{"id":85034,"date":"2020-12-19T21:27:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T19:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85034"},"modified":"2020-12-19T21:27:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T19:27:18","slug":"the-shibboleth-sweeps-me-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-shibboleth-sweeps-me-away\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shibboleth Sweeps Me Away"},"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":"85034","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"636","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Both real and metaphorical drownings\r\n\r\n","content":"

In Psalm 69, the psalmist describes either a real or metaphorical drowning:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDeliver me, O God, for the waters have reached my neck; I am sinking into the slimy deep and find no foothold; I have come into the watery depths; the flood sweeps me away.\u201d (Psalms 69:2-3)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew word translated here as \u201cflood\u201d is <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>. It appears 19 times in the Bible, with various meanings. Sometimes as flood or flowing stream, like in our verse and in Isaiah 27:12. It can also mean an ear of grain, like in Ruth 2:2, or \u201ctwigs, branches\u201d as in Zechariah 4:12.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of these different meanings can be explained by looking at the origin of <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>. It derives from the root <\/span>SH-B-L<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto hang down, stretch along, move along.\u201d (The Hebrew word for \u201cpath\u201d \u2013 <\/span>shvil<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 is also related.) Ears of grain and tree branches hang down from the plant, and a flowing stream is moving along quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most famous use of <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is in the book of Judges. The soldiers of Gilead were trying to isolate the Ephraimites from the local residents, and made a test based on pronunciation:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gileadites held the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?”; if he said, “No,” they would say to him, “Then say <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>“; but he would say “<\/span>sibolet,<\/span><\/em>” not being able to pronounce it correctly. Thereupon they would seize him and slay him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell at that time. (Judges 12:5-6)<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the Ephraimites couldn\u2019t properly pronounce <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>, they were discovered, and suffered a terrible defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n

This story became a famous example of a catchword that is only known to one group of people (or that group is only one who can pronounce it properly.) And so in English, that is the meaning of \u201cshibboleth\u201d today \u2013 a custom or tradition that distinguishes a particular group.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the verse in Judges doesn\u2019t say why that word was chosen \u2013 other than the challenge to say the first letter correctly. Some wonder which meaning of <\/span>shibolet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0was intended by the Gileadites. But the consensus is that, like in our verse in Psalms, it means a flowing stream, because that is where the incident took place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The psalmist eventually sees the desired redemption- \u201cFor the LORD listens to the needy, and does not spurn His captives\u201d (68:34). The Ephraimites, however, were not so lucky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more on shibboleth – see previous posts <\/span>here <\/span><\/a>and <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55825,"id":55825,"title":"jud12-shibboleth-stream-stalk","filename":"jud12-shibboleth-stream-stalk.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud12-shibboleth-stream-stalk.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/shibboleth-trouble-with-border-crossings\/jud12-shibboleth-stream-stalk\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud12-shibboleth-stream-stalk","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55824,"date":"2019-05-20 19:57:25","modified":"2020-12-19 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