21:1 VE ISH YISRA-EL NISHB'A BA MITSPAH LEMOR ISH MIMENU LO YITEN BITO LE VIN-YAMIN LE ISHAH
וְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל נִשְׁבַּע בַּמִּצְפָּה לֵאמֹר אִישׁ מִמֶּנּוּ לֹא יִתֵּן בִּתֹּו לְבִנְיָמִן לְאִשָּׁה
BN (BibleNet translation): Now the men of Yisra-El had made an oath at Ha Mitspah, saying: "None of us shall give any of his daughters to Bin-Yamin for a wife".
Why this? The "gleaning" of the concubine, which was the cause of the civil war, would have been a perfectly good pretext. But is it that? Or is it because the Beney Yamin were regarded as foreigners. See verse 9 below: officially it is because the tribes all came to Yavesh Gil'ad to be counted, but Bin-Yamin stayed away; though we have discussed why Bin-Yamin stayed away in the previous chapter, and they didn't go to Yavesh to be counted anyway; they went to condemn Bin Yamin and muster against it for what had happened in the previous chapter. Presumably the event also included a covenant renewal ceremony, as we have seen with Yehoshu'a, and will see again later, with Shemu-El, so their absence from the ceremony rendered them ke-ilu (as if) foreigners, even if they weren't so already. My notes to Bin-Yamin and Ben-Oni explore the likelihood that there were two tribes originally, one Aramaean, the other Mitsri (Egyptian), and that they became merged later on when the Twelve Tribes were formulated.
Or is this simply an opportunity being taken by the Redactor, in the final pages of this book, to draw the ideological morals that were the most important in his time, regardless of whether they were or not back then? Cf the last chapter of Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah) to see why I am saying this.
Why this? The "gleaning" of the concubine, which was the cause of the civil war, would have been a perfectly good pretext. But is it that? Or is it because the Beney Yamin were regarded as foreigners. See verse 9 below: officially it is because the tribes all came to Yavesh Gil'ad to be counted, but Bin-Yamin stayed away; though we have discussed why Bin-Yamin stayed away in the previous chapter, and they didn't go to Yavesh to be counted anyway; they went to condemn Bin Yamin and muster against it for what had happened in the previous chapter. Presumably the event also included a covenant renewal ceremony, as we have seen with Yehoshu'a, and will see again later, with Shemu-El, so their absence from the ceremony rendered them ke-ilu (as if) foreigners, even if they weren't so already. My notes to Bin-Yamin and Ben-Oni explore the likelihood that there were two tribes originally, one Aramaean, the other Mitsri (Egyptian), and that they became merged later on when the Twelve Tribes were formulated.
Or is this simply an opportunity being taken by the Redactor, in the final pages of this book, to draw the ideological morals that were the most important in his time, regardless of whether they were or not back then? Cf the last chapter of Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah) to see why I am saying this.
And of course all this is highly significant, as well as highly ironic, historically, because the very first king of Yisra-El will shortly be chosen, and he (Sha'ul) will come from... the tribe of Bin-Yamin; and his successor, David, will appoint Yeru-Shala'im as the nation's official capital, and Yeru-Shala'im is in the tribal territory of... Bin-Yamin. So who really won this civil war?
21:2 VA YAVO HA AM BEIT-EL VA YESHVU SHAM AD HA EREV LIPHNEY HA ELOHIM VA YIS'U KOLAM VA YIVKU BECHI GADOL
KJ: And the people came to the house of God, and abode there till even before God, and lifted up their voices, and wept sore
21:2 VA YAVO HA AM BEIT-EL VA YESHVU SHAM AD HA EREV LIPHNEY HA ELOHIM VA YIS'U KOLAM VA YIVKU BECHI GADOL
וַיָּבֹא הָעָם בֵּית אֵל וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם עַד הָעֶרֶב לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַיִּשְׂאוּ קֹולָם וַיִּבְכּוּ בְּכִי גָדֹול
BN: And the people came to Beit-El, and stayed there before Elohim until the evening; and they lifted up their voices, and wept sorely.
The very phrasing insists that they are sitting before a plurality of gods in a pre-Yisra-Eli shrine. But why are they weeping? It is self-evidently liturgical - on Yom Kippur they would afflict themselves with fasting, on Simchat Torah they will indulge themselves in feasting, but there is no Jewish liturgical ceremony that includes weeping on this scale. But in the pre-Jewish world, this was how Easter was celebrated, or Ishtar, as they would have pronounced it, the resurrection of the world from its winter wilderness, but first the impaling and immolation of the earth-and-corn god, Tammuz in the Ishtar original, Jesus in the later Christian (cf Ezekiel 8:14).
The Yehudit also contains a grammatical error, BEIT-EL should be BEIT-ELAH, the dative form, as they came "to" Beit-El.
The very phrasing insists that they are sitting before a plurality of gods in a pre-Yisra-Eli shrine. But why are they weeping? It is self-evidently liturgical - on Yom Kippur they would afflict themselves with fasting, on Simchat Torah they will indulge themselves in feasting, but there is no Jewish liturgical ceremony that includes weeping on this scale. But in the pre-Jewish world, this was how Easter was celebrated, or Ishtar, as they would have pronounced it, the resurrection of the world from its winter wilderness, but first the impaling and immolation of the earth-and-corn god, Tammuz in the Ishtar original, Jesus in the later Christian (cf Ezekiel 8:14).
The Yehudit also contains a grammatical error, BEIT-EL should be BEIT-ELAH, the dative form, as they came "to" Beit-El.
I have a sense throughout the Book of Judges that Elohim is being used to mean Ha Elohim. This would merit a PhD thesis if anyone is interested.
KJ: And said, O LORD God of Israel, why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Israel?
21:3 VA YOMRU LAMAH YHVH ELOHEY YISRA-EL HAYETAH ZOT BE YISRA-EL LEHIPAKED HA YOM MI YISRA-EL SHEVET ECHAD
וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָמָה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָיְתָה זֹאת בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל לְהִפָּקֵד הַיֹּום מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל שֵׁבֶט אֶחָד
BN: And said: "Why, YHVH god of Yisra-El, why is this come to pass in Yisra-El, that there should be to day one tribe lacking in Yisra-El?"
