{"id":79268,"date":"2020-08-26T16:25:36","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T13:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79268"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:25:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T13:25:36","slug":"the-flying-scroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-flying-scroll\/","title":{"rendered":"The Flying Scroll"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter begins with Zechariah\u2019s fifth vision: \u201cI looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll. He [the angel] asked me, \u2018What do you see?\u2019 I answered, \u2018I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide\u2026[the angel explained] \u2018Everyone who has stolen, as is forbidden on one side [of the scroll], has gone unpunished. And everyone who has sworn [falsely], as is forbidden on the other side of it, has gone unpunished\u2019” (verses 1-3). Since one cubit is equivalent to 18 inches in length, this fantastic scroll would be 30 by 15 feet in size, far beyond the size of any earthly scroll. Moreover, Zechariah envisions this scroll as flying (<\/span>afah<\/span><\/i>)!<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi interprets the word <\/span>afah<\/em> <\/span>as \u201c<\/span>kefula <\/span><\/em>— <\/span><\/i>folded, doubled over\u201d, suggesting this already enormous scroll would be even more extensive when unfolded. In Rashi\u2019s source, Talmud Eruvin 21a, Zechariah\u2019s scroll is compared to Ezekiel\u2019s scroll: \u201cThen I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe\u201d (Ezekiel 2:9-10). Rashi states that what Ezekiel was shown was a \u201cscroll of the Oral Torah \u2013 <\/span>megillat torah she-be-al-peh<\/span><\/em>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Talmud goes on to interpret Ezekiel\u2019s scroll according to what Zechariah envisioned: \u201cI see a flying [<\/em><\/span>afah<\/span><\/em>] <\/em>scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide\u2026\u201d. Here the word <\/span>afah<\/em> <\/span>is interpreted according to its meaning in Babylonian Aramaic, \u201cfolded, doubled-over\u201d. This leads to the assertion that \u201cif you were to open (i.e. unfold) it, it would measure 20 cubits by 20 cubits\u201d. Moreover, the description of such scrolls having been written on both sides, leads to the assertion that \u201cif you were to split (<\/span>qalfat<\/span><\/em>) it\u201d, it would measure 40 cubits by 40 cubits!<\/span><\/p>\n

The extraordinary descriptions of these prophetic scrolls may reflect actual scribal practices. Folding the sheets of a scroll like the bellows of a concertina led to the evolution of the codex, the multiple page form of the book utilizing both sides of each page . Compare the custom of reading the Scroll of Esther like the folded pages of a letter. Moreover, a single hide was sometimes split to create two sheets, the hair-side becoming what is called <\/span>qlaf<\/span><\/i> and the flesh-side becoming what is called <\/span>duchsustos<\/span><\/em> (see Maimonides, Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Sefer Torah 1:7).<\/span><\/p>\n

Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 6:3 describes Zechariah\u2019s \u201cflying scroll\u201d as having \u201cfloated\u201d in the air and comments that even the hide of an elephant or camel would not measure \u201ctwenty cubits long and ten cubits wide\u201d. But, according to Rabbi Issachar ben Naphtali Ha-Kohen Katz-Berman (16<\/span>th<\/span> century) in his commentary <\/span>Matnot Kehunah<\/em> <\/span>to Midrash Rabbah, such a huge surface was required to write down all the punishments that would befall those who swear falsely, so evil was this transgression considered!<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79269,"id":79269,"title":"Zech5-vision","filename":"Zech5-vision.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Zech5-vision.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-flying-scroll\/zech5-vision\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech5-vision","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79268,"date":"2020-08-26 13:24:29","modified":"2020-08-26 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