As with the previous chapter, the Yehudit version of the text does not make a break at this point; the chapter-shift belongs to the Christian translations. This is still the same prophecy that was being delivered in 13:9.
14:1 HINEH YOM BA LA YHVH VE CHULAK SHELALECH BE KIRBECH
הִנֵּה יוֹם בָּא לַיהוָה וְחֻלַּק שְׁלָלֵךְ בְּקִרְבֵּךְ
KJ (King James translation): Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
BN (BibleNet translation): Behold, the day of YHVH is coming, when the spoil shall be divided amongst you.
SHELALECH BE KIRBECH: Note that he is still addressing his audience in the feminine, and we still have nothing in the text to indicate why (or only the vagueness of Bat Tsi'on in 2:24 and Bat Yeru-Shala'im in 9:9).
14:2 VE ASAPHTI ET KOL HA GOYIM EL YERU-SHALA'IM LA MILCHAMAH VE NILKEDAH HA IR VE NASHASU HA BATIM VE HA NASHIM TISHAGALNAH VE YATS'A CHATSI HA IR BA GOLAH VE YETER HA AM LO YIKARET MIN HA IR
KJ: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
SHELALECH BE KIRBECH: Note that he is still addressing his audience in the feminine, and we still have nothing in the text to indicate why (or only the vagueness of Bat Tsi'on in 2:24 and Bat Yeru-Shala'im in 9:9).
14:2 VE ASAPHTI ET KOL HA GOYIM EL YERU-SHALA'IM LA MILCHAMAH VE NILKEDAH HA IR VE NASHASU HA BATIM VE HA NASHIM TISHAGALNAH VE YATS'A CHATSI HA IR BA GOLAH VE YETER HA AM LO YIKARET MIN HA IR
וְאָסַפְתִּי אֶת כָּל הַגּוֹיִם אֶל יְרוּשָׁלִַם לַמִּלְחָמָה וְנִלְכְּדָה הָעִיר וְנָשַׁסּוּ הַבָּתִּים וְהַנָּשִׁים תִּשָּׁגַלְנָה וְיָצָא חֲצִי הָעִיר בַּגּוֹלָה וְיֶתֶר הָעָם לֹא יִכָּרֵת מִן הָעִיר
BN: "For I will gather all the nations into battle against Yeru-Shala'im. And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished. And half of the city shall be taken into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."
I point it out every time, which is tedious, but also necessary, because this is a stylistic feature of Zechar-Yah's writing, but mostly because it is extremely confusing, and has sent many translators down false paths. Sometimes Zechar-Yah speaks as himself, sometimes he ventriloquises the voice of YHVH in the first person, but without telling us, and sometimes he tells us that he is quoting YHVH. The end result is the same, but it becomes the burden of the listener-reader-translator to work out precisely what that end result is. On this occasion it is frankly impossible to tell, because of the phrasing of what follows in the next verse; but it is entirely possible that the closing sentence here is Zechar-Yah adding his own words, and the next verse a continuation of that.
LO YIKARET: Surely this means the opposite of its translation: they shall not be allowed to leave the city? Or else we have to translate the final "and" as "but".
What he is describing is an exact replica of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar that took these people's great-grandparents and probably grand-parents, into captivity in Babylon sixty years before. So is this a text from that period, wrongly ascribed? Or is he simply using the known and familiar because it comes with implicit power - like telling modern Israelis that their enemies are planning another Holocaust; no need for detail, we know exactly what you mean.
14:3 VE YATS'A YHVH VE NILCHAM BA GOYIM HA HEM KE YOM HILACHAMO BE YOM KERAV
KJ: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
BN: Then YHVH will go out, and fight against those nations, as when he fought on the day of battle.
BE YOM KERAV: Which battle was that? I ask because, if he is indeed using the Nebuchadnezzar history as his emotional base, the defeat of the Yehudim at that time leaves open the question: and where was YHVH that day? Whereas, if this is an earlier text, from an earlier Prophet, using the earlier Sennacherib history as his emotional base to warn of the approach of Nebuchadnezzar, then YHVH's personal generalship may indeed, by those of faith, be evoked.
