Honor and Shame in the Zion Legacy Series

So, before moving on, I wanted to address something else I found so fascinating in the Zion Legacy Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene.

Throughout the first 3 books, there's a sub-story that is so significant in terms of culture and honor/shame in the Middle East (again, spoilers ahead... but this series was published in the early 2000s, so it's not like it's new).

Basically, there are two Arab brothers, orphan boys, Dauod and Gaman, who are fighting against the Jews. They hate the Jews as a people group, but they are friends with Yacov and Shaul (Yacov's dog).

When Gaman is seriously injured, the boys go to the only safe place: a convent where the hurt and dying are being treated. Gaman undergoes surgery by a Jewish doctor, who saves his life. Before Dauod knows that Doctor Baruch is actually a Jew, he says that he shall be Dr. Baruch's son and will honor him as such for what he did for Gaman.

Then, Dauod discovers that Dr. Baruch is a Jew. But it doesn't matter—Dauod has already made his vow.

For the rest of the series, you see his struggle as he thinks of himself as and introduces himself as Dauod, the son of Baruch. He finds himself fighting on behalf of the Jews to honor to his father and his vow.

I LOVED this sub-story because it is so different from Western culture. We'd say, "well, I didn't have all the facts, so I don't have to keep this". But Dauod didn't do this. Even as a young boy, he knew the seriousness of his vow that it meant leaving his band of rebel boys/teens and acting on behalf of the people group that he had been fighting against (even in light of his friendship with Yacov).

What do you think of this example of honor/shame and the importance of family in the Middle East? How does it differ from your culture? How can it shed light on things we read in the Bible?

The Zion Legacy Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene

So, I just finished reading the next series in the ongoing story written by Bodie and Brock Thoene: the Zion Legacy Series. (Caution- spoilers ahead if you haven't read the first 2 series fully)

Zion Legacy picks up where the Zion Covenant Series and the Zion Chronicles Series leave off, except a few weeks later—3 weeks after Israel's Independence day in 1948. You see the same characters from Zion Chronicles: Moshe and Rachel Sachar, Rabbi Lebowitz, Yacov, and Shaul, David and Ellie Meyer, Ehud Schiff and others.

But, they are joined from some familiar faces from Zion Covenant: Jacob and Lori Kalner, Alfie Hadler, and more.

I will say, that through all 3 of these series', there are times that it's difficult to follow the action because there's so much fighting; so much war—which is realistic. It's just easy to get lost in it all because there are times, especially in Zion Chronicles, where it seems just like battle after battle after battle.

But this 3rd series, Zion Legacy, is very different (especially the last 3 books). And there's a FASCINATING sub-story that I wanted more and more off. Rabbi Lebowitz takes Moshe Sachar down into the tunnels to a secret room that is INCREDIBLE and is filled with scrolls that have been kept in hiding since the beginning of Jerusalem. Basically, only 1 man knew at a time that this room existed throughout history, passing the knowledge on to a younger man when they were near death.

Oh man- read this series so that you can go through the tunnels along with these men and spend time in this secret chamber!

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Get This Book!

That's it for our series on Kenneth E. Bailey's Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes! I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse of the depth of these cultural studies available to us from the time of the Early Church.

As always, I only am featuring just part of it because I so strongly believe that if someone went to the trouble to write a book, then it should be purchased and enjoyed by each reader. So, please, check it out!

I wish there were a book by Bailey for each book of the New Testament, but unfortunately (for us!) he passed away in 2016. He did write some other books, however, and they are definitely on my list to check out!

Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: 1 Corinthians 13

In the first 2 posts of this series of Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, I mentioned that Corinth was a town known for its brass works, dating back to 4th century B.C. In fact, earlier in the book, author Kenneth E. Bailey says that many of the craftsmen likely escaped Corinth during its destruction in 146 B.C. and returned to restart the guilds when the city was reborn.

Bailey cites a source that says the bronze work was performed in the center of the city and then tells a personal story of visitor's brass-maker's market in Aleppo, Syria, in the 1980s. Bailey says that at first, he asked for directions, but soon he didn't need them anymore—the hammering and clanging of more than 200 craftsman led him there. "Even though all of this craftsmanship was taking place in open air, the noise was deafening," Bailey remembers, "To talk to any of the skilled workmen, I was obliged to bend down, place my lips within 2 inches of the artisan's ear, and show at the top of my voice. The noise levels were ear-splitting."

In the next paragraph, Bailey points out that "as tentmakers, Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla would have needed to be present in the marketplace in order to pursue their trade and contact customers. Enduring the high-pitched racket of banging brass would have been a common experience for all Corinthians every time they entered the market" (pages 360-361).

After reading this and imaging the clanging, hammering, and shouting going on, how does the imagery in this verse ring even louder? 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am banging brass or a clanging cymbal" 1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV)

WOW! I can hear it now, the difference, the cacophony of noise, in a way I couldn't before!

Paul continues the brass metaphor in verse 7, with the list that begins with love covers all things (the NIV says "always protects", but the verb used here is stego, which has to do with the connection of keeping water in (or out). In fact, the noun form of this verb means "roof", because of its meaning of being waterproof. "As brass manufacturers, the Corinthian metal workers would have been careful to make pitchers, bowls, and drinking cups that did not leak (page 376).

Finally, in verse 12, there's another brass-work metaphor, this time having to do with mirrors—which, in the ancient world, were made of brass. They had an interesting practice in that when someone ordered a mirror, the artist would offer to etch the face (or back) of the mirror along the lines of the customer's interests. Discovering that the buy worshipped Poseidon (for instance), the brass worker would obligingly lightly etch the face of Poseidon (and perhaps other gods) on the mirror. Then, upon rising in the morning and looking into the mirror, you would have the pleasure of 'seeing yourself among the gods.... But alas, the mirror soon tarnished and the mind games quickly grew old. The person was not really among the gods, and they did not talk to him or her" (page 381).

So, how does knowing the above custom, shed new light on the setting of this verse?

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

I love how Paul used contextual examples in each of his letters that his readers would have immediately picked up on and recognized. It would have shown his intimate knowledge of their world (and struggles) as well as made it so understandable in a time when it all seemed like uncharted waters.

I don't know about you, but now I can't stop hearing the clanging brass when I think of this chapter. What a powerful image of how not to live!