Oduyoye had first informed his cleric students that. Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament texts and other Semitic languages like Aramaic, Akkadian, MEgyptian, Ugarithic etc all belong to the same Afro-Asiatic (Hamito Semitic) language group as many Africa languages like Hausa, Efik, Ibiobio, Yoruba, Igbo Fulfide, Twi, Fon etc. Thus, in seeking explanations to passages of Genesis 1- 11, Oduyoye drew from these languages.Having equipped himself with considerable acquaintance with many African languages, Oduyoye stood, as it were, at a vantage point where he has an unusually panoramic view of the innards of these languages. The substance of this Bible studies, Oduyoye later compiled in a book with the title: “The Sons of the Gods and the Daughters of Men.”On the whole, the 132- page book, published in 1984 by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, impresses upon the reader that Genesis 1 – 11 contains a lot of folk or popular etymology as “tall stories for popular consumption” which are told not for their basis in fact but by way of the lay man’s attempt to explain things that are obscure to him.

Oduyoye had dealt at length with the problem of folk etymology in Yoruba Religious Discourse. In it, he cited the drum signal used then to reproduce the intonation pattern of the English statement: “This is the Nigerian Broadcasting Service.” Which some Yoruba folk erroneously interprete as“Ninu Ikoko dudu la ti n se’be. It is inside a black pot that we cook stew”He then cites such popular etymology in the Book of Genesis:“that Eve was so named because she was the mother of all life; that Isaac was so named because he grabbed his twin brother by the heels while they were still in the womb; that Cain was so named because the mother said at birth” I have acquired a man with the help of God”… that Marah was so named because there Israelites found the water bitter”“Babel” for instance, which according to the Bible, was derived from the fact that it is where God confused the tongue of men..First, Oduyoye dismissed the claim that the whole world had one language by reminding us that earlier in Gen 10 we had been told that the son of Yaphet, Ham and Shem had been classified according to their different tongues.

Confused in Hebrew is “balal”. But the Genesis writers are saying that “Babel” (b-b-l) is derived from Balal (b-l-l).Oduyoye says “no”. “The (writer of Genesis)  is basing etymology on a single leg of sound similarity without any consideration for the other leg of meaning similarity. Hebrew “balal” means “mingle” mix, confuse, confound cognate therefore with Chichewa ideophone “balala-balala” scatter, disperse.“Here, etymology has two legs to stand upon. Phonology and semantics. But what does Babel” mean? “Babel is Hebrew. It is the name of the Babylonian capital whose only gate was memorably designed with religious motiffs. It came to be known by the Babylonians as baab ilu the gate of God.’ Babel could therefore not be so called because Yahweh balal the speech of all the earth.” Oduyoye then goes blunt:

“The etymology of Genesis 1-11 are based on fancy, not fact. They serve the purpose of mythology, not that of linguistics or philology.

As far as the Genesis writers were concerned, a word in a strange language must connote something similar in a similar- sounding word in Hebrew. The semantic tour de force produces a good story, and in mythology, the story is the end.

”Oduyoye also drew attention to how Genesis writers borrowed generously form polytheistic mythology, but then superimposed their own brand of “monotheistic theology” on it. Genesis 2:4 for instance talks of the towledot (genealogy) of the heavens and the earth.A genealogy gives the list of children just like in the genealogy Shem. But the Genesis writers, Oduyoye says, don’t want to hear talk of “sons and daughters” born of heaven and earth, which inevitably implies procreation . Instead they introduced YHWH (Yahweh/Jehovah) as a solo creator. “To introduce YHWH ‘eloh-iym into an ancient mythology in which the male heaven and the female earth were procreative agents—- persons or spirit or gods—- is to turn mythology into (Hebrew) theology,”Oduyoye comments.Other glimpses of mythology shows  in statements like that in Gen 6: that ‘the sons of the gods (heaven) married the daughters of men (earth) and gave birth to gibbor-iym (powerful ones).In essence, what Genesis writers did is to rewrite mythology to suit their own religious (theological) purpose—- which is to push Yahweh as the sole creator who moulds (forms).Another major record in the Bible which gives away this doctoring of ancient mythology is the very first sentence in the Bible. In the original Hebrew Bible, it reads:“In the beginning eloh-iym (the gods) created the heavens and the earth. “Why,” Oduyoye asks does the Hebrew language have a word with a plural suffix (-iym) as its word for ‘God’ When Hebrew religion is anti-polytheistic?”In repainting the existing picture of the polytheistic mythology of the time the Genesis writers left many patches of the old paint. And in several cases, the old paint shows from underneath the new.