Because you just went to war with them for a ridiculous reason, burned twenty of their cities, slaughtered tens of thousands of them, and forbad your sons to marry their daughters? Might that be the explanation?
But also, not really the point. It isn't the absence of the tribe that is the problem, but the absence of a constellation from the heavens, with its ruling deity. Once again, this is liturgy, not history - and so we should be able to deduce from the map of the movements of the heavens (the genuine astronomical not the fanciful astrological) which month we are in, and what festival is being celebrated (it's actually very easy if you have been reading TheBibleNet since the Book of Genesis [ hint: Bin-Yamin is the youngest son of the twelve, and the younger son of the fourth and youngest of the wives).
KJ: And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people rose early, and built there an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Because you just went to war with them for a ridiculous reason, burned twenty of their cities, slaughtered tens of thousands of them, and forbad your sons to marry their daughters? Might that be the explanation?
But also, not really the point. It isn't the absence of the tribe that is the problem, but the absence of a constellation from the heavens, with its ruling deity. Once again, this is liturgy, not history - and so we should be able to deduce from the map of the movements of the heavens (the genuine astronomical not the fanciful astrological) which month we are in, and what festival is being celebrated (it's actually very easy if you have been reading TheBibleNet since the Book of Genesis [ hint: Bin-Yamin is the youngest son of the twelve, and the younger son of the fourth and youngest of the wives).
21:4 VA YEHI MI MACHARAT VA YASHKIYMU HA AM VA YIVNU SHAM MIZBE'ACH VA YA'ALU OLOT U SHELAMIM
וַיְהִי מִמָּחֳרָת וַיַּשְׁכִּימוּ הָעָם וַיִּבְנוּ שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ וַיַּעֲלוּ עֹלֹות וּשְׁלָמִים
BN: And so the following morning the people rose early, and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
pey break
21:5 VA YOMRU BENEY YISRA-EL MI ASHER LO ALAH VA KAHAL MI KOL SHIVTEY YISRA-EL EL YHVH KI HA SHEVU'AH HA GEDOLAH HAYETAH LA ASHER LO ALAH EL YHVH HA MITSPAH LEMOR MOT YUMAT
KJ: And the children of Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the LORD? For they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the LORD to Mizpeh, saying, He shall surely be put to death
pey break
21:5 VA YOMRU BENEY YISRA-EL MI ASHER LO ALAH VA KAHAL MI KOL SHIVTEY YISRA-EL EL YHVH KI HA SHEVU'AH HA GEDOLAH HAYETAH LA ASHER LO ALAH EL YHVH HA MITSPAH LEMOR MOT YUMAT
וַיֹּאמְרוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִי אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָלָה בַקָּהָל מִכָּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יְהוָה כִּי הַשְּׁבוּעָה הַגְּדֹולָה הָיְתָה לַאֲשֶׁר לֹא עָלָה אֶל יְהוָה הַמִּצְפָּה לֵאמֹר מֹות יוּמָת
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El said: "Who is there among all the tribes of Yisra-El that did not come up with the congregation to YHVH?" For they had sworn a binding oath concerning he who did not come up to YHVH at Ha Mitspah, saying: "He shall surely be put to death".
Does that mean the entire moral of this story is: don't issue death threats that you don't wish to follow through? Surely not? And anyway, they have followed it through. It is now their error, not Bin-Yamin's, because they are short by one tribe, and risk the wrath of the other Elohim in the pantheon. Or is something else going on? Is the fact that it is Bin-Yamin, and not one of the others; Bin-Yamin, the "right-hand man", the "beloved son", the "cup-bearer" in the Genesis tale (Genesis 44 ff)? Have they simply dispatched him to the Underworld for the winter season, and when the spring comes round again, or perhaps at Sol Invictus in mid-winter, he will be reborn? In which case, these are the mourning rites, the equivalent of Shemini Atseret, the prayers in that case for rain. We shall see.
Does that mean the entire moral of this story is: don't issue death threats that you don't wish to follow through? Surely not? And anyway, they have followed it through. It is now their error, not Bin-Yamin's, because they are short by one tribe, and risk the wrath of the other Elohim in the pantheon. Or is something else going on? Is the fact that it is Bin-Yamin, and not one of the others; Bin-Yamin, the "right-hand man", the "beloved son", the "cup-bearer" in the Genesis tale (Genesis 44 ff)? Have they simply dispatched him to the Underworld for the winter season, and when the spring comes round again, or perhaps at Sol Invictus in mid-winter, he will be reborn? In which case, these are the mourning rites, the equivalent of Shemini Atseret, the prayers in that case for rain. We shall see.
But also, as noted above, the book which follows this one, the next stage of the creation of a chronological history of Yisra-El out of the mythological history of the Cosmos, is Shemu-El (Samuel), in which the Judges will be replaced by Kings. And that first king will emerge from the Underworld (She'ol), and he will come from... so each of these tales may not actually be historically chronological, but mythologically, they are absolutely so.
KJ: And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.
21:6 VA YINACHAMU BENEY YISRA-EL EL BIM-YAMIN ACHIV VA YOMRU NIGD'A HAYOM SHEVET ECHAD MI YISRA-EL
וַיִּנָּחֲמוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל בִּנְיָמִן אָחִיו וַיֹּאמְרוּ נִגְדַּע הַיֹּום שֵׁבֶט אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And the Beney Yisra-El offered penitence for Bin-Yamin their brother, and said: "There is one tribe cut off from Yisra-El this day...
Is this before or after the three-day war? It feels like it belongs before it, yet it appears in the text after it. And perhaps the fact that it was a three-day war will also help us place this in the calendar.
YINACHAMU: Doesn't really mean "repent", but it is nonetheless what they are doing - acknowledging in the next verse that the absence of Bin-Yamin is their own fault. YINACHAMU, from the root NACHUM, means "comfort".
21:7 MAH NA'ASEH LAHEM LA NOTARIM LE NASHIM VA ANACHNU NISHBA'NU VA YHVH LE VILTI TET LAHEM MI BENOTEYNU LE NASHIM
מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה לָהֶם לַנֹּותָרִים לְנָשִׁים וַאֲנַחְנוּ נִשְׁבַּעְנוּ בַיהוָה לְבִלְתִּי תֵּת לָהֶם מִבְּנֹותֵינוּ לְנָשִׁים
BN: Where shall we find wives for those that are left, seeing we have sworn by YHVH that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?
