Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – HARAH / YALAD

 

We don't know what we think we know.

 Thelma McQueen was born in Tampa, FL, in 1911.  Educated by nuns in Augusta, GA, she hoped to be a nurse, but a high school teacher encouraged her in the theatrical arts.  Thelma McQueen blossomed as an actress and a dancer.  She performed as a faerie in Max Reinhardt's Hollywood Bowl staging of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", where she acquired the nickname "Butterfly" due to her fluttering hands.  She was spotted by talent scout Kay Barrett while performing on Broadway.  Barrett encouraged her to screen test for David O Selznick, who was in pre-production for "Gone with the Wind".  Selznick cast her as the simple-minded housemaid Prissy, and McQueen forever became known for one line: "Oh, Miss Scarlett!  I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!" 

Prissy shares that ignorance with most of us.  We probably think we know something, but as Slowman and Fernback relate in their book, The Knowledge Illusion, we actually know quite a bit less than we think we do about a great many commonplace things, including the experience that every human on the planet shares: birth.

Manoah and his wife are not dissimilar to us.  Even though births – and deaths – were everyday occurrences in their lives, they would need help to not only bring their promised child into the world, but also to raise him as the LORD intended.  For his birth, they would have the support of a local midwife.

The Hebrew Bible tells notable stories of the service of midwives.  Genesis 35 relates that Rachel's labor with Benjamin was attended by a midwife (Genesis 35:17).  At the birth of the twins, Jacob and Essau, the midwife tied a scarlet thread (SHANI (שָׁנִי) is the same word used in Rahab's story in Joshua 2) around the wrist of Essau.  Perhaps the most famous story involves the midwives in Egypt, who refused to submit to Pharaoh's evil command to murder the baby boys at birth.

 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, 'Why have you done this?  Why have you let the boys live?' The midwives answered Pharaoh, 'Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.' So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.  And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Exodus 1:18-21

We are going to look at two phrases from our passage in Judges 13:

 Now see to it that you DRINK no WINE or other FERMENTED DRINK and that you do not EAT anything UNCLEAN.  You WILL BECOME PREGNANT and HAVE A SON whose HEAD is NEVER to BE TOUCHED by a RAZOR because the boy is to be a NAZIRITE, DEDICATED to God from the WOMB.  He will take the lead in DELIVERING Israel from the hands of the Philistines.'
Judges 13:4-5

The phrases are "will become pregnant" and "have a son", announcements that no doubt brought a mixture of joy and trepidation, as any parent well knows.

The Hebrew word HARAH (הָרָה) means "to conceive, to become pregnant".  This word only occurs 43 times in the Hebrew Bible, despite this being such a commonplace event.  After all, every human who's ever lived – except for two – has lived because their mothers became pregnant.  But there you have it: Scripture is not telling a pregnancy story.  It is, however, telling a birth story, which we shall get to momentarily.

HARAH's first appearance is in Genesis, when Mother Eve becomes pregnant:

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she CONCEIVED and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord."
Genesis 4:1 (NKJV)

HARAH is used three times in Hosea, describing Gomer's pregnancies, such as,

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she CONCEIVED and bore him a son.
Hosea 1:3

The word can also be used figuratively.  For instance, Hosea uses Gomer's unfaithfulness as a condemnation for the iniquities of G-d's people:

For their mother has played the harlot; she who CONCEIVED them has behaved shamefully.  For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'
Hosea 1:5

HARAH is used figuratively also in Job 15:35, Psalm 7:14, and Isaiah 59:4, where mischief is conceived.  In Isaiah 59:13, words are conceived.  And then there is this in Isaiah 33:11:

You shall CONCEIVE chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

The Hebrew word behind "have a son" is YALAD (יָלַד), a verb that is used nearly 500 times, many of them in conjunction with HARAH, as in Job 15:35, Psalm 7:14, Isaiah 33:11, Isaiah 59:4, among other references.  YALAD gets translated as "to bear (offspring)", "to bring forth", "to give birth", and "to have a son", as it does in Judges 13.  It also means "beget".  So all that begetting in your King James Bible are YALAD.

YALAD is also the word used for "midwife" every time the word appears (for example, Genesis 35:17, Genesis 38:28, Exodus 1:16, Exodus 1:21).  YALAD gives birth to other forms (see what we did there?), such as the noun YELED (יֶלֶד), meaning boy, child, or youth.  It's used 89 times in the Text.  The feminine form is YALDAH, meaning girl or maiden, but it's found only three times.  YALDUTH (יַלְדוּת) is the plural form, and it also is used three times.  For instance, it's applied to Joseph when his brothers have dragged him from the pit and sold him into slavery.

Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.  And he returned to his brothers and said, "THE LAD (YELED) is no more; and I, where shall I go?"
Genesis 37:29-30

YELED is used eight times in Exodus 2 when describing Moshe.  In Daniel 1, the word is used five times for the youths of Judah who are led into captivity to Babylon.  Zechariah uses both YELED and YALDAH:

The streets of the city shall be full of BOYS and GIRLS playing in its streets.'
Zechariah 8:5

The Messianic Psalm 110 uses the plural YALDUTH:

Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your YOUTH.
Psalm 110:3

Yes, "youth" is plural in that verse: YALDUTH.  Does it give off a different slant when you read "youth" as "youths"?

HARAH and YALAD are significant words in the cycle of life.  Their appearance in Scripture marks the beginning of a new cycle, particularly when conception and birth are miraculous, as Samson's is.  Miraculous or unexpected conceptions and births are signs placed in the Text to grab our attention to something big the LORD is doing.  This verse is usually read around Christmas, rather than Passover or Easter.  Nevertheless, it fits the theme.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will CONCEIVE and GIVE BIRTH to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

And we can all echo Butterfly McQueen's Prissy and say, "We don't know nothing about birthing" that miracle Baby.  And yet we rejoice, as we do in all births.

Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – TAME / TAHOR

Mr. Clean

I love old advertisements that have staying power.  Mr. Clean, from consumer goods behemoth Proctor & Gamble, has been around since 1957, when he was introduced as the company's mascot by advertising agency, Tatham-Laird & Kudner.  In the beginning, there was even a jingle (all advertising have jingles).  How does Mr. Clean fit into Samson's story?  Well, we are glad you asked! 

We have been looking at the tragic life of the Biblical Judge, Samson.  Not only are the object lessons plentiful and familiar in his story, but there are also remarkable insights to draw from some Hebrew words that underlie the Text.

We have been unpacking some of the terms in this verse from Judges 13:

Now see to it that you DRINK no WINE or other FERMENTED DRINK and that you do not EAT anything UNCLEAN.  You WILL BECOME PREGNANT and have a son whose HEAD is NEVER to BE TOUCHED by a RAZOR because the boy is to be a NAZIRITE, DEDICATED to God from the WOMB.  He will take the lead in DELIVERING Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’
Judges 13:4-5

We have thus far explored eating (AKHAL), drinking (SATHAH), wine (YAYIN), and fermented drink (SHEKHAR).  Today, let’s look at “unclean”, which comes from the Hebrew word TAME (טָמֵא), pronounced, “TAH-MAY”.

TAME – and words that derive from it – occurs 124 times in the Hebrew Bible, first in Leviticus 5:

If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty – if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially UNCLEAN (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any UNCLEAN creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become UNCLEAN, but then they come to realise their guilt; or if they touch human UNCLEANNESS (anything that would make them UNCLEAN) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realise their guilt…

Its opposite is expressed with the Hebrew word TAHOR (טָהוֹר), which is usually translated as clean or pure, a word that appears 188 times in the Text.

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and PURIFY yourselves and change your clothes.
Gen 35:2

 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, ‘Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially UNCLEAN – surely he is UNCLEAN.’  (in both uses, the Hebrew Test says “not clean”)
1 Samuel 20:26

The majority of the uses of TAME relate to ritual purity.  Anyone – such as a Priest – who approaches the LORD in the Tabernacle or the Temple must be TAHOR, or must not be TAME.

Neither word is necessarily pejorative.  There is not usually guilt associated with the terms.  For instance, when a person touches a corpse, they are ceremonially unclean.  When a woman is menstruating or has just given birth, she is unclean.  If someone is bleeding, they are unclean, as is anyone who comes in contact with her.  TAME and TAHOR do not typically have a moral connotation, but rather a technical, ceremonial one. 

Tim Mackie, one of the founders of The Bible Project, uses a helpful analogy to explain it.  In the operating room of a hospital, everyone and everything must be in a clean state.  The medical staff wears clean OR scrubs and gloves to maintain the cleanness of the room.  Instruments are sterilized to ensure they are clean.  Someone who is not clean – not washing his hands or not wearing OR scrubs  – does not belong in the OR.

This ritual aspect adds texture to many stories from the Gospels.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Levite and the Priest usually get grief for ignoring the near-dead traveler on the road.  Neither was willing to risk his ritual purity by approaching a corpse.  Jesus, on the other hand, elevated compassion over TAHOR and TAME by making the disfavored Samaritan the hero of the parable.  The Samaritan did not regard his state of purity above the well-being of his fellow man.

TAHOR and TAME interplay throughout the Gospels as Jesus interacts with and touches ritually impure people: Gentiles, tax collectors, lepers, and others.  A well-known story is about a woman who has been bleeding for years.  Her bleeding put her in a state of TAME.  And anyone who touched her would also be TAME.  Imagine the isolation that must have been her lot in life.  Her own family could not be near her without taking on her impurity.  Told in three of the Gospels, here is the version from Matthew:

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  Jesus turned and saw her.  “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”  And the woman was healed at that moment.
Matthew 9:20-22

Why did the Messiah’s close contact with the unclean and impure not make Jesus unclean?  I think the answer is found in Leviticus, in the instructions for the Sin Offering.

Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy
Leviticus 6:27

Jesus is the Perfect Sin Offering, and anyone who touches him becomes Holy by that touch.  We are made TAHOR (pure) by our embrace of the Risen Messiah.  Jesus is the real Mr. Clean.  Blessed be His Name.

Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – AKHAL

 You’re Not You When You’re Hungry, Samson

Every time we go through the story of Samson, we remind ourselves of the wisdom in the acronym HALT.  Maybe you have encountered this acronym?  Even if you have not, you have likely been on both the delivering and receiving ends of its effects.  HALT stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired.  The model describes the interpersonal risk factors that exacerbate internal and external pressures in relationships.  People are more likely to make bad decisions, for example, when they are in states of HALT.

 

The candy company, Mars, Inc., and their ad agency, BBDO, apparently were quite familiar with this notion when they built their now-famous 2010 campaign around the slogan, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”.  The simple genius of the campaign, featuring celebrities like Betty White, Joe Pesci, Aretha Franklin, and Liza Minelli, drove itself into public consciousness through the intuitive sense of HALT (oriented on Hungry).

The Scriptures are not naïve about this.  For example, they record the story of Israel fighting one of their many battles with the Philistines at Gibeah.  Israel had routed their enemy, but... 

Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
1 Samuel 14:24

Saul’s son Jonathan, ignorant of this ban, ate the honey, and his “eyes brightened” (like eating a Snickers® bar?).  He tells the troops that his father “made trouble for the country” by ordering this fast.  (Some oaths are not well thought out…looking at you, Jephthah.)

The Hebrew Bible, in fact, probably originate the idea of “hangry”:

Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upwards, will curse their king and their God.
Isaiah 8:21

If only Samson had known about HALT, his story might have been different.  Ah, but we are ahead of ourselves.  We are diving into two verses in Samson’s story to unpack some important truths (HALT being one of them).

Now see to it that you DRINK no WINE or other FERMENTED DRINK and that you do not EAT anything UNCLEAN.  You WILL BECOME PREGNANT and have a son whose HEAD is NEVER to BE TOUCHED by a RAZOR because the boy is to be a NAZIRITE, DEDICATED to God from the WOMB.  He will take the lead in DELIVERING Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’
Judges 13:4-5

Yesterday, we talked about how prevalent the ideas of “eating and drinking” are in Scripture.  Along with breathing, they are essential for life.  And Samson was expected, as both a Jew and a Nazirite, to regulate how he did both.  Anyone who’s read the story knows he performed miserably in this task.  Our post yesterday explored the Hebrew verb SHATHAH (שָׁתָה), which means “to drink”.  And today, we will look at its connect verb, “to eat”.

The Hebrew verb is AKHAL (אָכַל).  It is used over 800 times in the Hebrew Bible, making it a prevalent word.  Its first use is on the second page of the Bible (Genesis 2).  In fact, it is used 21 times in two chapters alone – Genesis 2 and 3 – including its very first use:

And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You ARE FREE TO EAT (NOTE: the text literally reads as “eat eat”; Hebrew’s neat trick is to repeat words to indicate intensity) from any tree in the garden; but you must not EAT from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you EAT from it you will certainly die.’
Genesis 2:16-17

AKHAL does not simply mean to eat.  Or put a bit differently, when the word is used, it may have a more figurative meaning. 

The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire HAS CONSUMED on the altar and place them beside the altar.
Leviticus 6:10

You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies WILL DEVOUR you.
Leviticus 26:38

It EATS AWAY parts of his skin; death’s firstborn DEVOURS his limbs.
Job 18:13

If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn-bushes so that it BURNS sheaves of corn or standing corn or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.
Exodus 22:6

The final use of AKHAL in the Hebrew Bible (at least as far as the Christian organization of the Text is concerned) is in the prophet Zechariah.  The prophet announces that the LORD will raise up a foolish shepherd who will not shepherd the flock.

For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but WILL EAT the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.
Zechariah 11:16

Drinking (SHATHAH) and eating (AKHAL) are essential to life itself.  And when G-d created man and set him in the Garden, man was free to eat (and to drink, one presumes) whatever he wished, saving one tree.  The Fall, of course, changed that.  And when G-d chose the nation of Israel as His special treasure, He restricted their freedom of consumption even further: to clean animals. 

Samson, as a Nazirite, was restricted even further, but he behaved more like the foolish shepherd of Zechariah 11, who eats the choice parts reserved for G-d Himself.  Samson cast off all restraint from his diet and his social life alike, eating and drinking whatever pleased his eye or his appetite.

We should end with the words of St. Paul, who reminds us Who the Lord of our appetites should be.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31