Can an Ethiopian Change His Skin ...?

An insult that is not understood is a pointless insult.

Would you believe there is such as thing as a random insult generator? Played with the generator at The Insult Project and decided to copy this one below for my blog post.  Checked this site Jan 19, 2018, and it no longer exists.

“People don't dislike you because you're revolting. I mean you are astonishingly revolting, that's just not why people dislike you.”

* * *


Was watching a Denzel Washington movie and there was a brief intense exchange of words between Mr. Washington's character and another character who was playing a support role. Possibly not the exact quote but the character scoffs and says: “You better watch out or I just might call you an Ethiopian!” Mr. Washington's character's defensive reaction and response was: “You know you're probably stupid enough to think that's an insult!”


Huh? What?? (???) Didn't get it! My limited exposure to Ethiopia and experience with Ethiopians left a void in my mind. Could not comprehend the meaning of the dialogue at all. (O.o) Dismissed it and finished watching the movie, The Siege.


Was doing research about one of the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament and came across this scripture:

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

(Jeremiah 13: 23)

Let's place this quote in context.

• Which Ethiopia are we talking about??
  

There is a modern day Ethiopia and there is an Ethiopia which is a land that existed during ancient times. Since it's a scriptural reference, we're going to go with the latter.


Modern Ethiopia is located in the horn of East Africa. Ancient Ethiopia, also known as Cush, was located to the south of Egypt. Cush is the Hebrew name. Ethiopia is the Greek name. (FYI. The Egypt in the Bible and the nation that exists today are both the same.)


Ethiopia translated into English mean “burnt face”. The Ethiopian people we see today are known for their smooth beautiful practically flawless chocolate brown skin. There's no reason why a talented photographer couldn't make a small fortune traversing the country taking pictures of the “humans of Ethiopia”. Evidently, the people who lived in the land called Ethiopia, the in the Bible, also had really nice skin!


So!! Uuuhhh … back to square one! My brain is still registering blanks!


Imagine you get into a heated argument with someone.

The person snarls at you angrily and warns:

“You better get out of my face! You … you … you Ethiopian!!” 

You puff up with righteous indignation and shout back:

“Yeah! That's right! I got nice skin!! HATER!!”

(??) Where would this argument go?? (??)

There is a famous world-class chef from Ethiopia. There was a young woman, born in Ethiopia, who was crowned Miss Israel in a beauty pageant. Madonna adopted a baby or babies from Ethiopia. (That's what I heard.)


Opening this topic up for discussion hoping someone can shed some light on it.

WHY would it be an insult

 to call someone an Ethiopian?

Ancient Israel : Memorable Battles in Jewish History

SHILOH (not Jerusalem) was at one time the focal point of Israel's worship, where both the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant resided. 

Shiloh (biblical city) By Abraham Sobkowski OFM - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The Jews took the Ark from Shiloh to Kiriath-Jearim to the battlefield because they thought it would being them victory. They were wrong! They lost the Battle to the Philistines. It was a slaughter!! The enemy took the Ark as a spoil of war. But it was not the kind of trophy they would be allowed to show off with. There were Plagues in every Philistine city where the Ark was taken. In the end, they gave it back to the Jews.  


Where is the Ark now?? The Jews don't even know!!!  


What's that? It's in Ethiopia?


Yeah right. And the Chinese invented the fortune cookie.


As if ... any God-fearing Jew on the planet would let the Ark - if it really were there - remain in Ethiopia.
   

References: Ancient Jewish History: The Ark of the Convenant and the Book of Samuel

- During the American Civil War, the Union Army under the leadership of Ulysses Grant, achieved a victory at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862). But that's another battle. :)

 
Statue-Ark Of The Covenant w/Priests-Gold/Silv-SML

Ethiopian or Philistine? Am I a Dog?

Published this post and although the stats show it had a reasonable amount of views and even a few Plus Ones, the question has still not been answered.

Can an Ethiopian change his skin? *

My answer is:
“Never been to Oklahoma but do like Sir Paul McCartney.”
(Yep. That’s right. DUH! Totally changed the subject.)

The question was prompted because of some dialogue in a Denzel Washington movie. Had the script been written and instead of saying “Ethiopian”, if the character had hurled his insult by threatening to call Mr. Washington’s character a “Philistine”, the scene in that film would have made sense to me. 


Most Bible students know the menacing Philistines were the enemies of the Israelites. There were constant struggles for control of the land of Canaan (an older name for Palestine). A study, just a quick study, of the people of Philistia might lead one to conclude that if they had not always been battling with the nation of Israel, they would have been at war with another group. They liked to fight!!


WHY? Because they could!!


The Philistines were skilled warriors; on land and at sea. In fact, they were once called Sea Peoples. Their navy consisted of fleets of the finest warships during that time, expertly manned by experienced soldier/seamen. As for their army? The infantry, i.e. trained foot soldiers, possessed superior weapons of iron and wielded them masterfully and mercilessly. 


For hundreds of years, the Philistines waged continuous war against the Israelites. David, Israel’s second king succeeded where the nation’s first king, Saul, had failed. Around 1000 B.C., he finally subdued these fierce fighting men and once crushed, their power began to decline. Other nations coming in afterward, would reap the benefits of David’s military efforts. Somewhere around 800 to 700 B.C., the Assyrians attacked and conquered cities of Philistia. Then between 597 and 586 B.C., when the Jewish people (Israelites) were exiled to Babylonia (as was foretold to them by their prophets), the Philistines were taken away as slaves too.


Not much is known about the origins of this ancient people and none of their literature has survived; just fragments of pottery and coffins, some images on Egyptian reliefs, and what is written about them in Old Testament scriptures. Historians and archaeologists have very little to reconstruct their past.  However, according to an article published in Science News, an ancient cemetery has been found that might yield some clues.

Bower, Bruce. "Ancient Cemetery Provides Peek into Philistines' Lives, Health." Science News. Society for Science & the Public, 22 Nov. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.  (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-cemetery-provides-peek-philistines-lives-health). 

Ancient cemetery provides peek into Philistines' lives, health


In our vernacular (American English), to call someone a “Philistine” is not a compliment. It is a term of contempt and means the person has uncultivated tastes or lacks culture (i.e. lacks refined behavior, good manners and/or social graces). That sounds very subjective. Perhaps the easiest way to explain the insult would be to take the question the Philistine giant, Goliath, asked a young shepherd boy, and superimpose it. Imagine that the person you’re staring down asks you this same question and you simply nod your head up and down as an affirmative response, because you don’t want to waste your breath.

“Am I a dog?” **

Image credit: Gebhard Fugel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons



* Jeremiah 13: 23

* * 1 Samuel 17: 43

D.C.'s Bible Museum to debut with $42M worth of cutting edge technology

Washington, D.C.'s newest religious museum is set to unveil next year with a location only three blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Recently, The Museum of the Bible released information on the $42 million high-tech experience visitors will experience.