Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
9:1 SHEMA YISRA-EL ATAH OVER HAYOM HA YARDEN LAVO LARESHET GOYIM GEDOLIM VA ATSUMIM MIMECHA ARIM GEDOLOT U VETSUROT BA SHAMAYIM
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל אַתָּה עֹבֵר הַיּוֹם אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן לָבֹא לָרֶשֶׁת גּוֹיִם גְּדֹלִים וַעֲצֻמִים מִמֶּךָּ עָרִים גְּדֹלֹת וּבְצֻרֹת בַּשָּׁמָיִם
KJ (King James translation): Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,
BN (BibleNet translation): Listen, Yisra-El: you are to cross over the Yarden this very day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the skies.
SHEMA YISRA-EL: That same refrain again.
OVER HAYOM: And also, once again, perhaps, that hint at the word "Hebrew"? Though it is at least the fifth different "perhaps" that we have noted in the Five Books!
Why not ET HA YARDEN?
9:2 AM GADOL VA RAM BENEY ANAKIM ASHER ATAH YADATA VE ATAH SHAMATA MI YITYATSEV LIPHNEY BENEY ANAK
עַם גָּדוֹל וָרָם בְּנֵי עֲנָקִים אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ וְאַתָּה שָׁמַעְתָּ מִי יִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי עֲנָק
BN: A people great and tall, the Beney Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said: Who can stand before the sons of Anak?
BENEY ANAKIM: Sons or descendants? If this was intended as the tribal name, it would be rendered as BENEY ANAK, as in the ancient proverb at the end of the verse; if it was the people, and they still existed, it would be ANAKIM, without the prefictual BENEY, or again BENEY ANAK, but not this doubling- we might talk of "the people of Germany" or "the Germans", but not the "Germanymen". Plus, we know from other references that the Anakim disappeared as a people many centuries ago - so this has to mean their descendants.
Mosheh has already made reference to them, and by the same incorrect name, in Deuteronomy 1:28 and 2:10.
9:3 VE YADATA HAYOM KI YHVH ELOHEYCHA HU HA OVER LEPHANEYCHA EYSH OCHLAH HU YASHMIDEM VE HU YACHNI'EM LEPHANEYCHA VE HORASHTAM VE HA'AVADETAM MAHER KA ASHER DIBER YHVH LACH
וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא הָעֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה הוּא יַשְׁמִידֵם וְהוּא יַכְנִיעֵם לְפָנֶיךָ וְהוֹרַשְׁתָּם וְהַאֲבַדְתָּם מַהֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה לָךְ
BN: Know therefore, this day, that YHVH your god is the one who is going over before you in the form of a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out, and make them perish quickly, as YHVH has told you.
EYSH OCHLAH: As though they are taking the volcanic eruption with them! And in a sense they are: the building of the Mishkan was precisely intended to create a metaphorical form in which the volcano god could accompany them on their journey.
9:4 AL TOMAR BI LEVAVECHA BA HADOPH YHVH ELOHEYCHA OTAM MI LEPHANEYCHA LEMOR BE TSIDKATI HEVIY'ANI YHVH LARESHET ET HA ARETS HA ZOT U VE RISHAT HA GOYIM HA ELEH YHVH MORIYSHAM MI PANEYCHA
אַל תֹּאמַר בִּלְבָבְךָ בַּהֲדֹף יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֹתָם מִלְּפָנֶיךָ לֵאמֹר בְּצִדְקָתִי הֱבִיאַנִי יְהוָה, לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וּבְרִשְׁעַת הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה יְהוָה מוֹרִישָׁם מִפָּנֶיךָ
BN: Do not speak thus in your heart, after YHVH your god has driven them out from before you, saying: "For my righteousness YHVH has brought me in to possess this land"; when it is for the wickedness of these nations that YHVH is driving them out from before you.
As with several parts of the earlier Torah, this does not sound like a speech that Mosheh would have made in such a circumstance (because it would have had a negative effect - imagine Henry V at Agincourt, instead of summoning them once more unto the breach, telling his soldiers they were a pack of no-goods, but they would win anyway, because God detested the other side even more - they would have laughed, and then deserted), but more like the kind of pulpit sermon given by the later Prophets.
