Status in an honor culture, ironically, seems to be about how much you can cheat 🤔
The gods are seen to favor you in proportion to how much cheating they let you get away with.
This is a big theme in the Mahabharata. 90% of the cheating in it is by the god-favored ‘good guys’.
Conversation
Replying to
Exodus is like this. The heroes are lying and cheating their way through their encounters with Pharaoh, etc.
Rahab the prostitute becomes a hero this way.
Interestingly, lying is not forbidden by the Ten Commandments. “Bearing false witness” (falsely accusing someone) is.
2
13