Once again, that simply can't be the issue, because there are plenty of marriageable women in the eleven other tribes of Yisra-El, even without those of Bin-Yamin. In fact, the problem is the other way around - what will happen to the tribe of Bin-Yamin if they are forced forever to make marriages inside the tribe: it will take very few generations before everyone is marrying a relative?
21:9 VA YITPAKED HA AM VE HINEH EYN SHAM ISH MI YOSHVEY YAVESH GIL'AD
KJ: For the people were numbered, and, behold, there were none of the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead there.
Once again, that simply can't be the issue, because there are plenty of marriageable women in the eleven other tribes of Yisra-El, even without those of Bin-Yamin. In fact, the problem is the other way around - what will happen to the tribe of Bin-Yamin if they are forced forever to make marriages inside the tribe: it will take very few generations before everyone is marrying a relative?
21:8 VA YOMRU MI ECHAD MI SHIVTEY YISRA-EL ASHER LO ALAH EL YHVH HA MITSPAH VE HINEH LO VA ISH EL HA MACHANEH MI YAVEYSH GIL'AD EL HA KAHAL
וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי אֶחָד מִשִּׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָלָה אֶל יְהוָה הַמִּצְפָּה וְהִנֵּה לֹא בָא אִישׁ אֶל הַמַּחֲנֶה מִיָּבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד אֶל הַקָּהָל
KJ: And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.
BN: And they said: "Which one of the tribes of Yisra-El is it that did not come up to Ha Mitspah to YHVH?" And it turned out that no one came to the assembly at the camp from Yaveysh Gil'ad.
BN: And they said: "Which one of the tribes of Yisra-El is it that did not come up to Ha Mitspah to YHVH?" And it turned out that no one came to the assembly at the camp from Yaveysh Gil'ad.
A scapegoat for the scapegoat! As the ram stood in for Yitschak at the Akeda, as the Pidyon ha Ben will do later onBut this is not just any town - read this link before you read on with this tale, because what follows is absolutely central to the tale of... yes, King Sha'ul.
YAVEYSH GIL'AD (יביש גלעד): Gil'ad, not Gilead or Gilyad - all translations make this error. Gal-Ed (Genesis 31:41) is spelled exactly the same. Yaveysh means dry (though it is usually written as Yavesh, without a Yud; see verse 9 below), and Gil'ad hard ground, denoting the rocky mountainous region south of the Yavok river (Genesis 31:21, Song of Songs 4:1). Hosea 6:8 and Judges 12:7 have a city of the same name. It is sometimes used to describe the whole territory between the Arnon river and Bashan, sometimes used for the tribal territories west of the Yarden (Gad, Re'u-Ven and half Menasheh).
YAVEYSH GIL'AD (יביש גלעד): Gil'ad, not Gilead or Gilyad - all translations make this error. Gal-Ed (Genesis 31:41) is spelled exactly the same. Yaveysh means dry (though it is usually written as Yavesh, without a Yud; see verse 9 below), and Gil'ad hard ground, denoting the rocky mountainous region south of the Yavok river (Genesis 31:21, Song of Songs 4:1). Hosea 6:8 and Judges 12:7 have a city of the same name. It is sometimes used to describe the whole territory between the Arnon river and Bashan, sometimes used for the tribal territories west of the Yarden (Gad, Re'u-Ven and half Menasheh).
21:9 VA YITPAKED HA AM VE HINEH EYN SHAM ISH MI YOSHVEY YAVESH GIL'AD
וַיִּתְפָּקֵד הָעָם וְהִנֵּה אֵין שָׁם אִישׁ מִיֹּושְׁבֵי יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד
BN: For the people were counted, and it transpired that there was no one present from Yavesh Gil'ad.
But this does not infer that Bin-Yamin was missing; Yavesh Gil'ad was in the tribal territory of East Menasheh (look again at their deal with Mosheh in Numbers 32). And why are they wanting to know this anyway? So they can murder them? So they can marry with them? So they can justify doing nothing about Bin-Yamin? So they can use them as a way of "comforting themselves" about their error over the exclusion of Bin-Yamin? The text is oblique to say the least (but the link I gave you at the end of the previous verse is not).
YAVESH: Note the variation in the spelling: until now (and again in verse 12) it has been YAVEYSH, with an additional Yud (יָּבֵישׁ); YAVESH, without the Yud, is the more familiar spelling. There is no variation in the meaning however.
KJ: And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children.
But this does not infer that Bin-Yamin was missing; Yavesh Gil'ad was in the tribal territory of East Menasheh (look again at their deal with Mosheh in Numbers 32). And why are they wanting to know this anyway? So they can murder them? So they can marry with them? So they can justify doing nothing about Bin-Yamin? So they can use them as a way of "comforting themselves" about their error over the exclusion of Bin-Yamin? The text is oblique to say the least (but the link I gave you at the end of the previous verse is not).
YAVESH: Note the variation in the spelling: until now (and again in verse 12) it has been YAVEYSH, with an additional Yud (יָּבֵישׁ); YAVESH, without the Yud, is the more familiar spelling. There is no variation in the meaning however.
21:10 VA YISHLECHU SHAM HA EDAH SHENEYM-ASAR ELEPH ISH MI BENEY HE CHAYIL VA YETSAVU OTAM LEMOR LECHU VE HIKIYTEM ET YOSHVEY YAVESH GIL'AD LE PHI CHEREV VE HA NASHIM VE HA TAPH
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ שָׁם הָעֵדָה שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֶלֶף אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי הֶחָיִל וַיְצַוּוּ אֹותָם לֵאמֹר לְכוּ וְהִכִּיתֶם אֶת יֹושְׁבֵי יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד לְפִי חֶרֶב וְהַנָּשִׁים וְהַטָּף
BN: And the congregation sent twelve thousand of their most valiant men there, and instructed them, saying: "Go and smite the inhabitants of Yavesh Gil'ad with the edge of the sword, with the women and the children...
SHENEYM-ASAR: Twelve is always a symbolic number.
