Guidelines for Poetic Verses:#3 of 10
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Oct 6, 2000 #
# Rashis 350-354 Of 7800 (4.5%) #
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Todays posting, part of the poetry series, deals with the
4 PHASES OF A HUMAN RELATIONSHIP.
* FINDING somebody
* DATING--Sharing gifts and going together
* UNDERSTANDING EACH OTHER
* MARRIAGE--CARING/PROTECTING each other.
OVERVIEW:
--------
RULE: We have frequently indicated that POETIC verses are
governed by the Rabbi Ishmael rule of CONTEXT. Very often poetic
verses REPEAT the same theme several times. In interpeting these
verses the following guiding principles are helpful:
GUIDELINES FOR INTERPRETING POETIC VERSES
-----------------------------------------
* First, find the overall UNIFYING principle
* Next, try and recognize the WORDS that YOU do KNOW
* Further try and find the SPECIAL NUANCES in the words you know
* Then infer the meanings of other words using PARALLEL STRUCTURE
* Try and find all SUBCATEGORIES of the UNIFYING theme
* Make a ONE TO ONE CORRESPONDENCE between the subcategories of
The unifying theme and repeated stanzas of the verse based on
the nuances you recognize in the repeated words.
In a nutshell whereas legal language is analytic, poetic language
is evocative The phrases don't define properties by themselves but
rather evoke an image.
Those who wish to see this posting on the website should
visit http://www.rashiYomi.com/h7n20.htm
NOTE: Because this posting has 5 Rashis, double the usual amount
this posting will suffice for 2 days. Those who wish too may
therefore read it lightly today and more seriously tomorrow
Have a Chatimah Tovah.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
EXAMPLES:
VERSE: Dt32-10a
RASHIS USED: Dt32-10a Dt32-10b Dt32-10c
Dt32-10d Dt32-10e
RULE: We have frequently indicated that POETIC verses are
governed by the Rabbi Ishmael rule of CONTEXT. Very often poetic
verses REPEAT the same theme several times. In interpeting these
verses the following guiding principles are helpful:
GUIDELINES FOR INTERPRETING POETIC VERSES
* First, find the overall UNIFYING principle
* Next, try and recognize the WORDS that YOU do KNOW
* Further try and find the SPECIAL NUANCES in the words you know
* Then infer the meanings of other words using PARALLEL STRUCTURE
* Try and find all SUBCATEGORIES of the UNIFYING theme
* Make a ONE TO ONE CORRESPONDENCE between the subcategories of
The unifying theme and repeated stanzas of the verse based on
the nuances you recognize in the repeated words.
EXAMPLES
1) Dt32-10
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He(God) found them (The Jews) in a land that is a
desert and a nothingness---jackal cries of despair
He(God) Surrounded them
He gave them understanding
He watched them like the pupil of his eye
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We now review the 5 repeated stanzas of this verse using the 6
suggested guidelines in the RULE above
UNIFYING PRINCIPLE: Clearly all 5 repeated stanzas state that
God found the Jews
WORDS YOU KNOW: Most words in the verse are common Hebrew words.
Rashi reminds us of the meaning of the following words & phrases
(which can be found in any (Biblical) dictionary)
* The Hebrew word YeVoNeNayHu comes from the
root Beth-Yud-Nun which means TO UNDERSTAND
* The Hebrew word YiTzeRenHu comes from the root
Nun-Tzade-Resh which means to Watch(eg Prv27-18, Prv22-12)
* The Hebrew word EeyShun means the pupil of the eye(eg Ps17-8)
* The concept of desert land is described using 4 words
{LIST}
The 4 words in Dt32-10 meaning Desert.
The phrase as a whole would be translated as follows:
in a land that is a DESERT and a NULLILITY---
a WAILING of DESOLATION *1
============================================================
Hebrew word English Meaning Another verse with this word
----------- --------------- ----------------------------
MidBar Desert Ex03-01
ToHu Nullility Gn01-02
YeLayL Wining, crying Jer25-36
YeShiMoN Desolation Gn47-19
NOTES
*1 Note that Rashi not only translated the words but also
gave their grammatical function--that is he indicated HOW
the words are connected. Thus for example the phrase WAILING
OF DESOLATION is placed opposite to land that is a DESERT and
NULLILITY --this is common in Biblical phrases. Thus the whole
sentence is translated In a land that is a desert and nullility-
--a wailing of desolations (Other translations of function may
be possible in Rashis words but we do not enter that here)
SPECIAL NUANCES: The following words have obvious nuances
* YeVoNeNayHu means to understand and can refer to learning
* YiMTzAyHu means to find and can indicate, in the sphere of
love relations, finding a person you get along with . Four or
five examples of this usage may be found in Songs 3:1-4 (I am
a bit surprised that Rashi did not point this out explicitly)
PARALLEL STRUCTURE: This is clearly delineated by the four verbs
*God found them
*God surrounded them
*God gave them understanding
*God watched them
SUBCATEGORIES OF FINDING A PARTNER IN A RELATIONSHIP
We already indicated that the unifying theme of the verse is
God FOUND the Jews . We also indicated that FOUND means FINDING
A PARTNER IN A RELATIONSHIP. The subcategories of FINDING are
* FINDING--Obtaining the Partner
* DATING--Sharing gifts with the partner; going places;
* UNDERSTANDING each other
* MARRIAGE--CARING FOR EACH OTHER
{LIST}
1-1 correspondence of Dt32-10 & 4 phases of FINDING someone
===========================================================
Phrase in Dt32-10 Relationship Rashi on this phrase
----------------- ------------ --------------------
God found the Jews Find God found his match*1
He Surrounded them Date God gave clouds,flags*2
Gave them understanding Understand Gave Torah*3
He Watched/cared Caring God saved from perils*4
NOTES
*1 Rashi points out that eg other nations would not have been
suitable partners--eg the Arabs and Esauvites would not have
accepted the Torah
*2 Rashi mentions 3 things (all indicative of the dating phase)
2a--He surrounded the Jews with CLOUDS (a gift)
2b--He surrounded the Jews with FLAGS for each tribe(A gift)
2c--The Jews surrounded the mountain at Sinai (The date to
receive the Torah)
The concept of a date with God was introduced to me by my
teacher Rabbi Joseph Baer Soloveitchick who frequently used this
concept in Lecture
Note how I have INTERPRETED RASHI. The SURROUNDING by clouds
and flags is itself indicative of a DATING relationship which
is one phase of God and the Jews finding each other
I am justified in so interpreting Rashi because of the
principle of CONTEXT which requries that all 4 phrases
indicate some aspect of the relationship
*3 Thus we view the Torah as the phase where the two parties,
God and the Jews UNDERSTAND each other
*4 Rashi simply gives a list of perils that the Jews encountered
4a Snakes and scorpions (eg Compare Dt08-15) or the nations
that attacked the Jews which God saved them from (eg Dt02,Dt03)
SUMMARY: Thus Dt32-10 describes how God found his partner
the Jews Here is a loose translation with commentary
----------------------------------------------------------
He found them in a desert land where there was no one else
He surrounded the Jews with Gifts like flags and clouds
He shared understanding with them thru the Torah
He entered into Convenant with them to protect and care for them
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RULE USED: EXAMPLE9
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