9:5 LO VE TSIDKAT'CHA U VE YOSHER LEVAVECHA ATAH VA LARESHET ET ARTSAM KI BE RISHAT HA GOYIM HA ELEH YHVH ELOHEYCHA MORIYSHAM MI PANEYCHA U LEMA'AN HAKIM ET HA DAVAR ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHA LE AV-RAHAM LE YITSCHAK U LE YA'AKOV
לֹא בְצִדְקָתְךָ וּבְיֹשֶׁר לְבָבְךָ אַתָּה בָא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת אַרְצָם כִּי בְּרִשְׁעַת הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ מוֹרִישָׁם מִפָּנֶיךָ וּלְמַעַן הָקִים אֶת הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב
KJ: Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
BN: Not for your righteousness, nor for the uprightness of your heart, are you going in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations; YHVH your god is driving them out from before you, so that he may establish the word which YHVH swore to your ancestors, to Av-Raham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov.
And for yet one more time, the derogation.
9:6 VA YADATA KI LO VE TSIDKAT'CHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LECHA ET HA ARETS HA TOVAH HA ZOT LE RISHTAH KI AM KESHEH OREPH ATAH
וְיָדַעְתָּ כִּי לֹא בְצִדְקָתְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה הַזֹּאת לְרִשְׁתָּהּ כִּי עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף אָתָּה
BN: Know therefore that it is not for your righteousness that YHVH your god is giving you this good land as a possession; for you are a stiff-necked people.
Once was insulting, twice was tantamount to rejection; this third consecutive verse telling them they don't deserve it makes one wonder why they would bother to follow such a god at all... or even such a leader... personally I would be walking away by this time...
9:7 ZECHOR AL TISHKACH ET ASHER HIKTSAPHTA ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA BA MIDBAR LE MIN HAYOM ASHER YATSATA MEY ERETS MITSRAYIM AD BO'ACHEM AD HA MAKOM HAZEH MAMRIM HEYITEM IM YHVH
זְכֹר אַל תִּשְׁכַּח אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִקְצַפְתָּ אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בַּמִּדְבָּר לְמִן הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם עַד בֹּאֲכֶם עַד הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה מַמְרִים הֱיִיתֶם עִם יְהוָה
KJ: Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
BN: Remember - do not forget - how you made YHVH your god angry in the wilderness; from the day that you went forth out of the land of Mitsrayim, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against YHVH.
And then, with this verse, you start to wonder the other way around: why would any deity bother with a people like this, who it is obvious are not going to change their ways at any time soon? To which the given answer is: because they are the best the deity can find. Which leads to the further question: why, given his almightytude and omnipot-hood and all-wisdomnicity, why, given that he could at the creation have made any kind of Human he wanted in his own image and his own likeness, why did he make this stiff-necked, unrighteous, anger-inducing-etcetera etcetera people? A deficient deity constructing a deficient product!
9:8 U VE CHOREV HIKTSAPHTEM ET YHVH VA YITANAPH YHVH BACHEM LEHASHMID ET'CHEM
וּבְחֹרֵב הִקְצַפְתֶּם אֶת יְהוָה וַיִּתְאַנַּף יְהוָה בָּכֶם לְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם
KJ: Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
BN: Also at Chorev you made YHVH angry, and YHVH was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.
And still he goes on berating them like one of those nutters on a soap-box at Hyde Park Corner (this is Mosheh of course, not YHVH directly); and this, remember, is the peroration of the farewell speech!
9:9 BA ALOTI HA HARAH LAKACHAT LUCHOT HA AVANIM LUCHOT HA BRIT ASHER KARAT YHVH IMACHEM VA ESHEV BA HAR ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH LECHEM LO ACHALTI U MAYIM LO SHATITI
בַּעֲלֹתִי הָהָרָה לָקַחַת לוּחֹת הָאֲבָנִים לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם וָאֵשֵׁב בָּהָר אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לַיְלָה לֶחֶם לֹא אָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם לֹא שָׁתִיתִי
BN: When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the very Tablets of the Covenant which YHVH made for you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water...
Physically impossible of course.