21:11 VE ZEH HA DAVAR ASHER TA'ASU KOL ZACHAR VE CHOL ISHAH YODA'AT MISHKAV ZACHAR TACHRIYMU
KJ: And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.
SHENEYM-ASAR: Twelve is always a symbolic number.
21:11 VE ZEH HA DAVAR ASHER TA'ASU KOL ZACHAR VE CHOL ISHAH YODA'AT MISHKAV ZACHAR TACHRIYMU
וְזֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשׂוּ כָּל זָכָר וְכָל אִשָּׁה יֹדַעַת מִשְׁכַּב זָכָר תַּחֲרִימוּ
BN: "And this is what you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man."
This sounds so much like Islamic State in Syria that it is deeply disconcerting. Must we read the gathering at Ha Mitspah as a "radicalisation" process, stirring up what were otherwise "moderate" pagans to become suicide bombers, automatic-rifle assassins, and beheaders of innocent cartoonists?
And yet, read on... it doesn't quite work out that way.
KJ: And they found among the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
This sounds so much like Islamic State in Syria that it is deeply disconcerting. Must we read the gathering at Ha Mitspah as a "radicalisation" process, stirring up what were otherwise "moderate" pagans to become suicide bombers, automatic-rifle assassins, and beheaders of innocent cartoonists?
And yet, read on... it doesn't quite work out that way.
21:12 VA YIMTSE'U MI YOSHVEY YAVEYSH GIL'AD ARB'A ME'OT NA'ARAH VETULAH ASHER LO YAD'AH ISH LE MISHKAV ZACHAR VA YAVIY'U OTAM EL HA MACHANEH SHILOH ASHER BE ERETS KENA'AN
וַיִּמְצְאוּ מִיֹּושְׁבֵי יָבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד אַרְבַּע מֵאֹות נַעֲרָה בְתוּלָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדְעָה אִישׁ לְמִשְׁכַּב זָכָר וַיָּבִיאוּ אֹותָם אֶל הַמַּחֲנֶה שִׁלֹה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
BN: And they found among the inhabitants of Yavesh Gil'ad four hundred young virgins, who had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena'an.
Just like Boko Haram in Nigeria and the "comfort women" of the Koreas! What was it Flaubert once said, that there is absolutely no point in making scientific and material progress, if we don't also make moral and behavioural progress? Plus ça change!
Just like Boko Haram in Nigeria and the "comfort women" of the Koreas! What was it Flaubert once said, that there is absolutely no point in making scientific and material progress, if we don't also make moral and behavioural progress? Plus ça change!
On this occasion Shiloh is spelt with a Hey (ה) at the end; later in the chapter (verse 19) the Hey disappears (as it did in a previous chapter). Also a Yud (י) will appear in the middle. Why? As with YAVESH/YAVEYSH, editorial sloppiness, possibly. Variations of pronunciation across time, or across geography (Oxford was once Oxenford, as Bristol was Brigstowe, while Holborn in the city of London, where I happen to be typing this, was originally Oldebourne, then Oldeborn, then Oldborn, and finally what it is today).
But I am confused. Why did they need to commit ethnic cleansing if all the girls were virgins, and all they wanted was brides? Are these then forced marriages, and the girls the only people left from their genocided villages?
OTAM: The slackness of the grammar irritates me! OTAM is masculine. These were girls. OTAN please (אֹותָן).
samech break
KJ: And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them.
21:13 VA YISHLECHU KOL HA EDAH VA YEDAVRU EL BENEY VIN-YAMIN ASHER BE SEL'A RIMMON VA YIKRE'U LAHEM SHALOM
וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ כָּל הָעֵדָה וַיְדַבְּרוּ אֶל בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן אֲשֶׁר בְּסֶלַע רִמֹּון וַיִּקְרְאוּ לָהֶם שָׁלֹום
BN: And the whole congregation sent envoys to speak to the Beney Bin-Yamin who were at Rimmon Rock, and to offer peace to them.
SHALOM: Don't you just love the emphasis on "peace" in the middle of this obscene passage!
SHALOM: Don't you just love the emphasis on "peace" in the middle of this obscene passage!
I thought they already murdered the ones at Rimmon Rock in the previous chapter? (see my note to Judges 20:45). Oh, but this is becoming so confusing, we are forced to wonder how much of the original the Redactor left out, because he couldn't find a way to make it fit the theology being imposed on the remainder.
KJ: And Benjamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabeshgilead: and yet so they sufficed them not.
21:14 VA YASHAV BIN-YAMIN BA ET HA HI VA YITNU LAHEM HA NASHIM ASHER CHIYU MINSHEY YAVESH GIL'AD VE LO MATS'U LAHEM KEN
וַיָּשָׁב בִּנְיָמִן בָּעֵת הַהִיא וַיִּתְּנוּ לָהֶם הַנָּשִׁים אֲשֶׁר חִיּוּ מִנְּשֵׁי יָבֵשׁ גִּלְעָד וְלֹא מָצְאוּ לָהֶם כֵּן
BN: And Bin-Yamin came again at that time; and they gave them wives from those they had saved alive among the women of Yavesh Gil'ad: but even these were insufficient for all of them.
YASHAV: Not YIPHNU, as several times previously; see my note to Judges 20:48, where SHAVU is also used.
Why do all of them need wives anyway? Oh, I see, how silly of me; yes, they genocided all the cties, so any wives these men had are now dead. Well, then, what a lovely gesture this is, as a way of making peace - here, we killed all your wives, but we've wiped out some other cities and killed everybody there, but we kept the virgins as an olive branch for you. Now make peace with us.
YASHAV: Not YIPHNU, as several times previously; see my note to Judges 20:48, where SHAVU is also used.
Why do all of them need wives anyway? Oh, I see, how silly of me; yes, they genocided all the cties, so any wives these men had are now dead. Well, then, what a lovely gesture this is, as a way of making peace - here, we killed all your wives, but we've wiped out some other cities and killed everybody there, but we kept the virgins as an olive branch for you. Now make peace with us.
And presumably, all in the name of YHVH, who gives it his approval.