14:4 VE AMDU RAGLAV BA YOM HA HU AL HAR HA ZETIM ASHER AL PENEY YERU-SHALA'IM MI KEDEM VE NIVK'A HAR HA ZEYTIM ME CHETS'YO MIZRACHAH VA YAMAH GEY GEDOLAH ME'OD U MASH CHATSI HA HAR TSAPHONAH VE CHETS'YO NEGBAH
KJ: And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
BN: And his feet shall stand on that day on the Mount of Olives, which faces Yeru-Shala'im from the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be cleft down the middle, east to west, and a vast valley will appear; and half of the mountain shall shift toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
ZETIM... ZEYTIM: It is a huge problem for anyone studying these texts, that again and again and still again the supposed experts who put in the pointings to make reading simpler cannot even follow their own basic rules. It is either ZETIM without a Yud, or ZEYTIM with one, or they might be different in different dialects, or at different moments of history, but not in the same moment of the same verse.
YHVH as the Great Earthquake!
14:5 VE NASTEM GEY HARAI KI YAGIY'A GEY HARIM EL ATSAL VE NASTEM KA ASHER NASTEM MIPNEY HA RA'ASH BIYMEY UZI-YAH MELECH YEHUDAH U VA YHVH ELOHAI KOL KEDOSHIM IMACH
KJ: And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
What he is describing is an exact replica of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar that took these people's great-grandparents and probably grand-parents, into captivity in Babylon sixty years before. So is this a text from that period, wrongly ascribed? Or is he simply using the known and familiar because it comes with implicit power - like telling modern Israelis that their enemies are planning another Holocaust; no need for detail, we know exactly what you mean.
14:3 VE YATS'A YHVH VE NILCHAM BA GOYIM HA HEM KE YOM HILACHAMO BE YOM KERAV
וְיָצָא יְהוָה וְנִלְחַם בַּגּוֹיִם הָהֵם כְּיוֹם הִלָּחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָב
KJ: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
BN: Then YHVH will go out, and fight against those nations, as when he fought on the day of battle.
BE YOM KERAV: Which battle was that? I ask because, if he is indeed using the Nebuchadnezzar history as his emotional base, the defeat of the Yehudim at that time leaves open the question: and where was YHVH that day? Whereas, if this is an earlier text, from an earlier Prophet, using the earlier Sennacherib history as his emotional base to warn of the approach of Nebuchadnezzar, then YHVH's personal generalship may indeed, by those of faith, be evoked.
14:4 VE AMDU RAGLAV BA YOM HA HU AL HAR HA ZETIM ASHER AL PENEY YERU-SHALA'IM MI KEDEM VE NIVK'A HAR HA ZEYTIM ME CHETS'YO MIZRACHAH VA YAMAH GEY GEDOLAH ME'OD U MASH CHATSI HA HAR TSAPHONAH VE CHETS'YO NEGBAH
וְעָמְדוּ רַגְלָיו בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עַל הַר הַזֵּתִים אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי יְרוּשָׁלַםִ מִקֶּדֶם וְנִבְקַע הַר הַזֵּיתִים מֵחֶצְיוֹ מִזְרָחָה וָיָמָּה גֵּיא גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד וּמָשׁ חֲצִי הָהָר צָפוֹנָה וְחֶצְיוֹ נֶגְבָּה
KJ: And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
BN: And his feet shall stand on that day on the Mount of Olives, which faces Yeru-Shala'im from the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be cleft down the middle, east to west, and a vast valley will appear; and half of the mountain shall shift toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
ZETIM... ZEYTIM: It is a huge problem for anyone studying these texts, that again and again and still again the supposed experts who put in the pointings to make reading simpler cannot even follow their own basic rules. It is either ZETIM without a Yud, or ZEYTIM with one, or they might be different in different dialects, or at different moments of history, but not in the same moment of the same verse.
YHVH as the Great Earthquake!
14:5 VE NASTEM GEY HARAI KI YAGIY'A GEY HARIM EL ATSAL VE NASTEM KA ASHER NASTEM MIPNEY HA RA'ASH BIYMEY UZI-YAH MELECH YEHUDAH U VA YHVH ELOHAI KOL KEDOSHIM IMACH
וְנַסְתֶּם גֵּיא הָרַי כִּי יַגִּיעַ גֵּי הָרִים אֶל אָצַל וְנַסְתֶּם כַּאֲשֶׁר נַסְתֶּם מִפְּנֵי הָרַעַשׁ בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּה מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה וּבָא יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי כָּל קְדֹשִׁים עִמָּךְ
KJ: And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
BN: And you will flee through the valley to my mountains; for the valley between those mountains will extend all the way to Atsal. You will flee, just like you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzi-Yah of Yehudah. And YHVH my god will come, and all the holy ones with you.
