first : 29 oct 23
page still in progress
[as “the 70 shepherds” in Enoch – see below]
… the above table is a mystery , especially the countdown of ‘the bulls’
and why the counting remains at ‘seven’ instead of going down to zero ;
– the ‘bulls’ are always somewhat Negative in prophets because an outspoken phallic attribute
[and compare the adoration of them in Egyptian spells] ;
– the “sudden total coundown” makes Sense if directly following upon ‘Eve forgiven’
linking to the Jubilee as Atonement ;
what these 70 bulls can nót represent :
– the “seventy nations” in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 ; probably corrupt because ‘nations’
is always Negative and could barely have the rather important epithet ‘seventy’ ;
the “Rabbi Elazar said: These seventy bulls to what do they correspond? They correspond to the
seventy nations. Why a single bull? It corresponds to the singular nation!” (Talmud, Sukkah 55: b)
is no proof but suggests that Esau constructed ’70 nations’ in Gen.10 ;
the ’70 shepherds’ in Enoch
… though likely even sections from the preserved ‘book of Enoch’ have been doctored
because the most important theme ‘Adam’ appears to be missing , in this case the dream
of Enoch is interesting : in a symbolic way “the time since the creation until the end” is presented
and chapter 90 is interesting for us :
directly in line 1 these shepherds are linked to “periods of Time” (90:1-2) —
in a moment we will get to the specific time mentioned there but this section is about the endtime
where “the blind sheep” is christianity and “the kites and ravens” must be Esau led by the eagles
which are either ‘demons’ or it was singular referring to ‘Adam’ ;
from the sheep are born the lambkins – the 144 – that are growing ‘a horn’ meaning ‘(legal-) power’
but that horn is attacked by the kites and by the blind sheep (!) ; you see that the text is altered
because in 19 “the lámbs should have been given the sword [=iron staff] by which they slay the
kites and the beasts of the field” but we already know the intent , right
(22-23) has “take those seventy shepherds to whom I delivered the sheep ,
but who took them on their own authority and slew more than I had commanded them” ;
for us it may be strange but “these time frames” appear to be “entities” — perhaps compare how
Christ addresses ‘the seven churches in Revelation’ in a similar way
[while we need to ponder if “the three shepherds” in Zecheriah are related , or if that is corrupt] ;
in (89:59) these seventy shepherds are first mentioned : “and He called seventy shepherds ,
and cast the sheep to them that they might pasture them” yet it is unclear when this happened
even though context suggests that it was “before the exile in 500 BC” as the closing of chapter 89 ;
and therefore we would have a problem linking this directly to “the 70 weeks (-of each 7 years)”
in Daniel though the theme certainly must be related ; Enoch (90:1-2) mentions “after 35 shepherds
expired” which per context appears to be ‘around the Babylonian exile’ but there is no way that we
could verify this , nor ‘how long the time frames were’ ;
and finally , also “the 70 elders that were to assist Moses” appear to belong to this same theme
which is described in Numbers 11 ;
II : the Zukru festival : the ’70 gods’
— an Amorite [=proto-Esau] festival in Syria
— looking much like Tabernacles
but very likely having been her antithesis
— from root : -zkr “to remember”
“The pantheon of 70 gods appears to be a Syrian convention, attested also in the Ugaritic Baal myth as the 70 children of Athirat (KTU 1.4 VI:46).” Time at Emar, pg. 57, note 29. The 70 gods of Emar (pg. 59)
“Emar’s temple archive preserves dozens of fragments and a smaller number of long descriptions of rituals, along with a variety of lists of offerings and deities (Emar 369-535 in Arnaud’s transliterations of the Akkadian texts). This collection includes at least three types of calendar-based texts. Only one text (Emar 373) treats a single event, the zukru ‘festival’ (Sumerian ezen), celebrated for seven days every seven years at the full moon of a month called ‘the head of the year’ (sag.mu).” Time at Emar, pg. 9. “…by a long list of deities that is introduced by the heading ‘For the seven days of the zukru festival they serve all of the gods of Emar.’ This period began on the 15th of sag.mu, as set forth in line 44.” Time at Emar, pg. 69.Time at Emar, pg. 61. “The zukru festival usually specifies calves and lambs (amar/buru and sila/puhadu) for sacrifice. According to the zukru texts, the animals to be sacrificed were separated one day in advance, before the events.”
[=would “seven” be legal enough to link to “seventy” ? yes – right ?]
“Both the Mari and Emar zukru are public rites for the entire communities, but only at Emar did the event clearly belong to the regular cycle of ritual associated with the calendar. At Emar, Dagan was invoked, not for any evident seasonal needs of agriculture or animals, but for some purpose that reflected the identity of the city itself. The entire populace brought its chief god out of the city to invoke him at a shrine of stones in the presence of the whole pantheon. There may have been some precise nuance to this sacred speech, but the inclusiveness and centrality of the public rite suggests that it involved a sweeping acknowledgement of Dagan’s relation to the city and request for his presence and care.” Time at Emar, pg. 126. “This novel procedure (involving clods of earth) adds to the sense we have from both versions that the zukru celebrated the foundational relationship between the people of Emar and Dagan, whom the city worshipped as its chief god and ultimate patron.” “In its simpler guise, the zukru was still given by Emar to Dagan, and the shrine of sikkanu stones was always the ritual center, the place where divine and human population gathered around the god who in the shorter text is called ‘Head of the zukru.’” Time at Emar, pg. 109. “The focus on planting appears to begin on the same 15th day in the text for six months, when the diviner scatters seed after an offering to Dagan as Lord of the Seed (be-el numun).” Time at Emar, pg. 103
[=but if it was NOT ‘an agricultural feast’ then “seed” relates to “offspring / the future” ..?]
“Dagan is what is termed a chthonic deity. Chthonic is a Greek term that means in, under or beneath the earth. This does not apply just to deities of the underworld, but to the earth. Therefore, a deity of planting is a chthonic deity. Shapash, the Canaanite sun goddess of Ugarit is a chthonic deity because the sun goes down and to their beliefs, traveled through the land of the dead before rising in the morning. Dagan, according to the tablets at Mari, another Amorite city, is titled ‘Bel-pagre, Lord of the Corpses’, very much showing his chthonic character, as well as all his seed sowing, grain aspects.” – Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Vol. 2
[=is ‘lord of corpses’ related to “the shepherds kill more then allowed” of the Enoch section ?]
Ugaritic texts 15.RS 1.003 and RS 18.056
III.
what are these about ?
is.23.10 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years,
according to the days of one king:
jer.25.12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon
[=mirror]
jer.29.10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you
— what about Deut.32 [+32] : same theme , and “(ending at-) Tabernacles” ?
— zech.1 and 7 ;
IV. other
— 72 assassins of Osiris , as Budge listed in dictionary – but from Plutarch (?)
annex
the ’70 shepherds’ (chapter 89-90)
https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_4.HTM
further reading
https://www.thetorah.com/article/sukkots-seventy-bulls
