No, George, I don't think it's beside the point, and I think that you're unfair to Jeffrey to demand that he support you rather than "BLOCK" you. You're overreading Jeremiah, I believe, and when the Rabbinic material didn't support your reading of Jeremiah you backed away from it. As I suggested before, you need to consult a Hebrew lexicon (I checked the recent Brill HALOT) about the various possible meanings of the key phrase in Jeremiah before reaching a conclusion about whether the Rechabites were priests on the basis of that passage. I also suggest actually reading Boccaccini's book on Roots of Rabbinic Judaism (my comments on this book elicited your response) to see what he thinks about conflict within the priesthood prior to the Maccabean period.
As far as the Book of Enoch goes, both the Book of the Watchers and the Similitudes are fascinated by metalworking, but from a negative slant. The Watchers teach the art to their wives, causing war and violence in the Book of the Watchers. If the Kenites and Rechabites were smiths (whose primary function in the ancient world was to manufacture weapons), then the Enoch literature is on the other side. David Suter Saint Martin's College -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of George Brooks Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 8:27 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: orion-list Jeremiah's Eternal Priesthood, the Rechabim Prof. Suter, The view that the Rechabites were craftsmen in general is quite well established. But I'm not quite certain why you think these crafts preclude any capacity in Levitical or Priestly service. Priests made things in the service of Yahweh..... so why wouldn't a priest be a metal worker too? If priests make incense to be burned for Yahweh, it would not be unheard of if Priests made the bells that they rang for Yahweh as well, yes? If Levites can carry wood, and guard a door.... then certainly Levites can be craftsmen....and Priests can be craftsmen. Eusebius does not refer to the Rechabite defending James as a "metal worker".... he calls him a priest. So why you keep wanting to return to the metalworker theme is sort of beside the point, don't you think? For private reply, e-mail to "David Suter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: "unsubscribe Orion." Archives are on the Orion Web site, http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il. (PLEASE REMOVE THIS TRAILOR BEFORE REPLYING TO THE MESSAGE)