9:10 VA YITEN YHVH ELAI ET SHNEY LUCHOT HA AVANIM KETUVIM BE ETSBA ELOHIM VA ALEYHEM KE CHOL HA DEVARIM ASHER DIBER YHVH IMACHEM BA HAR MITOCH HA ESH BE YOM HA KAHAL
וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה אֵלַי אֶת שְׁנֵי לוּחֹת הָאֲבָנִים כְּתֻבִים בְּאֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים וַעֲלֵיהֶם כְּכָל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם בָּהָר מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ בְּיוֹם הַקָּהָל
BN: And YHVH gave me the two Tablets of stone, written with the finger of Elohim; and on them was written the precise words which YHVH had spoken to you on the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly.
Note the mixed usage of YHVH and Elohim in this verse; unusual for Mosheh in this book, where the predominance of YHVH was established from the outset.
9:11 VA YEHI MI KETS ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH NATAN YHVH ELAI ET SHNEY LUCHOT HA AVANIM LUCHOT HA BRIT
וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה נָתַן יְהוָה אֵלַי אֶת שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָאֲבָנִים לֻחוֹת הַבְּרִית
KJ: And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
BN: And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that YHVH gave me the two Tablets of stone, the very Tablets of the Covenant.
9:12 VA YOMER YHVH ELAI KUM RED MAHER MI ZEH KI SHICHET AMCHA ASHER HOTSEYTA MI MITSRAYIM SARU MAHER MIN HA DERECH ASHER TSIVITAM ASU LAHEM MASEYKAH
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלַי קוּם רֵד מַהֵר מִזֶּה כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מִמִּצְרָיִם סָרוּ מַהֵר מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִם עָשׂוּ לָהֶם מַסֵּכָה
BN: Then YHVH said to me: Get up. Go down from here quickly. For your people who you have brought out of Mitsrayim are behaving despicably. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I instructed them. They have made for themselves a molten image.
Note that YHVH states that it was Mosheh who brought them out of Mitsrayim; when things go wrong, the executives blame middle management; when things go well, the chief executive takes all the credit!
9:13 VA YOMER YHVH ELAI LEMOR RA'ITI ET HA AM HA ZEH VE HINEH AM KESHEH OREPH HU
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר רָאִיתִי אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה וְהִנֵּה עַם קְשֵׁה עֹרֶף הוּא
KJ: Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
BN: Furthermore YHVH spoke to me, saying: I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
And for a fourth time, the same derogation. How sad, after leading a people from slavery to freedom over a forty year period, to end up hating them quite this much (and this is YHVH, just as much as it is Mosheh).
9:14 HEREPH MIMEYNI VE ASHMIDEM VE EMCHEH ET SHEMAM MI TACHAT HA SHAMAYIM VE E'ESEH OT'CHA LE GO'I ATSUM VA RAV MIMEYNU
הֶרֶף מִמֶּנִּי וְאַשְׁמִידֵם וְאֶמְחֶה אֶת שְׁמָם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם וְאֶעֱשֶׂה אוֹתְךָ לְגוֹי עָצוּם וָרָב מִמֶּנּוּ
KJ: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
BN: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the heavens; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.
The deity's "Final Solution"! The two halves of this don't actually make sense together - you can't both blot them out and elevate them. Nor does it make sense that a Creator god should have such a passion for destroying things. Unless, of course, all this is metaphorical, because what we are speaking about is still the same massive volcanic eruption.
9:15 VA EPHEN VA ERED MIN HA HAR VA HA HAR BO'ER BA ESH U SHNEY LUCHOT HA BRIT AL SHTEY YADAI
וָאֵפֶן וָאֵרֵד מִן הָהָר וְהָהָר בֹּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ וּשְׁנֵי לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית עַל שְׁתֵּי יָדָי
BN: So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire; and the two Tablets of the Covenant were in my two hands.
9:16 VA ER'E VE HINEH CHATATEM LA YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ASITEM LACHEM EGEL MASEYKAH SARTEM MAHER MIN HA DERECH ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET'CHEM
וָאֵרֶא וְהִנֵּה חֲטָאתֶם לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם עֲשִׂיתֶם לָכֶם עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה סַרְתֶּם מַהֵר מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם
KJ: And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
BN: And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against YHVH your god; you had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way that YHVH had instructed you.
