{"id":80528,"date":"2020-09-29T17:16:56","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T14:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80528"},"modified":"2020-09-29T17:16:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T14:16:56","slug":"pure-as-purged-silver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pure-as-purged-silver\/","title":{"rendered":"Pure As Purged Silver"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our psalm includes the verse: \u201cThe words of the Lord are pure words, silver purged in an earthen crucible, refined sevenfold\u201d<\/span> Psalms 12:7<\/span><\/a>. The middle phrase about silver, <\/span>kesef tzaruf ba-\u2018alil la-\u2018aretz<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>has proven an exegetical crux for commentators from ancient to modern times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is primarily because the word <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/span><\/em> occurs only here in Hebrew Scripture. The Targum renders this Hebrew word as Aramaic <\/span>be-khura<\/span><\/em>\u2019<\/span><\/i> \u2013 \u201cin a furnace\u201d. This is followed by the 3<\/span>rd<\/span> century BCE Greek Septuagint and some other ancient translations. However, this approach is rejected by Rashi. Rashi considers the possibility that <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/span><\/em> may be related to <\/span>ma\u2019alah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201csuperior\u201d, which would yield a translation of <\/span>ba-\u2018alil la-\u2018aretz<\/span><\/em> as \u201cwith the most superior kind of earth \u2013 <\/span>ba-meshubach she-ba-\u2018afar<\/span><\/em>. Rashi\u2019s preferred interpretation is that <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/em> <\/span>means <\/span>be-galui<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cclearly\u201d, yielding an interpretation of the problematic Psalms phrase: \u201csilver purged clearly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This understanding of <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/span><\/em> is based on<\/span> Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 1:5<\/span><\/a> : \u201cWhether [the new moon of Tishre appearing as a crescent moon at the beginning of a New Year] was seen clearly or was not seen clearly [by witnesses coming to Jerusalem to give testimony of their sighting of the New Moon], they profane Shabbat on account of it\u2026 <\/span>Talmud Bavli Rosh HaShanah 21b<\/span><\/a> adds that in the Mishnah, <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/span><\/em> indicates that the moon is clearly seen, on the basis of the expression in our verse, <\/span>ba-\u2018alil la-\u2018aretz<\/span><\/em>, which is now taken to mean \u201cin the clear sight of the earth\u201d.<\/span> Talmud Yerushalmi Rosh HaShanah 1:5 (8b)<\/span><\/a>, citing our verse in Psalms 12, states simply that the Mishnaic term <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/em> <\/span>means <\/span>mefursam<\/em> <\/span>\u201cwell-known\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Tosefta Sotah 9:1<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Talmud Bavli Sotah 45a<\/span><\/a> employ the expression <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/em> <\/span>to refer to an unidentified corpse found \u201cclearly, evidently\u201d close to a city, raising the question of whether officials still need to measure the distances from the corpse to nearby towns according to<\/span> Deuteronomy 21:2<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Modern Hebrew, the Rabbinic meaning of <\/span>ba-\u2018alil<\/em> <\/span>to mean \u201cclearly, well-known, obviously, strictly\u201d) has come into common usage, as in the phrase: <\/span>bilti chuqi ba-\u2018alil<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cclearly, or strictly illegal\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":80529,"id":80529,"title":"ps12-smelt","filename":"ps12-smelt.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-smelt.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pure-as-purged-silver\/ps12-smelt\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps12-smelt","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80528,"date":"2020-09-29 14:15:23","modified":"2023-08-25 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