On 12/22/2010 12:16 AM, Avi Shmidman wrote:
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1] Appreciating the form of the text
The form of the Biblical text has an inherent beauty and aesthetic,
and the literary features that Rabbi Blau listed are among the primary
factors that contribute to such. If we are to focus exclusively on the
meaning of the text, shunning its beauty as something not worth
spending time on, the students will emerge with only the ideas the
bare content without an appreciation of the form.
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I must agree with this aspect of study. One of the motivating factors in studying the Bible in Hebrew is noting the clever use of language in the text. I am still amazed at how subtle many of the transitions are. For example, in the telling of Eve and the Serpent, the English makes a rather stark transition. Adam and Eve are naked and in the next sentence a serpent appears as if from nowhere. Snakes often do appear suddenly but the Hebrew displays a smoother transition. It ls clever, actually.
Gen 2:25 "...and they were both naked..." Then suddenly... Gen 3:1 "Now the serpent was more sly/wise than any other beast of the field". These seem like disjointed ideas but in fact they are connected because of a Hebrew pun created by the word for "naked" ( ah-roo-MEEM ) and the word for "sly/wise" ( ah-ROOM ). Then toward the end, G-d curses (ah-ROOR) the serpent. This word "ahroor" is not related to the other two words but it sounds similar. The point is that in English these connections are hidden.
I was alerted to these transitions while reading the book "The Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized" by Dr. James H. Charlesworth. I don't recommend the book because it is an amazingly tedious book focused mostly on archeology and pagan symbols. He devotes a chapter to serpent references in the Hebrew Scriptures (and the destruction of the copper serpent that was being worshiped in the Temple) before he moves on to analyze Christian texts so reading his book was worth my time but as one rabbi politely commented when I told him what I was reading... "Well... that's obscure." Yes it is.
I mention his book only because I don't want to take credit for Dr. Charlesworth's work and appear more clever than I actually am. I simply read a lot.
Alex Herrera