21:15 VE HA AM NICHAM LE VIN-YAMIN KI ASAH YHVH PERETS BE SHIVTEY YISRA-EL
KJ: And the people repented them for Benjamin, because that the LORD had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.
21:15 VE HA AM NICHAM LE VIN-YAMIN KI ASAH YHVH PERETS BE SHIVTEY YISRA-EL
וְהָעָם נִחָם לְבִנְיָמִן כִּי עָשָׂה יְהוָה פֶּרֶץ בְּשִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And the people comforted themselves for Bin-Yamin, because YHVH had made a breach in the tribes of Yisra-El.
NICHAM: See my note to verse 6 - and is this where the concept of "comfort women" first arises (apologies if you missed it; I only meant that question half-sarcastically)?
Read that verse again, slowly and carefully, and then go back through my notes on the "right-hand" man and the "constellations". "YHVH had made a breach in the tribes of Yisra-El". YHVH, not them. Their act of penitence is purely liturgical. The entire tale turns out to be mythological, just as we had long supposed. The virgins are merely stellar embryos, the dead bodies stellar dust. The moon died, but the moon is reborn. The earth-god (Bin-Yamin) died, but the earth-god too is reborn. Praise the gods, and especially the goddess of the moon herself - Hallelu-Yah! Now Bin-Yamin is purged and purified, and producing sons who are unquestionably Beney Yisra-El, and from Yavesh-Gil'ad, which is even better. Now we can go forward and enter the age of the Kings.
And at the same time, a rather grim (that "m" should be medugash: Grimm!) tale about the ugly side of human nature.
21:16 VA YOMRU ZIKNEY HA EDAH MAH NA'ASEH LE NOTARIM LE NASHIM KI NISHMEDAH MI BIN-YAMIN ISHAH
וַיֹּאמְרוּ זִקְנֵי הָעֵדָה מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה לַנֹּותָרִים לְנָשִׁים כִּי נִשְׁמְדָה מִבִּנְיָמִן אִשָּׁה
BN: Then the elders of the congregation said: "Where shall we find wives for those who are left, seeing that all the women of Bin-Yamin have been slaughtered?"
But they haven't been, unless we are reading Bin-Yamin separately from the tribal structure. No need to explain again; the combined notes above should suffice.
But they haven't been, unless we are reading Bin-Yamin separately from the tribal structure. No need to explain again; the combined notes above should suffice.
21:17 VA YOMRU YERUSHAT PELEYTAH LE VIN-YAMIN VE LO YIMACHEH SHEVET MI YISRA-EL...
וַיֹּאמְרוּ יְרֻשַּׁת פְּלֵיטָה לְבִנְיָמִן וְלֹא יִמָּחֶה שֵׁבֶט מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And they said: "There has to be a posterity for the refugees of Bin-Yamin as well, lest a tribe of Yisra-El be destroyed...
21:18 VA ANACHNU LO NUCHAL LATET LAHEM NASHIM MIBNOTEYNU KI NISHBE'U VENEY YISRA-EL LEMOR ARUR NOTEN ISHAH LE VIN-YAMIN
וַאֲנַחְנוּ לֹא נוּכַל לָתֵת לָהֶם נָשִׁים מִבְּנֹותֵינוּ כִּי נִשְׁבְּעוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אָרוּר נֹתֵן אִשָּׁה לְבִנְיָמִן
BN: "We are not permitted to give them wives from among our daughters, for the Beney Yisra-El have sworn, saying: 'Cursed be he who gives a wife to Bin-Yamin'."
I have discussed at length, in my novel "City of Peace", the reasons why Shemu-El (Samuel) chose the first king from the tribe of Bin-Yamin - it mostly has to do with ultimogeniture, and that is also the reason why David, who was a Beney Yehudah, met the job description requirements for the second king. King at this time meant "sacred king", as with the Japanese Emperor and the "divine right" in mediaeval Europe, and so it was essential that the pedigree was unsullied. We do not know what the conditions and requirements were, but we can probably deduce them from the conditions and requirements laid out for the Kohanim and Leviyim in the Temple. Leviticus 21 gives these, and it is worth noting that verse 7 specifically prohibts marriage with any woman who has served as a hierodule - in that world a virgin who served as a hierodule was still regarded as a virgin, because the coition was surrogation for the goddess with a man surrogating for the god, and therefore sacred; but in the world of the Beney Yisra-El, such practices were strictly forbidden... and of course this is precisely what the tale of the "gleaned" woman, the Helen of our Trojan civil war, was all about in the last several chapters.
But back to the immedate tale, rather than the mythological purpose; and the beauty of theology is that there is always a loophole that can be found, even in the most sincerely made stupid promise, and then divine approval confirmed afterwards. Let us sit back and watch how they achieve it this time.
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I have discussed at length, in my novel "City of Peace", the reasons why Shemu-El (Samuel) chose the first king from the tribe of Bin-Yamin - it mostly has to do with ultimogeniture, and that is also the reason why David, who was a Beney Yehudah, met the job description requirements for the second king. King at this time meant "sacred king", as with the Japanese Emperor and the "divine right" in mediaeval Europe, and so it was essential that the pedigree was unsullied. We do not know what the conditions and requirements were, but we can probably deduce them from the conditions and requirements laid out for the Kohanim and Leviyim in the Temple. Leviticus 21 gives these, and it is worth noting that verse 7 specifically prohibts marriage with any woman who has served as a hierodule - in that world a virgin who served as a hierodule was still regarded as a virgin, because the coition was surrogation for the goddess with a man surrogating for the god, and therefore sacred; but in the world of the Beney Yisra-El, such practices were strictly forbidden... and of course this is precisely what the tale of the "gleaned" woman, the Helen of our Trojan civil war, was all about in the last several chapters.
But back to the immedate tale, rather than the mythological purpose; and the beauty of theology is that there is always a loophole that can be found, even in the most sincerely made stupid promise, and then divine approval confirmed afterwards. Let us sit back and watch how they achieve it this time.
