Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40
31:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying...
31:2 RE'EH KARA'TI VE SHEM BETSAL-EL BEN URI VEN CHUR LE MATEH YEHUDAH
רְאֵה קָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה
KJ: See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
BN: See, I have called by name Betsal-El ben Uri ben Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah
BETSAL-EL: Was this his name, or a designation given to him? The use of "VE SHEM" infers "I have given him the name"; and the meaning reinforces this. TSEL means "shadow", so this could be translated as "I have brought into my protection". And if we reject this, then he becomes "El's onion", BETSALIM being "onions" according to Numbers 11:5.
Either way, it becomes his name from now on. Is the Chur mentioned here the same one as previously (Exodus 17:10 and 31:2); if so, then he is a grandfather now, and quite an old one too, if the grandson is ready for such an important job. Much the same age as Mosheh indeed.
Either way, it becomes his name from now on. Is the Chur mentioned here the same one as previously (Exodus 17:10 and 31:2); if so, then he is a grandfather now, and quite an old one too, if the grandson is ready for such an important job. Much the same age as Mosheh indeed.
MATEH: meaning tribe? What is the difference between this and SHEVET? The former appears to be the full tribe, the latter one of its subsidiary clans.
31:3 VA AMAL'E OTO RU'ACH ELOHIM BE CHACHMA U VITVUNAH U VE DA'AT U VE CHOL MELA'CHAH
וָאֲמַלֵּא אֹתוֹ רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים בְּחָכְמָה וּבִתְבוּנָה וּבְדַעַת וּבְכָל מְלָאכָה
KJ: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
BN: And I have filled him with the spirit of Elohim, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship...
YHVH fills him with "the spirit of Elohim", conjoining the two titles or two deities. I strongly suspect that the use of Elohim, in instances such as this one, is not a naming of a deity at all, but the use of the word EL in its most primitive form, the dynamic and kinetic powers of the universe, which we might metaphorically call "the gods", and which today would be bestowed on Betsal-El in the form of the word "genius".
31:4 LACHSHOV MACHASHAVOT LA'ASOT BA ZAHAV U VA KESEPH U VA NECHOSHET
לַחְשֹׁב מַחֲשָׁבֹת לַעֲשׂוֹת בַּזָּהָב וּבַכֶּסֶף וּבַנְּחֹשֶׁת
KJ: To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
BN: To devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass...
Such a man in those days would indeed have been thought of as having divine powers. Where did he get his equipment though, in the desert, and how did he manage to operate what is tantamount to a factory, necessarily with assistants, to expedite a task as complex as the Mishkan?
More interesting than this though is the verb LACHSHOV. We are reading the biography of the deity, and nothing in the human realm takes place that is not the DAVAR, both the word and then the deed, of the deity. Mosheh cannot slice a piece of bread without getting instruction from the deity on how to do it, and with which hand, and how to butter it, and what brand of marmalade. Yet here is Betsal-El, being given the opportunity to LACHSHOV MACHASHAVOT, "to devise", "to think up"; and of course he will be divinely inspired, and probably, in the event, handed the complete design, worked out in the mind of the deity and given as a commandment; but for the moment at least, LACHSHOV MACHASHAVOT, an autonomous, creative, human being. This may be the unique example in the entire Tanach.
More interesting than this though is the verb LACHSHOV. We are reading the biography of the deity, and nothing in the human realm takes place that is not the DAVAR, both the word and then the deed, of the deity. Mosheh cannot slice a piece of bread without getting instruction from the deity on how to do it, and with which hand, and how to butter it, and what brand of marmalade. Yet here is Betsal-El, being given the opportunity to LACHSHOV MACHASHAVOT, "to devise", "to think up"; and of course he will be divinely inspired, and probably, in the event, handed the complete design, worked out in the mind of the deity and given as a commandment; but for the moment at least, LACHSHOV MACHASHAVOT, an autonomous, creative, human being. This may be the unique example in the entire Tanach.
