{"id":75984,"date":"2020-06-14T14:44:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T11:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75984"},"modified":"2020-06-14T14:44:37","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T11:44:37","slug":"distinguishing-between-husband-and-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/distinguishing-between-husband-and-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"Distinguishing Between Husband And Owner"},"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":"75984","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"502","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But even God wants to change the terminology\r\n\r\n","content":"

As did many other prophets, Hosea uses the imagery of husband and wife to describe the relationship between Israel and God. When Israel is faithful to God, the love between them is strong. But when she betrays Him, He becomes jealous and angry:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor she is not My wife, and I am not her husband \u2026 I will also disown her children; For they are now a harlot\u2019s brood \u2026 Now will I uncover her shame in the very sight of her lovers, and none shall save her from Me\u2026 Thus will I punish her For the days of the Baalim, on which she brought them offerings; when, decked with earrings and jewels, she would go after her lovers, forgetting Me \u2014declares the LORD\u201d (Hosea 4-15).<\/span><\/p>\n

After this harsh depiction, Hosea predicts their future reconciliation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in that day \u2014declares the LORD\u2014 You will call [Me] Ishi, and no more will you call Me Baali. For I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, and they shall nevermore be mentioned by name\u201d (Hosea 18-19).<\/span><\/p>\n

Hosea uses a play on words here. The word <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is the name of the Caananite deity, but also the Hebrew word for \u201chusband.\u201d So his prophecy describes a time when Israel will not even say the word <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0any more, using the alternative <\/span>ish<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cman\u201d \u2013 instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in recent generations, verse 18 has taken on new significance. In addition to <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201chusband,\u201d the word <\/span>baalut<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cownership.\u201d Understandably objecting to the idea that a husband \u201cowns\u201d his wife, and relying on Hosea\u2019s vision of the future, some Israeli wives prefer to call their husband <\/span>ishi<\/span><\/em>\u00a0instead of <\/span>baali<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While everyone should call their spouse by whatever term they like best, I think that we should be careful about deducing the nature of the relationship between husband and wife in Judaism based on the words used. This is particularly true here, since <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201chusband,\u201d but does not mean \u201cowner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The word for owner in Hebrew is <\/span>baalim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(as appears, for example, in Exodus 21:29 and Isaiah 1:3) While <\/span>baalim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0appears to be a plural, it is actually singular. Hebrew has a number of words with the <\/span>-im<\/span><\/em>\u00a0suffix that doesn\u2019t indicate plurality, but emphasis. (Another example is Yom HaKippurim<\/em>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Why the emphasis here? According to scholars, it is to show the complete mastery and possession by the owner over the object. So the owner of a company (or a pet) is the <\/span>ba\u2019alav<\/span><\/em>, but a woman\u2019s husband is <\/span>ba\u2019alah<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Of course there is a connection between <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and <\/span>baalim<\/span><\/em>, but the fact that Hebrew is careful to always distinguish between them indicates a sensitivity to the status of the wife in that relationship. But who knows \u2013 maybe Hosea\u2019s prophecy will come true some day and the word <\/span>baal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0will never be said at all.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":75986,"id":75986,"title":"hos2-ownership","filename":"hos2-ownership.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos2-ownership.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/distinguishing-between-husband-and-owner\/hos2-ownership\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hos2-ownership","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75984,"date":"2020-06-14 11:42:22","modified":"2020-06-14 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