{"id":72454,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:16","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-451\/"},"modified":"2023-10-29T16:27:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T14:27:49","slug":"wall-451","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-451\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Jeremiah-51"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"451","date":"20270523","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"70822","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 51 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 51","slug":"jps-audio-bible-jeremiah-chapter-51","old_id":"70822","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":"451","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":"Jeremiah Chapter 51","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\/user-753876298\/jps_audio_bible_jeremiah_chapter_51","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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"118603","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"\u00a0A Tall Order ","post_title":"\u00a0A Tall Order","slug":"a-tall-order","old_id":"118603","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":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It seems the Babylonians got a little carried away\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Jeremiah 51, Babylon finds itself in God\u2019s \u201ccrosshairs\u201d because of the role it played in the destruction of Solomon\u2019s Temple: \u201cThis is the vengeance of the LORD, vengeance for His Temple\u201d (11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But wasn\u2019t it God Himself who invited the Babylonians to come and pillage Jerusalem in the first place?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But because our fathers angered the God of Heaven, He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who demolished this house and exiled the people to Babylon (<\/span>Ezra 5:12).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How can individuals carrying out the will of God, end up being punished for doing so? And if they had demurred, wouldn\u2019t they be subject to God\u2019s wrath for not having listened?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nachmanides (Ramban) claims that what is said about the Egyptian slavery, could also be said about the Babylonians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And (<\/span>God<\/span><\/em>) said to Abram, \u201cKnow well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; But I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth (Gen 15:13-4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They (<\/span>the Egyptians<\/span><\/em>) threw the children of the Israelites into the river, embittered their lives, and they intended to eradicate their name from memory. \u2026 I will bring them to judgment to determine whether they did as was decreed upon them, or if they increased the evil inflicted upon them\u2026When a decree issues from the mouth of a prophet, there are different laws concerning one who fulfills it. If he heard it and he wishes to fulfill the Will of his Creator as decreed, there is no sin upon him for doing so. On the contrary, it is accounted to him as a merit\u2026 However, if he heard the command, and killed the victim out of his personal hatred or in order to take his wealth, he is subject to punishment, for his intention was to sin, and it is accounted to him as a transgression (Nachmanides on Genesis 15:14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now Nebuchadrezzar heard that the prophets unanimously called upon him to destroy Jerusalem, and he and all his people were commanded to do this by word of the prophet\u2026 Yet the Chaldeans were all punished in the end. This was because of two reasons. First, Nebuchadrezzar also intended to destroy the entire land in order to increase his authority\u2026 And for his having added to the decree and having exceedingly perpetrated evil against Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is deeply difficult when a nation is given Divine authority to control and even punish another, for it to remain within the parameters that God intended. The Rabbinic principle <\/span>averah goreret averah<\/span> (<\/span>one sin leads to another<\/span><\/em>)<\/em> applies not only to ritual law, but certainly also to dominating other human beings. Rather than viewing such authority as an opportunity for expansion of national hegemony, it has to be carried out with solemnity and care. A tall order.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72019,"alt":"","title":"jer40-babylonian","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","width":599,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","medium_large-width":599,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","large-width":599,"large-height":800,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","1536x1536-width":599,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","2048x2048-width":599,"2048x2048-height":800,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","post_full_size-width":599,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-314x420.jpg","home_baner-width":314,"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":"\u00a0A Tall Order","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It seems the Babylonians got a little carried away","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72019,"alt":"","title":"jer40-babylonian","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","width":599,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","medium_large-width":599,"medium_large-height":800,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","large-width":599,"large-height":800,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","1536x1536-width":599,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","2048x2048-width":599,"2048x2048-height":800,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian.jpg","post_full_size-width":599,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-babylonian-314x420.jpg","home_baner-width":314,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"948","name":"Babylonians","old_id":"1348"}]},{"order":3,"id":"118608","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Sword And Club","post_title":"Sword And Club","slug":"sword-and-club","old_id":"118608","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. 