31:5 U VA CHAROSHET EVEN LEMAL'OT U VA CHAROSHET ETS LA'ASOT BE CHOL MELA'CHA
וּבַחֲרֹשֶׁת אֶבֶן לְמַלֹּאת וּבַחֲרֹשֶׁת עֵץ לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּכָל מְלָאכָה
KJ: And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
BN: And in the cutting of stones for setting, and in the carving of wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.
Is Betsal-El really a single man, or perhaps the title of his craft, and therefore of a workshop: the number of his skills is greater even than Leonardo, and mediaeval artists always had workshops, with assistants to prepare the cartoons for their frescoes, even to carry out major parts of the work; we shall see one of these in the next verse. A guild of craftsmen working in the various substances then, and perhaps the chief overseer, the president of the guild so to speak, was named Betsal-El. But note importantly that it is an EL name, not a YAH name.
31:6 VA ANI HINEH NATATI ITO ET AHALI-AV BEN ACHI-SAMACH LE MATEH DAN U VE LEV KOL CHACHAM LEV NATATI CHACHMA VE ASU ET KOL ASHER TSIVITICHA
וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אִתּוֹ אֵת אָהֳלִיאָב בֶּן אֲחִיסָמָךְ לְמַטֵּה דָן וּבְלֵב כָּל חֲכַם לֵב נָתַתִּי חָכְמָה וְעָשׂוּ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִךָ
KJ: And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
BN: And I, behold, I have appointed with him Ahali-Av ben Achi-Samach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom into the hearts of all who are wise-hearted, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
AHALI-AV BEN ACHI-SAMACH: not a very Yisra-Eli-sounding name at all. AHALI by coincidence means "my tent" and alludes - deliberately or otherwise, who can say? - to the OHEL MO'ED, the Tent of Meeting, which they are constructing, so again it may well be his craft or guild title, in the way that European families are known as Smith or Taylor or Cooper from their trade. SAMACH means "to place" or "to lay", in the specific sense of "providing support"; so again we have a name that sounds more like a designation, as though this man has been chosen "to provide support for making the Ohel".
CHACHMA: Some modern feminists claim to have rediscovered an ancient Yisra-Eli goddess named CHOCHMA, finding her in the 7 Pillars of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1) (T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, used the same quote as the title of his auto-biography) and other references at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs. In fact that is a late Yisra-Eli Hellenisation, linked to Sophia the Greek wisdom goddess with her own Egyptian origins. What then is going on here - and how would the CHOCHMA-worshipping feminists explain these verses? That perhaps the goddess CHOCHMA was the patron goddess of smithies, as Vulcan was at the Roman forge? Unlikely (though it might be interesting to follow up the fact that Vulcan was born with an oedipus, a Pesach, a lame foot). Here the word simply means "wisdom", and is indeed the "divine inspiration" that I suggested in my previous coment. The god of the forge in the world of the Beney Yisra-Elim was Tuval Kayin (Tubal-Cain).
31:7 ET OHEL MO'ED VE ET HA ARON LA EDUT VE ET HA KAPORET ASHER ALAV VE ET KOL KELEY HA OHEL
אֵת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֶת הָאָרֹן לָעֵדֻת וְאֶת הַכַּפֹּרֶת אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו וְאֵת כָּל כְּלֵי הָאֹהֶל
KJ: The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,
BN: The Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Testimony, the ark-cover that is on it, and all the furniture of the Tent...
KAPORET: also rooted in KIPUR = "atonement", which makes for an intriguing insight into the nature of the holy place. See my notes at Exodus 25:17.
Note the format here. As we have seen throughout, from the start of Creation onwards, there is first the naming, then the action. Normally both come from the deity: "Let there be light, and there was light", "I shall send a plague... and the plague descended..." etc. For the last nine chapters we have been hearing the divine instruction, now we begin the process of turning word into action. The only difference is that the action will be performed by humans. Strategic planning first, execution second. Design first, execution second. Yitro would have approved (see Exodus 18:13 ff).