Except that Mosheh was coming down precisely then with those instructions, so you can't turn away from something that hasn't yet been given. And if this was, as I have argued in my Exodus commentary, a post-Hyksos covenant-renewal ceremony, to re-establish the ancient Mitsri (Egyptian) pantheon, then making a Golden Calf, which is to say a representation of Horus, is precisely what they should have been doing, and what we have here is a much later Yisra-Eli "Hebraisation" of the tale.
9:17 VA ETPHOS BI SHNEY HA LUCHOT VA ASHLICHEM MEY AL SHTEY YADAI VA ASHABREM LE EYNEYCHEM
וָאֶתְפֹּשׂ בִּשְׁנֵי הַלֻּחֹת וָאַשְׁלִכֵם מֵעַל שְׁתֵּי יָדָי וָאֲשַׁבְּרֵם לְעֵינֵיכֶם
KJ: And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.
BN: And I took hold of the two Tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and smashed them before your eyes.
ETPHOS: This is very explicit; he didn't drop them. He lifted them up so that he could smash them down, and making sure that they saw him doing it (cf Exodus 32:19). And all that anger then, simpering like a dormant volcano for the next forty years, erupting now - how desperately sad! Or maybe, at a mythological level, Mosheh is YHVH is the volcano?
9:18 VA ETNAPAL LIPHNEY YHVH KA RISHONAH ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH LECHEM LO ACHALTI U MAYIM LO SHATITI AL KOL CHATAT'CHEM ASHER CHATATEM LA'ASOT HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH LEHACHISO
KJ: And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
BN: And I fell down before YHVH as at the first, for forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Because of all your sin which you had sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of YHVH, to provoke him.
It is physically impossible for a human being to go 40 days and nights without eating or drinking, and not fall very ill, and die - click here.
9:19 KI YIGORTI MI PENEY HA APH VE HA CHEMAH ASHER KATSAPH YHVH ALEYCHEM LEHASHMID ET'CHEM VA YISHMA YHVH ELAI GAM BA PA'AM HA HI
KJ: For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
BN: For I was terrified of the anger, and the hot displeasure, on such a scale that YHVH was ready to destroy you. But YHVH listened to me that time also.
VA YISHMA...HA HI: Please could someone assist me by finding the verse in Exodus which records this. Exodus 32:32-35 is the nearest I can find.
BN: And I took hold of the two Tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and smashed them before your eyes.
ETPHOS: This is very explicit; he didn't drop them. He lifted them up so that he could smash them down, and making sure that they saw him doing it (cf Exodus 32:19). And all that anger then, simpering like a dormant volcano for the next forty years, erupting now - how desperately sad! Or maybe, at a mythological level, Mosheh is YHVH is the volcano?
9:18 VA ETNAPAL LIPHNEY YHVH KA RISHONAH ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH LECHEM LO ACHALTI U MAYIM LO SHATITI AL KOL CHATAT'CHEM ASHER CHATATEM LA'ASOT HA RA BE EYNEY YHVH LEHACHISO
וָאֶתְנַפַּל לִפְנֵי יְהוָה כָּרִאשֹׁנָה אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לַיְלָה לֶחֶם לֹא אָכַלְתִּי וּמַיִם לֹא שָׁתִיתִי עַל כָּל חַטַּאתְכֶם אֲשֶׁר חֲטָאתֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה לְהַכְעִיסוֹ
KJ: And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
BN: And I fell down before YHVH as at the first, for forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Because of all your sin which you had sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of YHVH, to provoke him.
It is physically impossible for a human being to go 40 days and nights without eating or drinking, and not fall very ill, and die - click here.
9:19 KI YIGORTI MI PENEY HA APH VE HA CHEMAH ASHER KATSAPH YHVH ALEYCHEM LEHASHMID ET'CHEM VA YISHMA YHVH ELAI GAM BA PA'AM HA HI
כִּי יָגֹרְתִּי מִפְּנֵי הָאַף וְהַחֵמָה אֲשֶׁר קָצַף יְהוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה אֵלַי גַּם בַּפַּעַם הַהִוא
BN: For I was terrified of the anger, and the hot displeasure, on such a scale that YHVH was ready to destroy you. But YHVH listened to me that time also.
