{"id":76352,"date":"2020-06-22T00:02:46","date_gmt":"2020-06-21T21:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76352"},"modified":"2020-06-22T00:05:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T21:05:09","slug":"paradigms-of-deep-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/paradigms-of-deep-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Paradigms of Deep Corruption"},"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":"76352","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The punishment? To be wanderers among the nations\r\n\r\n","content":"

The structure of Tanakh often plays a role in zeroing in on the main ideas a passage is trying to convey. This chapter\u2019s midmost verse, and its midmost word, hold special significance. The verse is verse 9, and the word is \u05d4\u05b6\u05e2\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05bc, <\/span>he\u2019emiku<\/span><\/em> \u201cthey have deeply\u201d. Throughout this chapter, the prophet describes the sinfulness and waywardness of Ephraim, and his eventual destruction. These two midpoints tell us why: \u201cThey have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, they are corrupt. Secondly, this is not a new corruption; they have failed to learn from the past. Thirdly (and this is emphasized by this word being the midpoint), their corruption is deep; these are not some superficial mistakes or inadequacies, this is deep-seated rot. The Tanakh is not frequently lent to hyperbole or extraneous adverbs, so the use of <\/span>he\u2019emiku<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> \u201cdeeply\u201d, is even more notable.<\/span><\/p>\n

The prophet also tells us the nature of this deep corruption: it is just like the corruption \u201cin the days of Gibeah\u201d. Rashi notes that this could mean two different things. It could mean the corruption exemplified by the story of the <\/span>pilegesh<\/span><\/em>, concubine, of Gibeah, which is told in Judges 19-21. Or it could mean the corruption exemplified by Gibeat Shaul, the home of Saul, and, in Rashi\u2019s understanding, a stand-in for the Israelites\u2019 demand for a king in I Samuel 8.<\/span><\/p>\n

These two stories offer different paradigms of corruption, which the prophet is saying are both at play in Ephraim\u2019s demise. The story of the <\/span>pilegesh<\/span><\/em> of Gibeah is a violent, chaotic, story, full of rash decisions, disregard for human life, and immorality (if you don\u2019t know it, go read it; you won\u2019t be disappointed). The prophet is telling Ephraim that they have become deeply corrupt on an interpersonal, human-to-human level. They have, simply put, forgotten how to be human.<\/span><\/p>\n

In I Samuel 8, the Israelites are on seemingly firm ground when they demand Samuel give them a king. But Samuel and God try to remind them of two things, to no avail: that there is only one true King; and that what they think a king is supposed to be, the kind of leader they want, is not really the kind of leader they need. They ask for a king to judge\/govern them, like all the nations. In doing so, they\u2019re both rejecting God\u2019s rule, and forgetting that they <\/span>aren\u2019t<\/span><\/i> like all the nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The prophet is telling Ephraim that their deep corruption is a corruption of what it means to be human, what it means to be God\u2019s treasured people, and what it means to be a unique people. Ephraim\u2019s own actions have led them to fade into the morass of history; \u201cthey shall be wanderers among the nations\u201d (v.17).<\/span><\/p>\n

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