ATSAL: Another of Zechar-Yah's tricky words, replete with complex allusions and meanings. In Isaiah 41:9 HA ARETS U MEY ATSIYLEYHA are "the extremities of the Earth", clearly a figure of speech rather than an actual location. The root is ATSEL, which means "a joining together", and the "side" of something is usually an ETSEL (Ezekiel 41:8), though it is also used for "joining hands" and for the joints of the hands, even the armpits (Jeremiah 38:12). 1 Chronicles 8:37 has Atsel as a man's name (1 Chronicles 9:44 gives his family tree), while 2 Chronicles 34:8 has Atsal-Yahu as the father of Shaphan, one of the two men appointed by King Yoshi-Yahu to repair the Temple: an allusion that may be obscure to us, but is not likely to have been missed in Zechar-Yah's time, given the context of his prophesies.
RA'ASH: Earthquake? Yes indeed. Which adds weight to my Five Cities hypothesis - see my notes to Genesis 18 and 19. On that occasion Lot and his daughters fled to Tso'ar (19:20 ff), which is just as metaphorical a name in that context as Atsal appears to be in this.
UZI-YAH: Now here's a conundrum. Uzi-Yah reigned from probably 809 BCE to possibly 757 BCE, which is two hundred and fifty years before Zechar-Yah. But 2 Chronicles 26:5 tells us that "He sought Elohim throughout the days of Zechar-Yah, who instructed him in the fear of God." Zechar-Yah was the Shemu-El to Uzi-Yah's King David! The same Zechar-Yah, or a different one? Can we now conclude that there must have been a Guild that bore his name, and that "our" Zechar-Yah is simply the latest holder of the masterhood? Logical, if correct, that he would make allusion to Uzi-Yah, who was after all one of the very best of the kings, by Prophetic standards. What we can say is that this is not the same Zechar-Yah as in Uzi-Yah's time, simply from the way he mentions him - if it was a speech from that epoch, by that Zechar-Yah, he might still mention the flight from the earthquake, but he wouldn't need to refer to the king as "Uzi-Yah of Yehudah", which is a description out of history, not contemporaneity.
UZI-YAH: Now here's a conundrum. Uzi-Yah reigned from probably 809 BCE to possibly 757 BCE, which is two hundred and fifty years before Zechar-Yah. But 2 Chronicles 26:5 tells us that "He sought Elohim throughout the days of Zechar-Yah, who instructed him in the fear of God." Zechar-Yah was the Shemu-El to Uzi-Yah's King David! The same Zechar-Yah, or a different one? Can we now conclude that there must have been a Guild that bore his name, and that "our" Zechar-Yah is simply the latest holder of the masterhood? Logical, if correct, that he would make allusion to Uzi-Yah, who was after all one of the very best of the kings, by Prophetic standards. What we can say is that this is not the same Zechar-Yah as in Uzi-Yah's time, simply from the way he mentions him - if it was a speech from that epoch, by that Zechar-Yah, he might still mention the flight from the earthquake, but he wouldn't need to refer to the king as "Uzi-Yah of Yehudah", which is a description out of history, not contemporaneity.
And if that is the case, can we then conclude that these latter chapters are not written by followers of Zechar-Yah, but by his predecessors, and that all those phrases that seem to prophesy Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar make a very different reading?
14:6 VE HAYAH BA YOM HA HU LO YIHEYEH OR YEKAROT YEKIPA'ON
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֹא יִהְיֶה אוֹר יְקָרוֹת יְקִפָּאוֹן
KJ: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
BN: And it shall come to pass on that day, that there shall be no light; the bright ones shall withdraw themselves.
YEKAROT: "The bright ones" is a lovely metaphor - the stars; think of the Greek Pleiades; but probably better to think of either the Babylonian Apkallu, or the Egyptian Tchatcha.
Re-establishing the conditions that existed before Creation.
14:7 VE HAYAH YOM ECHAD HU YIVAD'A LA YHVH LO VE YOM VE LO LAILAH VE HAYAH LE ET EREV YIHEYEH OR
וְהָיָה יוֹם אֶחָד הוּא יִוָּדַע לַיהוָה לֹא יוֹם וְלֹא לָיְלָה וְהָיָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב יִהְיֶה אוֹר
BN: But it shall be the first day that will be known as YHVH's. Not in the daytime, and not in the nighttime, but it shall come to pass that at eventide there shall be light.
