{"id":65269,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:04","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-347\/"},"modified":"2023-06-25T18:35:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T15:35:53","slug":"wall-347","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-347\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-13"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"347","date":"20261228","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"65397","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 13 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 13","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-13","old_id":"65397","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Isaiah Chapter 13","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_Isaiah_Chapter_13","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"115791","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Masa Of Prophecy ","post_title":"The Masa Of Prophecy","slug":"the-masa-of-prophecy","old_id":"115791","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When is a burden not a burden\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 13 begins a ten-chapter section of the book wherein Isaiah has visions of and for the neighboring nations. Isaiah\u2019s first target is Babylon. The chapter describes the destruction that will eventually come to the Babylonians by the hands of the Medians. Babylonia will become a land haunted by various night animals and possibly even demons.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The chapter begins with an introductory verse \u201cThe \u201cBabylon\u201d <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cpronouncement\u201d), a prophecy of Isaiah son of Amoz.\u201d Each of the chapters introducing a new prophecy against a nation begins with a similar verse using the word <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em>. The word <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>literally means \u201cburden.\u201d Rashi translates <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>as a \u201charsh prophecy.\u201d Malbim translates <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>not as burden but as bringing forth a parable, as a <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>always involves lots of metaphors as opposed to other prophecies that can be narrative based.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Metzudat David looks at the <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>not as a burden, but simply as a prophecy that is carried by a person. The only previous time the word was used to refer to prophecy in Tanach was back in II Kings 9:26. Jehu tells his officer to dump Joram in a field to uphold:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026when GOD made this pronouncement (<\/span>masa<\/span><\/em>) about him: \u2018I swear, I have taken note of the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday\u2014declares GOD.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There, the prophecy is a harsh one, so that matches Rashi\u2019s interpretation. Later, Jeremiah plays with the word <\/span>masa<\/em> <\/span>as a burden matching the literal interpretation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But do not mention 'the burden of GOD ' anymore. Does anyone regard their own word as a 'burden,' that you pervert the words of the living God, GOD of Hosts, our God?\u201d (Jer. 23:36).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This reads like a play on the literal meaning, and not necessarily a direct reference to the specific type of prophecy. It is always possible that these specific words are simply synonyms for prophecy, and they may have no specific difference or the subtle difference is lost to time. This is similar to various introductions that appear in the book of Psalms. Each of those are various music instructions that do not have direct translations, whose exact meanings are no longer known for certain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84239,"alt":"","title":"ps55-burden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","width":975,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-229x300.png","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-768x1008.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1008,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-780x1024.png","large-width":780,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","1536x1536-width":975,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","2048x2048-width":975,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-914x1200.png","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-320x420.png","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Masa Of Prophecy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"When is a burden not a burden","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84239,"alt":"","title":"ps55-burden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","width":975,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-229x300.png","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-768x1008.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1008,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-780x1024.png","large-width":780,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","1536x1536-width":975,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden.png","2048x2048-width":975,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-914x1200.png","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps55-burden-320x420.png","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"569","name":"Translation","old_id":"969"}]},{"order":3,"id":"116397","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Big Three: Babylon, Sodom And Gomorrah","post_title":"The Big Three: Babylon, Sodom And Gomorrah","slug":"the-big-three-babylon-sodom-and-gomorrah","old_id":"116397","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Are they similar - or different?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This chapter of Isaiah focuses on the comeuppance that Babylonia will receive at the hands of the armies of the Medeans: \u201cBehold, I stir up the Medes against them, who do not value silver, or delight in gold\u201d (verse 17). It seems that they will be committed to the task, and not be \u201cbought off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, it also seems bizarre to refer to these men bent on violence, in positive, praiseworthy terms: \u201cI have summoned My holy ones, to execute My wrath; behold, I have called My stalwarts, My proudly exultant ones\u201d (verse 3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shmuel David Luzzato comments that anyone who is ready to fight God\u2019s wars, in this case, fighting the Babylonians who have caused great harm to the Israelites, should be considered \u201choly,\u201d because they would offer sacrifices prior to embarking on a battle in order to pray that his god be with them, and even when they would be in the throes of warfare, they would try to keep themselves pure and holy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, Isaiah 23:19 also contains a strange comparison to an earlier Divine punishment:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Babylon\u2026 shall become like Sodom and Gomorrah, overturned by God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This means that the area previously inhabited by Babylonian society will suffer a fate similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e., no one is to rebuild, let alone live, in the ruins, allowing the devastation to remain a testimony to how God treats a locus of evil. But to claim that God \u201coverturned\u201d both Babylon and Sodom and Gomorrah begs credulity. The biblical story in Genesis is one of a \u201cnatural disaster,\u201d leveling the site of the sinful cities:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from God out of heaven (Gen. 18:24)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whereas Isaiah describes an attack by a marauding army of Medes!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While one could contend that the devastation was so great that the result of the military attack was comparable to what occurred to Sodom and Gemorrah via fire and brimstone, if we take Isaiah literally, then whether an army sweeps away the vestiges of a culture, or a cataclysmic disaster occurs, when one looks at all that happens in the world through the lens of faith, everything reflects the \u201chand of God,\u201d and so God in fact has \u201coverturned\u201d both Babylon, and Sodom and Gomorrah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The scientific revolution has permeated our worldview, even in Modern Orthodox communities, to the extent where we attribute seeing history as being \u201cGod-inspired\u201d or \u201cdirected\u201d as superstitious and unsophisticated. Yet I would contend that something has been lost when we are loathe to give God credit for at least some of the events that transpire in the world. Ideally, God and man should form a partnership with respect to \u201crunning the world,\u201d and we leave God out of the equation at our deep peril to confront a world where ethics and morality are not high-order considerations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Sodom and Gomorrah afire, by Jacob Jacobsz. de Wet d. J., c. 1680 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84087,"alt":"","title":"ps53-sodom and gomorrah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","width":800,"height":636,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-300x239.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-768x611.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":611,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":636,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":636,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":636,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":636,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-528x420.jpg","home_baner-width":528,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Big Three: Babylon, Sodom And Gomorrah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Are they similar - or different?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84087,"alt":"","title":"ps53-sodom and gomorrah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","width":800,"height":636,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-300x239.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-768x611.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":611,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":636,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":636,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":636,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":636,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps53-sodom-and-gomorrah-528x420.jpg","home_baner-width":528,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"948","name":"Babylonians","old_id":"1348"}]},{"order":4,"id":"65502","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Prophets of Today: Adrienne Rich ","post_title":"Prophets of Today: Adrienne Rich","slug":"prophets-of-today-adrienne-rich","old_id":"65502","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The serious revolutionary, like the serious artist, can't afford to lead a sentimental or self-deceiving life","post_main_content_content":"

