"If the blind lead the blind,
both will fall into a pit."
Image and Udugi translation © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
ᎢᏳᏃ ᏗᎨᏫ ᏓᏘᎾᏎ ᏗᎨᏫᏁ
"If the blind lead the blind,
both will fall into a pit."
Image and Udugi translation © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.
We Are Only Human
We are only human;
the rest is incidental.
Nous ne sommes qu'humains;
le reste est accessoire.
Solo somos humanos;
el resto es incidental.
אנו רק אנושיים;
השאר הוא מקרי.
نحن بشر فقط
الباقي عرضي.
Ni estas nur homoj;
la resto estas incidenta.
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.
the rest is incidental.
Nous ne sommes qu'humains;
le reste est accessoire.
Solo somos humanos;
el resto es incidental.
אנו רק אנושיים;
השאר הוא מקרי.
نحن بشر فقط
الباقي عرضي.
Ni estas nur homoj;
la resto estas incidenta.
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Why?
The day is very hot.
Neither I, nor my dog,
nor the trees in the forest,
nor the scurrying geckos
need clothes.
And if you
think I do,
then it is you
who need me
to wear them.
Why?
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.
Neither I, nor my dog,
nor the trees in the forest,
nor the scurrying geckos
need clothes.
And if you
think I do,
then it is you
who need me
to wear them.
Why?
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.
Naked in Nature / ᎤᏰᎸᎭ ᎬᏩᎣ ᎭᏫᎾ
Trees are the guardians
of the planet.
They have wisdom,
and stories to tell.
We feel their communication best
when our skin
is bare.
ᏡᎬᏗ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᎦᏘᏯᏗ
ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ.
ᎾᏍᎩᏛ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏍᎩᏗᏁ
ᎧᏃᎮᏗ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏒᎾᏍᏓᏎ ᎣᎯᏗ ᎤᎾᏤᎵ ᏗᏛᎪᏔᏅᏁ
ᎢᏳᏃ ᎠᏆᏤᎵ ᎦᏁᎦ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏰᎸᎭ.
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.
of the planet.
They have wisdom,
and stories to tell.
We feel their communication best
when our skin
is bare.
ᏡᎬᏗ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᎦᏘᏯᏗ
ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ.
ᎾᏍᎩᏛ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎧᏃᎮᎸᏍᎩᏗᏁ
ᎧᏃᎮᏗ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏒᎾᏍᏓᏎ ᎣᎯᏗ ᎤᎾᏤᎵ ᏗᏛᎪᏔᏅᏁ
ᎢᏳᏃ ᎠᏆᏤᎵ ᎦᏁᎦ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏰᎸᎭ.
Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.
Friday, July 12, 2019
Renewal / ᎠᏤᎯᏐᏗᏱ / חידוש
We reach back into the past
and pull out what is good.
We pull out wisdom,
renewal of spirit,
sister- and brotherhood,
and the white path
of peace.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏙᏯᏅᎯᏓᏎ ᏧᏩᎫᏔᏅᏒ ᎾᎿᎢ
ᎠᎴ ᎠᏎᏏᎭᏎ Ꮎ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎣᏍᏛ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏎᏏᎭᏎ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗᏁ,
ᎠᏤᎯᏐᏗᏱᏁ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ ᎥᎿᎢ,
ᎤᎸ-ᏗᎾᏓᏅᏞᏦᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎤᏁᎬ ᏅᏃᎯᏁ
ᏙᎯᏱ ᎥᎿᎢ.
אנחנו חוזרים אל העבר
ולשלוף מה טוב.
אנו שולפים חוכמה,
חידוש רוח,
אחות ואחווה,
ואת השביל הלבן
של שלום.
Text © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson בן נח Traxler (ꮨᏺꭽꮅ). Image may be freely used.
and pull out what is good.
We pull out wisdom,
renewal of spirit,
sister- and brotherhood,
and the white path
of peace.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏙᏯᏅᎯᏓᏎ ᏧᏩᎫᏔᏅᏒ ᎾᎿᎢ
ᎠᎴ ᎠᏎᏏᎭᏎ Ꮎ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎣᏍᏛ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎠᏎᏏᎭᏎ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗᏁ,
ᎠᏤᎯᏐᏗᏱᏁ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ ᎥᎿᎢ,
ᎤᎸ-ᏗᎾᏓᏅᏞᏦᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎤᏁᎬ ᏅᏃᎯᏁ
ᏙᎯᏱ ᎥᎿᎢ.
אנחנו חוזרים אל העבר
ולשלוף מה טוב.
אנו שולפים חוכמה,
חידוש רוח,
אחות ואחווה,
ואת השביל הלבן
של שלום.
Text © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson בן נח Traxler (ꮨᏺꭽꮅ). Image may be freely used.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Synoptica IX - "Minor" or "Major" Agreements?
