joshua 26:12). Because they did not listen, their enemies chased them away and are compared to bees. We have here an example of the principle, measure for measure. This is frequently found in Scripture.
We should always be careful to do the will of the Almighty and not let any apparent success of our own deceive us.
Deuteronomy 1:
45 Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
46 So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.
Deuteronomy 2:
1 Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2 And the LORD spoke to me, saying: 3 You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. 4 And command the people, saying, You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
The Israelites were warned not to interfere with Esau of Edom. This commandment was only for that generation. We find that later the Israelites did fight against Edom on numerous occasions and on occasion rule over it. The Edom spoken of here was to the southeast of Judah BUT other kingdoms of Edom existed.
One of the places we consider an enclave of Edom today is:
Afghanistan and Esau
We consider the Afghans-Pathans to possibly be an offshoot of Esau along with descendants of Kedar, Ishmael, and others.
They should be left alone as much as possible.
The Israelites were commanded not to meddle with Edom when they were about to enter the Land of Canaan. This only applied at that time and only under specific circumstances. Nevertheless the principle can teach us something:
[Deuteronomy 2:5] Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
We suggest that this should be the US-UK policy regarding the Afghan-Pathans at present.
Have them once again ban the growing of the poppy seed, turn over or expel all Al-Quaeda and other international terrorists and then leave them alone. Let them wipe each other out or do whatever else they wish to.
Historically invaders of their land have not had much success.
We would suggest that if anything it is more important to take control of Pakistan than Afghanistan. Concerning Afghanistan itself, we should endeavor to come to terms with them, stop Poppy seed cultivation, stop international terrorist links, leave the country.
The USA entered Afghanistan after 9/11. It did so however by using the Northern Alliance. This consisted of Tajiks and others who represented the majority of the population and who for centuries had been oppressed by the Afghan-Pathan rulers.
The Afghan-Pathans formed the Taliban super extremist Moslems. The Taliban had abolished the growing of poppy from which is produced much of the world supply of opium and heroin.
After the Taliban had been deposed, corrupt warLORDs took over, re-introduced the growing of poppy seed, the country began falling apart, the Taliban began making a come-back, and US forces got sucked into the morass.
http://britam.org/Questions/QuesAfghanistan.html
http://britam.org/Questions/QuesOtherClaims.html
If Afghanistan is indeed a minor offshoot of Edom it is only a small part of the Power of Esau that controls the ruling elites of non-Israelite Europe as well as Japan and elsewhere in Asia.
For more on Esau/Edom see:
http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesEdom.html
The Midrash About Jacob and Esau in the Future
Midrash, Devorim Rabah 1;20:
#Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: When Esau met together with Yaacov, Esau said, 'Yaacov my brother, let us go forward together in this world.
[In Genesis it says AND HE [Esau] SAID, LET US TAKE OUR JOURNEY, AND LET US GO, AND I WILL GO BEFORE THEE [Genesis 33:12]. The KJ translates Esau as saying I WILL GO BEFORE THEE. The Hebrew, Ve-aylca-ce-negdaca, may preferably be understood to mean, I WILL GO ALONGSIDE YOU. This is how the Sages understood it and what the Midrash is referring to. Esau offered to progress parallel with and in tandem to Yaacov.]
Yaacov replied:
LET MY LORD, I PRAY THEE, PASS OVER BEFORE HIS SERVANT [Genesis 33:14]:
[See the Brit-Am Bible Commentary to this passage.]
Take your portion in the world first AND I WILL LEAD ON SOFTLY ACCORDING to the Work that is before me
[The Hebrew uses the expression, "le-regel ha-malacah". The KJ translates this phrase AS THE CATTLE THAT GOETH BEFORE ME but this translation is mistaken or at least it is not as the Sages understood it. Literally it should preferably be rendered as, "in accordance to the work"].
What does this mean?
He said, I have first to give rise to HANANIAH, MISHAEL, AND AZARIAH [Daniel 1:6], CHILDREN IN WHOM WAS NO BLEMISH [Daniel 1:4].
Alternately [i.e. another explanation],
He said, I have first to give rise to the King Messiah, of whom it is written,
FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN [Isaiah 9:6]. UNTIL I COME UNTO MY LORD UNTO SEIR [Genesis 33:14].