The prophets of old expressed themselves in powerful, soaring rhetoric, in inspired bombasts of eloquence, and yes - in poetry. So it's no accident, that some of those most appropriate for our project on contemporary prophets are themselves poets! And poetesses. The feminist movement in particular has been graced (Paley) with an (Adrienne) rich array of (Marge) piercy-ing, prophetic voices that have contributed to this hard-won transformation to\u00a0a more just, inclusive world.
\r\nThis is the second in a series of feminist poets as contemporary prophets, working to change our consciousness and society.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

In\u00a0answer to the question \u201cDoes poetry play a role in social change?\u201d Adrienne Rich once answered:<\/p>\r\n

\"Yes, where poetry is liberative language, connecting the fragments within us, connecting us to others like and unlike ourselves, replenishing our desire. . . . In poetry words can say more than they mean and mean more than they say. In a time of frontal assaults both on language and on human solidarity, poetry can remind us of all we are in danger of losing\u2014disturb us, embolden us out of resignation.\"<\/em><\/p>\r\n

There are many great poets, but not all of them alter the ways in which we understand the world we live in; not all of them suggest that words can be held responsible. Remarkably, Adrienne Rich did this, and continues to do this, for generations of readers.
\r\n(Claudia Rankine, \"Adrienne Rich's Poetic Transformations,\" New Yorker<\/em>, May 12, 2016).<\/p>\r\n

