{"id":69816,"date":"2020-02-08T07:31:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T05:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69816"},"modified":"2023-09-04T17:18:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T14:18:06","slug":"the-docile-lamb-who-was-not-championed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-docile-lamb-who-was-not-championed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Docile Lamb Who Was Not Championed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In chapter 11, Jeremiah learns that not only are his warnings of the upcoming destruction not being heeded, his life is under threat \u2013 even in his hometown of Anathoth. He declares:<\/span><\/p>\n

For I was like a docile lamb<\/span>
\n<\/span>Led to the slaughter;<\/span>
\n<\/span>I did not realize<\/span>
\n<\/span>That it was against me<\/span>
\n<\/span>They fashioned their plots:<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u2018Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,<\/span>
\n<\/span>Let us cut him off from the land of the living.<\/span>
\n<\/span>That his name be remembered no more!\u2019 (11:19)<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the phrase \u201clike a docile lamb.\u201d The Hebrew is <\/span>k\u2019kheves aluf<\/span><\/em>. The word <\/span>keves<\/span><\/em>\u00a0certainly means \u201clamb\u201d, but how does <\/span>aluf<\/span><\/em>\u00a0mean \u201cdocile\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

The verb <\/span>A-L-F<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cto train, and so a more precise translation could be \u201ctrained lamb.\u201d But certainly trained animals are tame, so \u201cdocile\u201d works (certainly in the context of the verse quoted.) This verb gives us the word <\/span>ulpan<\/span><\/em>, which originally meant \u201cteaching.\u201d Now it generally refers to a school where Hebrew is taught intensively. It also means a studio \u2013 a room where music, films or television are recorded. This might seem strange, but just looking at the word \u201cstudio\u201d gives us a hint to its etymology – it originally meant \u201croom for study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While our verse talks about tamed sheep, the largest tamed animal in that region was the ox \u2013 in Hebrew <\/span>elef<\/span><\/em>. Some theories even trace the English word \u201celephant\u201d back to the Hebrew <\/span>elef<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shape of the ox head gave Hebrew the name of its first letter in the alphabet \u2013 <\/span>alef<\/span><\/em>. <\/span>Alef<\/span><\/em> became \u201calpha\u201d in Greek\u201d, and in Latin (and later English) became the letter \u201cA.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If we look back to other Semitic languages, we can find even an earlier root. Dr. Ernest Klein writes that the meaning \u201cteaching\u201d probably came from a root meaning \u201cto be linked together, to be connected\u201d (the goal of every successful teacher.)<\/span><\/p>\n

This root gave us a different meaning for <\/span>elef<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0– \u201cthousand\u201d, which Klein claims originally meant \u201cgroup\u201d or \u201ccrowd.\u201d The head of this group was known as an <\/span>aluf<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> which first meant \u201cchieftain\u201d, and in Modern Hebrew means \u201cgeneral (of an army)\u201d or \u201cchampion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So for an Israeli unfamiliar with the history of this root, they might think that a <\/span>keves aluf<\/span><\/em>\u00a0would mean a strong sheep \u2013 a real champion. But as you now have learned (in this mini-ulpan?), that was not what he was referring to at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Josefa de \u00d3bidos: The Sacrificial Lamb (detail), c. 1677, Walters Art Museum \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69817,"id":69817,"title":"jer11-lamb","filename":"jer11-lamb.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer11-lamb.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-docile-lamb-who-was-not-championed\/jer11-lamb\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer11-lamb","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69816,"date":"2020-02-08 05:28:57","modified":"2022-06-09 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