Note the format here. As we have seen throughout, from the start of Creation onwards, there is first the naming, then the action. Normally both come from the deity: "Let there be light, and there was light", "I shall send a plague... and the plague descended..." etc. For the last nine chapters we have been hearing the divine instruction, now we begin the process of turning word into action. The only difference is that the action will be performed by humans. Strategic planning first, execution second. Design first, execution second. Yitro would have approved (see Exodus 18:13 ff).
31:8 VE ET HA SHULCHAN VE ET KELAV VE ET HA MENORAH HA TEHORAH VE ET KOL KELEYHA VE ET MIZBACH HA KETORET
וְאֶת הַשֻּׁלְחָן וְאֶת כֵּלָיו וְאֶת הַמְּנֹרָה הַטְּהֹרָה וְאֶת כָּל כֵּלֶיהָ וְאֵת מִזְבַּח הַקְּטֹרֶת
KJ: And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,
BN: And the table and its utensils, and the pure candlestick with all its utensils, and the incense altar...
31:9 VE ET MIZBACH HA OLAH VE ET KOL KELAV VE ET HA KIYOR VE ET KANO
וְאֶת מִזְבַּח הָעֹלָה וְאֶת כָּל כֵּלָיו וְאֶת הַכִּיּוֹר וְאֶת כַּנּוֹ
KJ: And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,
BN: And the altar for the burnt-offerings with all its utensils, and the wash-basin and its base...
31:10 VE ET BIGDEY HA SERAD VE ET BIGDEY HA KODESH LE AHARON HA KOHEN VE ET BIGDEY VANAV LECHAHEN
וְאֵת בִּגְדֵי הַשְּׂרָד וְאֶת בִּגְדֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן וְאֶת בִּגְדֵי בָנָיו לְכַהֵן
KJ: And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,
BN: And the plaited garments, and the holy garments for Aharon the Kohen, and the garments for his sons, to serve as ministers in the office of Kohen...
All of which requires weaving skills, not metalwork or carpentry or... but wait a moment; we reckoned that there were at least four different tales going on here,all interwoven into an attempt at one: Ach-Mousa driving out the Hyksos, which becomes the story of Yehoshu'a later on; the Covenant Renewal ceremony, possibly after Ach-Mousa's victory, though it was just as likely to have been an annual event before the Hyksos conquest; the pilgrimage to the water-shrines, which may also have been the pilgrimage to witness the volcanic eruption... But at the very beginning, when Mosheh first went to Pharaoh, it was all about the Spring festival, the Passover or Pesach (which might also have been a Covenant Renewal ceremony), and for that he requested a 3-day journey, and we wondered: how far can they possibly go in just three days; maybe as far as the Bitter Lakes, but no way will they reach Sinai? And if they did only go on a 3-day journey, then all of the smithing and weaving and joinering facilities are right there, and the AVADIM among the Habiru are watered and fed in their custimary conditions, and all this becomes entirely practicable. Though it does leave one question, which we had anyway for this 3-day journey: where on Earth was this "holy mountain" that they called Sinai, amongst the salt-marshes and the wetlands of the Nile Delta?
31:11 VE ET SHEMEN HA MISHCHAH VE ET KETORET HA SAMIM LA KODESH KE CHOL ASHER TSIVIYTICHA YA'ASU
All of which requires weaving skills, not metalwork or carpentry or... but wait a moment; we reckoned that there were at least four different tales going on here,all interwoven into an attempt at one: Ach-Mousa driving out the Hyksos, which becomes the story of Yehoshu'a later on; the Covenant Renewal ceremony, possibly after Ach-Mousa's victory, though it was just as likely to have been an annual event before the Hyksos conquest; the pilgrimage to the water-shrines, which may also have been the pilgrimage to witness the volcanic eruption... But at the very beginning, when Mosheh first went to Pharaoh, it was all about the Spring festival, the Passover or Pesach (which might also have been a Covenant Renewal ceremony), and for that he requested a 3-day journey, and we wondered: how far can they possibly go in just three days; maybe as far as the Bitter Lakes, but no way will they reach Sinai? And if they did only go on a 3-day journey, then all of the smithing and weaving and joinering facilities are right there, and the AVADIM among the Habiru are watered and fed in their custimary conditions, and all this becomes entirely practicable. Though it does leave one question, which we had anyway for this 3-day journey: where on Earth was this "holy mountain" that they called Sinai, amongst the salt-marshes and the wetlands of the Nile Delta?
