stillsmallvoice
June 28th 2004, 09:17 AM
Hi all!
This coming Saturday, we (Jews all over the world) will read Numbers 22:2-25:9 in synagogue. The star/villain of this week's reading is Balaam. I have often seen people point to God's seeming aboutface in 22:12-20 as an alleged inconsistency in the Biblical text. In 22:12, God tells Balaam, "You shall not go with them..." in reference to the messengers from Balak, King of Moab. But in 22:20, God says, "...go with them.." in reference to the second group of envoys from Balak. And then, when Balaam (20:21), "...saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab," 22:22 tell us that, "And God's anger was kindled because he went..." What gives on the seeming Divine flip-flops?
The answer is yet another example of why we (orthodox Jews) claim that the Tanakh can only be understood/appreciated in its original language, i.e. Hebrew (parts of Ezra & Daniel are in Aramaic). The answer also illustrates a fundamental principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis, namely that every word and turn of phrase must be paid very close attention to because even the smallest subtleties in the wording of the text can teach us something very important. Hebrew has two prepositions that can both be translated as "with," but they have different connotations (that are totally lost in the translation). In 22:12, God tells Balaam, "You shall not go with them..." In Hebrew, this is Lo telech IMAHEM. IMAHEM is the third person plural for the preposition IM. In 22:20, God tells Balaam, "...go with them..." In Hebrew this is: Lech ITAM. ITAM is the third person plural for the preposition ET. In 20:22, when Balaam saddles his donkey & goes with Balak's emissaries, thus incurring Divine wrath, it says "vayelech IM sarei Moab..." Notice the subtle wording of the text. When God tells Balaam NOT to go with Balak's messengers in 20:12, He says DON'T go with/IM them. In 20:20, He tells Balaam that he CAN go with/ET them, but Balaam, when he finally gets going, goes with/IM them.
This is NOT mere semantics. IM, which God expressly told Balaam NOT to do, has the conntotation of going with in full agreement, in concert, as one of them, united in purpose. ET, which God said Balaam COULD do, connotates merely accompanying, as in traveling together but no more. God told Balaam ET and not IM; yet Balaam, in his heart, willfully defied God (who knew full well what was in Balaam's heart) by going with/IM Balak's ambassadors, his greed whetted by the promise of gold, fully prepared to curse those whom God had said were blessed. Thus, "And God's anger was kindled because he went..."
Be well!
ssv :hi:
This coming Saturday, we (Jews all over the world) will read Numbers 22:2-25:9 in synagogue. The star/villain of this week's reading is Balaam. I have often seen people point to God's seeming aboutface in 22:12-20 as an alleged inconsistency in the Biblical text. In 22:12, God tells Balaam, "You shall not go with them..." in reference to the messengers from Balak, King of Moab. But in 22:20, God says, "...go with them.." in reference to the second group of envoys from Balak. And then, when Balaam (20:21), "...saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab," 22:22 tell us that, "And God's anger was kindled because he went..." What gives on the seeming Divine flip-flops?
The answer is yet another example of why we (orthodox Jews) claim that the Tanakh can only be understood/appreciated in its original language, i.e. Hebrew (parts of Ezra & Daniel are in Aramaic). The answer also illustrates a fundamental principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis, namely that every word and turn of phrase must be paid very close attention to because even the smallest subtleties in the wording of the text can teach us something very important. Hebrew has two prepositions that can both be translated as "with," but they have different connotations (that are totally lost in the translation). In 22:12, God tells Balaam, "You shall not go with them..." In Hebrew, this is Lo telech IMAHEM. IMAHEM is the third person plural for the preposition IM. In 22:20, God tells Balaam, "...go with them..." In Hebrew this is: Lech ITAM. ITAM is the third person plural for the preposition ET. In 20:22, when Balaam saddles his donkey & goes with Balak's emissaries, thus incurring Divine wrath, it says "vayelech IM sarei Moab..." Notice the subtle wording of the text. When God tells Balaam NOT to go with Balak's messengers in 20:12, He says DON'T go with/IM them. In 20:20, He tells Balaam that he CAN go with/ET them, but Balaam, when he finally gets going, goes with/IM them.
This is NOT mere semantics. IM, which God expressly told Balaam NOT to do, has the conntotation of going with in full agreement, in concert, as one of them, united in purpose. ET, which God said Balaam COULD do, connotates merely accompanying, as in traveling together but no more. God told Balaam ET and not IM; yet Balaam, in his heart, willfully defied God (who knew full well what was in Balaam's heart) by going with/IM Balak's ambassadors, his greed whetted by the promise of gold, fully prepared to curse those whom God had said were blessed. Thus, "And God's anger was kindled because he went..."
Be well!
ssv :hi: