{"id":84437,"date":"2020-12-02T16:18:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T14:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=84437"},"modified":"2020-12-02T16:37:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T14:37:20","slug":"snails-pots-and-brambles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/snails-pots-and-brambles\/","title":{"rendered":"Snails, Pots, and Brambles"},"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":"84437","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"625","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And some thorny difficulties in translation\r\n\r\n","content":"

Speaking of the \u201cwicked\u201d and \u201cspeakers of lies\u201d (4), the psalmist said: \u201cLike a snail (<\/span>shablul<\/span><\/em>) that melts away (<\/span>temes<\/span><\/em>) as it moves (<\/span>yahalokh<\/span><\/em>); like a woman\u2019s stillbirth (<\/span>nefel<\/span><\/em>), may they never see the sun\u201d (9). The Hebrew <\/span>shablul<\/span><\/em> is a hapax legomenon\u2014a unique word that occurs nowhere else in Tanakh. How, then did the various translators and exegetes (Malbim even uses the German word <\/span>schneke<\/span><\/em> for snail), decide that it means a snail?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ordinarily, in such a situation, the definition is based on the context; here, however, that is barely productive. <\/span>Temes<\/span><\/em>, itself a rare word, is presumed to be derived from the verb M-S-H, to melt away (related to M-\u2018-S, to flow, in the previous verse). They reasoned that a <\/span>shablul<\/span><\/em> had to be something that gives the appearance of dissolving as it moves along, hence \u201cthe slimy secretion of a snail as an image of dissolution or transience\u201d (Alter: <\/span>The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/i>, vol. 3, 146).<\/span><\/p>\n

The start of the next verse is similarly daunting. \u201cBefore the thorns (<\/span>siroteikhem<\/span><\/em>) grow into (<\/span>yavinu<\/span><\/em>) a bramble (\u2018<\/span>atad<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (10). The Hebrew <\/span>sir<\/span><\/em> can be either a pot or a thorn; indeed, both the King James Bible and the Old JPS rendered it: \u201c<\/span>Before your pots can feel the thorns\u201d (apparently on the assumption that thorns were used as kindling beneath the pot).\u00a0 How can we determine which definition, here, is preferable? Once again, the context is crucial. We previously encountered an \u2018<\/span>atad<\/span><\/em> in Judges 9 in the parable of the trees recited by Jotham. Since it is indubitably a bramble, it would argue\u2014by association\u2014that we are dealing here with thorns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the balance of v. 10: \u201cMay He whirl them away (<\/span>yis`arenu<\/span><\/em>) alive (<\/span>k\u2019mo chay<\/span><\/em>) in fury (<\/span>k\u2019mo charon<\/span><\/em>), we commiserate with Robert Alter: \u201cThe translation of the cryptic Hebrew is only a guess\u201d (<\/span>ibid<\/span><\/em>.<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

One final note: The close of v. 11 is translated (with near unanimity) as: \u201c[The righteous] will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked,\u201d an action, albeit peculiar, that is understood to be consistent with the \u201crevenge\u201d secured in the first half of the verse. Based on parallels in Canaanite (Ugaritic) literature, it seems that it would be better translated as \u201cwash his feet <\/span>of<\/span><\/i> the wicked one\u2019s blood,\u201d which, assumedly, got there when the victor trod upon his slain victim. (See Mitchell Dahood: \u201cHebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography VIII,\u201d <\/span>Biblica<\/span><\/i> 51:3, 1970, p. 392).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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