Later translators of the Hebrew into Greek had to grapple with this tell-tale ambiguities. And in their efforts, they messed up many translations.For instance, though Hebrews/Judaists insist that Yahweh is the only God, they left words like ­Ben-ey ha-eloh-iym (sons of the gods) in places like Genesis 6. Where do these fit in Hebrew theology? Who are the gods and who are their sons?Oduyoye however tells us that such “sons of the gods” are not unknown in African tradition. He quotes Joshua N. Kudajie. Aspects of Religion and Morality in Ghanaian Traditional Society with particular reference to the Ga Adangme.”:“The sons and daughters of Naa Nyamo (Ga “Father God”) are known to us as jemawoji ‘the gods of the world’. They are powerful and intelligent beings who walk about the world, but they have their own abodes in the seas, Lagoons, mountains and other natural objects. Having been delegated by Naa nyamo to be his vicegerents, they are in active contact with the world of nature in man.”Oduyoye now compares this extract with Job 1:6:“Now there was a day when ben-ey ha elo-iym(sons of the lords) came to present themselves before YHWH and Satan also came among them…..”Oduyoye then draws the inference that ben-ey ha eloh-iym are” divine beings like Satan (Ngas go sot ‘the people of knowledge and power’) “We can not escape the answer that ben-ey ha eloh-iym in Gen 6 refers so to the same divine beings whom the Ga of Ghana know as jemawoji, whom the Akan of Ghana know as abosom….

”Then he adds: “The two examples of divine beings named in genesis and Job (Nimrod and Satan) are reflected in West Africa.as Yoruba Lamurudu, a legendary hero andas Ngas go sot “persons of knowledge and power.” In Yoruba these would be the Orisa.So, how do translators of Hebrew Genesis to Greek cope with these mythological beings?Badly: They gave different translations to the same words.Hear oduyoye “The Septuagint (bible) renders ben-ey ha eloh-iym into Greek as hoi angeloitou theou “messengers of God” in Job 1:6 but as hoi huioi tou theou “the sons of God” in Gen. 6:2….”A freak word which never existed in English was also introduced: “angel”.“Those who know the ordinary meaning of Greek angeloi know that it means only “messengers” just as Hebrew male’ak-iym means ‘messengers” ordinarily.“But when mythical thinking enters into it, Greek angeloi and Hebrew male’alk-iym are rendered into English as angels… the Jews who translated the Hebrew Bible (old Testament) into Greek in Alexandria avoided the mythology of ben-ey ha eloh-iym in Gen.6:1 and Job 1:6 but gave us another myth —- that of angels…

”Perhaps some of Oduyoye’s most sensitive remarks are on what he calls “anti-Hamitism” — hatred for the descendants of Ham and Canaanites in the Genesis accounts. Why rain curses on Canaan when it was Ham who by accident saw his drunken father’s (Noah) unclothedness? Oduyoye asks.Many Bible readers will gloss over this anomaly or rationalize it. But not Oduyoye. It is a ploy to justify the annihilation of theCanaanites, he says:“The truth is that the story is one of many told by the Hebrews to ridicule nations against whom they harbor a grudge.”Four of such nations, he says are

*Egypt because of what one of its Pharaohs did to the ancestors of the Jews:

*Canaan who the Jews considered “Idolaters” and therefore could be annihilated in the name of Yahweh

*Moab whom the Hebrews say were born from an incestuous relationship between Lot and his two daughters;

*Babel whom the Jews considered too ambitious and therefore sees the ruins of its imposing ziggurats as punishment from Heaven.