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21:19 VA YOMRU HINEH CHAG YHVH BE SHILO MI YAMIM YAMIYMAH ASHER MITSPHONAH LE VEIT-EL MIZRACHAH HA SHEMESH LIMSILAH HA OLAH MI BEIT-EL SHECHEMAH U MI NEGEV LILVONAH
וַיֹּאמְרוּ הִנֵּה חַג יְהוָה בְּשִׁלֹו מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה אֲשֶׁר מִצְּפֹונָה לְבֵית אֵל מִזְרְחָה הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לִמְסִלָּה הָעֹלָה מִבֵּית אֵל שְׁכֶמָה וּמִנֶּגֶב לִלְבֹונָה
BN: Then they said: "Behold, there is a feast of YHVH in Shiloh each year, at a site which is on the north side of Beit-El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit-El to Shechem, and on the south of Levonah."
LEVONAH (לבונה): from LAVAN = "white", though it was also the name of Ya'akov's father-in-law/uncle; it generally refers to Mount Chermon, elsewhere called ha-Lavanah; but maybe not on this occasion, as Chermon is a long way from Beit-El. The north side of the shrine (cf Ezekiel 8:14) is where the women usually go to wail for the death of the "beloved son" - the Bin-Yamin; north because it is the one quarter of the sky in which the sun never makes an appearance, and so it is the mother-goddess' eternal realm. The east is where the sun then rises, turning its face, so to speak, on the new-born earth-god; it happens daily of course, like No'ach's Ark, but this is the annual festival of rebirth, the Sol Invictus - Christmas, in modern Christian terms.
LEVONAH (לבונה): from LAVAN = "white", though it was also the name of Ya'akov's father-in-law/uncle; it generally refers to Mount Chermon, elsewhere called ha-Lavanah; but maybe not on this occasion, as Chermon is a long way from Beit-El. The north side of the shrine (cf Ezekiel 8:14) is where the women usually go to wail for the death of the "beloved son" - the Bin-Yamin; north because it is the one quarter of the sky in which the sun never makes an appearance, and so it is the mother-goddess' eternal realm. The east is where the sun then rises, turning its face, so to speak, on the new-born earth-god; it happens daily of course, like No'ach's Ark, but this is the annual festival of rebirth, the Sol Invictus - Christmas, in modern Christian terms.
21:20 VA YETSAVU ET BENEY VIN-YAMIN LEMOR LECHU VA ARAVTEM BA KERAMIM
KJ: Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards
וַיְצַו כ] (וַיְצַוּוּ ק) אֶת בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן לֵאמֹר לְכוּ וַאֲרַבְתֶּם בַּכְּרָמִים
BN: And they instructed the Beney Bin-Yamin, saying: "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards....
Those vineyards again! Is all this going to turn out to be yet another Bacchic or Dionysic ceremony, being Yehudaised by the Redactor?
ARAVTEM: From the same root that gave us OREV, the "ambushers" of the civil war - for which see my several previous notes on this word, at various points of this book: EREV as "evening and "OREV" as "crow": all mythological symbols. And now both parts of the tale come full circle - because did not the townsmen "lie in wait" for the Levite, and then seize his virgin wife, etc, in Judges 19, which led to the civil war in which the Beney Yisra-El "lay in wait" for the army of Bin-Yamin so that it could be seized and slaughtered. And now, in the very next verse...
KJ:And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Those vineyards again! Is all this going to turn out to be yet another Bacchic or Dionysic ceremony, being Yehudaised by the Redactor?
ARAVTEM: From the same root that gave us OREV, the "ambushers" of the civil war - for which see my several previous notes on this word, at various points of this book: EREV as "evening and "OREV" as "crow": all mythological symbols. And now both parts of the tale come full circle - because did not the townsmen "lie in wait" for the Levite, and then seize his virgin wife, etc, in Judges 19, which led to the civil war in which the Beney Yisra-El "lay in wait" for the army of Bin-Yamin so that it could be seized and slaughtered. And now, in the very next verse...
21:21 U RE'IYTEM VE HINEH IM YETS'U VENOT SHIYLO LACHUL BAM'CHOLOT VIYTSA'TEM MIN HA KERAMIM VA CHATAPHTEM LACHEM ISH ISHTO MI BENOT SHIYLO VA HALACHTEM ERETS BIN-YAMIN
וּרְאִיתֶם וְהִנֵּה אִם יֵצְאוּ בְנֹות שִׁילֹו לָחוּל בַּמְּחֹלֹות וִיצָאתֶם מִן הַכְּרָמִים וַחֲטַפְתֶּם לָכֶם אִישׁ אִשְׁתֹּו מִבְּנֹות שִׁילֹו וַהֲלַכְתֶּם אֶרֶץ בִּנְיָמִן
BN: "And keep a close watch, and then, when the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance their dances, then come out of the vineyards, and let every man catch himself a wife from among the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Ben-Yamin...
SHIYLO here with a Yud (י) but no Hey (ה); see my note to verse 12.
IM: "If there is a festival, there will be partying, wine, cakes, dancing..."; or "when there is a festival, will there not be?" IM in Yehudit is used for both "if" and "when"; it seems to me the latter not the former belongs in this translation.
CHATAPHTEM: This is a mating ritual, not a gang-kidnapping. Hoe-dance time: choose a partner, one-two-three, bow to your partner, four-five-six, hold her hand and make an arch, couples go under, now we march, down through the tent-flaps two-by-two... you can fill in the rest of the dance-script for yourself. And don't forget the mulled wine, and to pull a cracker! Christmas, or the rebirth of Tammuz anyway, Biblical style (but concealed, unsuccessfully concealed because we can see the concealments, but concealed, because it was "pagan", even though it needed to be absorbed into the cult of Yisra-El, because it was so deeply embedded. Are you aware that precisely the same is true of your Christmas tree, your Yule log, your gift-stocking, your mince pie, your mistletoe, and every last detail of your Nativity play (Santa should be dressed in green however, not red?) Click here for more detail.
SHIYLO here with a Yud (י) but no Hey (ה); see my note to verse 12.
IM: "If there is a festival, there will be partying, wine, cakes, dancing..."; or "when there is a festival, will there not be?" IM in Yehudit is used for both "if" and "when"; it seems to me the latter not the former belongs in this translation.