\"Adrienne Rich's poems were acts of change, explosive political entities, never tricks or games or vain displays of craft (although they were exquisitely crafted). Reading her, I understood that poets were not meant to hover above the world; poems were burned in the grief, loneliness and outrage of the world. Her poems were rhythmic mappings of survival. They broke taboos and questioned the givens. Rich made me believe for the first time that perhaps the bifurcation of struggle and song was not in fact the path to great literary achievement, but instead a dangerous road to narcissism, abstraction and denial\" (Eve Ensler, The Guardian, April 6, 2012).<\/p>\r\n

Quotes of Adrienne Rich:<\/p>\r\n

Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.<\/p>\r\n

When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.<\/p>\r\n

Poetry is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.<\/p>\r\n

If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.<\/p>\r\n

My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed I have to cast my lot with those who age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.<\/p>\r\n

The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.<\/p>\r\n

In a world where language and naming are power, silence is oppression, is violence.<\/p>\r\n

Poetry is above all a concentration of the power of language, which is the power of our ultimate relationship to everything in the universe.<\/p>\r\n

Courage is not defined by those who fought and did not fall, but by those who fought, fell and rose again.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65505,"alt":"","title":"adrienne-rich","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","width":900,"height":615,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-300x205.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-768x525.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":525,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","large-width":900,"large-height":615,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":615,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":615,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":615,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-615x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":615,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Prophets Of Today - The Poet As Prophet","tile_main_caption":"Adrienne Rich (Feminist Poets II)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The serious revolutionary, like the serious artist, can't afford to lead a sentimental or self-deceiving life","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65505,"alt":"","title":"adrienne-rich","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","width":900,"height":615,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-300x205.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-768x525.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":525,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","large-width":900,"large-height":615,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":615,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":615,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich.jpeg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":615,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/adrienne-rich-615x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":615,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"327","name":"Today's Prophets","old_id":"727"},{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"483","name":"Feminism","old_id":"883"},{"term_id":"552","name":"Change","old_id":"952"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":5,"id":"65508","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Lair Of The Jackals ","post_title":"The Lair Of The Jackals","slug":"the-lair-of-the-jackals","old_id":"65508","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36147,"post_title":"Aaron Koller","slug":"aaron-koller","old_id":"36147","first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Koller","description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.","short_description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies there.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36148,"alt":"","title":"AJ Koller headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Symbols of desolation, their presence also became a harbinger of hope","post_main_content_content":"

At the end of his prophecy of doom directed at Babylon in this chapter, Isaiah paints an evocative picture of ruin and desolation. Once Babylon, former \u201cglory of kingdoms\u201d becomes \u201clike Sodom and Gomorrah,\u201d it will be devoid of human habitation: \u201cNo Arab shall pitch his tent there, no shepherds make flocks lie down there.\u201d Instead, the wildlife will enter. The houses will be filled with owls and ostriches, and even demos (<\/span>se\u2018irim<\/span><\/em>) will make their homes there. Jackals and hyenas, too, will move in, cementing the destruction and abandonment of a formerly great city.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That same last image is used by later prophets, as well. Jeremiah foretells that jackals will inhabit Babylon, too, but also Hazor and even Jerusalem will suffer this fate (9:9-10; 10:22; 49:33; 51:37). Most chillingly, the destruction of Jerusalem is described in just these terms in Lamentations 5:18:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Because of Mount Zion, desolate \/ jackals prowl over it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From the perspective of Jewish history, all we can do, along with Rabbi Akiva, is note these similarities and smile. In a famous passage at the end of the tractate Makkot, Rabbi Akiva and some colleagues did in fact see a fox running among the ruins of the Temple mount, and Rabbi Akiva saw in this a sign of hope: the same prophets who foretold the destruction of Jerusalem also predicted its rebuilding. Now, as we can wander around a vibrant and flourishing city, we can nod in appreciation, and note that no prophet ever predicted the same for Babylon.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65509,"alt":"","title":"is13-jackal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Lair Of The Jackals","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Symbols of desolation, their presence also became a harbinger of hope","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65509,"alt":"","title":"is13-jackal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-jackal-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"},{"term_id":"660","name":"Animals","old_id":"1060"}]},{"order":6,"id":"65560","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Special Hell For Women And Children ","post_title":"A Special Hell For Women And Children","slug":"a-special-hell-for-women-and-children","old_id":"65560","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41525,"post_title":"Sivan Rotholz","slug":"sivan-rotholz","old_id":"41525","first_name":"Sivan ","last_name":"Rotholz","description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. She taught feminist Torah study and creative writing at Brooklyn College, Tel Aviv University, and Temple Israel of the City of New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law and is the Managing Editor of the Saturday Poetry Series on As It Ought To Be. ","short_description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could?","post_main_content_content":"

