{"id":78582,"date":"2020-08-09T17:58:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T14:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78582"},"modified":"2020-08-09T17:58:21","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T14:58:21","slug":"flashing-swords-and-glittering-spears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/flashing-swords-and-glittering-spears\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFlashing Swords and Glittering Spears\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nahum described the attackers of Nineveh and the damage they were to inflict in particularly vivid terms: \u201cCrack of whip and rattle of wheel, galloping steed and bounding chariot! Charging horsemen, flashing (<\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em>) swords, and glittering (<\/span>barak<\/span><\/em>) spears! Hosts of slain and heaps of corpses, dead bodies without number\u2014 they stumble over bodies\u201d (2-3). While this is one extended series of word-pictures, we may distinguish between the sensory impressions (sounds and sights) provided by v.2 and the more objective (though no less lyrical) casualty report of v.3.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this regard, the two words in v.3 for which we have provided the Hebrew originals deserve special attention. Yes, polished weapons will shine when they catch sunlight; they may even yield a reddish glint at either sunrise or sunset, providing an alternative explanation for the discussion in the previous chapter. But if the literary assumption we have made is correct, then we need to look at this verse in a more prosaic fashion, and it appears that several of the medieval exegetes felt the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi, using the Old French word \u201calemele\u201d (modern French: la lame) for <\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em> and \u201cpindor\u201d for <\/span>barak<\/span><\/em>, reminded us that <\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em> also means the blade of a sword or knife, as in Judges 3:22: \u201cAnd the haft also went in after the blade (<\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em>); and the fat closed upon the blade (<\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em>).\u201d (See, also, Job 39:23.) Indeed, one suspects that the two meanings are etymologically related, that the tendency of honed weapons to flash is why the flashing part (rather than the haft or hilt) bears its name, as explained by Eliezer of Beaugency: \u201cThe yellow cast of its blade is called a flame or lightning, since that is how they appear from afar.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Gen. 3:24 provides another appropriate example: \u201cHe banished the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flame (<\/span>lahat<\/span><\/em>) of the whirling sword, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.\u201d Arguably, if <\/span>lahav<\/span><\/em> can mean both flash and blade, so can <\/span>lahat<\/span><\/em>, in which case it is not the mere appearance of the whirling sword that guards the way back to Eden, but the lethal threat implicit in its two-sided blade.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78588,"id":78588,"title":"nah3-swords","filename":"nah3-swords.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nah3-swords.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/flashing-swords-and-glittering-spears\/nah3-swords\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"nah3-swords","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78582,"date":"2020-08-09 14:57:29","modified":"2023-03-09 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