31:11 VE ET SHEMEN HA MISHCHAH VE ET KETORET HA SAMIM LA KODESH KE CHOL ASHER TSIVIYTICHA YA'ASU
וְאֵת שֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה וְאֶת קְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים לַקֹּדֶשׁ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִךָ יַעֲשׂוּ
KJ: And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.
BN: And the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place; according to all that I have instructed you, so shall they do it.
pey break
31:12 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying...
31:13 VE ATAH DABER EL BENEY YISRA-EL LEMOR ACH ET SHABTOTAI TISHMERU KI OT HI BEYNI U VEYNEYCHEM LE DOROTEYCHEM LADA'AT KI ANI YHVH MEKADISHCHEM
וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אַךְ אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם
KJ: Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
BN: And now, speak to the Beney Yisra-El, and say to them: "Therefore you shall observe my Sabbaths, because this is a sign between me and you, throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHVH who has set you apart...
Why are Sabbaths both plural and then singular here (here being the next verse)? Plural because the other major festivals are also regarded as Sabbaths; singular because there is only one OT - sign, or symbol: see verse 17 - and they are all aspects of it.
הִוא: Another of those occasions when the scribes can't decide what they want this to be: HI or HU, masculine or feminine; and so they make it both! The same again in the next verse, twice.
31:14 U SHEMARTEM ET HA SHABAT KI KODESH HI LACHEM MECHALELEYHA MOT YUMAT KI KOL HA OSEH VAH MELA'CHAH VE NICHRETAH HA NEPHESH HA HI MI KEREV AMEYHA
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא לָכֶם מְחַלְלֶיהָ מוֹת יוּמָת כִּי כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה בָהּ מְלָאכָה וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ
KJ: Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
BN: You shall therefore observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you; anyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on that day, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Odd that this should be slotted in yet again; a reminder of the Shabbat because this is the key day of the god they are now meant to worship; yet the punishment is surprisingly draconian, and in the second instance unenforceable, in both cases because YHVH does not specify what doing no work actually means. See my notes to Exodus 20:8 and 23:12.
31:15 SHESHET YAMIM YE'ASEH MELA'CHAH U VA YOM HA SHEVIY'I SHABAT SHABATON KODESH LA YHVH KOL HA'OSEH MELA'CHAH BE YOM HA SHABAT MOT YUMAT
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים יֵעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה מְלָאכָה בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת מוֹת יוּמָת
KJ: Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
BN: For six days work may be done; but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to YHVH; whosoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
MELACHAH: This verse appears simply to repeat the punishment stated in the previous verse, but actually it is different, and in fact it is a new injunction. In the previous verse the punishment was NICHRETAH not MOT YAMUT - excommunication, expulsion from the community, no return for the descendants until the fourth generation; but this is the death penalty, presumably by stoning. So the two verses are different, and therefore conflictory and contradictory. But it is also different from what was given previously. When Shabat was first instituted, at the time of Creation, death was not yet a punishment. There is a sense here of trying to hang on to something old that is dying, and imposing it by threat, where earlier there was a very different tone. So we can witness how even the edited version was re-edited, and who can say when, or how often, or by whom?
Nor is it clear how the death shall be achieved, and even more significantly it offers no further clarification of what constitutes "work" and what "rest"; and certainly none of the sense that we had previously, that it was a privilege being granted to the hard-working, to give them a day of rest, a celebration, a time for renewal and self-recovery: this is "do it or else".