Earlier, Odoyoye had also dealt with another personalty whom he said the Hebrew writers tried to run down because of his greatness: Nimrod, a blackman (Kushite) whom, quoting Genesis, oduyoye described as one of the gibbor-iym (Yoruba al-agbara) cited in Genesis as the ‘first on Earth to be a mighty man.”Nimrod, according to Oduyoye is actually Yoruba Lamurudu (N-m-d / l-m-d) and he was the first empire builder whose kingdom spread from Babylon ot Nineveh.“Given this anterior greatness of the Kushite Nimrod, the first gibbor, the writers of Genesis did with Nimrod what they did with Nebuchadnezzar: For no reason other than his greatness, they stated that Nimrod’s greatness was offensive to God (Yahweh).”Then he adds; “The fact is that the jews had never been great (except during the empire of David and Solomon). On the contrary, they had suffered from great nations many of these included in the kingdom/empire of Nimrod. Babylonians… Assyrians.

”Oduyoye return again and again to this issue of racism shown by the Jews in their records. On page 100, he declares: “It is the business of blacks to expose the inherent anti-Hamitism, which resulted in the paradigmatic extermination of the Canaanites by those who,when the tide is turned, have been complaining of anti-Semitism.”Then Oduyoye zeroes in on the Nigerian situation: “We are asked not to believe that the Abore have any relationship with the ‘iber-iym, and yet what the Iber-iym did to the Canaanites in the name of Yahweh the Abore have done to the sons of Kush from Sokoto to Ilorin in the name of Allah.”Citing the –b-r consonantal root among other evidence, Oduyoye had told us in the opening of Chapter 7 (page 63) that the Hebrew and Fulani (Bororo) have a common origin: “Eber is the name of the ancestors of the ben-ey Eber “sons of Eber.” These were, in the Bible, the ‘iber-iym ‘the Hebrews.“Eber, the name of their ancestor is comparable to the name by which the wandering Fulani of West Africa are known: Abore in Nigeria (Borno) and in Chad, Bororo in Nigeria (Adamawa… Their language is called ful-ful-de in Nigeria.”The ‘b-r root in the name ‘Eber and in the name ‘iber-iym (Hebrews), Oduyoye says occur in Hebrew ‘abar ‘(cross over, trespass, pass on, past by); twi boro (to trespass); Yoruba afara (bridge); Ibara (ford); Ibara-mu (Across the nose); eburu[Shortcut (across an area)].Oduyoye then declares: “the ‘iber-iym, (Hebrews)go that name because being nomads, they were always passing by the cities of the Canaanites and never settling among them ‘-b-r means “pass on, pass by in judges 19: 12b, 18 and in Ruth 4:1The sons of the Gods and The daughters of Men is a many-layered work which value continues to be uncovered with repeated reading.

Many more fascinating information are enclosed in its pages: like the link between Adamu Orisa (of the Awori Eyo masquerade in Lagos State) and Hebrew r’ison Adam, the link between Qayin(Cain) and Ogun the Yoruba Patron Saint of Smiths.The latter link is particularly interesting in its detective nature. On the latter, Oduyoye notes that Hebrew Qayin is cognate with the Arabic word for smith(s) qayn/quyun.Reminding us of the q/g/k consonantal liquidity, Oduyoye says the words are cognate with the Yoruba Ogun and Fon Gun both meaning “patron saint of smiths.” Other cognates include Hamn kuno (Investor of iron smelting) and Ebira Egene(the caste of Smiths)He reminds us too tat the name Akin (valiant man) is most prevalent in Ondo which shares the n-d  consonantal root with the land of Nod to which Qayn  headed after leaving Eden. And is there a link between the city of Hanok (Enoch) and the Nok culture of Jos Plateau in Nigeria? And can the name Yoruba be a distant relation of Europa?

While the book’s appendix gives further detail on some words already tackled in the body-proper and summarises the main pillars of Oduyoye’s arguments, the index is a mini Afro-Anglo-Semitic dictionary.

Oduyoye's article above was obtained from Yemitom.

http://yemitom./2012/05/05/on-modupe-oduyoyes-review-of-genesis/

MetaPhysical: Oduyoye's article above was obtained from Yemitom.

http://yemitom./2012/05/05/on-modupe-oduyoyes-review-of-genesis/

This is it!