VA YISHMA...HA HI: Please could someone assist me by finding the verse in Exodus which records this. Exodus 32:32-35 is the nearest I can find.
9:20 U VE AHARON HITANAPH YHVH ME'OD LEHASHMIDO VE ETPALEL GAM BE AD AHARON BA ET HA HI
וּבְאַהֲרֹן הִתְאַנַּף יְהוָה מְאֹד לְהַשְׁמִידוֹ וָאֶתְפַּלֵּל גַּם בְּעַד אַהֲרֹן בָּעֵת הַהִוא
BN: And what is more, YHVH was angry enough with Aharon too to have destroyed him; and I prayed for Aharon also at the same time.
VE ETPALEL: Is this the first usage of the verb and the concept of prayer?
What an extraordinarily wonderful man and leader Mosheh must have seen, every time he looked at himself in the mirror of his ego! The endless praising of self, concurrent with the excoriation of everybody else - something in the style of the Trump Presidency (though Trump's endless sulks and tantrums were less Mosheh than YHVH).
9:21 VE ET CHATAT'CHEM ASHER ASITEM ET HA EGEL LAKACHTI VE ESROPH OTO BA ESH VA EKOT OTO TACHON HEYTEV AD ASHER DAK LE APHAR VA ASHLICH ET APHARO EL HA NACHAL HA YORED MIN HA HAR
וְאֶת חַטַּאתְכֶם אֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם אֶת הָעֵגֶל לָקַחְתִּי וָאֶשְׂרֹף אֹתוֹ בָּאֵשׁ וָאֶכֹּת אֹתוֹ טָחוֹן הֵיטֵב עַד אֲשֶׁר דַּק לְעָפָר וָאַשְׁלִךְ אֶת עֲפָרוֹ אֶל הַנַּחַל הַיֹּרֵד מִן הָהָר
One option to consider: the calf was only golden in the sense that it looked yellow, because it was made of the soil available in the desert, and that would likely have been compounded of a lot of sand. Break down a statue made of dry earth, and yes, you will get a lot of dust.
9:22 U VE TAV'ERAH U VE MASAH U VE KIVROT HA TA'AVAH MAKTSIPHIM ET YHVH
KJ: And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.
BN: And at Tav'erah, and at Masah, and at Kivrot Ha Ta'avah, you made YHVH angry.
TAVERAH: Cf Numbers 11:3. The usual whimpering and moaning: late trains, National Health service waiting times, "we want more".
MASAH: I was wondering earlier (see Deuteronomy 6:16 and 7:19) about a coincidence involving MASAH and wondering if it was a Samech (ס); it is; it was; here is one more piece of evidence that we need to go back to the "sin of Merivah" and think again about what was really taking place.
9:21 VE ET CHATAT'CHEM ASHER ASITEM ET HA EGEL LAKACHTI VE ESROPH OTO BA ESH VA EKOT OTO TACHON HEYTEV AD ASHER DAK LE APHAR VA ASHLICH ET APHARO EL HA NACHAL HA YORED MIN HA HAR
KJ: And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
BN: And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and beat it in pieces, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mount.
BN: And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and beat it in pieces, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mount.
Cf Exodus 32:20. As I noted at the time, if it was really made of gold, he would have needed to build a forge to contain the fire, in order to get it to sufficient temperature to melt. A normal bonfire would not be able to do that. Pure gold is simply too tough to melt with an ordinary fire; it has a melting-point of 1945 degrees Fahrenheit. The average cooking fire even with good coals can only reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nor could that brook coming down the mountain melt it, even if it was a flow of volcanic lava; molten lava from a volcano can reach as much as 1100 degrees Fahrenheit, but that is still not hot enough.
Nor could that brook coming down the mountain melt it, even if it was a flow of volcanic lava; molten lava from a volcano can reach as much as 1100 degrees Fahrenheit, but that is still not hot enough.
And if you melt a golden calf, the residue isn't dust, but liquid gold with the residue of whatever other metals were mixed in with it originally; to get dust from this you would need to purify out the other metals, and leave the remainder to dry. Then grind it to powder.
