{"id":72464,"date":"2020-03-27T15:26:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72464"},"modified":"2020-03-27T15:26:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:26:51","slug":"the-sword-of-the-dove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-sword-of-the-dove\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sword of the Dove?"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"72464","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"446","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"No, it\u2019s a different sword entirely\r\n\r\n","content":"

The backdrop for this prophecy was the battle in 605 BCE at Carchemish (on the Euphrates, near today\u2019s Turkish-Syrian border) that pitted the failing Assyrian Empire\u2014allied with Pharaoh Necho of Egypt\u2014against the up and coming Babylonians\u2014allied with Persia and Medea. If this sounds at all familiar, 2 Kings 23:29, and, in somewhat greater detail, 2 Chronicles 35: 20 ff., report that Josiah intercepted Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo and was slain there.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Egyptian loss was the subject of Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy, which was focused on their military preparations (2 ff.) and their subsequent flight from the field of battle (5 ff.). The upshot was that the Jews who had sought refuge in Egypt were now exposed to the danger of a Babylonian counterattack (13 ff.), just as Jeremiah had prophesied earlier (see Chapters 42, 44). In fear of this assault, they regretted their escape to Egypt and voiced an anxiety-ridden desire to \u201creturn to our people, to the land of our birth, because of the <\/span>cherev hayonah<\/span><\/em>\u201d (16). Just what is meant by those last two words is subject to debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi, citing the Aramaic Targum, associated <\/span>yonah<\/span><\/em> with <\/span>yayin<\/span><\/em>, wine, and his student, Yosef Kara, elaborated on this interpretation, writing, \u201cbecause of the sword of Nebuchadnezzar that was as satiated with the blood of his enemies as a drunkard is intoxicated by wine.\u201d Radak, however, preferred a more philologically sound interpretation, taking <\/span>yonah<\/span><\/em> from a verbal root (either A-N-H or Y-N-H) meaning to oppress. It should be noted that three of the four appearances of <\/span>yonah<\/span><\/em> in Tanakh\u2014other than to signify a dove\u2014occur in Jeremiah, and the fourth is in his contemporary, Zephaniah, suggesting that it was a term whose particular usage was current at that time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shadal* agreed with Radak\u2019s interpretation, but first cited another interpretation that he rejected: \u201cR. Azariah [de Rossi; Italy 16<\/span>th<\/span> century] said it refers to the Babylonian and Assyrian empires that had a dove [Hebrew: <\/span>yonah<\/span><\/em>] on their flags.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction<\/span><\/a> in Jeremiah chapter 1.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":72465,"id":72465,"title":"jer46-sword-dove","filename":"jer46-sword-dove.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-sword-dove.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-sword-of-the-dove\/jer46-sword-dove\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer46-sword-dove","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":72464,"date":"2020-03-27 12:26:40","modified":"2020-03-27 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