{"id":70607,"date":"2020-02-23T17:27:45","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T15:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=70607"},"modified":"2023-10-16T16:53:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T13:53:36","slug":"the-hammer-the-fire-the-word-and-the-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-hammer-the-fire-the-word-and-the-self\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hammer, The Fire, The Word And The Self"},"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":[702,753,363],"acf":{"old_id":"70607","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences","content":"

\u201cBehold, My word is like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29)<\/span><\/p>\n

Such powerful imagery \u2013 the intensity of fire, the shattering of a rock \u2013 but what does it mean?<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to biblical interpretation, the options are endless – beginning with the question of whether we want to interpret the metaphor in context or out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the context of Jeremiah\u2019s polemic against false prophets (verse 28), Rashi suggests he\u2019s contrasting the puny experience of a dream to the burning, shattering impact of true divine encounters. Alternatively, Radak contrasts their content: the false prophets\u2019 optimistic predictions will come to nothing, while nothing stands in the way of true prophecy \u2013 as a fire inevitably burns whatever it touches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether the experience or the prediction, in context the prophet emphasizes the difference between true and false.<\/span><\/p>\n

Out of context\u2026 What might it mean to describe the word of God as fire, as something that shatters?<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbinic interpretations abound, but my favorite speaks directly to the very notion of multiple interpretations in biblical study.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Like a hammer that shatters rock\u2019 \u2013 Just as this hammer shatters into a number of sparks, so too one verse goes out to a number of meanings\u201d (Sanhedrin 34a).<\/span><\/p>\n

The details here are themselves subject to much analysis (e.g. is it the hammer or the rock that is shattered?), but the fundamental idea is that a biblical verse, the word of God, is like a hammer; strike with it and you\u2019ll end up with numerous pieces, a wealth of meanings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some find all those pieces confusing. \u201cJust tell me what it means! What\u2019s the right answer?\u201d \u2013 I hear it all the time, from students who might be more attracted to clear contrasts of truth and falsehood (like that outlined above). The experience of engaging with the many sparks of a piece of Torah can be overwhelming. Fire isn\u2019t comfortable; it can even be dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it can also be tremendously alluring, and impossible to hold back. \u201cI thought, \u201c\u2026No more will I speak in His name\u201d\u2014 But [His word] was like a raging fire in my heart\u2026 I could not hold it in\u201d (above, 20:9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can also read our out-of-context interpretation back to the context: With Rashi\u2019s peshat, we find a description of the impact of God\u2019s word on those it touches, of the experience of learning Torah and the impact of all those sparks on the self. And in Radak\u2019s, we might consider the inevitability of that experience, and of its growth and impact on the world. We may as well embrace the fire, and let it burn.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"The Hammer, The Fire, The Word And The Self","main_caption":"Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences","main_caption_size":"1","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\/70607"}],"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=70607"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118436,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70607\/revisions\/118436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}