Genesis makes very clear that Egypt was an agrarian society with a centralized government, namely Pharaoh...and Genesis also makes clear that the patriarchs in the Bible were nomadic herders of sheep...
What was the economic and political nature of cities in Genesis like Sdom?
Did they have a centralized government like Egypt?
It's also interesting the way cities/kings are demonized in Genesis. Sdom is destroyed for their inequity, Avimelech the king of Grar takes Abraham's wife in chapter 20, and Dinah is taken by Hamor the king of Shchem in chapter 34.
no prob.
so I'm that's my question...I'm trying to figure out what these cities were like and how the Patriarchs related to them...but I haven't quite figure out how to organize this into a single coherent question for this site yet.
I think you should probably break these into different questions. I would start with the "story of the war between the 4 kings and the 5 kings" (i'm not sure which that is) and ask what kings were. I would give the basis of this being the agricultural society.
Then I would ask another question asking what type of city Sodom and Gomorah was. Since Genesis 19:4 mentions men from every part of the city, what would that look like? How many?
You could include a question about the social structure, but it'll have to relate to understanding a specific passage.
I don't see a problem with any of these questions. Just try to start out with a question you have, find the passage that you can apply to that, and then formulate the question around the passage.
@Ami This line of questioning will be harder to weave into biblical context, though.
This passage is a bit vague at first glance:
Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
What exactly does it mean to offer our bodies as a...
@JonEricson Yes, I'm really glad you answered that one. I really like it and we can probably add it straight, as is.
@JonEricson I'm starting to think that we need to loosen up a bit. I think questions about aliens would be fun and could attract some google attention.