This "nothing"?
“So it was when a star resembling a sword, stood over the city [Jerusalem]
and a comet which continued for a year.”
- Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:289
A "cosmic event" in Biblical Ancient Near Eastern Language refers to Political and Religious events. The destruction of the Temple in 70 AD and fall of Damascus --- both fall under that umbrella of understanding.
For your information, I attended Temple as a child and understand Hebrew culture in those areas. This is why the wise men following a Star was such a big deal to Herod.
The Historical Sources that I posted and the Academic Sources all refute their silly speculations. While the epistolary context makes Munnabitu’s comments admittedly somewhat telegraphic, on the face of it the diviner seems to understand his obligation to the king as reporting strictly propitious omens (see discussion in A. Leo Oppenheim, “Divination and Celestial Observation in the Late Assyrian Empire,” Centaurus 14 [1969]: 97–135 (114–15); and KochWestenholz, Mesopotamian Astrology, 65–66). Nonetheless, a brief scan of this diviner’s other reports (SAA 8 316–322) shows that he has no qualms about reporting negative omens to the king, even going so far at one point to suggest the performance of a namburbî to obviate the oracular fate portended by a lunar eclipse. I am tempted to postulate that, were the order in which these reports were written apparent, we might see a development in regard to how Munnabitu appreciates his role in counseling the king (i.e., towards a more jingoistic character), but this is entirely speculative. 70 This summary is based on the l
....
"In this case, Esarhaddon is not inventing a celestial situation out of whole cloth as
he is in his previous statement regarding the regular ideal appearances of the sun
and moon; rather, the observed celestial phenomenon here described is in fact
accurate according to astronomical reconstructions of the night sky as it appeared
in 680 BCE.
This particular omen entails three different astronomical events:
1) Venus rising in the west, in a certain section of the sky known as the Path of Ea;51 2) Venus reaching something called its “secret”; and 3) Venus setting. All of
these ominous events are attested in the celestial divination omen collections
where they occur in multiple, interconnected and, it seems, developing forms.52 In
regard to Esarhaddon’s interpretation of these celestial phenomena in Assur A, it
would be fruitful to delineate that development by examining two of the tablets
that contain various Venus omens ...
As noted in Esarhaddon’s mantic program introduced in Assur A (above), the appearance
of the full moon on the 15th, rather than the 14th, is not welcome news:
...
At first glance, Šapiku seems to be offering the king a negative understanding of
this phenomenon. In light of Bel-ušezib’s prognostication above (SAA 10 112), I
suggest that Šapiku, too, assumes that the nakru here should be understood as Assyria,
while the mātu has to be its enemies, particularly since a full moon on the
16th is a positive omen consistently applied to Subartu/Assyria.85 The fact that the
diviner ends his reading on an overwhelmingly positive note supports this understanding.
Šapiku then applies some of the same omens Rašili applied above, namely,
Mars in a lunar halo and the sun in a lunar halo (notably, he does not equate the
Yoke/mulŠUDUN/nīru with Mars, as Rašili did).86 Thus far, the diviner has applied his
omens more or less responsibly.
...
Jean Bottéro, “Symtômes, signes, écritures,” in Divination et Rationalité (ed. J.-P.
Vernant et al.; Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1974), 70–193, 81. See more recently also the contributions
by Francesca Rochberg now available in her volume of collected essays, In the Path of the
Moon. Babylonian Celestial Divination and its Legacy (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010 ; see further
Niek Veldhuis, “The Theory of Knowledge and the Practice of Celestial Divination,” in Divination
and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World (ed. Amar Annus; Oriental Institute Seminars
8; Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010), 77–91; Eckart
Frahm, “Reading the Tablet, the Exta, and the Body: The Hermeneutics of Cuneiform Signs
in Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries and Divinatory Texts,” in Divination and Interpretation
of Signs in the Ancient World, 93–141; his Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries
(Guides to the Mesopotamian Textual Record 5; Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2011); and Abraham
Winitzer, “Writing and
...
It is interesting to note that the contemporary Hammurapi also uses religious reasoning
in his diplomatic correspondence, see Davis, “‘Answer me Properly!’” 249–50, who
quotes ARM 26 469, in which Hammurapi tells Zimri-Lim that he cannot swear the oath for a
diplomatic alliance between them because the day that was set aside for that is ominous in
connection with the moon-god Sîn.
20 As is evident by the fact that "
https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/pubs/9781589839984_OA.pdf
Now, go deal with the Academic Sources, Jewish Sources and History I posted. Since you keep ignoring those sources.... I think you like false speculation over studying the Scriptures in their Historical Cultural Contexts.
Not only do you have no knowledge of the Prophetic Word, but you also know nothing about the causes and effects of a Coronal Mass Ejection.
Suggestion 1/ Read your bible.
2/ google; CME.
I was not talking about Coronal Mass Ejection. But, I was in Military Intelligence in the area of programming Nukes. I was speaking about the surface of the Sun. A Solar Flair will not reach the Earth -- to far away.
