{"id":74744,"date":"2020-05-16T10:31:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-16T07:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74744"},"modified":"2020-05-16T10:31:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T07:31:46","slug":"dont-lean-on-that-broken-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dont-lean-on-that-broken-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Lean On That Broken Staff"},"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":"74744","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"481","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Do you reed me?\r\n\r\n","content":"

In chapter 29, Ezekiel delivers a prophecy of the future destruction of Egypt. God is angry at Egypt\u2019s arrogance, and how Egypt regularly encouraged Israel to rebel against the Mesopotamian empires (Assyria and Babylonia), promising help that never arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n

The allegory that Ezekiel uses is one of a reed: \u201cThen all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know That I am the LORD. Because you were a staff of reed To the House of Israel: When they grasped you with the hand, you would splinter, And wound all their shoulders, And when they leaned on you, you would break, And make all their loins unsteady.\u201d (29: 6-7)<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this imagery before. Rabshakeh, the Assyrian general, warned Hezekiah not to rely on Egypt\u2019s help against Assyria by warning: \u201cYou rely, of all things, on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which enters and punctures the palm of anyone who leans on it! That\u2019s what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to all who rely on him.\u201d (Kings II 18:21)<\/span><\/p>\n

The choice of reeds to symbolize Egypt is sensible, since reeds commonly grow around the Nile (Moses was hidden among them as a baby.) Usually reeds are strong and flexible, but a broken reed provides no support, and will hurt the person relying on it \u2013 as happened to Israel after relying on Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The word Ezekiel uses for reed is the Hebrew <\/span>kaneh<\/span><\/em>. Later, in Ezekiel 40:3, the prophet mentions a \u201cmeasuring rod\u201d \u2013 a <\/span>kaneh hamidah<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> The reed was six cubits long (40:5), and this became a standard unit of measurement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>kaneh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0was also used to measure weight. Isaiah 46:6 uses the phrase, \u201cto weigh out silver on the balance,\u201d and <\/span>kaneh<\/span><\/em> is the word for balance, since rods (like reeds) were used to balance the scales. Some scholars have deduced from here that the Hebrew word <\/span>kanah<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 \u201cto buy\u201d derives from <\/span>kaneh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201creed.\u201d A purchase involved weighing out money on the balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greek borrowed <\/span>kaneh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0from Hebrew or some other Semitic language as their word for reed \u2013 <\/span>kanna<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> From there it entered Latin as <\/span>canna<\/span><\/em>, and passed to the European languages, including English. Many English words derive from those Greek or Latin roots, including canal, cane, channel, cannon, and canyon.<\/span><\/p>\n

The modern Hebrew word for shopping mall is <\/span>kanyon<\/span><\/em>. It comes from the root <\/span>kanah<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 \u201cto buy\u201d but sounds a lot like the English word \u201ccanyon.\u201d In fact, one of Israel\u2019s largest malls is the \u201cGrand Kanyon\u201d mall in Haifa. Most people would assume that these two words were merely homonyms. But now you know they are actually related!<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":74745,"id":74745,"title":"ez329-reeds","filename":"ez329-reeds.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez329-reeds.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/dont-lean-on-that-broken-staff\/ez329-reeds\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez329-reeds","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":74744,"date":"2020-05-16 07:30:01","modified":"2020-05-16 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