And their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes<\/span>. <\/span>Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

In his latest vision of doom and gloom, the prophet Isaiah threatens the people of Israel with infanticide and rape. The subject of this threat is the Israelite <\/span>men<\/span><\/em> \u2014 the women and children are their property in the same way as their houses \u2014 the threat here is really that of destruction of property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While threatening what will befall the men, of course, no consideration is given to the women.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is nothing in this passage that is concerned with the experience of the women, who first watch their children murdered, and are then raped by the murderers. It is a special kind of hell that befalls the women of Isaiah 13, and yet the men who write their story give no thought to their experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Bible is rife with rape. Dina, the Levite\u2019s concubine, Tamar. The women of Numbers 31 and Judges 21. The summoning of Bathsheba. Deuteronomy with its captive brides and women raped in a city, in a field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As in Isaiah, these are stories told to further men\u2019s narratives. As in Isaiah, consideration is not given for the women\u2019s experiences; there was no #MeToo movement in the biblical age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And what of Isaiah\u2019s infanticide?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is in Isaiah 13 a chilling inversion of an earlier biblical moment. \u201cBy the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, as we remembered Zion.\u201d These opening lines of Psalm 137 are beloved and well-known. Less known are the closing lines of this biblical poem, \u201cFair Babylon, you predator, a blessing on him who repays you in kind what you have inflicted on us; a blessing on him who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The dashing of babies was apparently rich fodder for the biblical literary imagination. But how could a people who suffered having their babies dashed against the rocks \u2014 who wished this as a kind of eye-for-an-eye justice upon their worst enemy \u2014 return from exile only to threaten this same atrocity against their own people? The oppressed threatens to become the oppressor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah 13 offers us a rare glimpse into a people wounded by exile who, in turn, perpetuated a cycle of abuse. Thousands of years later, we continue to internalize Jewish trauma and pass it down from generation to generation. Is smashing our babies against the rocks really what we want to wish upon ourselves or others? Is the cycle of abuse really a legacy the people of Israel wants to perpetuate? Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whether for women or for the future of Judaism, we owe it to our past to do better for our future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65569,"alt":"","title":"is13-baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Special Hell For Women And Children","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65569,"alt":"","title":"is13-baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"457","name":"Rape","old_id":"857"},{"term_id":"529","name":"Children","old_id":"929"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"667","name":"Judaism","old_id":"1067"}]},{"order":7,"id":"65518","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Travail Of Childbirth ","post_title":"The Travail Of Childbirth","slug":"the-travail-of-childbirth","old_id":"65518","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64758,"post_title":"Avraham Norin","slug":"avraham-norin","old_id":"64758","first_name":"Avraham ","last_name":"Norin ","description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program. He lives in the Southern Hebron Hills with his wife and six children.","short_description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64759,"alt":"","title":"avraham norin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","width":1064,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1021,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","2048x2048-width":1064,"2048x2048-height":1600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Intense pain and anxiety, but also hope and new life","post_main_content_content":"

