{"id":77260,"date":"2020-07-12T12:35:48","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T09:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77260"},"modified":"2020-07-12T12:35:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T09:35:48","slug":"who-were-the-cows-of-the-bashan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-were-the-cows-of-the-bashan\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Were the \u201cCows of the Bashan\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the opening verse of this chapter, Amos directs his rebuke to: \u201cYou cows of Bashan on the hill of Samaria\u2014 who defraud the poor, who rob the needy; who say to your husbands, \u201cBring, and let\u2019s carouse!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who were these \u201ccows\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

Targum Yonatan translated this phrase as \u201cthose who possess riches and dwell in the mountains of Samaria.\u201d Rashi, perhaps focusing on the use throughout the verse of the feminine gender (`<\/em><\/span>oshkot, rotzetzot, \u2018omrot<\/span><\/em>), interpreted it as: \u201cThe wives of officers and officials.\u201d Yosef Kara agreed, adding: \u201cThese were Israelite women who resembled cows grazing on the Bashan mountains. Because that is where they grew fat, they rebelled and revolted, crushing the needy and oppressing the poor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak, in agreement with his predecessors, also elaborated on the geographical allusion, saying:<\/span><\/p>\n

Bashan is a rich pasture and the animals that graze there are fat and healthy. He compared the wives of the kings and high officers to cows of the Bashan because they enjoy pleasure and are stout and beautiful. They cause oppression and crushing because they demand of their masters\u2014who are their husbands\u2014\u201cbring, and let\u2019s carouse,\u201d but if their husbands do not have the money of their own available, they oppress the poor who have not the strength to evade them. If they do not pay up immediately, they crush them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amos\u2019s use of the verbs defraud (<\/span>`-sh-k<\/span><\/em>) and oppress (<\/span>r-tz-tz<\/span><\/em>) appears particularly biting when we consider that they were used by the Prophet Samuel in his rebuke of the people for seeking a king: \u201cHere I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before His anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded (`<\/em><\/span>ashakti<\/span><\/em>)? or whom have I oppressed (<\/span>ratzoti<\/span><\/em>)?\u201d (1 Samuel 12:3). Samuel diligently avoided the very behaviors that characterized Amos\u2019s audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

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