YOM ECHAD...YIHEYEH OR: The first day, not "one day" - using the very language of the Creation story (Genesis 1:5).
BE EREV: The Jewish day has always begun, and still begins, when the sun has set and the moon risen, which is why, in the Creation story, Creation ends at dusk and resumes at dawn, rather than continuing through the full 24 hours of the six-day week of Creation (cf Genesis1:14 ff).
14:8 VE HAYAH BA YOM HA HU YETS'U MAYIM CHAYIM MIYRU-SHALA'IM CHETS'YAM EL HA YAM HA KADMONI VE CHETS'YAM EL HA YAM HA ACHARON BA KAYITS U VA CHOREPH YIHEYEH
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יֵצְאוּ מַיִם חַיִּים מִירוּשָׁלִַם חֶצְיָם אֶל הַיָּם הַקַּדְמוֹנִי וְחֶצְיָם אֶל הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן בַּקַּיִץ וּבָחֹרֶף יִהְיֶה
KJ: And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
BN: And it shall come to pass on that day, that living waters shall issue from Yeru-Shala'im; half of them will flow toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea: in summer and in winter it shall be.
YAM HA KADMONI: There isn't one, in Yisra-El; Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) is well north of Yeru-Shala'im; the Yam ha Melach, which probably died as a consequence of the volcanic eruption that destroyed of the Cities of the Plain in the time of Lot (Genesis 18-19), is very slightly east, but mostly south (click here for a map). So either the valley split by the earthquake extends all the way to the Persian Gulf (a thousand miles, click here for a map), or the "living waters" are the revival of the Yam ha Melach, or maybe the underground water-sources that created the pools of Silo'am and Gihon, and which still trickle through Chekzi-Yahu's Tunnel. Either way, the coming of "the day", which is less about a semi-human Messiah than the final achievement of monarchical Omnideity by YHVH, is also the first day of Creation post-Armageddon - and remember that YHVH began as the Midyanite volcano god, as we know from the Lot story, but also from Mosheh at Mount Chorev.
14:9 VE HAYAH YHVH LE MELECH AL KOL HA ARETS BA YOM HA HU YIHEYEH YHVH ECHAD U SHEMO ECHAD
וְהָיָה יְהוָה לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה יְהוָה אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד
KJ: And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
BN: Then YHVH shall be king over all the Earth. On that day YHVH shall be One, and his name shall be One.
The closing words of the final prayer of every synagogue service, the closing lines of the Aleynu, the confirmation that the polytheon has been sent into permanent retirement, that Prime Minister YHVH has assumed the Presidency.
ECHAD: Repeating the word from the previous verse; but also completing the transition from polytheism to Omnideism; the last mention of the name Elohim was the Davidic one at the beginning of chapter 12; this is not the Elohim who are now One, but YHVH himself.
14:10 YISOV KOL HA ARETS KA ARAVAH MI GEV'A LE RIMON NEGEV YERU-SHALA'IM VE RA'AMAH VE YASHVAH TACHTEYHA LE MI SHA'AR BIN-YAMIN AD MEKOM SHA'AR HA RI'SHON AD SHA'AR HA PINIM U MIGDAL CHANAN-EL AD YIKVEY HA MELECH
יִסּוֹב כָּל הָאָרֶץ כָּעֲרָבָה מִגֶּבַע לְרִמּוֹן נֶגֶב יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְרָאֲמָה וְיָשְׁבָה תַחְתֶּיהָ לְמִשַּׁעַר בִּנְיָמִן עַד מְקוֹם שַׁעַר הָרִאשׁוֹן עַד שַׁעַר הַפִּנִּים וּמִגְדַּל חֲנַנְאֵל עַד יִקְבֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ
KJ: All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
BN: All the land shall be made like the Aravah, from Gev'a to Rimon south of Yeru-Shala'im; and it shall be lifted up [as a mountain], and its foothills will be inhabited, from the Gate of Bin-Yamin as far as the location of the First Gate, and all the way to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Chanan-El as far as the king's wine-presses.
ARAVAH: I see no reason to translate this word; the Aravah is the name of a very specific area, like saying the Cotswolds, or Alice Springs, or Yosemite.
GEV'A: See the link.