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","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":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Babylonians were striking with one, and being struck with the other\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapters 50 and 51 feature 110 verses against the Babylonians. Jeremiah empties his prophetic poetry quiver in these chapters. One method utilized in both chapters is the repeated word stanzas known as anaphora. Anaphora is defined by Webster\u2019s dictionary as \u201crepetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.\u201d Jeremiah does that in verse 35-38 of chapter 50 and 20-23 of chapter 51.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A sword against the Chaldeans \u2014declares GOD \u2014 And against the inhabitants of Babylon, Against its officials and its sages! A sword against the diviners, that they be made fools of! A sword against the warriors, that they be dismayed! A sword against its horses and chariots, And against all the motley crowd in its midst, That they become women! A sword against its treasuries, that they be pillaged! A drought against its waters, that they be dried up! For it is a land of idols; They are besotted by their dread images (50:35-38)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You are My war club, [My] weapons of battle; With you I clubbed nations, With you I destroyed kingdoms; With you I clubbed horse and rider, With you I clubbed chariot and driver, With you I clubbed man and woman, With you I clubbed graybeard and boy, With you I clubbed youth and maiden; With you I clubbed shepherd and flock, With you I clubbed plower and team, With you I clubbed governors and prefects (51:20-23).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 51\u2019s anaphora seems to be the precursor to chapter 50\u2019s anaphora. God designated Babylonia as God\u2019s weapon. God allowed his weapon Babylonia to wreak havoc on the Levant. Now God revokes that agency and turns this weapon on Babylonia. What was \u201cwith you I clubbed chariot and driver\u201d is now \u201ca sword against its horses and drivers.\u201d This is a fitting end to the prophecies of Jeremiah. If the Babylonians can turn from being God\u2019s \u201cchosen\u201d to being the focus of God\u2019s wrath, then the people of Israel can shift from the focus of God\u2019s wrath back to God\u2019s chosen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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She is the author of Divinity School (2015 APR\/Honickman First Book Prize) and Fruit Geode (finalist for the 2018 Jewish Book Award). As a musician and performer, Rabins has released three albums and tours internationally with Girls in Trouble, her indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah, and is in post-production on A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff: The Film, a mystical Jewish feminist rock opera about the largest financial crime in history. Rabins lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children. ","short_description":"Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":68346,"alt":"","title":"Alicia Jo Rabins","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","width":1042,"height":1115,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-957x1024.jpg","large-width":957,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1115,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1042,"2048x2048-height":1115,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":1042,"post_full_size-height":1115,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Understanding an emergent reality, with a submerged pronouncement\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Maybe it\u2019s vaguely heretical to think of Jeremiah as a performance artist rather than a prophet. But I think it makes chapter 51 much more compelling.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Despite its unrelenting drama, I confess that I find the first 59 verses boring. I don\u2019t expect Jeremiah to be polite and diplomatic according to contemporary American standards, especially when our leaders don\u2019t hold to those standards even today.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Still, I can\u2019t get past my (admittedly also modern) wish that an editor had selected the strongest curses rather than simply listing them one after the other. The images step on each others\u2019 toes, they repeat, they begin to blur into a general screech of anger and blood and revenge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But then, in verse 60, there is a turn which transmutes the previous 59 verses from harangue into art.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

51:60-63: \u201cJeremiah wrote down in one scroll all the disaster that would come upon Babylon, all these things that are written concerning Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, \u201cWhen you get to Babylon, see that you read out all these words. And say, \u2018O LORD, You Yourself have declared concerning this place that it shall be cut off, without inhabitant, man or beast; that it shall be a desolation for all time.\u2019 And when you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and hurl it into the Euphrates.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These lines change everything about Jeremiah \u2013 or at least this chapter \u2013 for me. Suddenly, this text is not a book, to be judged by a book\u2019s rules; it\u2019s a piece of performance art, complete with props and stage directions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The thought of a person traveling to a community, unrolling a scroll, shouting curse after curse after curse, then tying a stone to the scroll and hurling it into the Euphrates \u2013now <\/span>that<\/span><\/i> (dare I say) is entertaining. Even if the curses are repetitive, the mere drama of a stranger standing there screaming - for a long time - has an inherent drama. And then the scroll disappears into the river? Cue applause. Or, more likely, screaming, the desired effect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A prophet wants to be heard, which means holding the audience\u2019s attention, which means \u2013 essentially - performing. Though the language in this chapter is brutal, as a script for an act of ritual-political performance art, I admire it. The performance would be jarring in a way that would require the audience to reconsider everything they know.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And this is important, because in the next chapter, things are going to get real \u2013 very real. But so far it\u2019s just a vision of Jeremiah\u2019s, which he (or, actually, his messenger) has to convey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so I think this chapter shows us how art can help people understand a coming reality which has not yet happened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Performance art and prophecy. Are they really so different?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: by Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72810,"alt":"","title":"jer51-michal ben hamu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","width":1024,"height":577,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-768x433.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":433,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-1024x577.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":577,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":577,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":577,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":577,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-745x420.jpg","home_baner-width":745,"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":"Prophecy as Performance Art","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Understanding an emergent reality, with a submerged pronouncement","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72810,"alt":"","title":"jer51-michal ben hamu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","width":1024,"height":577,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-768x433.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":433,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-1024x577.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":577,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":577,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":577,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":577,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-michal-ben-hamu-745x420.jpg","home_baner-width":745,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"72793","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Became Of Jeremiah? ","post_title":"What Became Of Jeremiah?","slug":"what-became-of-jeremiah","old_id":"72793","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The account of his death is greatly elaborated\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our Chapter continues Jeremiah\u2019s oracle against Babylon, concluding with the notice: \u201cThus far are the words of Jeremiah\u201d (Jeremiah 51:64). Since the last chapter of the Book of Jeremiah is a historical appendix rather than a continuation and conclusion of Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy, it seems clear that Jeremiah\u2019s prophetic career ends here at the end of our Chapter. But what then became of Jeremiah?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Extra-Biblical sources fill in the picture of Jeremiah\u2019s ultimate demise. According to Midrash Aggadah on Numbers 30:15 (ed. Buber, page 157), after Jeremiah reproached the Judean exiles in Egypt, they stoned the prophet to death. But they respectfully laid Jeremiah to rest in Egypt, because they loved Jeremiah for having successfully prayed to rid the Nile of crocodiles. Afterwards, Alexander the Great had Jeremiah\u2019s body exhumed and re-interred in Alexandria (see Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, \u201cThe Exile\u201d, note 42).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The 1<\/span>st <\/span>century CE Lives of the Prophets (originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but preserved in Greek, Latin, Syriac and other languages) 2:1-7 elaborates on this midrashic tradition. Here we learn that after Jeremiah was stoned \u201cby his people\u201d in Tahpanhes in Egypt, he was buried near Pharaoh\u2019s palace because Jeremiah had prayed for the eradication of the local vipers. \u201cTo this very day\u201d, it is said, the faithful use the dust on Jeremiah\u2019s grave to cure snake bites. Alexander, having witnessed such miraculous cures, exhumed Jeremiah\u2019s remains, and scattered them in a circle around his newly founded city of Alexandria for protection.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, IV Baruch, Chapter 9, preserves an extensive tradition about how Jeremiah came to die in Jerusalem. When the people there wanted to kill him, Jeremiah appeared to them in the likeness of a stone. While he was revealing his remaining mysteries, the people cast stones at this deceptive doppelg\u00e4nger, thinking it was actually the prophet. After Jeremiah himself was eventually stoned to death, he was laid in a tomb, on which was placed Jeremiah\u2019s stone likeness bearing the inscription: \u201cThis is the stone that was the ally of Jeremiah\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

II Maccabees 15:12-16 relates that in Second Temple Times, Jeremiah reappeared in Jerusalem as an impressive white-haired man. In this vision, Jeremiah is said to have stretched forth his right-hand to give Judah Maccabee a gold sword, saying: \u201cThis holy sword is a gift from God. Take it and destroy your enemies\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hayyim ben Davrish Horowitz, in his Hibbat Yerushalayim (1844) 43a, records a local Jerusalem tradition that Jeremiah remains are buried in \u201cThe Court of the Guard\u201d\u00a0 (later known as \u201cJeremiah\u2019s Grotto\u201d) where he had been imprisoned (see Jeremiah 32:2), located across from the Damascus Gate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

An otherwise unattested tradition preserved in the \u201cAktan de-Mar Yaakov\u201d (published by Eliakim Carmoly in 1842) page 24, relates that when Jeremiah saw the demise of Israel he prayed for his own death. But after the destruction of Babylon and the rebuilding of the Temple, the Holy One, blessed be He, \u201chid him \u2013 genazo\u201d, suggesting that the Biblical Prophet Jeremiah remains alive to this very day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Image: Jerusalem Grotto of Jeremiah, 1920s \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72795,"alt":"","title":"jer51-jeremiahs grotto","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","width":794,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-300x226.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-768x579.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":579,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","1536x1536-width":794,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","2048x2048-width":794,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-557x420.jpg","home_baner-width":557,"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":"What Became Of Jeremiah?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The account of his death is greatly elaborated","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72795,"alt":"","title":"jer51-jeremiahs grotto","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","width":794,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-300x226.