On May 6<\/span>th<\/span>, 2019, after watching his wife Meghan give birth to their son, Prince Harry reported that \u201cIt's been the most amazing experience I could ever have possibly imagined.\"\u00a0 Prince Harry expressed the feelings of many men and women who have witnessed this incredible act of creation. It is breathtaking! It is miraculous!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is also painful beyond belief. After expressing his awe of the childbirth process, Prince Harry turned his focus to what his wife went through and said \"How any woman does what they do is beyond comprehension.\" In recent years, a number of simulators have been created to allow men to experience the pains of childbirth. Men who subjected themselves to these simulated birth devices have stopped the machines before reaching a level of pain that women often experience during this process. It is therefore not surprising that when Isaiah wishes to describe the pain that the Babylonians will feel as a punishment for their actions he uses the childbirth imagery:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They shall panic; pangs and throes shall seize them; like a woman in childbirth they shall writhe; each man shall be amazed at his fellow; their faces are faces of flames. (Isaiah 13:8)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet women experience an even more painful process during pregnancy and birth: worrying about the birth of the baby. Suzanne Jannese, commenting on the childbirth simulators for men, points out that the physical <\/span>pain<\/span><\/em> that's being simulated in these machines is nothing compared to the fear and anxiety that women experience during the entire nine months leading up to <\/span>childbirth<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

King Hezekiah made a similar observation in the book of Isaiah. When the Assyrian army, after successfully demolishing the ten northern tribes of Israel and much of Judah, threatened to destroy Jerusalem, Hezekiah tears his clothes, covers himself in sackcloth and goes to the Temple to pray. He then sends this message to Isaiah:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This day is a day of trouble, rebuke and blasphemy, for the children have come as far as the birth stool and there is not strength to give birth (Isaiah 37:3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah understood that the potential of birth is more than the witnessing of a miracle, and more than the incredible pain.\u00a0 Birth is the end of a long and tiring process which hopefully will lead to new life. It is is the ability to create long term goals, and being able to subject yourself to much discomfort until reaching them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah also realized that sometimes these goals are beyond our reach. We reach a point when we just can't continue. King Hezekiah teaches us that when this happens, we should turn our prayers to God, the ultimate creator of life and planner of history.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65538,"alt":"","title":"is13-cry","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","width":1132,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-265x300.png","medium-width":265,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-768x868.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":868,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-906x1024.png","large-width":906,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","1536x1536-width":1132,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","2048x2048-width":1132,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-1061x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1061,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-371x420.png","home_baner-width":371,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Travail Of Childbirth","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Intense pain and anxiety, but also hope and new life\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65538,"alt":"","title":"is13-cry","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","width":1132,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-265x300.png","medium-width":265,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-768x868.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":868,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-906x1024.png","large-width":906,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","1536x1536-width":1132,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry.png","2048x2048-width":1132,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-1061x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1061,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-cry-371x420.png","home_baner-width":371,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"401","name":"Life","old_id":"801"},{"term_id":"606","name":"Pain","old_id":"1006"},{"term_id":"754","name":"Childbirth","old_id":"1154"}]},{"order":8,"id":"115802","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah13 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah13","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah13","old_id":"115802","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. 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In our comments on 2 Kings 20, which reports on the reign of Hezekiah, we observed that the Babylonians made their initial appearance there as an up-and-coming world power. We also noted that Isaiah made an appearance and predicted that those same Babylonians would empty the treasuries he had shown them and take Hezekiah\u2019s royal descendants captive. Now, we have a formal prophecy of Isaiah on the eventual displacement of Babylonia by Medea.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his detailed description of the Babylonian downfall, Isaiah offered the following simile:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then like gazelles that are chased, and like sheep that no man gathers, each man shall turn back to his people, they shall flee every one to his land (14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Radak, typifying the <\/span>peshat<\/span><\/em> approach, commented: \"<\/span>When disaster comes, the foreigners residing in Babylonia will be like a displaced gazelle that is being chased to capture it and runs with all its strength [to evade pursuit]. So all the foreigners will rush to leave Babylon, each turning to his own nation and his own land.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim* splits the following linguistic hairs (so to speak) between pursued gazelles and straying sheep.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sheep need to flock together so their shepherd can protect them from danger, and then they are secure even while grazing in a field or forest, but if they scatter they get lost and become prey for wolves. The gazelle, however, usually goes alone and deer do not generally flock together\u2026 rather they need a special place to reside\u2026 and be protected from stronger animals\u2026 Therefore, the chased gazelle seeks his special place while stray sheep seek to gather with their flock.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So it will be with the foreigners in Babylon who, up until now, have regarded it as their own land and the Chaldeans their own people. When the city will be captured, they will be like chased gazelles seeking their own land and like stray sheep seeking their own kind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim\u2019s distinction strikes a familiar contemporary chord with respect to minorities\u2014which is what the foreigners were in Babylon. They generally retain some affinity for their places of origin; however, some feel a greater kinship based on territory while others feel it towards ethnicity. Either way, when their lives are disrupted, they often need to migrate lest the indigenous people turn on them as a fifth column.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65515,"alt":"","title":"is13-gazelles and sheep","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"As Gazelles And Sheep","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"They shall flee and turn back to their people","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65515,"alt":"","title":"is13-gazelles and sheep","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-gazelles-and-sheep-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"660","name":"Animals","old_id":"1060"}]},{"order":10,"id":"65366","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 13 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 13","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-13","old_id":"65366","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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\u201cAlarms and Signals\u201d<\/a> by Cameron Hamm: Sources about modes of warning.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBad Omens, Threats, and Punishments: Solar Eclipses in Tanach, Talmud, and Philosophy\u201d<\/a> by Robbie Medwed: What do natural phenomena represent in Jewish sources?<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Isaiah 13","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"65501","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Portents, Burdens, Oracles ","post_title":"Portents, Burdens, Oracles","slug":"portents-burdens-oracles","old_id":"65501","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaiah, pt 2: Prophecies about other countries","post_main_content_content":"

