{"id":66962,"date":"2019-12-15T18:59:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T16:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66962"},"modified":"2023-07-11T09:35:35","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T06:35:35","slug":"when-life-hangs-by-a-thread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/when-life-hangs-by-a-thread\/","title":{"rendered":"When Life Hangs By A Thread"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[876,361,854],"acf":{"old_id":"66962","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"372","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"My dwelling is pulled up and removed from me Like a tent of shepherds","content":"

In chapter 38 of Isaiah, we read the poem that King Hezekiah composed after he recovered from his life-threatening illness. In the beginning of the poem, he describes his feelings when he thought he would surely die. He uses poetic imagery to depict this feeling of dread. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

My dwelling is pulled up and removed from me<\/span>
\n<\/span>Like a tent of shepherds;<\/span>
\n<\/span>My life is rolled up like a web<\/span>
\n<\/span>And cut from the thrum.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Only from daybreak to nightfall<\/span>
\n<\/span>Was I kept whole (Isaiah 38:12)<\/span><\/p>\n

He uses these metaphors \u2013 of a tent, a web, a thrum \u2013 to paint a picture of something on the edge of conclusion. When the shepherds get ready to move to a new place, they pack up their tents. The second image describes a weaver, who when finishing the tapestry (the \u201cweb\u201d), cuts the string. That string is the \u201cthrum\u201d \u2013 the strings of threads hanging on the loom.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew word here for thrum is <\/span>dalah<\/span><\/i>. The root <\/span>D-L-H<\/span><\/i> and its related root <\/span>D-L-L<\/span><\/i> give us words that have meanings connected to hanging or suspending. So in addition to the threads hanging from a loom, the verb <\/span>dalah<\/span><\/i> means \u201cto draw water from a well\u201d, and the tool used to draw the water is a <\/span>dli<\/span><\/i>, \u201cbucket\u201d, which hangs in the well.<\/span><\/p>\n

A poor person is in a low state, and so the word <\/span>dal<\/span><\/i> \u2013 \u201cpoor, weak\u201d, can be seen as someone hanging low. From here we get the verb <\/span>dalal<\/span><\/i> \u2013 \u201cto thin out, dilute.\u201d The latter is no relation to the Hebrew.<\/span><\/p>\n

One more word we get from these roots is <\/span>delet<\/span><\/i> \u2013 \u201cdoor\u201d. With our modern doors that might seem like a strange connection, but if we think about how doors were in tents, dangling from a roof pole, it makes more sense. Just like the <\/span>dalah<\/span><\/i> threads hanging from the loom.<\/span><\/p>\n

The word <\/span>delet<\/span><\/i> gives us the name for the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, <\/span>dalet <\/span><\/i>(not \u201cdaled\u201d as is frequently heard today \u2013 that pronunciation likely has Yiddish influence).<\/span><\/p>\n

The shape in ancient texts very much resembles the door of a tent:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And even today, the letter still maintains the sense of hanging:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dalet<\/span><\/i> became \u201cdelta\u201d in Greek, where it had more of a triangular shape:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"alpha<\/p>\n

That shape provided the word \u201cdelta\u201d, meaning the triangular tract of sediment at the mouth of the river. The letter continued to travel, eventually becoming the letter \u201cD\u201d in English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Letter images – courtesy of wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"When Life Hangs By A Thread","main_caption":"My dwelling is pulled up and removed from me Like a tent of shepherds; My life is rolled up like a web And cut from the thrum. Only from daybreak to nightfall Was I kept whole","main_caption_size":"2","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66962"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116608,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66962\/revisions\/116608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}