{"id":85706,"date":"2020-12-30T17:56:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85706"},"modified":"2020-12-30T17:56:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:56:33","slug":"the-rejection-of-ephraim-the-selection-of-judah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-rejection-of-ephraim-the-selection-of-judah\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rejection of Ephraim, The Selection Of Judah"},"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":"85706","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64758,"related_cahpter":"645","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The psalmist gets his point across in multiple ways\r\n\r\n","content":"

Psalm 78 wishes to show that the town of Shiloh in the region of Ephraim, the site where the Tabernacle dwelled for hundreds of years, had been rejected by God. Conversely, the psalmist emphasizes that God has instead chosen to dwell in Jerusalem, in the region of Judah. This is written explicitly at the end of the psalm “He rejected the clan of Joseph; He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. He did choose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved. He built His Sanctuary like the heavens, like the earth that He established\u201d (verses 67-69).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the psalm, this message is reiterated in subtle ways. Here are three of them:<\/span><\/p>\n

The sounds of the words<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In the Torah, the place where God will choose to dwell is referred to as “The site where the LORD your God will choose to establish His name, that is where you will bring offerings” (Deuteronomy 12:11).\u00a0 In Hebrew, this verse emphasizes the “<\/span>sh<\/span><\/em>” sound:”<\/span>Shachen Shmo Sham- Shama<\/span><\/em>\u2026”\u00a0 In psalm 78, “<\/span>sh<\/span><\/em>” words also appear quite often.\u00a0 Furthermore, as my colleague Gidon Ariel pointed out to me, the people of Ephraim couldn’t properly pronounce the “<\/span>sh<\/span><\/em>” sound (See Judges 12). Interestingly, psalm 78 describes the destruction of Shiloh twice- first with “<\/span>sh<\/span><\/em>” words “<\/span>Vaytosh Mishkan shiloh\u2026Shiken<\/span> Adam<\/span><\/em>” (verse 60) and then with “s” words “<\/span>Vayim\u2019as b\u2019ohel Yoseph<\/span><\/em>” (verse 67).<\/span><\/p>\n

Comparison<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Deut. 13 describes a town whose people were convinced to worship other gods due to the speech of scrupulous people. There is a commandment to completely destroy this city, letting it remain an everlasting ruin. Psalm 78 describes how the people of Israel turned to idol worship when Shiloh was their spiritual capital.\u00a0 It continues to explain that God destroyed Shiloh which He held responsible for the people’s actions, since the people of Ephraim <\/span>“<\/b>deceived Him with their speech, lied to Him with their words; their hearts were inconstant toward Him; they were untrue to His covenant\u201d (36-37).<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Torah tells us the benefit to destroy this city is “so that the LORD may turn from His fury and show you compassion, and in His compassion increase you as He promised your fathers on oath” (Deuteronomy 13:18). The psalmist uses similar language as he states “But He, being compassionate, forgave iniquity and would not destroy; He restrained His wrath time and again and did not give full vent to His fury” (Psalm 78:38).<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagery<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The people of Ephraim are compared to “bowmen” (verse 9). This conjures the imagery of Ishmael and Esau, the bowmen of the book of Genesis who were rejected from the covenant of Israel. In contrast, King David, the builder of the Temple in Jerusalem, is described as a shepherd, both in regards how he led sheep and how he led the people of Israel (verses 70-72). This reminds us of our forefather Abraham who while tending his sheep, also taught to the people of Canaan the caring nature of the true God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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