Parshat Vayislach, 5773/2012 thoughts #2: Details, details
Round 1 is here.
Look at what my husband spotted:
From Parshat Toldot, in B'reshit/Genesis, chapter 28:
ט וַיֵּלֶךְ עֵשָׂו, אֶל-יִשְׁמָעֵאל; וַיִּקַּח אֶת-מָחֲלַת בַּת-יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן-אַבְרָהָם אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת, עַל-נָשָׁיו--לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה. {ס} 9 so Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife. {S}
From Parshat Vayishlach, in B’reshit/Genesis, chapter 36:
ב עֵשָׂו לָקַח אֶת-נָשָׁיו, מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן: אֶת-עָדָה, בַּת-אֵילוֹן הַחִתִּי, וְאֶת-אָהֳלִיבָמָה בַּת-עֲנָה, בַּת-צִבְעוֹן הַחִוִּי. 2 Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
ג וְאֶת-בָּשְׂמַת בַּת-יִשְׁמָעֵאל, אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת. 3 and Basemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth.
The commentators probably had quite a field day trying to explain how the same woman could have been recorded under two totally different names in the Torah. Oh, sure, they probably said that one was her middle name. But I'm calling Documentary Hypothesis on this: I think these names came from two different sources/stories that were woven together with the seams showing, as usual.
(Wow: Regarding that last link, what's really amazing is not that I've been blogging for more than eight years, but that I actually still have enough marbles left to remember some of my most ancient posts. Many thanks to the Chonen HaDaat, the One Who Grants Knowledge.)
Look at what my husband spotted:
From Parshat Toldot, in B'reshit/Genesis, chapter 28:
ט וַיֵּלֶךְ עֵשָׂו, אֶל-יִשְׁמָעֵאל; וַיִּקַּח אֶת-מָחֲלַת בַּת-יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן-אַבְרָהָם אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת, עַל-נָשָׁיו--לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה. {ס} 9 so Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife. {S}
From Parshat Vayishlach, in B’reshit/Genesis, chapter 36:
ב עֵשָׂו לָקַח אֶת-נָשָׁיו, מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן: אֶת-עָדָה, בַּת-אֵילוֹן הַחִתִּי, וְאֶת-אָהֳלִיבָמָה בַּת-עֲנָה, בַּת-צִבְעוֹן הַחִוִּי. 2 Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
ג וְאֶת-בָּשְׂמַת בַּת-יִשְׁמָעֵאל, אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹת. 3 and Basemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth.
The commentators probably had quite a field day trying to explain how the same woman could have been recorded under two totally different names in the Torah. Oh, sure, they probably said that one was her middle name. But I'm calling Documentary Hypothesis on this: I think these names came from two different sources/stories that were woven together with the seams showing, as usual.
(Wow: Regarding that last link, what's really amazing is not that I've been blogging for more than eight years, but that I actually still have enough marbles left to remember some of my most ancient posts. Many thanks to the Chonen HaDaat, the One Who Grants Knowledge.)
posted by Shira Salamone at 11:20 AM
4 Comments:
The older commentators dealt with this sort of thing by assigning many different names to the same character. Yirto has 7 names; the guy who acts as a messenger between Mordechai and Esther is actually the prophet Daniel; Keturah is actually Hagar etc. The rabbis usually assign a reason for the different name, often using it to illuminate a character trait.
Larry, you confirm my understanding that the rabbis have a field day with multiple-name situations. I'm sticking with the "multiple-sources" theory, though.
the problem w the multiple sources answer, at least as it regards names, is that the names in the Torah are clearly symbolic. For example, Moshe is named Moshe by Bat-Pharaoh based on a Hebrew pun - a language she probably didn't even speak, much less make wordplay on.
Another example is Eliezer, who is named for what he does: helps Avraham spread news of El. Machalat, Basmat, and Ohalibama are all names with negative associations (like Machlon and Kilyon in Ruth). Esau has descendants named ye'ush (frustration), ya'alam (feigned ignorance) and Korach. Probably not a coincidence.
Or how about Peleg, named so b/c in his day the world was split up b/c of the tower of Babel (niflegah ha'aretz). Presumably, he was not named Peleg at his birth, prior to the tower incident.
R Akiva was doresh shemot - that is, he created commentary based on the names of people in the Torah. Implicit in that is the understanding that Torah names may not simply be the record of what a parent named a child.
"For example, Moshe is named Moshe by Bat-Pharaoh based on a Hebrew pun - a language she probably didn't even speak, much less make wordplay on."
Yeah, I always thought that was kinda suspicious-sounding. :)
"Another example is Eliezer, who is named for what he does: helps Avraham spread news of El." There's no evidence of that in the Torah sheh-Bi-ch'tav/Written Torah, as far as I know, but that never stopped the rabbis before--their midrashim very often hang by a thread. :)
"R Akiva was doresh shemot - that is, he created commentary based on the names of people in the Torah. Implicit in that is the understanding that Torah names may not simply be the record of what a parent named a child."
Okay, I'll buy that as a rabbinic perspective. Thanks for the information.
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