The wandering Aramean?

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I attempt to read the Bible with fresh eyes, as if I don't know anything about it, and without consulting experts on what it "really" means.. Let's see where this takes us! 

Deuteronomy 26

I'm reading Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

The curiosity in Deuteronomy 26 is the "wandering Aramean."

‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.'

The common ancestor of the Israelites was Jacob, and if you recall from the latter portion of Genesis, he did wander quite a bit.

So… what's an Aramean?

The GotQuestions website has its own theological biases, but I did find this information.

The borders of Aram encompassed a broad region immediately to the northeast of Israel, extending to the Euphrates River and including Mesopotamia. . . When Abraham sought a wife for his son Isaac, he sent a servant to the land of Aram to find Rebekah (Genesis 24:10; 25:20). Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law, is called an Aramean in Genesis 31:10. Jacob himself is called “a wandering Aramean” in Deuteronomy 26:5, since both his mother and his grandfather [that is, Abraham - JLW] were from Mesopotamia and therefore considered Arameans by the Hebrews.

Jacob, who became Israel, was an Aramean as were his own ancestors. The Israelites/Hebrews were, therefore, of Aramean origin. As were the nations on the east of the Jordan: Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, Midianites. All descended from Abraham or Lot, and ultimately, from Shem.

As I've noted on numerous occasions, Shem seems to represent "spirit" whereas the Canaanite residents of the Promised Land are descendants of Ham, representing the flesh. 

Just as Jacob took Esau's inheritance, so it is that the children of Spirit will displace the children of Flesh in the land "flowing with milk and honey."

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

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