One option to consider: the calf was only golden in the sense that it looked yellow, because it was made of the soil available in the desert, and that would likely have been compounded of a lot of sand. Break down a statue made of dry earth, and yes, you will get a lot of dust.
9:22 U VE TAV'ERAH U VE MASAH U VE KIVROT HA TA'AVAH MAKTSIPHIM ET YHVH
וּבְתַבְעֵרָה וּבְמַסָּה וּבְקִבְרֹת הַתַּאֲוָה מַקְצִפִים הֱיִיתֶם אֶת יְהוָה
BN: And at Tav'erah, and at Masah, and at Kivrot Ha Ta'avah, you made YHVH angry.
TAVERAH: Cf Numbers 11:3. The usual whimpering and moaning: late trains, National Health service waiting times, "we want more".
MASAH: I was wondering earlier (see Deuteronomy 6:16 and 7:19) about a coincidence involving MASAH and wondering if it was a Samech (ס); it is; it was; here is one more piece of evidence that we need to go back to the "sin of Merivah" and think again about what was really taking place.
KIVROT HA TA'AVAH: Cf Numbers 33:16. We were not told then that they made YHVH angry.
The feeling throughout these nostalgic passages, as opposed to the "fire-and-brimstone" sermon, is of Mosheh writing his memoirs; or really of someone ghosting them on his behalf, a thousand years later.
9:23 U VI SHELO'ACH YHVH ET'CHEM MI KADESH BARNE'A LEMOR ALU U RESHU ET HA ARETS ASHER NATATI LACHEM VA TAMRU ET PI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM VE LO HE'EMANTEM LO VE LO SHEMATEM BE KOLO
וּבִשְׁלֹחַ יְהוָה אֶתְכֶם מִקָּדֵשׁ בַּרְנֵעַ לֵאמֹר עֲלוּ וּרְשׁוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָכֶם וַתַּמְרוּ אֶת פִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְלֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם לוֹ וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתֶּם בְּקֹלוֹ
KJ: Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.
BN: And when YHVH sent you from Kadesh Barne'a, saying: "Go up and possess the land which I have given you"; then you rebelled against the instruction of YHVH your god, and you did not believe him, nor did you listen to his voice.
KADESH BARNE'A: See the link. We are beginning to get the impression that the Beney Yisra-El went on a pilgrimage to their god, and managed to upset him at every single shrine!
9:24 MAMRIM HEYITEM IM YHVH MI YOM DA'TI ET'CHEM
מַמְרִים הֱיִיתֶם עִם יְהוָה מִיּוֹם דַּעְתִּי אֶתְכֶם
KJ: Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
BN: You have been rebellious against YHVH from the day that I knew you.
And on and on he goes with the derogations. If a party leader made a speech like this at conference, the delegates would have walked out by now, and returned to propose a motion of no-confidence, and start elections for a new leader (maybe this was what lay behind the Korach rebellion in Numbers 16).
9:25 VE ETNAPAL LIPHNEY YHVH ET ARBA'IM HA YOM VE ET ARBA'IM HA LAILAH ASHER HITNAPALTI KI AMAR YHVH LEHASHMID ET'CHEM
וָאֶתְנַפַּל לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֵת אַרְבָּעִים הַיּוֹם וְאֶת אַרְבָּעִים הַלַּיְלָה אֲשֶׁר הִתְנַפָּלְתִּי כִּי אָמַר יְהוָה לְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם
BN: So I prostrated myself before YHVH for those forty days and forty nights that I prostrated myself; because YHVH had said he would destroy you.
HITNAPALTI: Here and above the Mechon-Mamre text puts a dagesh in the Pey (הִתְנַפָּלְתִּי), but surely it should be soft Phey, HITNAPHALTI?
In the days of the Prophets, they generally didn't write their sermons in advance, but went out into the market-place and extemporised, and some junior scribe took down as if by dictation as much as he could manage. The incoherence of this verse may be the scribe failing to edit at a moment when extemporisation spluttered, became inarticulate, got stuck for words, and so repeated itself. Chagai (Haggai) and Zechar-Yah (Zechariah) were the two principal Prophets at the time of the return from Babylonian exile, so worth looking at their books for comparisons with Mosheh's speeches in Deuteronomy. Mal'achi was around seventy-five years later, at the time that Ezra was writing down this Tanach.