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-768x579.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":579,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","1536x1536-width":794,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","2048x2048-width":794,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-jeremiahs-grotto-557x420.jpg","home_baner-width":557,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"72816","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Rivers Of Babylonia ","post_title":"The Rivers Of Babylonia","slug":"the-rivers-of-babylonia","old_id":"72816","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From Biblical castigation to Talmudic safe haven\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The penultimate chapter of Jeremiah is a furious tirade by the prophet excoriating the greed, arrogance and opulence of Babylon, condemning the overweening pride of her leaders, the idolatry endemic in the land, and foretelling the utter destruction that God would wreak on Babylonia as retribution for her wickedness. Babylon's great, wealth-creating rivers are cited as a chief cause and enabler of her evil, as in the verse:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cO, you that dwells on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, and the measure of your greed.\" (Jer.51:14)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Given this context, the rabbis deployment of this text in tractate <\/span>Ta\u2019anit<\/span><\/i> 10a is astounding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cRabbi Oshaya says, \u2018you that dwell on many waters; great are your store houses\u2019 (51:13). Why are Babylonia's storehouses filled with corn? Because she rests on many waters.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Rav said \u2018Babylonia is wealthy, because you can harvest there, even if there is no rain.\u2019 <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Abbaye said \u2018my opinion is that it's better to live in a wet place than a dry one.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A discussion of the precarious economic and climatic circumstances of the Land of Israel ends with rabbis praising the bounty of Babylonia!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We students of Jeremiah know, of course, that the verse has been dramatically decapitated and wrenched out of context. The wealth giving rivers are the very cause of Babylon\u2019s downfall. But did the rabbis know this?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No doubt they did. It is unimaginable that either Rabbi Oshaya or the gemara's editors could have quoted five complimentary words about Babylonia without being fully aware that the surrounding two chapters passed damning judgment on that nation. Why then would they have chosen to ignore the context and mine this verse for its passing positive opinion?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I would argue that the rabbis are deliberately repressing the broader context here, and that this is something which the Jewish people in exile have periodically and perhaps necessarily done.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These scholars flourished in Babylonia, whose plenty enabled the <\/span>yeshivot<\/span><\/i> to take root and Torah study to thrive. I suggest that by plucking a phrase about the bounty of Babylonia from its grim context, the rabbis of Babylonia are acknowledging the material conditions that made their creative work possible while hinting also at their knowledge of the darker side of excessive wealth, and endemic arrogance that undergirded the economic order from which they benefitted \u2013 and which would eventually cause its downfall.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Over 2000 years of wandering Jews have been attracted to successful societies which offered them the chance to thrive economically and build Jewish life. At their best, Jewish leaders were able to emulate the Talmudic rabbi's combination of appreciation for the blessings conferred by host society, with recognition of fatal flaws that could ultimately undermine that country (and the viability of Jewish life there.) But sometimes that balance was lost, and Jews celebrated the current utopia as their perfect and permanent home. This remarkable misreading teaches us to stay clear-eyed about even the most comfortable diaspora havens for Jews and Judaism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Tigris in \u00calih-Hafizbiniyan<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72818,"alt":"","title":"jer51-Tigris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","width":800,"height":412,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-300x155.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":155,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-768x396.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":412,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":412,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":412,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":412,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","home_baner-width":800,"home_baner-height":412}},"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 Rivers Of Babylonia","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From Biblical castigation to Talmudic safe haven","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72818,"alt":"","title":"jer51-Tigris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","width":800,"height":412,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-300x155.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":155,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris-768x396.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":412,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":412,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":412,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":412,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-Tigris.jpg","home_baner-width":800,"home_baner-height":412}},"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"72821","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Shields of David ","post_title":"Shields of David","slug":"shields-of-david","old_id":"72821","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Shelet, schild, sultan\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

