Tsilah

צלה



Genesis 4:19/22 names her as the second wife of Lamech (Adah was the first) and mother of Tuval-Kayin (תובל-קין), the master of copper and blacksmiths, and Na'amah (נעמה).

The root is usually given as "shadow" from Tsel (צל); but see my notes to Chavah (Eve), and Genesis 2:22, and then below, for why this is incorrect.

Tselah, with a final Ayin (ע) instead of the Hey (ה) that it has here, was the rib from which Chavah was reputedly made, and connects with the verb Tsoleyah (צולע) = "to limp" (c.f. Psalm 35:15 and 38:18), itself connected to Ya'akov/Jacob as the Yisra-Eli Oedipus (= swollen-foot)/limping-god or goat-god (Genesis 32:32); and also Tselah the women's court of the Temple (1 Kings 6:5; Ezekiel 41:6). But that is with an Ayin (ע); this is with a Hey (ה).

Tsalah (צלה) = "to roast" (1 Samuel 2:15 and Isaiah 44:16), whence Tselil (צְלִיל) in some texts and Tselol (צְלֹול) in others, is a round cake usually of barley bread (Judges 7:13).

Connected to the same root, and surely no coincidence, are:

Tsalal (צלל) = "to tingle"; in Arabic Tsalal means "a cymbal"; the Yehudit equivalent is Tsiltseli (צלצלי), achieved by doubling the root; there is also Tselatsal (צלצל) = "to tinkle", a word used for bells, triangles and various other metal percussion instruments, as well, amusingly, as the cricket. cf Isaiah 18:1, where the word is often mistranslated as "shadow", treating it as coming from the Tsel (צל) rather than the root Tsalal (צלל).

Why is this significant? Because Lamech's first wife Adah had two sons, Yaval (יבל) and Yuval (יובל). A Yovel (יובל) is a primitive trumpet, and Genesis 4:23 tells us the two brothers were the ancestors of players of harp and pipe. We have seen a similar pattern in the families of both Korach and Kohat, so that now the entire Temple orchestra and choir is implicated!

Both Adah and Na'amah are epithets for the mother-goddess (see notes to each), and it was to her temple (i.e. the women's court mentioned above) that the orchestra belonged, music being forbidden in other parts of the Temple. Sha'ul (Saul), the first king of the Beney Yisra-El, allowed music in his court; it was his patronage of the royal choir and orchestra which brought the boy David to court. Strange coincidence - Sha'ul was buried, alongside his father and Yo-Natan (יוֹנָתָן
) his son, in the Benjamite town of Tselah (צֵלַע) according to 2 Samuel 21:14; that Tselah was a Benjamite town is confirmed by Joshua 18:28. "The place of the shadow" - a fitting burial-site for a man whose name suggests that he was himself the King of the Underworld!



Copyright © 2019 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press


No comments:

Post a Comment