RIMON: Or Rimmon, because the Mem is medugash (has a dot in the middle of it, indicating a double-letter). Note that there is the place Rimon, which is the intention here, but also the deity Rimon, for whom presumably the place was named - and remember that we also had a reference to Hadad-Rimon at 12:11. Nothing in Zechar-Yah is without secondary intention too, so it is fairly safe to assume that he is thinking of the tale in Judges 19 to 21, and specifically of Judges 20:45, which tell how the six hundred Beney Yamin of Gev'a, fleeing from one of the most bizarre sex-scandals in the Tanach, "turned and fled toward the wilderness, as far as the rock of Rimon, and found shelter at the rock of Rimon for four months".
SHA'AR BIN-YAMIN: The Gate of Bin-Yamin (cf Jeremiah 38:7); the entrance to one of the suburbs that stretched north of the Temple from the time of Yechezke-El (Ezekiel) until King Herod.
SHA'AR HA RI'SHON: I am unable to identify where this was located. As you will see from its absence in the link, which is otherwise extensive, most scholars have the same problem.
SHA'AR HA RI'SHON: I am unable to identify where this was located. As you will see from its absence in the link, which is otherwise extensive, most scholars have the same problem.
14:11 VE YASHVU VAH VE CHEREM LO YIHEYEH OD VE YASHVAH YERU-SHALA'IM LA VETACH
וְיָשְׁבוּ בָהּ וְחֵרֶם לֹא יִהְיֶה עוֹד וְיָשְׁבָה יְרוּשָׁלַםִ לָבֶטַח
KJ: And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
BN: And men shall live there, and there will be no more calls for total destruction; but Yeru-Shala'im shall live in peace.
The only comment worth making on this verse is that the Yehudit word for "violence" is Chamas (usualy rendered as Hamas in English), and you can find its website for yourself.
CHEREM: But this does need explaining. See my notes to Leviticus 21:18 and Numbers 18:14.
The only comment worth making on this verse is that the Yehudit word for "violence" is Chamas (usualy rendered as Hamas in English), and you can find its website for yourself.
CHEREM: But this does need explaining. See my notes to Leviticus 21:18 and Numbers 18:14.
14:12 VE ZOT TIHEYEH HA MAGEPHAH ASHER YIGOPH YHVH ET KOL HA AMIM ASHER TSAV'U AL YERU-SHALA'IM HAMEK BESARO VE HU OMED AL RAGLAV VE EYNAV TIMAKNAH VECHOREYHEN U LESHONAH TIMAK BE PHIYHEM
וְזֹאת תִּהְיֶה הַמַּגֵּפָה אֲשֶׁר יִגֹּף יְהוָה אֶת כָּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר צָבְאוּ עַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם הָמֵק בְּשָׂרוֹ וְהוּא עֹמֵד עַל רַגְלָיו וְעֵינָיו תִּמַּקְנָה בְחֹרֵיהֶן וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ תִּמַּק בְּפִיהֶם
KJ: And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
BN: And this shall be the plague with which YHVH will smite all the nations that have made war against Yeru-Shala'im. Their flesh shall be eaten away, even while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall be eaten away in their sockets, and their tongue shall be eaten away in their mouth.
Strange religion, in which even now, in the last verses of the last chapter of virtually the last book of the entire anthology, when the manifesto of Paradise-to-come is being offered, cast in El Dorado gold and set with rubies from Shangrila, even now the principal attribute of the deity is not compassion and mercy at all, but the utter and cynical destruction by plague of anyone who has ever been an enemy. World peace, achieved by global genocide!
The detail alludes explicitly, yet again, to Psalm 137.
Strange religion, in which even now, in the last verses of the last chapter of virtually the last book of the entire anthology, when the manifesto of Paradise-to-come is being offered, cast in El Dorado gold and set with rubies from Shangrila, even now the principal attribute of the deity is not compassion and mercy at all, but the utter and cynical destruction by plague of anyone who has ever been an enemy. World peace, achieved by global genocide!
The detail alludes explicitly, yet again, to Psalm 137.
14:13 VE HAYAH BA YOM HA HU TIHEYEH MEHUMAT YHVH RABAH BA HEM VE HECHEZIYKU ISH YAD RE'EHU VE ALTAH YADO AL YAD RE'EHU
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא תִּהְיֶה מְהוּמַת יְהוָה רַבָּה בָּהֶם וְהֶחֱזִיקוּ אִישׁ יַד רֵעֵהוּ וְעָלְתָה יָדוֹ עַל יַד רֵעֵהוּ
KJ: And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
BN: And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great tumult from YHVH shall be among them; and every man shall take hold of the hand of his neighbour, and his own hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
And not just genocide by plague; human beings are expected to play their part too.