After many chapters describing the destruction the Babylonians will bring upon Judea and Jerusalem, in chapters 50 and 51 Jeremiah describes the punishment that will soon be delivered to Babylonia as well. They will be conquered by the Persians and Medes, and a prophecy announcing this appears in Jeremiah 51:11 \u2013<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cPolish the arrows,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Fill the quivers!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The LORD has roused the spirit of the kings of Media,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For His plan against Babylon is to destroy her.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>This is the vengeance of the LORD,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Vengeance for His Temple.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s take a look at one of the words in the verse: quivers. Other translations offer a different phrase, such as \u201cprepare the shields.\u201d The Hebrew word here is <\/span>shelatim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 <\/span>shelet\u00a0<\/span><\/em>in the singular. Rashi\u2019s commentary is the basis for the translation of \u201cquivers\u201d \u2013 this fits the first part of the verse, which mentions arrows. But another medieval commentator, Radak, understands the word as meaning \u201cshields\u201d, and finds support from other verses, such as Song of Songs 4:4, which discusses shields (using the synonym <\/span>magen<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The translation of <\/span>shelet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as \u201cshield\u201d led to a different meaning in modern Hebrew. According to some scholars, the similarity in sound and meaning of the word <\/span>shelet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0to the German \u201cschild\u201d, led to an association of the two among early speakers of modern Hebrew. Schild also means \u201csignboard\u201d in Hebrew, and so <\/span>shelet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0also came to mean \u201csign\u201d or \u201cplacard\u201d \u2013 and in fact that is the primary meaning today.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This may also explain why the \u201cStar of David\u201d is known as <\/span>Magen David<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 literally \u201cShield of David\u201d in Hebrew. According to<\/span> this article<\/span><\/a>, the Star of David was used as the emblem on the flag of the Jews of Prague, who likely called it a \u201cschild\u201d \u2013 meaning \u201ccoat of arms.\u201d But since \u201cschild\u201d also meant shield, when that phrase was translated back into Hebrew, they adopted the word <\/span>magen<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 <\/span><\/i>\u201cshield.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the Bible, <\/span>shelet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0always appears in contexts related to military matters. Based on this, linguists have made a connection to the root <\/span>shalat<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto rule.\u201d This root gives us such words in Hebrew as <\/span>shilton<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cauthority, government\u201d, <\/span>shlita<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201ccontrol\u201d, and a much more recent word \u2013 <\/span>shalat<\/span><\/em>\u00a0 - \u201cremote control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Arabic also used this root. From Arabic it entered Turkish - and this is the source of the word \u201csultan\u201d \u2013 \u201ca ruler.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Historical flag of the Jewish Community in Prague, Old-New Synagogue<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72822,"alt":"","title":"jer51-star","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-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":"Shields of David","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Shelet, schild, sultan\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72822,"alt":"","title":"jer51-star","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-star-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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"72812","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Assyria Was a Staff, Medea Will be a Club ","post_title":"Assyria Was a Staff, Medea Will be a Club","slug":"assyria-was-a-staff-medea-will-be-a-club","old_id":"72812","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. 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In detailing Babylon\u2019s impending doom, Jeremiah spoke of its up-and-coming enemy as a club with which God will smite them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You are My war club, [my] weapons of battle; with you I clubbed nations, with you I destroyed kingdoms. With you I clubbed horse and rider, with you I clubbed chariot and driver. With you I clubbed man and woman, with you I clubbed graybeard and boy, with you I clubbed youth and maiden. With you I clubbed shepherd and flock, with you I clubbed plowman and team, with you I clubbed governors and prefects. (20-23)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This imagery is highly reminiscent of the language that the prophet Isaiah used to address Babylon\u2019s forerunner: Assyria. Speaking, of course, in God\u2019s voice, he declared:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ha! Assyria, rod of My anger, in whose hand, as a staff, is My fury! I send him against an ungodly nation, I charge him against a people that provokes Me, to take its spoil and to seize its booty and to make it a thing trampled like the mire of the streets. (10: 5-6)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just as God used Assyria to punish Israel for its transgressions, now He will use Persia and Medea to settle His score with Babylon. The nations of the world are but tools with which He crafts history, but they are unwitting tools. As Isaiah noted: \u201cBut he does not imagine it so and His mind thinks otherwise; for he means to destroy, to wipe out nations, not a few (10:7).\u201d As interpreted, there, by Radak:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The king of Assyria does not imagine that he is My agent and the rod of My anger. Rather, he imagines that whatever he has accomplished has been the result of his own strength, he is unaware that he is My agent, and whenever I please, I will prevent him from destroying; even though he is intent on destroying everything.