.

tothemax86:
Its so sad that i cannot post pictures from other websites here but i have an ancient map of west africa which clearly identifies the KINGDOM OF WHIDAH, OUDAH, JUDAH!!

NOW ANSWER ME, WHY WOULD PEOPLE FROM BENIN REPUBLIC CALL THEMSELVES THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH IN PREHISTORY!!!!

Ouidah was a dedicated slave port though.

You'll have to explain why you consider them the same.

olumidaie:


God bless you my reasonable brother. All those theories that Africans and the world migrated from the middle-east arew fallacies. The Yoruban- Middle-east theory was made by the Sultan of Sokoto, Bello. Its is common for Islamic Africa to trace their orogin to the middle east. Abrahamic faiths support.

According to tradition history, there were no eastern connection with oduduwa. This is where the benin people compound the fallacies of Elkarlarderan on. They just bring some few words that sound/ mean the same in both languages; then they conclude, not knowing of the various trade Yoruba had with Islamic Africa like Hausa.

As a Yoruba person, I debunk this stupid claims.

What claims?

member3:


yoruba or ya'araba are ya'arab bin sanhaaja bin alhaafi bin qadha'a bin malik bin amru bin murra bin malik bin himyar bin saba bin yashjab bin y'arab bin qahtaan bin hud
as is professed by the illustrious imaam adam abdullah ilori yoruba are the ya'araba of west africa a branch of the ya'arab north of them , those who traveled from yemen and the hijaaz to the african continent before islaam or the sanhaaja berbers this is shown by historical, cultural, and linguistic witnesses . the tribe arrived in the present area in two migrations between the 8th and 10th century c.e.



https://www.facebook.com/FallataNews/posts/271417886316987

Yoruba are not fulani though.


Some are mixed with fulani, same way tribes can be mixed with other tribes

Obalufon:


I'm doing just that Sir , I'm not ashamed of my native religion . I'm enlightened enough to know the truth and resist any form of brainwash by any aggressive religion to becloud my mind and paint my ancestors demonic. I'm not ashamed to preach the truth .Are you a pagan.?

Hm

; Too much to digest - a leuta continue

Aluta, not aleutian.

Here is Wisdom!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTlm6ULT_Y

Cc Tobypyro. .

Be African for once

Read through..

Plaintain

TobyPyro:
Plaintain

Olodo...

MetaPhysical:


Someone has to have a repository, wether in oral or written form, of the ancestry and bloodline of a lineage. In a society in which these records are transmitted down orally from one head to the other, the constituted head of the lineage becomes the steward of that knowledge. This is so because the purity of the bloodline is valued and if every memberof the family know what the head know or if there are unauthorized keepers of the knowledge then they run a risk of diluting their pedigree. The family ancestry is a treasure of inestimable value. Great societies therefore have distinct creeds, cognomen, guilds, coat of arms, totems, family compound, even body tattoos and facial marks to distinguish its pedigree from others. As always in these societies, the stewardship of the knowledge rests in the Head and not in multiple heads. The Head could be a council or a court or a elders forum..but the authority is distinguishable and is always one, not two or multiples.

This is an orally transmitting society, it maybe different practice in societies where the records are writtfn and available in libraries or internet.

Lets us scale this basic understanding to the Empire level. Oyo Empire was and still is an orally transmitting society. You cannot go to a library or internet and reproduce the drum message with which the Alaafin is greeted in the morning. The drum beat is part of the oral record, its message transcends centuries of service to the Alaafin lineage. There is onlyone way you can get it - from the authority; the drummer and his sons who must serve future Alaafins with this morning alarm beat, and the Aremo who one day must be awakened to its beat.

Likewise, you cannot get the oriki of Alaafin online. There is only one way to obtain it - the authority; the griot who sings the praises and recites the timeline and his sons who shall serve the recitations to future Alaafins, and as well the Alaafin and his princes and princesses who must be praised and taught the timelines of Yoruba history and its Imperial grace.

