THE GOD = Judicial Process:#4 of 4
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Jun 04, 2000 #
# Rashis 81-82 Of 7800 (1.1%) #
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In this small module we will examine the Biblical phrase
>THE ELO-HIM (Not just "ELO-HIM" but "THE ELO-HIM")
which occurs several times in Tnach.
Rashis' basic thesis is that
>THE ELO-HIM = Judicial Process
That is THE ELO-HIM refers either to God or to Human
judicial process.
We will break up the examples into two sets. The first
set, 3 issues ago, were
>obvious examples---
where
>THE ELO-HIM
obviously refers to
>Judicial process.
For example the verse
>"And he will bring him to COURT(HAELOHIM)"
The second set, which occurs in this and the previous few
issues will be
>non-obvious examples.
This issue completes these examples.
A Summary of all places where Rashi comments on
>HA ELO HIM = JUDICIAL PROCESS
is contained on bottom.
This breaking of data sets into OBVIOUS and NON OBVIOUS
examples is a hallmark of advanced data analysis.
In fact the skillful use of
>OBVIOUS vs NON OBVIOUS EXAMPLES
is one of the hallmarks of a true Biblical scholar.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#
EXAMPLE 7: Ex03-01b
-------------------
>Ex03-01b Moses was grazing sheep at the mountain of HAELOKIM
>RASHI: Mount Sinai was called
>The Mountain of HAELOKIM=The mountain of the LAW
because the LAWS of COURTS (Ex 21) was destined TO
BE GIVEN on it (Ex 21 follows the revelation in Ex20
Let me explain this Rashi further. The other occurences of
>ELOKIM
clearly mean
>The LAW, the JUDICIAL PROCESS, the JUDGES
However Ex03-01
>Moses was grazing sheep at the MOUNTAIN OF "THE GOD"
does not clearly refer to Law. For example another reasonable
interpretation is that
>MOUNTAIN OF THE GOD = AWE INSPIRING MOUNTAIN
It is only however, AFTER we reviewed the other examples in
this series and discover that
>HA ELOHIM = LAW, JUDGES, JUDICIAL PROCESS
that I go back and REINTERPRET Ex03-01 as
>MOUNTAIN OF ELOKIM = MOUNTAIN OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM
In summary, the examples in the previous units of this module
JUSTIFY reinterpreting Ex03-01 as refering to Mount Sinai as
the MOUNTAIN of the LAW.
EXAMPLE 8: Gn35-07b
-------------------
Many people are unaware that grammatically the Hebrew word
for God
>A-D-N or E-L-H
occurs in the plural even when referring to one person(not
necessarily God). Here is an explicit Rashi and list
>Gn35-07b >For there THE God(s) revealed Himself to Joseph
>RASHI >There is a {LIST2} of Hebrew words which
>grammatically is written in the PLURAL
>even when referring to one person and even
>when not referring to God.
>The idea behind this is that certain ACTIVITIES
>(like ownership, judgeing, etc) are never done
>by one person but done by a group. Here are
>some examples
CONCEPT VERSE WHY IT IS PLURAL WHO IS REFERRED TO
========= ======= ============================= ==================
Master(S) Gn39-20 The master confers with other Slave owner
OWNER(S) Ex22-13 The owner confers with others Owner of object
Judge Ex22-07 The judge confers with others Court judge
Note Rashis genious in constructing this list. NONE of the examples
refer to God. Using a PLURAL for singular people/objects is a
GRAMMATICAL rule.
This verse was discussed in
Volume 4 Number 15 v1b29-27
of rashi is simple and may be found at
http://www.shamash.org/rashi/v1b29-27.htm
There we showed compared this Rashi with other Rashis on PLURALITY
and GOD.
------------------SUMMARY----------------------------
{LIST3} {Verses with HA ELO HIM. In the first 3 examples it
is obvious that
>HA ELO HIM=Judicial process
In the last 5 examples it is not obvious but the
verses interpretation is enriched by so interpreting
We can also find support for this nuance in the
other verses}
VERSE TEXT How HA ELO HIM=JUDGE
======== =============================== =========================
Ex21-06a He should bring him to HAELOHIM COURT
Gn06-02a HAELOHIM students snatched girls JUDGES
Ex18-19b You be middleman for HA-ELOHIM Receive Law for nation
Gn44-16a The ELO-HIM Found our sin*2 We DESERVED this
Ex03-01b The mountain of HAELOKIM Law received on Sinai
Ex18-11b God is more Just than other gods Judged Egypt with drowning
Gn06-09c Noach WALKED WITH "THE JUDGE" Prepared ark for flood*1
Gn35-07b God(s) revealed Himself to Jacob Plural=Judged by Court*3
NOTES
------
*1 In other words Noach acknowledged Gods justice but did
not rebuke his generation. By contrast, Abraham CALLED
people to God. See {LIST2}
*2 The examples in the lower part of the list are all examples
where it is not necessary that
>HA ELO HIM = Judicial Process
For example the verse
>HA ELO HIM found our sin
could mean
>The KING (JOSEPH) found our sin
Similarly the phrase
>MOUNTAIN OF GOD
could easily refer to
>an awe inspiring mountain
Thus the fact that we ALREADY KNOW that
>HA ELO HIM = Judicial process
leads us to interpret these other verses a certain way
*3 See the list we brought above of
>plural words that take on singular predicates.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*