13:1 \u201cThe portent about Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw in a vision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word translated as \u201cportent,\u201d <\/span>masa\u2019, <\/span><\/i>has the literal sense of \u201cburden,\u201d which is to say, a burden of prophetic pronouncement. Some render this as \u201coracle,\u201d\u00a0 though oracles tend to be murkier and also more strictly predictive. Babylon becomes an imperial power in the region that threatens, then destroys, the kingdom of Judah a century after Isaiah. Prophetic and other biblical books were conceived as open-ended affairs into which later materials could be introduced. Presumably, the editor felt that the portent about the doom of Babylon was in keeping with the outlook of Isaiah\u2019s prophecies concerning Assyria. The psalm placed as chapter 12 editorially marks the end of the first large unit of the book. The present chapter begins a series of prophecies about sundry foreign nations. Most of this material is later, although it is difficult to sort out the chronology of the various units.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible, <\/span><\/i>vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Portents, Burdens, Oracles","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaiah, pt 2: Prophecies about other countries","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"65499","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - 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    \r\n\t
  1. Babylon or Assyria?<\/em>. It says Babylon. But the fact that the Babylonian empire will only appear about 100 years after Isaiah, leads commentators and scholars to propose that he\u2019s talking about Assyria, and not Babylon. Not to mention, that the city of Babylon was the capital of Assyria.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Clean politics<\/em>. The kingdom which will struggle against and inherit from Babylon is Medea. They are not interested in money, so it will be impossible to bribe them to forget the whole thing: \u201cBehold, I stir up the Medes against them, Who do not value silver Or delight in gold\u201d (17).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Without a shepherd or a tent<\/em>. \u201cNo Arab shall pitch his tent there, No shepherds make flocks lie down there\u201d (20). In other words - total desolation.Even nomadic sheepherders won\u2019t live in Babylon. Just desert animals - owls and ostriches; jackals and even satyrs (which could be demons).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Contrasting sounds and images<\/em>. Listen to the sounds: \u201cAnd, overcome by terror, They shall be seized by pangs and throes, Writhe like a woman in travail..\u201d (8); \u201clike havoc [shohd] from Shaddai\u201d (6); and sights such as \u201cdragons in the palaces of pleasure\u201d (22). Powerful stuff.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. When?<\/em> The day of the LORD sounds so far away; connected to the end of the world. Perhaps for this reason, the prophecy twice emphasizes that it is \u201ccoming soon\u201d (verses 6, 22).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Isaiah 13","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/65269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}