How old is Baseball?

Moses at the Bat

In the Big Inning...

• By Hyman Baras
• Smithsonian magazine, June 2008

While baseball is generally considered a "modern" sport, there are references in the Bible that could lead one to deduce that, in fact, there were Giants in those days as well:
And Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men...arise and play before us" (II Samuel 2:14)
...[and] all the people rose up... (Exodus 33:8)
And Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; and Sheva was scribe... (II Samuel 20:24-25)
And they said unto Jephthah, "Come and be our [Captain]" (Judges 11:6)
...and he measured two lines... (II Samuel 8:2)
And he set the bases... (I Kings 7:39)
And they stood every man in his place round about the camp (Judges 7:21)
...behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher... (Genesis 24:45)
Ehud...the Benjamite, a man left-handed ... (Judges 3:15)
...the children of Israel ...said "Who shall go up for us first...?" (Judges 20:18)
...seek out a man who is a skillful player... (I Samuel 16:16)
...Judah [shall go up] first... (Judges 20:18)
[And] Judah took... (Judges 1:18)
Three times... (Exodus 23:14)
...and...it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
...and Abram went down... (Genesis 12:10)
...out at the base... (Leviticus 4:18)
And Moses...smote... (Exodus 7:20)
...and... [it] became foul... (Exodus 7:21)
And Moses went out... (Numbers 11:24)
...and none came in. (Joshua 6:1)
And there was not a man left... (Joshua 8:17)
And Miriam was shut out... (Numbers 12:15)
And the children of Benjamin went out... (Judges 20:31)
...and went into the field ... (Numbers 22:23)
And...Aaron waved... (Leviticus 9:21)
And he looked this way and that way... (Exodus 2:12)
...and [he] delivered up... (Numbers 21:3)
...and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand... (Joshua 8:19)
...and they fell on their faces to the ground... (Judges 13:20)
Get thee up; wherefore now art thou fallen upon thy face? (Joshua 7:10)
...for it was an error... (Numbers 15:25)
...second and third... (Genesis 6:16)
And Joseph [spoke]... (Genesis 45:3)
...concerning the error which he committed... (Leviticus 5:18)
...make [an] atonement for thyself... (Leviticus 9:7)
Thou shalt fan them... (Isaiah 41:16)
Then Joseph commanded to filltheir...sack... (Genesis 42:25)
and...all the people saw it [and] they shouted... (Leviticus 9:24)
"Who can stand before the [Giants]?" (Deuteronomy 9:2)
and...Aaron waved... (Leviticus 9:21)
...and pitched on the other side... (Numbers 21:13)
...and suffered not a man to pass... (Judges 3:28)
...but...the seventh... (Exodus 31:15)
Gideon...smote... (Judges 8:11)
...Israel...at...first... (Jeremiah 33:7)
And Noah went in... (Genesis 7:7)
And there ran a young man ... (Numbers 11:27)
...he turned and went back... (Judges 18:26)
...unto the base... (Numbers 8:4)
...Noah walked... (Genesis 6:9)
Let us go and sacrifice... (Exodus 5:8)
And Moses lifted up his hand and smote... with his rod... (Numbers 20:11)
...the...hide... (Leviticus 20:4)
...a long blast... (Joshua 6:5)
...[outside] the camp... (Judges 7:17)
...[for] an 'omer... (Exodus 16:36)
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted... (1 Samuel 17:52)
Hyman S. Baras, a baseball fan and religious scholar, died in 2003. His son Larry Baras granted permission to reprint this essay, which first appeared on the Israel Baseball League Web site.

 

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