Scripture clearly says, 2 Kings 16:9 Good News Translation (GNT)
9 Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners.
Isaiah 17:1
Context
NET ©
Here is a message about Damascus: “Look, Damascus is no longer a city, it is a heap of ruins!
NIV ©
An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
From the Hebrew the NET Translation is the correct one.
The word forever in Isaiah 17 was added to the LXX, not original in the Hebrew.
These comments from the Pulpit Commentary are interesting and might shed light on the historicity of the city of Aroer as it relates to the Damascus prophecy:
Sargon’s annals tell us of a “Gal’gar,” a name well expressing the Hebrew ????, which was united in a league with Damascus, Samaria, Arpad, and Simyra, in the second year of Sargon, and was the scene of a great battle and a great destruction. Sargon besieged it, took it, and reduced it to ashes (‘Records of the Past,’ 50. s.e.). There is every reason to recognize the “Aroer” of this verse in the “Gargar” of Sargon’s inscriptions. They shall be for flocks (comp. Isaiah 5:17; 7:25). It marked the very extreme of desolation, that cattle should be pastured on the sites of cities. None shall make them afraid; i.e. “there shall be no inhabitants to make any objection.” ....
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible: “[T]he city’s doom was predicted by Isaiah (8:4; 17:1), Amos (1:3–5), and Jeremiah (49:23–27). Rejecting God, Ahaz of Judah turned for protection to an alliance with the Assyrians, whom he bribed with the temple treasure. The Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (‘Pul’) agreed and marched against the Syro-Israelite confederation. After defeating Israel he attacked Damascus, plundered the city, deported the population, and replaced them with foreigners from other captured lands. Damascus was no longer an independent city-state.”
William Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible: “Under Ahaz it was taken by Tiglath-pileser, (2 Kings 16:7, 8, 9) the kingdom of Damascus brought to an end, and the city itself destroyed, the inhabitants being carried captive into Assyria. (2 Kings 16:9 ) comp. Isai 7:8 and Amos 1:5. Afterwards it passed successively under the dominion of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans and Saracens, and was at last captured by the Turks in 1516 A.D.”
“The conquest of Damascus by Tiglath-Pileser III (733-732 BC) is the final result of the Assyrian intervention against the anti-Assyrian coalition of Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel against Ahaz of Judah. Rezin and Pekah tried to capture Jerusalem, capital city of the kingdom of Judah, but they failed (about 735–734 BC). Tiglath-Pileser III came to the aid of Ahaz of Judah, who promptly asked for the help of the Assyrian king. He finally destroyed the power of Damascus, by besieging the city, forcing king Rezin to surrender, as well as by conquering the whole region once under the control of Damascus. Rezin of Damascus died during the siege, according to the Bible (II Kings 16:9). After the conquest by Tiglath-Pileser III, Damascus was no longer the capital of the independent and rich kingdom of Aram.”18
The Isaiah 17 Damascus Bible prophecy has been fulfilled The American Vision
The City of Damascus we have today is simply rebuilt in a new location.
It was the power that the City of Damascus held over others was destroyed. I can't figure out why people see the Bible as a magic book.
I know enough to consult reference materials.
"I believe it makes more sense to hold that Isaiah 17 was fulfilled in the eighth century BC when both Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel, were hammered by the Assyrians. In that conquest, both Damascus and Samaria were destroyed, just as Isaiah 17 predicts. According to history, Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 BC) pushed vigorously to the west, and in 734 the Assyrians advanced and laid siege to Damascus, which fell two years later in 732.1 "The Isaiah 17 Damascus Bible prophecy has been fulfilled The American Vision
" The New American Standard has “Damascus is about to be removed from being a city” (Isa. 17:1). According to Oswalt in his commentary on Isaiah, the Hebrew construction “hinneh . . . mûsar is a participial construction indicating imminent action, ‘Behold, Damascus is on the point of being removed.’”15 "ibid link
"
Damascus was utterly destroyed in fulfillment of what was predicted in Isaiah 17. The destroyer himself —Tiglath-pileser — said so in his Annals:
“I took 800 people together with their property, their cattle (and) their sheep as spoil. I took 750 captives of the cities of Kurussa (and) Sama (as well as) 550 captives from the city of Metuna as spoil. I destroyed 591 cities from the 16 districts of Damascus like ruins from the Flood.”19" is the primary source. ibid link
I know enough about History to know it has already been fulfilled.
As a member of Mensa and having been invited to join intertel, Triple-Nine Society, and ISPE from time to time --- I know better than degrade others.
What I ignore is modern speculations related to prophecy which would make me more ignorant about History and Prophecy.
Now, go deal with the Academic Sources, Jewish Sources and History I posted. Since you keep ignoring those sources.... I think you like false speculation over studying the Scriptures in their Historical Cultural Contexts.
