קהתGenesis 46:11: Given in most English versions as Kohath; it should correctly be Kehat (קְהָת), a son of Levi (cf Exodus 6:16).
Numbers 3:27 gives his domains and clans (cf Joshua 21:4) as the Mishpechat Ha Amrami (מִשְׁפַּחַת הַעַמְרָמִי), the Mishpechat Ha Yits'hari (מִשְׁפַּחַת הַיִּצְהָרִי), the Mishpechat Ha Chevroni (מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֶבְרֹנִי) and the Mishpechat Ha Uzi-Eli (מִשְׁפַּחַת הָעָזִּיאֵלִי). The use of Mishpechah = "family" is significant, differentiating the "family" here from the "sons" (Beney - בני) elsewhere, the latter being "tribes", the former probably "clans", but see below.
I have deliberately said "domains" (above), rather than "lands", because the Mishpechat Kehat were Beney Levi, and the Beney Levi received no land in the division after the conquest, but only their clerical duties, their refuge-cities, and a small allotment close to the walls of the cities (cf Deuteronomy 10:9, Numbers 18:20, Joshua 18:7).
Joshua 21:20 ff describes the multiple regions where the Mishpechat Kehat lived after the conquest, ten in all, within the tribes of Ephrayim, Dan and Menasheh, and most notably Shechem in Ephrayim, which was the religious and political capital under Yehoshu'a, as well as Beit Choron (בֵּית חוֹרֹן).
Their domain was religious, so we can assume from the references to both people and places and functions that some of these were identified by where they lived ("the New York cousins"), some by a particular ancestor (Grandpa Am-Ram's brood) and some by the role they were given ("the lawyers in the family"); while such distinctions may seem odd to academic scholars, they will be entirely normal to any Jewish mother who ever arranged a wedding or a Rosh ha Shana dinner.
The full details of the duties of the Mishpechat Kehat are given in Numbers 4.
Am-Rami: Exodus 6:20 tells us that "he married his father's sister Yoch-Eved (יוֹכֶ֤בֶד - probably a variation of Yah-Chavod or I-Chavod, "the glory of Yah"), and she bore him Aharon and Mosheh; and the length of Amram's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years." He and Yoch-Eved are also reckoned to be the parents of Mir-Yam (Miriam), but the verse omits this.
Yits'hari: Zechariah 4:14 tells us that "These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole Earth (אֵלֶּה שְׁנֵי בְנֵי-הַיִּצְהָר הָעֹמְדִים עַל-אֲדוֹן כָּל-הָאָרֶץ)." The reference is to the two olive-trees that stood on either side of the seven-branched Menorah in Zechar-Yah's dream of the rebuilt Temple. Numbers 18:12 speaks of "Kol Chelev Yits'har (כֹּל חֵלֶב יִצְהָר) - all the best of the oil", given to Aharon and the Beney Levi for the sacrifices, the same oil that appears in Deuteronomy 12:17 and 14:23. 2 Kings 18:32 places that oil next to the honey in a phrase that is more often associated with milk than oil, but shows the importance of the olive in the Biblical world, and enables us to understand what precisely was the role and responsibility of the Mishpechat Yits'hari.
Uzi-Eli: From the root Oz (עז) meaning "strength", it occurs repeatedly in the Tanach as a name, and is paralleled by Uzi-Yah, the former speaking of the strength of El, the sun-and-sky god, the latter of the strength of Yah, the moon-goddess.
No comments:
Post a Comment