Luke 1& 2: Semitism vs Sumerianism?

Note: I read the Bible to consider whether a specific passage comports to my weak-comprehension of the perhaps 5,000-year-old Sumerian philosophy expressed by Hebrew scholars 3,000 years ago in Genesis 1:28:  Female& male-human-being can& may, independent of other entities, constrain political chaos on earth. I think the next Bible canon should include the law codes of Sumer.

I perceive that the 10,000-year-old Sumer civilization ought to be considered, in order to increase civic-integrity while appreciating private spiritual pursuits in 2022 and beyond.
 
Luke 1& 2

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³ With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. [In 2022 vernacular, it seems Luke is a conservative. As usual, we can’t tell if he’s a fiscal conservative, a Christian conservative, a Genesis 1:28 advocate, or other.]

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were [“seemed”: the “orderly account” writer can& may observe the principle “judge not”] righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive [was that physically confirmed, a belief, or to the agenda?], and they were both very old.

⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot [at least randomness is better than democracy], according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, [This commitment seems in conflict with Matthew 26:29, “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom”.] and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born [we’ll see, below, in V 31, that this claim can be exceeded by “before conception”; to what purpose did the writer expresses this controversy?]. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” [The writer, with shot-gun-scatter attributes “the word” to God, the Lord, an angel, the Holy Spirit, and “the Lord their God”. I perceive reasons and do not excuse the confusion.]  

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” [It seems human to stonewall& punish curiosity. However, I doubt an emissary from God would act human. I think the writer is speculating about Zechariah’s hopes and late fulfillment: Zechariah’s personal longings then surprise. I do not think my typical speculation -- that there was no angel, is better than another person’s opinion. Nobody knows.]

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. [Obviously, the writer has a different opinion than mine.]

²³ When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive [See V 15.] and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” [The writer literally distinguishes “God”, who sent Gabriel, from “the Lord God”, who owns the throne of “father David”.]

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” [It seems God and Gabriel have lost importance to “the Lord”, already named Jesus. Perhaps Jesus is God. If so, is the Holy Spirit another writer’s distraction?]

Mary’s Song

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name. [It seems the author knows a lot of details about Mary’s pride. What’s the difference between soul and spirit; her differences? And “the Lord” vs God my Savior? Does Mary, a Jew, already count herself a Christian? Is that “all generations”, or future Jews, or/and future Christians? What about Muslims?]
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation. [I reject any God of fear and am prepared to be judged for my opinion. I appreciate Phil Beaver’ origins and Phil Beaver.]
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. [So I speculate Mary did not assert “. . . will call me blessed”.]
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble. [Can humility be expressed in pride?]
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty. [Really?]
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.” [The Bible seems a record of misery& loss to Abraham, his descendants (3 branches), and the cultures they warred against (affecting 4 groups). It might be better had they observed Genesis 1:28’s suggestion to responsible-human-independence (RHI), which idea apparently came from the Sumer culture, 1800 years before Terah left UR.]

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise [Jewish practice] the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

⁶² Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” ⁶⁴ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Zechariah’s Song

⁶⁷ His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
⁷¹ salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate [for me, it is a grave error to accuse someone of hate: misery and loss, yes; hate, no] us—
⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³     the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days [I view V 72-75 as guid-pro-quo, church-plea for a God to usurp RHI. {Maybe Zachariah was that high a priest, but I doubt it.)].

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High [This claim about John may imply that Jesus is higher than both God and the Holy Spirit, or the most high. I doubt that’s the author’s intent.];
    for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation
    through the forgiveness of their sins [does this refer to breeches of Mosaic law?],
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God [Jesus?],
    by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace [The is the Achilles heel of humankind, so far. Civilizations evolved such that they inculcate in their youth the expectation that a higher power will usurp their duty to RHI. In 2022 we can& may observe that neither God nor government can usurp the individual human-being’s duty to develop and maintain RHI.] ”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

 

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register. [This introduces a governmental event, and in the next verse it turns cultural.]

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. [Nothing here about illegitimacy of the pregnancy.]⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior [Why not the Savior?] has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” [About 30 years ago, when I suggested that this could be poetic expression by the writer, my Sunday-school-leadership was silently terminated. Stonewalling, authoritative personal-opinions, were both unnecessary and unjust. I departed to enrich my person and am glad I did. Confidently-serene-pursuit of Jesus’ influence is not justifiably-exclusive. No one can witness for Jesus, and by all means that includes Phil Beaver.] [Regarding the reference to peace if given God's favor: seems like a quid pro quo. Long ago, I accepted that I am not among the elect or antinomians. Also, this is in direct conflict with Genesis 1:28, wherein human-being is charged to provide peace on earth.]

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. [I perceive quid-pro-quo in this suggestion: worship and praise for more inside scoop.]

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child [Having been told that Jesus was God to “all generations”, why would Mary agree to circumcision? Does the writer think he is conserving Israel?], he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived [Really! Is this church doctrine? Which church? Did the writer report hearsay? Regardless of past opinion, I commend my person, intentions, ambitions, and accomplishments to my origins. I leave the mystery of soul to its own resolution, in order to focus on RHI.].

Jesus Presented in the Temple

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” [To equivocate Moses’ law to the Lord’s law seems conservative to Israel -- not Genesis 1:28. Perhaps the author plans surprise reform in a later chapter. But if so, it belies the reliability of angel appearances beforehand. That is to say, angles of God don’t mislead.]

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.” [Terah left Ur with son Abram, in order to escape human sacrifice being practiced in Ur. Israel sacrificed lower species (see Genesis 1:26-28 for possible support). However, through infidelity, Abraham spawned 4 divided cultures: Israel destined to divide over Christianity, Ishmael’s ancestors to develop Islam, and non-Abrahamic “enemies”. That is to say, Abraham did not observe the Genesis-1 RHI:  Sumer is my candidate as “God’s chosen people”. Further, the house of David is only a portion of Israel, so “God’s chosen people” as Israel does not transfer to Christianity. Regardless, “chosen people” seems a social claim rather than civic reality.]

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. [The Catholic Church and others hold this prophesied Jesus’s crucifixion. The words don’t say so, and I doubt it. It’s logical that a divided Israel would also have divided reactions to a-Messiah-for-gentiles.] And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” [Interesting mix: metal stabbing spirit.]

³⁶ There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. ³⁸ Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. [A Hebrew conservative might write about consolation for Israel and redemption of Jerusalem. Maybe Israel was the author’s conservatism.]

³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. [Perhaps he was God.]

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. [Give us some examples, and we might perceive he was God.]⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished.  His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”^[f] 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. [Really? I don’t think so. I think people see ways to promote themselves on constructed Jesus-stories. Try working their stories as practice, facilitation, and encouragement of the RHI suggested in Genesis 1:28.]

1. Luke 2:49 Or be about my Father’s business