And it has implicit inner contradictions. Does a Kohen get put to death for carrying out his functions as a Kohen on the Sabbath? I led prayers at my schools every day for twenty-five years; it was part of my job; should I then have refused to lead prayers on the Sabbath, should all Rabbis and chazans ditto, because we are required to rest from our work on the Sabbath? Or is this what "holy" means - "set apart" - the laws that apply to others don't apply to us? And if so, all laws, or only the Shabbat ones?
And it has implicit inner contradictions. Does a Kohen get put to death for carrying out his functions as a Kohen on the Sabbath? I led prayers at my schools every day for twenty-five years; it was part of my job; should I then have refused to lead prayers on the Sabbath, should all Rabbis and chazans ditto, because we are required to rest from our work on the Sabbath? Or is this what "holy" means - "set apart" - the laws that apply to others don't apply to us? And if so, all laws, or only the Shabbat ones?
31:16 VE SHAMRU VENEY YISRA-EL ET HA SHABAT LA'ASOT ET HA SHABAT LE DOROTAM BERIT OLAM
וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם בְּרִית עוֹלָם
KJ: Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
BN: Therefore the Beney Yisra-El shall keep the Sabbath, shall observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
The words of this and the next verse are still used on Fridays and Saturdays at the Kiddush.
SHAMRU...LA'ASOT: As previously, the language leaves the theology equivocal. SHAMRU is used to mean "guard", "watch", "keep", with the sense of protecting something, usually by military means. SHAMRU is therefore simply an instruction to ensure that the Sabbath remains a part of Beney Yisra-El tradition, but gives no clear indication of how it should be carried. LA'ASOT is simply the generic verb for "doing" or "making", and as such does not give detailed clarification of what is required - again, see my notes to Exodus 12. The formal covenanting of Shabbat here seems to suggest that YHVH was more concerned with having his day recognised as more important than any other (originally than any other god's day), than with what people actually did, or didn't, to acknowledge it.
31:17 BEYNI U VEYN BENEY YISRA-EL OT HI LE OLAM KI SHESHET YAMIM ASAH YHVH ET HA SHAMAYIM VE ET HA ARETS U VA YOM HA SHEVIY'I SHAVAT VA YINAPHASH
בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא לְעֹלָם כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ
KJ: It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
BN: It is a sign between me and the Beney Yisra-El for ever; for in six days YHVH made the heavens and the Earth, and on the seventh day he ceased work and rested.
Which is really just the inception of a 6-day work-week, and a requirement to employers to give their staff a day off, and not the full 39 Melachot which are deduced in the Talmud later on (debated in the Talmud later on, and not agreed, but orthodox Jews accept Rabbi Akiva's authority, and so his 39 are the ones followed - the article linked in this note gives a fuller background).
samech break; end of first fragment
31:18 VA YITEN EL MOSHEH KE CHALTO LEDABER ITO SINAI SHENEY LUCHOT HA EDUT LUCHOT EVEN KETUVIM BE ETSBA ELOHIM
וַיִּתֵּן אֶל מֹשֶׁה כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ בְּהַר סִינַי שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת לֻחֹת אֶבֶן כְּתֻבִים בְּאֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים
KJ: And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
BN: And he gave to Mosheh, when he had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two Tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of Elohim.
SHENEY LUCHOT: grammatically problematic, because it should say "ET SHENEY HA LUCHOT" in order to specify "the two tablets"; without the ET it remains indefinite. But the verse is problematic for more important reasons. YHVH has just been speaking for forty days and forty nights, giving infinitesimal detail of every aspect of the Tabernacle, yet he only gives him two tablets of stone; and from their title, these were just the Ten Commandments. Was Mosheh expected to remember all the rest? And how does the god write, with or without his finger? And if with his finger - why? And how do you do that, on tablets of stone? And why would he not use his own finger, but instead borrow the finger of a different deity - YHVH gives, but the signature is Elohim? Those of you who are as sceptical of these things as I am are encouraged to read Chapter 53 of Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad", which records his visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
No comments:
Post a Comment