14:14 VE GAM YEHUDAH TILACHEM BIYRU-SHALA'IM VE USAPH CHAYIL KOL HA GOYIM SAVIV ZAHAV VA CHESEPH U VEGADIM LA ROV ME'OD
וְגַם יְהוּדָה תִּלָּחֵם בִּירוּשָׁלָםִ וְאֻסַּף חֵיל כָּל הַגּוֹיִם סָבִיב זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּבְגָדִים לָרֹב מְאֹד
KJ: And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
BN: Yehudah too will fight in Yeru-Shala'im. And the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
The anti-Zionist argument provided with textual evidence: the Jews want to own and run the world so that they can have all the wealth for themselves. I will defend Israel and the Jewish people against the anti-Zionists at every opportunity, but on this occasion it is our side that is indefensible.
14:15 VE CHEN TIHEYEH MAGEPHAH HA SUS HA PERED HA GAMAL VE HA CHAMOR VE CHOL HA BEHEMAH ASHER YIHEYEH BA MACHANOT HA HEMAH KA MAGEPHAH HA ZOT
וְכֵן תִּהְיֶה מַגֵּפַת הַסּוּס הַפֶּרֶד הַגָּמָל וְהַחֲמוֹר וְכָל הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בַּמַּחֲנוֹת הָהֵמָּה כַּמַּגֵּפָה הַזֹּאת
KJ: And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
BN: And so it shall be with the plague that affects the horse, the mule, the camel, and the ass, indeed all the beasts that inhabit those camps, the very same plague.
The meaning of this again depends on how we understand MAGEPHAH, and I don't; it means "plague", but plagues can be metaphorical as well as epidemical.
The meaning of this again depends on how we understand MAGEPHAH, and I don't; it means "plague", but plagues can be metaphorical as well as epidemical.
14:16 VE HAYAH KOL HA NOTAR MI KOL HA GOYIM HA BA'IM AL YERU-SHALA'IM VE ALU MIDEY SHANAH VE SHANAH LEHISHTACHAVOT LE MELECH YHVH TSEVA'OT VE LACHOG ET CHAG HA SUKOT
וְהָיָה כָּל הַנּוֹתָר מִכָּל הַגּוֹיִם הַבָּאִים עַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְעָלוּ מִדֵּי שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לְמֶלֶךְ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וְלָחֹג אֶת חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת
KJ: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
BN: And it shall come to pass that every one who is left from all the nations that came against Yeru-Shala'im shall go up from year to year to worship the king, YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, and to keep the feast of Sukot.
Can we assume from this verse that Sukot was the occasion of the sermon; and that the harvest, which is the whole point of Sukot, was the reason why all his figures of speech are about the harvesting of the new world order?
Can we assume from this verse that Sukot was the occasion of the sermon; and that the harvest, which is the whole point of Sukot, was the reason why all his figures of speech are about the harvesting of the new world order?
14:17 VE HAYAH ASHER LO YA'ALEH ME ET MISHPECHOT HA ARETS EL YERU-SHALA'IM LEHISHTACHAVOT LE MELECH YHVH TSEVA'OT VE LO ALEYHEM YIHEYEH HA GASHEM
וְהָיָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲלֶה מֵאֵת מִשְׁפְּחוֹת הָאָרֶץ אֶל יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לְמֶלֶךְ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וְלֹא עֲלֵיהֶם יִהְיֶה הַגָּשֶׁם
KJ: And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
BN: And it shall be, that any member of the families of the Earth who declines to come up to Yeru-Shala'im to worship the king, YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, upon them there shall be no rain.
In the Jewish calendar, the end of Sukot is precisely the time when prayers for rain take place, MASHIV HA RU'ACH U MORID HA GASHEM being the phrase introduced at Shemini Atseret, the day after Sukot ends - "may the winds blow and the rain fall". So these comments about the rain add weight to the probability that this chapter was a Sukot sermon.