CHATAPHTEM: This is a mating ritual, not a gang-kidnapping. Hoe-dance time: choose a partner, one-two-three, bow to your partner, four-five-six, hold her hand and make an arch, couples go under, now we march, down through the tent-flaps two-by-two... you can fill in the rest of the dance-script for yourself. And don't forget the mulled wine, and to pull a cracker! Christmas, or the rebirth of Tammuz anyway, Biblical style (but concealed, unsuccessfully concealed because we can see the concealments, but concealed, because it was "pagan", even though it needed to be absorbed into the cult of Yisra-El, because it was so deeply embedded. Are you aware that precisely the same is true of your Christmas tree, your Yule log, your gift-stocking, your mince pie, your mistletoe, and every last detail of your Nativity play (Santa should be dressed in green however, not red?) Click here for more detail.
21:22 VE HAYAH KI YAVO'U AVOTAM O ACHEYHEM LARIV ELEYNU VE AMARNU ALEYHEM CHANUNU OTAM KI LO LAKACHNU ISH ISHTO BA MILCHAMAH KI LO ATEM NETATEM LAHEM KA ET TE'SHAMU
וְהָיָה כִּי יָבֹאוּ אֲבֹותָם אֹו אֲחֵיהֶם [לָרֹוב כ] (לָרִיב ׀ ק) אֵלֵינוּ וְאָמַרְנוּ אֲלֵיהֶם חָנּוּנוּ אֹותָם כִּי לֹא לָקַחְנוּ אִישׁ אִשְׁתֹּו בַּמִּלְחָמָה כִּי לֹא אַתֶּם נְתַתֶּם לָהֶם כָּעֵת תֶּאְשָׁמוּ
KJ: And it shall be, when their fathers or their brethren come unto us to complain, that we will say unto them, Be favourable unto them for our sakes: because we reserved not to each man his wife in the war: for ye did not give unto them at this time, that ye should be guilty.
BN: "And it shall come to pass, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, that we shall say to them: 'Be kind to them for our sakes, because we were not able to find a wife for every man in the war, because you refused to give them at that time, so really it's your own fault'."
Or possibly, for that last phrase: because you didn't want to be held responsible.
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Or possibly, for that last phrase: because you didn't want to be held responsible.
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21:23 VA YA'ASU CHEN BENEY VIN-YAMIN VA YIS'U NASHIM LE MISPARAM MIN HA MECHOLELOT ASHER GAZALU VA YELCHU VA YASHUVU EL NACHALATAM VA YIVNU ET HE ARIM VA YESHVU BAHEM
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֵן בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן וַיִּשְׂאוּ נָשִׁים לְמִסְפָּרָם מִן הַמְּחֹלְלֹות אֲשֶׁר גָּזָלוּ וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּשׁוּבוּ אֶל נַחֲלָתָם וַיִּבְנוּ אֶת הֶעָרִים וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בָּהֶם
BN: And the Beney Bin-Yamin did so, and took wives for themselves, one each, from those who danced - the ones they caught! And they went home to their tribal lands, and rebuilt the cities, and inhabited them.
At the beginning of this tale, in Judges 19, there was some debate as to whether the woman was "whoring" or "hieroduling", and whether she was a wife or a "concubine", and whether she was a virgin. It seems to me that this verse is of much the same order, with a great deal of bedding taking place, at a time of "carnival" (the Latin is Carne Vale - "farewell to the flesh"), but by no means any certainty that the couples were still couples when the return home signal was alarumed.
But to the rather more strictly puritanical Ezraites, a Christmas bacchanale-cum-orgy was simply not acceptable, while the requirements of purgation for the new monarchy were; and so the labyrinthine complexities of this tale; and so also, perhaps more importantly, the point at which the Book of Judges ends, and the Book of the Kings is now ready to begin.¹
¹ Where Christian versions, and now many Jewish versions, of the Tanach (Bible) have two books of Samuel followed by two books of Kings, the Yehudit original has four books of Kings, the first two of which are called the books of Samuel.
At the beginning of this tale, in Judges 19, there was some debate as to whether the woman was "whoring" or "hieroduling", and whether she was a wife or a "concubine", and whether she was a virgin. It seems to me that this verse is of much the same order, with a great deal of bedding taking place, at a time of "carnival" (the Latin is Carne Vale - "farewell to the flesh"), but by no means any certainty that the couples were still couples when the return home signal was alarumed.
But to the rather more strictly puritanical Ezraites, a Christmas bacchanale-cum-orgy was simply not acceptable, while the requirements of purgation for the new monarchy were; and so the labyrinthine complexities of this tale; and so also, perhaps more importantly, the point at which the Book of Judges ends, and the Book of the Kings is now ready to begin.¹
21:24 VA YIT'HALCHU MI SHAM BENEY YISRA-EL BA ET HA HI ISH LE SHIVTO U LE MISHPACHTO VA YETS'U MI SHAM ISH LE NACHALATO
וַיִּתְהַלְּכוּ מִשָּׁם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּעֵת הַהִיא אִישׁ לְשִׁבְטֹו וּלְמִשְׁפַּחְתֹּו וַיֵּצְאוּ מִשָּׁם אִישׁ לְנַחֲלָתֹו
BN: So the Beney Yisra-El set out from there at that time, every man to his tribe and to his family; and they left the place, every man for his tribal territory.
Unclear why there is a need to say this twice? Perhaps it is just a literary need, or device, preparing the ending of the book: everything that has been happening is now denoué, and everyone has gone home to where they belong: peace and harmony therefore reign in a unified Cosmos rules by the great deity of compassion and mercy. Something of that [illusion of] order. But of course, at the start of a new year, having just celebrated that moment at the end of the book which told, mythologically, the story of the year; at the start of the new year, new-born, innocent, straight from the womb, that is exactly how the book has to end.
Unclear why there is a need to say this twice? Perhaps it is just a literary need, or device, preparing the ending of the book: everything that has been happening is now denoué, and everyone has gone home to where they belong: peace and harmony therefore reign in a unified Cosmos rules by the great deity of compassion and mercy. Something of that [illusion of] order. But of course, at the start of a new year, having just celebrated that moment at the end of the book which told, mythologically, the story of the year; at the start of the new year, new-born, innocent, straight from the womb, that is exactly how the book has to end.
21:25 BA YAMIM HA HEM EYN MELECH BE YISRA-EL ISH HA YASHAR BE EYNAV YA'ASEH
בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם אֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו יַעֲשֶׂה
BN: In those days there was no king in Yisra-El: every man did what was right in his own eyes.