# Said Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: We have gone through the entire Bible and not found that Jacob stood with Esau in Seir.
What does the expression "UNTIL I COME UNTO MY LORD UNTO SEIR" mean? When will he fulfill it and go to Esau?
Yaacov said unto Esau: I must first give rise to Judges and Saviours who will take revenge from that person [Esau], as it says:
AND SAVIOURS SHALL COME UP ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF ESAU; AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE LORD'S [Obadiah 1:21].
Israel said to God Almighty: Master of the Universe! How long will be subjected under his domain [i.e. the domain of Esau]?
God said unto them, Until the day will come of which it is written,
THERE SHALL COME A STAR OUT OF JACOB AND A SCEPTRE SHALL RISE OUT OF ISRAEL [Numbers 24:17].
A flaming star will come out of Yaacov and burn up the dry chaff of Esau, as it says,
AND THE HOUSE OF JACOB SHALL BE A FIRE AND THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH A FLAME AND THE HOUSE OF ESAU FOR STUBBLE (Obadiah 1:18).
The Holy One (i.e. God) said,
At that time I will appear in my Royalty and will reign over them as it says,
AND SAVIOURS SHALL COME UP ON MOUNT ZION TO JUDGE THE MOUNT OF ESAU; AND THE KINGDOM SHALL BE THE LORD'S [Obadiah 1:21].##
The enemies of the Israelite Nations are often (we understand) lead by Edomites. There is nothing wrong with being an Edomite. There are aslo descendants of Edom amongst Israelite nations and possibly also amongst the Jews. Anti-Semites (Jew-haters) amongst Identity people and similar groups often say the Jews are all derived from Edom. Their fixation with this point to our mind indicates an instinctive realization as to their own non-Hebrew ancestry.
Deuteronomy 2:
6 You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.
8 And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the LORD said to me, Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.
10 (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. 11 They were also regarded as giants,[a] like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.)
13 Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered. So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. 14 And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.
16 So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the LORD spoke to me, saying: 18 This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. 19 And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.
20 (That was also regarded as a land of giants;[b] giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21 a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, 22 just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. 23 And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
CAPHTORIM were apparently part of the Philistines.
Nachmanides (Ramban) equates them with the Hivi, Chori (Horites) and Rephaim as well as part of the later Philistines.
Avims in Hebrew is Avi in the singular and Avim in the plural.
Nachmanides points out that, "Names retain their meaning while switching their sounds". For example Zerach (ZERAH from the Tribe of Simeon, Numbers 26:13) is also referred to as Tsochar (transliterated as ZOHAR, Exodus 6:15). The names Zerach and Tsochar both connote Shining Light.
Deuteronomy 2:
24 Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.
26 And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 27 Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, 29 just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD our God is giving us.
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
s.6
31 And the LORD said to me, See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land. 32 Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. 33 And the LORD our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. 35 We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. 36 From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the LORD our God delivered all to us. 37 Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon, anywhere along the River Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or wherever the LORD our God had forbidden us.
Deuteronomy 3:
1 Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan; and Og king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 And the LORD said to me, Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand; you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.
3 So the LORD our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan, with all his people, and we attacked him until he had no survivors remaining. 4 And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a great many rural towns. 6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as booty for ourselves.
8 And at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were on this side of the Jordan, from the River Arnon to Mount Hermon
9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir),
Rashi: #Shenir. Means SNOW in the language of Ashkenaz [Germany] and in the language of Canaan [Slavic]#.
Rashi may be suggesting that the Amorite Language was similar to the Germanic?
Iben Ezra (on Obadiah) says that Canaanites fleeing from Joshua settled in Germany. In Rabbinical Writings the Slavic peoples of Bohemia (Czechia) and later the Slavs in general were referred to as Canaanites. A Canaanite presence in Europe should be looked into. The Bronze Age implements and art work of the Balkans and of Scandinavia is almost identical to that of the Ancient Hittite and other Canaanite peoples. The same would apply to North Germany.
The Rise of Bronze Age Society by Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas B. Larson (UK, 2007) provides hundreds of illustrated examples of such similarities. We attribute the parallelisms to the migrations of Israelites but other explanations are possible.