14:18 VE IM MISHPACHAT MITSRAYIM LO TA'ALEH VE LO VA'AH VE LO ALEYHEM TIHEYEH HA MAGEPHAH ASHER YIGOPH YHVH ET HA GOYIM ASHER LO YA'ALU LACHOG ET CHAG HA SUKOT
וְאִם מִשְׁפַּחַת מִצְרַיִם לֹא תַעֲלֶה וְלֹא בָאָה וְלֹא עֲלֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶה הַמַּגֵּפָה אֲשֶׁר יִגֹּף יְהוָה אֶת הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲלוּ לָחֹג אֶת חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת
KJ: And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
BN: And if the family of Egypt will not come up, and does not come up, it will not rain on them either. Only the plague with which YHVH will smite the nations that decline to come up to celebrate the feast of Sukot.
MISHPACHAT MITSRAYIM: Was there already a Yisra-Eli community in Mitsrayim (Egypt)? We know that there was one at around this time, and on until the present day, its temple at Leontopolis, its version of the scriptures the Alexandrian Greek Septuagint. It cannot have been a residue from the Mosaic, but it might have been a merchant community established over the centuries since then, or it might have been an escape route at the time of either the conquest of the northern kingdom (c720 BCE), or that of Yehudah in 586 BCE. Alternately Zechar-Yah may not be meaning Yehudim at all in this expression, but simply including Egypt as one of the world's nations who have been embraced into the Omnideity's universal kingdom.
14:19 ZOT TIHEYEH CHAT'AT MITSRAYIM VE CHAT'AT KOL HA GOYIM ASHER LO YA'ALU LACHOG ET CHAG HA SUKOT
זֹאת תִּהְיֶה חַטַּאת מִצְרָיִם וְחַטַּאת כָּל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲלוּ לָחֹג אֶת חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת
KJ: This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
BN: This shall be the punishment of Mitsrayim, the punishment of every nation that declines to come up to celebrate the feast of Sukot.
Or perhaps a pre-Sukot sermon, and this belongs to the time after Zeru-Bavel has completed the Temple, when it has been dedicated and is in use; the intention to encourage the people to resume the ancient practices from before the Babylonian exile, but also warning those who might think to ignore the encouragement.
Or perhaps a pre-Sukot sermon, and this belongs to the time after Zeru-Bavel has completed the Temple, when it has been dedicated and is in use; the intention to encourage the people to resume the ancient practices from before the Babylonian exile, but also warning those who might think to ignore the encouragement.
14:20 BA YOM HA HU YIHEYEH AL METSILOT HA SUS KODESH LA YHVH VE HAYAH HA SIYROT BE VEIT YHVH KA MIZRAKIM LIPHNEY HA MIZBE'ACH
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה עַל מְצִלּוֹת הַסּוּס קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה וְהָיָה הַסִּירוֹת בְּבֵית יְהוָה כַּמִּזְרָקִים לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
BN: On that day they shall inscribe on the bells that adorn the horses: HOLY TO YHVH. And the pots in YHVH's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
KODESH LA YHVH: inscribed on the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol in Exodus 28:35 and 36, a kind of Mark of Kayin, making clear that he is a divinely protected creature.
14:21 VE HAYAH KOL SIYR BIYRU-SHALA'IM U VIYHUDAH KODESH LA YHVH TSEVA'OT U VA'U KOL HA ZOVCHIM VE LAKCHU ME HEM U VISHLO VA HEM VE LO YIHEYEH CHENA'ANI OD BE VEIT YHVH TSEVA'OT BA YOM HA HU
וְהָיָה כָּל סִיר בִּירוּשָׁלַםִ וּבִיהוּדָה קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה צְבָאוֹת וּבָאוּ כָּל הַזֹּבְחִים וְלָקְחוּ מֵהֶם וּבִשְּׁלוּ בָהֶם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה כְנַעֲנִי עוֹד בְּבֵית יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא
KJ: Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
BN: And it will be that every pot in Yeru-Shala'im and in Yehudah will be holy to YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens; and everyone who intends to make a sacrifice will come and take one of them, and use it as a boiling-pot. And on that day there will be no more Kena'anim in the house of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
VISHLO VA HEM: What would they be boiling (not chicken soup, surely, even then!)?
Is he simply excluding them, or preaching forced conversion? Or is this the final completion of the Joshuaic conquest? What an awful note on which to end these scriptures.
VISHLO VA HEM: What would they be boiling (not chicken soup, surely, even then!)?
Is he simply excluding them, or preaching forced conversion? Or is this the final completion of the Joshuaic conquest? What an awful note on which to end these scriptures.
