Second part of: BOB DYLAN SINGS, “GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM, “KILL ME A SON””

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
the next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?”
God says, “Out on Highway 61”

Let us go back to Genesis. The God that the people from Canaan sacrificed their firstborns to was called Moloch or Baal. This enables us to discover something about two of the important people that Abraham had dealings with during his life: Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High and king of Salem, and Abimelech, the king of Gerar. When we take into account that Genesis was originally written in Old Hebrew, a language that didn’t recognize consonants, we see that the MLCH consonants of Moloch also appear in the names Melchizedek and Abimelech. Whereas the consonants in Melchizedek mean ‘justice of Moloch’ or ‘king of justice’, those in Abimelech (or Abba Moloch), mean ‘father of Moloch’.

Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which is the old name for Jerusalem and it was on Moriah, one of the seven hills of that city, that Abraham had to sacrifice Isaac. The fact that the firstborn were sacrificed in high places explains why Melchizedek is called ‘God Most High’. That Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything and goes to Moriah to sacrifice Isaac, indicates that he recognizes him as an authority; that Abraham is a subject of Melchizedek.

Although many Bible scholars have assumed that Melchizedek was a priest of Yahweh (because he brought bread and wine and Abraham paid him a tenth of everything) , he was actually a priest of Moloch, the God that demanded the sacrifices of the firstborn. This explains the fear that Abraham feels when he encounters Melchizedek and why Yahweh then tells him: “Do not be afraid, Abram! I am your shield and shall give you a very great reward.”

Abraham lived in Canaan and it is significant that immediately after a visit from Abimelech, king of the Philistines, who was accompanied by the captain of his army, Abraham decides to sacrifice Isaac. Abimelech demanded that Abraham show the same kindness that he, his children and grandchildren had shown him. This oath seems to have referred to him having to comply with the country’s sacrificial customs.

Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had spent time in the harem of Abimelech and he gave her a thousand pieces of silver to allay suspicions about her. This actually suggests the opposite; that Abimelech had something to do with her pregnancy. And since he thought it was his son, he had an additional reason to demand that Abraham sacrifice Isaac.

The unions between a family that sacrifice their firstborn and one that doesn’t must have caused serious problems. The descendants of such unions belonged to both families and if one family sacrificed its firstborn to protect their community against all kinds of evil, how could they allow relatives to let their firstborn live? The crux of the matter was that any member of the tribe could attract evil towards his community by letting his firstborn live. Therefore, they could not allow each person to do whatever they wanted.

Also Isaac received a visit from Abimelech. A lot of Bible scholars assume Isaac did not meet the same Abimelech, but they completely ignore that because of the old ages of the patriarchs many generations coincided with each other. Furthermore, Isaac’s adventures in Guerar are similar to Abraham’s, but there are differences. Both spent some time in Guerar because of a famine. Both said his wife was his sister. Both later received a visit from Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, who was accompanied by the captain of his army, and both refererred about a well that they had dug and which they called ‘Beersheba’ (which means: well of oath or well of seven, but also son of oath or son of seven). The difference is that whereas Sarah was Abraham’s sister (the same father, but not the same mother), Rebekah was not Isaak’ sister and that apparently she did not spent time in the harem of Abimelech, because the king of the Philistines discovered that they were married.