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Originally Posted by NatCh
I'm afraid you're mistaken, Sonist, or at least focusing so narrowly that you're missing the point of the passage. ...
The passage you're referencing is something God said to Moses on the occasion of the making of the second set of stone tablets....
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Not to nitpick, but if I recall, those other stone tablets are found in Deuteronomy 5, while God supposedly dictated the Exodus 34 version of the Commandments to Moses, who used plain ink to record them.
As far as I am aware, many consider all three occurrences of the "Ten (more or less) Commandments" to be valid, although there are some codified disagreements among the Christian sects, notably between the Catholics and the Protestants. Exodus 34 is often referred to as the renewal of the Covenant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
... The context makes it clear that the directive to "break down altars," etc., was something that was to be done by the Israelites after the promised driving out. At that point the driven out people would no longer be resident, and their altars, etc. would have been spoils of conquest, just like their cities, lands, and so on. Anything that was done in those lands at that point would then be directed at those currently living there, in other words, the Israelites, thus the instructions are directed internally to the Israelites....
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Actually, I don't find it clear at all, particularly in light of Exodus 34.16: "And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods."
Now, if God drove out all the poor Canaanites and other schmucks "before you," and as you state, the former inhabitants were no longer resident in those lands, what "daughters" is God talking about? Mail-order brides?
(Plus, in reality, most archeologists today seem to agree that the proto-Israelis were descendants of Canaanites, among other peoples.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by NatCh
...I don't see any reasonable way to interpret that in context as an effort to enforce a belief system on anyone who wasn't already part of the Israelite people....
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Hm, again, I used the words "intolerance and militancy" in connection with religion in general, and monotheistic religions in particular. While "intolerance and militancy" may include attempts at conversion of the followers of competing deities, it also includes just smiting the "infidels."
Like in "He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed." Exodus 22.20.
Or, to quote Jesus himself, again: "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." (Luke 19:27)