HAVE YOUR SAY: WHICH IS MORE DRAMATIC

In this scene Abimelech torches a temple stronghold containing a thousand men and woman. (Judges 9:45-49)  Look at the two option which show how I could dramatise this below (rough). Then read the different cases underneath.

View fullsize

Abimelech burns down the temple stronghold (Judges 9:49) 

View fullsize

If you can't read the text on the image this is what it says... 

 "Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together.  Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!”  All the people likewise each cut down his bough, and followed Abimelech, //and put them at the base of the stronghold, //and set the stronghold on fire on them; so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women." (Judges 9:47-49 WEB)     (//=show where the divide in the text could be. )

Option 1: The Stronghold Burns

Straight forward rendering of the text you see the stronghold burn in all it's glory. The black panel tells you how many died.

Option 2: Impending Doom.

Less straight forward the picture shows the situation of impending doom and it is the black panel which delivers the death knell.

Which is better in your opinion?

Please comment here, on the Facebook/social media page you came here from.   

Proud to be part of the Bible Gateway Bloggers Grid.

Jephthah's Vow: A 'fatal' error?

Studying Judges has lead me to Jephthah and his vow. Many of you may know that there are 2 points of view in regards to what happened in Judges 11, that he sacrificed his daughter as a burnt offering or she was dedicated to the Tabancle for a life of service. This great site discusses the complex issue in some detail...

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2012/03/30/feedback-jephthahs-vow

Dissected panel

One panel taken as an example and focused in on to show the features included in the image and how they relate to the Bible and history.

How did Philistines look?

In this picture you can see how the Philistines were depicted by the people of the day. It is fascinating how accurate they are with reference to each other. All these are from the 12th century and contemporary with Samson and the later Judges.

The Egyptians fought them ~1175BC as they tried to invade Eqypt and engraved many of their soldiers in stone at Medinet Habu. The Egyptians called them Peleset, in a group they referred to as the “Sea People”. They are from Crete and Mycenae and the picture in the middle shows warriors of that culture depicted by themselves, from “the Warrior Vase”. The last one was carved on an ivory box from Cyprus, from where Philistines staged many of their sea faring attacks and raids.