The repetition of this statement can only be read as theocratic propaganda; endless lists of terrible things that happened, culminating in internecine warfare between the tribes and all the other ramifications of this chapter; but of course, had there been a king, and specifically one appointed and anointed by YHVH, none of this would have happened... which is all very well in theory, but falls flat when you start counting up the achievements of the kings who were thus enthroned, starting with that hopeless and total failure Sha'ul...
If we take it literally, this tale is the most bizarre and grotesque of all the tales told in the entire Bible. If remarkably little negative comment has been passed, it is because it is hard to comment on the scale of brutality and debauchery and stupidity being described. However, as with most of the stories, this one cannot be taken at face value, especially as, even in the human realm, where almost anything can happen, and generally has, at least twice, this tale, as told, is not believable. As throughout this investigation, we must try to imagine the editorial committee of the Board of Redactors at their weekly meeting, faced with the task of gathering all the folk-tales, all the myths, all the hero-legends, all the broadsheet gossip, and all the god-tales, and maybe even some genuine history too, and finding a way to make it acceptable to the entire co-fraternity of Yisra-El - all the "Hebrew" groups and all the non-"Hebrew" groups as well - and at the same time doctrinally acceptable within the new monotheistic and patriarchal cult that will eventually be renamed Judaism. Tough challenge!
We have seen the bodges and the messes they have made thus far; now we have the prize-winning bodge-job of them all. But how hard it must have been for them, this story above all others, the description of an orgiastic ceremony in the name of the moon-goddess, in which every man and every woman is expected to find a partner, and copulate publicly under the sacred trees in the vineyard (compare the Bacchanals and Dionysian rites of the Greeks), hundreds of them coalesced in a manner no puritanical cult could ever accept. But it helps us understand better what the cult of the Risen Lord was really like, before it became Christianity. And Adonis, who sat on the "right hand" of whichever deity, and is therefore known as Bin Yamin (and whose home, to this day, is on the north side of Mount Chermon). And the significance of Ha Mitspah and Beit-El and Yavesh-Gil'ad...
Only two things are missing from the tale. The first is the great aphrodysiacal drama that would undoubtedly have been performed as part of the ceremony, a Kena'ani (Canaanite) love-play later attributed to King Shelomoh (Solomon) (attributed to him because he too was the Bin-Yamin, the Yedid-Yah, the "beloved of the moon-goddess" - see 2 Samuel 12:24-25) and known as "The Song of Songs". The second is the litany of hymns that would have been sung throughout the ceremonies, hymns of praise to Adonis ("The Lord") by another of his names, the abbreviated form of Yedid-Yah, the Beloved One: Daoud, Dodi, David; hymns addressed in his name to his Great Mother, the moon and Earth goddess, sister of Ephron the Beney Chet (Hittite), namesake of the Ionian Sea and first mother of the Greeks - the goddess Yah: the Psalms. But we will have to save that for a future BibleNet.
(Or read my novel "City of Peace", which takes up the story at the very start of the next book, Samuel, and follows Adonis auto-biographically until his passing in the second chapter of the First Book of the Kings).
The repetition of this statement can only be read as theocratic propaganda; endless lists of terrible things that happened, culminating in internecine warfare between the tribes and all the other ramifications of this chapter; but of course, had there been a king, and specifically one appointed and anointed by YHVH, none of this would have happened... which is all very well in theory, but falls flat when you start counting up the achievements of the kings who were thus enthroned, starting with that hopeless and total failure Sha'ul...
If we take it literally, this tale is the most bizarre and grotesque of all the tales told in the entire Bible. If remarkably little negative comment has been passed, it is because it is hard to comment on the scale of brutality and debauchery and stupidity being described. However, as with most of the stories, this one cannot be taken at face value, especially as, even in the human realm, where almost anything can happen, and generally has, at least twice, this tale, as told, is not believable. As throughout this investigation, we must try to imagine the editorial committee of the Board of Redactors at their weekly meeting, faced with the task of gathering all the folk-tales, all the myths, all the hero-legends, all the broadsheet gossip, and all the god-tales, and maybe even some genuine history too, and finding a way to make it acceptable to the entire co-fraternity of Yisra-El - all the "Hebrew" groups and all the non-"Hebrew" groups as well - and at the same time doctrinally acceptable within the new monotheistic and patriarchal cult that will eventually be renamed Judaism. Tough challenge!
We have seen the bodges and the messes they have made thus far; now we have the prize-winning bodge-job of them all. But how hard it must have been for them, this story above all others, the description of an orgiastic ceremony in the name of the moon-goddess, in which every man and every woman is expected to find a partner, and copulate publicly under the sacred trees in the vineyard (compare the Bacchanals and Dionysian rites of the Greeks), hundreds of them coalesced in a manner no puritanical cult could ever accept. But it helps us understand better what the cult of the Risen Lord was really like, before it became Christianity. And Adonis, who sat on the "right hand" of whichever deity, and is therefore known as Bin Yamin (and whose home, to this day, is on the north side of Mount Chermon). And the significance of Ha Mitspah and Beit-El and Yavesh-Gil'ad...
Only two things are missing from the tale. The first is the great aphrodysiacal drama that would undoubtedly have been performed as part of the ceremony, a Kena'ani (Canaanite) love-play later attributed to King Shelomoh (Solomon) (attributed to him because he too was the Bin-Yamin, the Yedid-Yah, the "beloved of the moon-goddess" - see 2 Samuel 12:24-25) and known as "The Song of Songs". The second is the litany of hymns that would have been sung throughout the ceremonies, hymns of praise to Adonis ("The Lord") by another of his names, the abbreviated form of Yedid-Yah, the Beloved One: Daoud, Dodi, David; hymns addressed in his name to his Great Mother, the moon and Earth goddess, sister of Ephron the Beney Chet (Hittite), namesake of the Ionian Sea and first mother of the Greeks - the goddess Yah: the Psalms. But we will have to save that for a future BibleNet.
(Or read my novel "City of Peace", which takes up the story at the very start of the next book, Samuel, and follows Adonis auto-biographically until his passing in the second chapter of the First Book of the Kings).
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