9:26 VA ETPALEL EL YHVH VA OMAR ADONAI YHVH AL TASHCHET AMCHA VE NACHALAT'CHA ASHER PADITA BE GADLECHA ASHER HOTSEYTA MI MITSRAYIM BE YAD CHAZAKAH
וָאֶתְפַּלֵּל אֶל יְהוָה וָאֹמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה אַל תַּשְׁחֵת עַמְּךָ וְנַחֲלָתְךָ אֲשֶׁר פָּדִיתָ בְּגָדְלֶךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה
BN: And I prayed to YHVH, and said: 'O Lord YHVH, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, who you have redeemed through your greatness, who you have brought out of Mitsrayim with a mighty hand.
Is this the source of the liturgical Al tashchet? The source of the source, anyway - because the more famous usage of the phrase is the obscure instruction at the start of Psalms 57-59, to sing and play them to the tune of the Psalm written by David when he had the opportunity to kill Sha'ul, and declined it (1 Samuel 24).
9:27 ZECHOR LA AVADEYCHA LE AV-RAHAM LE YITSCHAK U LE YA'AKOV AL TEPHEN KESHI HA AM HA ZEH VE EL RISHO VE EL CHATATO
זְכֹר לַעֲבָדֶיךָ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב אַל תֵּפֶן אֶל קְשִׁי הָעָם הַזֶּה וְאֶל רִשְׁעוֹ וְאֶל חַטָּאתוֹ
KJ: Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
BN: Remember your servants, Av-Raham, Yitschak and Ya'akov. Do not pay any attention to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin.
Which bits are we being invited to remember? Av-Raham twice sold his wife, and made even more profit when the scam was discovered; he also took his own son for a special Bar Mitzvah ceremony on a mountain. Yitschak repeated the wife-sale scam, and clearly knew that it wasn't Esav that he was blessing. Ya'akov stole his brother's birthright, then his blessing, then cheated his father-in-law out of his sheep-flock. Which bits are we being invited to remember?
9:28 PEN YOMRU HA ARETS ASHER HOTSEYTANU MI SHAM MI BLI YECHOLET YHVH LAHAVI'AM EL HA ARETS ASHER DIBER LAHEM U MI SINATO OTAM HOTSI'AM LAHAMITAM BA MIDBAR
פֶּן יֹאמְרוּ הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָנוּ מִשָּׁם מִבְּלִי יְכֹלֶת יְהוָה לַהֲבִיאָם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָהֶם וּמִשִּׂנְאָתוֹ אוֹתָם הוֹצִיאָם לַהֲמִתָם בַּמִּדְבָּר
KJ: Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
BN: Lest the land from which you brought us out say: Because YHVH was not able to bring them into the land which he had promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
But he clearly does hate them.
This is the reverse side of the despotic bullying; Mosheh plays on YHVH's lack of self-confidence as well as his need for a people; no one will worship you, YHVH, outside the world of the Beney Yisra-El, let alone within it, unless you fulfill all your promises to us...
9:29 VE HEM AMCHA VE NACHALAT'CHA ASHER HOTSEYTA BE KOCHACHA HA GADOL U VI ZERO'ACHA HA NETUYAH
BN: Lest the land from which you brought us out say: Because YHVH was not able to bring them into the land which he had promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
But he clearly does hate them.
This is the reverse side of the despotic bullying; Mosheh plays on YHVH's lack of self-confidence as well as his need for a people; no one will worship you, YHVH, outside the world of the Beney Yisra-El, let alone within it, unless you fulfill all your promises to us...
9:29 VE HEM AMCHA VE NACHALAT'CHA ASHER HOTSEYTA BE KOCHACHA HA GADOL U VI ZERO'ACHA HA NETUYAH
וְהֵם עַמְּךָ וְנַחֲלָתֶךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ בְּכֹחֲךָ הַגָּדֹל וּבִזְרֹעֲךָ הַנְּטוּיָה
BN: Yet they are your people and your inheritance, who you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.
Nine chapters, and still not one single law has actually been given yet!
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