So it is for the various other rituals and archives stored in the Alaafins palace and kept in human vaults for posterity. These humans are not ordinary heads like us, they have reinforcement made from potions and herbals to aid retention and recall, in addition to genetic preconditioning.

So maybe Im missing something when you say Alaafin cannot be the only authority on the veracity of timelines in his own Empire. I would like to learn and close my knowledge gap if you have something to enlighten me in that regard.



2.

We should respect truth when we encounter it and embrace its value.

Alaafin Sango must have reigned in perharps 13th or 14th century, if not earlier.

You yourself have stated that the pre-existence of Islam in Kanem was a factor in cutting short Fodio's ambition in that frontier. Fodio was spreading Islam to lands that had no Islam. Which should explain his invasion of Nupe. Nupe was a land of idol worship and they were idol worshippers in earlier centuries when Sango was born of a Nupe princess. So his maternal root has no influence in him reading the Quran.

In its history, everywhere Islam has been introduced it was done with force and bloodshed. You said Malians were accomodated and built a mosqu in Yorubaland. This is significant! Did they fight to get access and right of way for this mosque? Im sure you are well read and familiar with Malian exploits in the West African belt and how their Sufis, backed with the Moors invaded Ghana, Songhai and sacked their Empires to plant Islam. Why did they not do this to Oyo? Why did Fodio not take Jihad into Oyo?

I have argued with people on the Ilorin saga, that if Fodio was alive..he would have stopped any acts of aggression on Oyo, no matter how provocative.

What was it in the Yoruba race, while Islamic jihadists were spilling blood across the belt, that stopped them from invading Yorubaland? Why did the Malian and the Fulani (Alimi in Ilorin) sought refuge in Oyo?

It is highly suspicious that Muslims will seek refuge and cohabitation with pagans without waging jihad to crush the paganism.

So its either Yoruba were not pagans or these Malian and Fulani settlers were fabrications and never happened and besides,..Fodio must have died right after planting Islam in Nupe and before he could go the extra 30miles into Yoruba country and wipe their paganism out.

These are thought provoking issues and instead of us trying to score intellectual points on who is more intelligent, Im begging the Yorubas here to please put your academic qualifications aside and accept the truth of what is obvious.

On Alaafin's religion, are you aware that he reads both the Bible and Quran? Are you aware that he has been on pilgrimage both to Israel and Mecca?

Obasanjo is Christian and he has written that Yorubas are from Mecca. The Awujale that was recorded to have said publicly that Ijebus are from Sudan was a Christian. Ooni of Ife, who has an order of the British Anglican Faith has never disputed the narrations contained in the myths of Ife and nor has he ever disputed with Alaafin on the question of origin, their feud is primarily on heirarchy and not on origin of the race.

Alaafin's religion has no significant bearing.



3.

Im not talking about cultural similarity between Yoruba and Islam..I said rituals! Ask initiates into Ifa what they do and ask Muslim pilgrims to describe the Hiram process and compare the two.

Where else in Africa do worshippers lay prostrate or kneel and touch forehead to the ground? Please bring these universality to the fore so we can explore their roots.

Customarily in ancient times Yorubas were spiritual Christians.. This is different from religious Christianity which is what is practiced today.

I must say I enjoy everything you have written here

ModestGal:

I must say I enjoy everything you have written here

Thank you my Sister!

abohboy
I think youll love this

theInterpreter:
abohboy

I think youll love this

Thank you so much I was looking for more pictures from Leo Frobeniuses journey

But the one that really piqued my interest was the one with the lode stone and magnet we were literally about to discover electricity before they came which is why I keep on saying we were about to have our own industrial revolution and catch up with Europe at different times in history different civilizations were behind the other Africa was on top till the 1200s, then Asia till the 1700s then Europe till date both Africa and Asia were supposed to surpass them but the power of the gun and religion was too much for us

johnie:
[size=14pt]I have a strong feeling these people and clothes are of Nupe origin and not Yoruba.

What do you think?[/size]

Please what's the name of the Head gear in the 2nd picture!

DuduNegro:
The Product

The Yoruba ETERNAL KNOTS design on woven agbadas... (circa.1910-1912). Pics from Leo Frobenius' journeys.