{"id":85044,"date":"2020-12-19T22:19:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85044"},"modified":"2020-12-19T22:19:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T20:19:40","slug":"a-lily-by-any-other-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-lily-by-any-other-name\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lily By Any Other Name"},"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":"85044","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"636","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Could actually be a whole lot of things...\r\n\r\n","content":"

Our psalm\u2019s superscription reads: <\/span>\u201c<\/span>For the leader. On shoshannim. Of David.\u201d Who or what are <\/span>shoshanim<\/span><\/em> and does this identification help us understand the psalm?<\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially, the point of contention is whether <\/span>shoshanim<\/span><\/em> refers, literally, to the flower of that name, lily\u2014known, primarily, from Song of Songs\u2014or is it a figure of speech?<\/span><\/p>\n

The venerable Aramaic Targum, basing itself on a Talmudic tradition in Tractate Sanhedrin, rendered <\/span>shoshanim<\/span><\/em> as the Sanhedrin, and translated \u201cFor praise; concerning the exiles of the Sanhedrin; composed by David.\u201d Rashi\u2019s interpretation was: \u201cShoshanim<\/em> are Israel who resemble \u2018a lily amongst the thorns\u2019 that is pierced by the thorns, so [David] prayed for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The commentary attributed to Rashi\u2019s grandson Rashbam identified <\/span>shoshanim<\/span><\/em> as \u201ca musical instrument,\u201d and added his own idiosyncratic explanation:<\/span><\/p>\n

This psalm was composed when [David] was fleeing from Saul to the land of the Philistines. There, he heard them blaspheming God and rejoicing over their capture of the Ark and destruction of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. The proof is in \u201cMy zeal for Your house has been my undoing\u201d (10).<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak, like Rashi and Targum, treated the theme of this psalm as one of exile, pointing out that \u201cits use of the [grammatical] singular is either the collective voice, or [represents] each individual exile praying and crying over his distress.\u201d Malbim hedged his bets between the exilic theme and a purely historical interpretation (like Rashbam), saying: \u201cSome refer it to the time [David] was fleeing from Absalom, while others interpret it about the exile. My commentary embraces both.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The opening line of the psalm reads: <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Deliver me, O God, for the waters have reached my neck\u201d (<\/span>nefesh<\/span><\/em>). More precisely, the <\/span>nefesh<\/span><\/i> is the forepart of the neck, i. e.,the throat, so called because of its association with breathing (N-F-Sh=N-Sh-F<\/em>, \u201cexhale\u201d). Robert Alter notes:<\/span><\/p>\n

The familiar image of drowning as a metaphorical representation of near death is elaborated with arresting psychological concreteness: the rising waters come up to the neck; the speaker feels his feet slipping from under him in the water as he sinks into the mire; then the current sweeps him away. (The Hebrew Bible vol. 3, 166).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":85045,"id":85045,"title":"ps69-lily","filename":"ps69-lily.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-lily.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-lily-by-any-other-name\/ps69-lily\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps69-lily","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":85044,"date":"2020-12-19 20:19:28","modified":"2020-12-19 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