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shakespeare may well have had a similar thought in mind when he wrote:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All the world's a stage,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And all the men and women merely players;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>They have their exits and their entrances,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And one man in his time plays many parts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(<\/span>As You Like It<\/span><\/i>: Act II, Scene VII, Line 138)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72814,"alt":"","title":"jer51-club","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","width":1280,"height":988,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-300x232.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-768x593.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-1024x790.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":790,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":988,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":988,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-1200x926.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":926,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-544x420.png","home_baner-width":544,"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":"Assyria Was a Staff, Medea Will be a Club","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We are all merely players, with our exits and entrances","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72814,"alt":"","title":"jer51-club","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","width":1280,"height":988,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-300x232.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-768x593.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-1024x790.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":790,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":988,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":988,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-1200x926.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":926,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer51-club-544x420.png","home_baner-width":544,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"118601","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah51 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah51","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-jeremiah51","old_id":"118601","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. 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","post_title":"The Dwellers of Leb-Kamai (huh?)","slug":"the-dwellers-of-leb-kamai-huh","old_id":"72769","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":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Get out your secret atbash decoder ring\u2026\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

51:1 \u201cThus said the LORD: I am about to rouse against Babylonia and against the dwellers of Leb-Kamai a destroying wind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leb Kamai<\/span><\/i>: This ostensible name is actually a cipher for Chaldea based on the simple system of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the second-to last letter for the second, and so forth. The same cipher is manifested in verse 41, where \u201cSheshak\u201d stands in for <\/span>Bavel<\/span><\/i>, \u201cBabylon.\u201d No one has satisfactorily explained why ciphers should be used in a text that, after all, constantly refers to Babylonia and Chaldea by their actual names.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 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":"The Dwellers of Leb-Kamai (huh?)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Get out your secret atbash decoder ring\u2026","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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"70919","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 51 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 51","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-jeremiah-51","old_id":"70919","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cWho knows four? I know four... for four cups\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Nelly Altenburger: Learn about the textual background of this seder ritual.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAlarms and Signals\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Cameron Hamm: Explore Biblical alert methods.<\/span><\/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 - Jeremiah 51","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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"72767","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 51 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 51","slug":"points-to-ponder-jeremiah-51","old_id":"72767","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":"451","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Revenge<\/em>. The root \u05e0-\u05e7-\u05de, n-k-m, \u201crevenge\u201d appears 4 times in the previous chapter, and 5 in this one. The fall of the Babylonian empire has a strong emotional cast to it.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. A golden cup<\/em>. 16 chapters ago, in Jeremiah 25, we read a prophecy in which the nations were given to drink from \u201cthis cup of wine, of wrath.\u201d In verse 7 there is a cup that is reminiscent of that cup of poison, and it has a clear identity: \u201cBabylon was a golden cup in the LORD\u2019s hand, It made the whole earth drunk.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Prophecy and reality<\/em>. The prophecy in the chapter identifies the enemy who will bring about the downfall of Babylonia with the kings of Media (verses 11 and 28), a kingdom that until the year 550 BCE constituted Babylonia\u2019s biggest threat. But the one who conquered Babylonia was Cyrus the Persian. Researchers and commentators have suggested various ways to understand the connection between the prophecy and history.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Thus far the words of Jeremiah (verse 64)<\/em>. The prophecies have ended. In the next chapter, the last one in the book, we will receive a journalistic-historiographic report about the destruction.<\/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":"Jeremiah 51","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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"51","chapter_main_number":"451","date":"20270523","wall_id":"451"},"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":"","link_teaser":"","listen_link":"","other_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/72454"}],"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=72454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}