B. H. Streeter, in his 1924 book The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins, was one of the major proponents of the theory of "Markan Priority." I read his book decades ago, liked it, and for a long time I accepted its premise, which became dominant in New Testament studies. The influence of his book began to wane around 1960, as many researchers saw its weaknesses.
For a long time I wondered why Streeter had swept some of the main evidence against his theory under the carpet. The evidence to which I refer is the close agreement in language, within the Triple Tradition, between Matthew and Luke against Mark. Streeter dismissively called these "Minor Agreements." To be sure, many of them (there are hundreds) are minor, involving choices of prepositions, conjunctions, and verb forms. There are, however, some thirty or forty that are so important, and inexplicable within the terms of Streeter's hypothesis, that they must be considered "Major Agreements."
I think I may have discovered, today, the reason for Streeter's strange action in denying and dismissing an obvious problem. When I accessed Wikipedia to double-check the original publication date of Streeter's book, I discovered a strange fact: Streeter had been present at the 1935 Nuremberg Rally. The Nuremberg Rallies were gatherings of Nazis, held in Nuremberg from 1933, when Hitler came to power, to 1938, when the War was about to start. Streeter was killed in a plane crash in 1937, so he never lived to hear about Kristallnacht or the horrors of the Holocaust. He was British, so had no reason to attend that Nuremberg Rally unless he was a Nazi sympathizer. In other words, an anti-Semite.
My intention here is not to construct an ad hominem argument. I rejected Streeterism for quite other reasons. But what Streeter did was this: He denied and dismissed compelling evidence that Mark's Gospel, clearly written for non-Jews, was not the first; evidence that would, in fact, take us back to the traditional view of the Church since at least the second century, that The Gospel of Matthew, long recognized as the "most Jewish" of the Gospels, was also the first of the Gospels.
Why do I say that Mark was clearly written for non-Jews? For one thing, Mark found it necessary to explain Jewish customs; Matthew did not. (e.g. Mt. 15:1-20 || Mk. 7:1-22)
I have already dealt (in Synoptica VIII) with the Pearls Before Swine saying, which makes it clear that Rabbi Yeshua's audience was composed of Jews. Another example is Mt. 10:5-6, which reads, in the canonical version: These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
In Hebrew Matthew it reads:
These twelve Jesus sent; he commanded them saying: to the lands of the Gentiles do not go and into the cities of the Samaritans do not enter. Go to the sheep who have strayed from the house of Israel.
These are the words of Rabbi Yeshua, which Paul and his followers chose to ignore.
Here is a list of some of the "Minor Agreements" that Ben C, Smith considers "Major Agreements." I found it at www.textexcavation.com.
Text © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.
For a long time I wondered why Streeter had swept some of the main evidence against his theory under the carpet. The evidence to which I refer is the close agreement in language, within the Triple Tradition, between Matthew and Luke against Mark. Streeter dismissively called these "Minor Agreements." To be sure, many of them (there are hundreds) are minor, involving choices of prepositions, conjunctions, and verb forms. There are, however, some thirty or forty that are so important, and inexplicable within the terms of Streeter's hypothesis, that they must be considered "Major Agreements."
I think I may have discovered, today, the reason for Streeter's strange action in denying and dismissing an obvious problem. When I accessed Wikipedia to double-check the original publication date of Streeter's book, I discovered a strange fact: Streeter had been present at the 1935 Nuremberg Rally. The Nuremberg Rallies were gatherings of Nazis, held in Nuremberg from 1933, when Hitler came to power, to 1938, when the War was about to start. Streeter was killed in a plane crash in 1937, so he never lived to hear about Kristallnacht or the horrors of the Holocaust. He was British, so had no reason to attend that Nuremberg Rally unless he was a Nazi sympathizer. In other words, an anti-Semite.
My intention here is not to construct an ad hominem argument. I rejected Streeterism for quite other reasons. But what Streeter did was this: He denied and dismissed compelling evidence that Mark's Gospel, clearly written for non-Jews, was not the first; evidence that would, in fact, take us back to the traditional view of the Church since at least the second century, that The Gospel of Matthew, long recognized as the "most Jewish" of the Gospels, was also the first of the Gospels.
Why do I say that Mark was clearly written for non-Jews? For one thing, Mark found it necessary to explain Jewish customs; Matthew did not. (e.g. Mt. 15:1-20 || Mk. 7:1-22)
I have already dealt (in Synoptica VIII) with the Pearls Before Swine saying, which makes it clear that Rabbi Yeshua's audience was composed of Jews. Another example is Mt. 10:5-6, which reads, in the canonical version: These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
In Hebrew Matthew it reads:
These twelve Jesus sent; he commanded them saying: to the lands of the Gentiles do not go and into the cities of the Samaritans do not enter. Go to the sheep who have strayed from the house of Israel.
These are the words of Rabbi Yeshua, which Paul and his followers chose to ignore.
Here is a list of some of the "Minor Agreements" that Ben C, Smith considers "Major Agreements." I found it at www.textexcavation.com.
Text © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.