On the other hand,
Different sources indicate that Canaanites settled in Africa. The name Ghana (Guinea) is itself derived from an Egyptian pronunciation (Ghanan) of the term Canaan.
Deuteronomy 3:
10 all the cities of the plain, all Gilead, and all Bashan, as far as Salcah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants.[a] Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. (Is it not in Rabbah of the people of Ammon?) Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit.
12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, and half the mountains of Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites. 13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants.
14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.)
Jair is Yair. This person fathered an important clan. They made conquests up to the Euphrates and beyond it and were referred to in Mesopotamian records as the IARI. Later they became an element in Celtic Britain and gave their name to places in Ireland and Scotland. For examples see "Hebrew Ancestry".
and "The Tribes"
BASHANHAVOTHJAIR or BASHAN-HAVOTH- JAIR meaning BASHAN-(the area of Bashan)- HAVOTH- (villages of) -JAIR.
See also:
HEBREW CELTIC NAMESAKES
scroll down to:
Hebrew Celtic Namesakes # 3
YAIR of Judah, Manasseh, Scotland, and Ireland all in One!
s.7
Deuteronomy 3:
15 Also I gave Gilead to Machir.
Gilead in Syria. Where was Gilead?
We know it was east of the Jordan and that to its north was the Bashan.
Apparently the application of both the terms Gilead and Bashan could move with time.
In Aramaic Bashan became Bathan and we find Bathan Regio (Kingdom of Bashan) and Bathanaei (People of Bashan) on the Maps of Ptolemy (as illustrated in our work The Tribes) in the far north of Israel close the junction of the Chabor (Khabur) and Euphrates Rivers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabur_River
#The Khabur Valley, which now has about four million acres (16,000 km?) of farmland, is Syria's main wheat-cultivation area. The northeastern part is also the center for Syria's oil production.#
South of Bashan was Gilead.
There was Gilead of Machir-Manasheh and Gilead of Reuben.
![[]](http://britam.org/pics/hamoukar.gif)
Mair Arzi (Yad Le Mair Arzi, Tel Aviv, 1988, pp.15-16) says there were several places named Gilead in Syria. One was in the Druze Mounbtains in southeast Syria. Another was between Damascus and Baal Bek. One just north of Palmyra (also known as Tadmor) as mentioned by Binyamin of Toledo. Another one, about 25 kilometers from the Euphrantes, close to Harran northeast of Aleppo, in the north of Syria.
Another Gilead was in an area referred to as EL GALLAD between Palmyra and Homs. Confirmed, thanks to Yisrael Ben-Shalom, by an official French Map of the Levant coordinates 345485, southeast of Homs). These identifications seem to far to the north but the People of Yair (IAARI, etc) from Machir of Manasseh according to Mesopotamian (Assyrian and Babylonian etc) reports were to be found in this area.
Arzi (p.16) provides a map that we hope to reproduce and translate at an opportune moment.
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Deuteronomy 3:
16 And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave from Gilead as far as the River Arnon, the middle of the river as the border, as far as the River Jabbok, the border of the people of Ammon; 17 the plain also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the east side of the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
18 Then I commanded you at that time, saying: The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All you men of valor shall cross over armed before your brethren, the children of Israel. 19 But your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall stay in your cities which I have given you, 20 until the LORD has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.
21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so will the LORD do to all the kingdoms through which you pass.
22 You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you.
Haftara - Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:1-27
http://www.britam.org/isaiah/Isaiah1to5.html
Isaiah begins his prophecy (1:1) from the viewpoint of (a) Judah and Jerusalem. The People of Israel are Children of the Almighty but they do not act like it but are a sinful nation (1:4). They are physically and ecologically suffering for their sins (1:7). Alien foreigners are taking over (1:7). If God did not have mercy upon us we would be destroyed altogether (1:10). Your prayers and worship will not be accepted unless you act righteously (1:12-16) meaning especially the practice of social justice with protection and care for the vulnerable (1:17). If we repent God will forgive us and show us favor (1:18-19) but if not violence will overtake us (1:20). Violence, fraud and graft are among our major offences (1:21-23). This will change. The "bad eggs" among us will be removed (1:24-25, 28).
Righteous rulers (judges) and counselors will come forth and show us the way to redemption (1:26-27).