{"id":80839,"date":"2020-10-04T00:17:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-03T21:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80839"},"modified":"2020-10-04T00:17:15","modified_gmt":"2020-10-03T21:17:15","slug":"the-roots-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-roots-of-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"The Roots Of Evil"},"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":"80839","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"581","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And what it means to really do good\r\n\r\n","content":"

The previous psalm concluded with a characteristic expression of Jewish faith: \u201cBut I trust in Your faithfulness, my heart will exult in Your deliverance\u201d (13:6). The current psalm opens with the derisive retort of the \u201cbenighted\u201d (<\/span>nabal<\/span><\/em>) man: \u201cGod does not care\u201d (14:1). What kind of a man is a <\/span>nabal<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n

As an adjective, <\/span>nabal<\/span><\/em> means foolish, senseless, or, as in our translation, benighted. As a verb, N-B-L <\/em>means to wither or fade. A noun, <\/span>nebeilah<\/span><\/em>, signifies a corpse, and another, <\/span>nebalah<\/span><\/em>, means \u201cfolly,\u201d or even \u201coutrage.\u201d The rape of Dinah was designated a <\/span>nebalah<\/span><\/em> (Gen. 34:7), as was the rape and murder of the concubine at Gibeah (Judges 19:23), which was also called a <\/span>zimah<\/span><\/em> (a lascivious act, 20:6). In short, it is a distinctly pejorative word.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1 Samuel 25:3, we encountered it as a proper noun: Nabal of Carmel (not the Carmel mountain range, but a locale in the southern Judean mountains.) After he refused to honor a commitment to David, David set out to punish him, but he was intercepted by Nabal\u2019s perspicacious wife, Abigail, who persuaded him to abort his mission, declaring of her husband: \u201cHis name is Nabal, and he acts like one\u201d (v. 25).<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, too, the result of the <\/span>nabal<\/span><\/em>\u2019s<\/em> declaration that \u201cGod does not care,\u201d is that \u201cMan\u2019s deeds are corrupt and loathsome; no one does good,\u201d and: \u201cAll have turned bad (<\/span>hishchitu<\/span><\/em>), altogether foul; there is none who does good, not even one\u201d (1). The use of the verb Sh-Ch-T<\/em>, to destroy, is reminiscent of the Torah\u2019s fourfold repetition of that verb to describe the lawless, corrupt society on the eve of the flood (Gen. 6:11-12).<\/span><\/p>\n

I would take issue, however, with the translation of <\/span>\u2018ein `oseih-tov<\/span><\/em> as \u201cno one does good.\u201d Note that the last two Hebrew words are hyphenated, signifying a construct of two nouns rather than a verb and direct object. Also note that the vocalization `<\/em><\/span>oseih<\/span><\/em> rather than `<\/em><\/span>oseh<\/span><\/em>, likewise indicates a noun rather than a verb. Combining these observations yields \u201ca do-gooder.\u201d Even in times of corruption there are people who do good; in the presence of \u201cGod does not care,\u201d however, it is rare to find someone whose being is defined by doing good.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":80840,"id":80840,"title":"ps14-one way","filename":"ps14-one-way.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-roots-of-evil\/ps14-one-way\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps14-one-way","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80839,"date":"2020-10-03 21:15:16","modified":"2020-10-03 21:17:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":6000,"height":4000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Roots Of Evil","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"And what it means to really do good","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":80840,"id":80840,"title":"ps14-one way","filename":"ps14-one-way.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-roots-of-evil\/ps14-one-way\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps14-one-way","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80839,"date":"2020-10-03 21:15:16","modified":"2020-10-03 21:17:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":6000,"height":4000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps14-one-way-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80841,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80839\/revisions\/80841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}