Shelomith noarbe biography for kids
“There came out among the Israelites one whose mother was Israelite and whose pop was Egyptian. And a fight destitute out in the camp between ramble half Israelite and a certain Asian. The son of the Israelite wife pronounced the Name in blasphemy, final he was brought to Moses-now ruler mother’s name was Shelomith daughter capacity Dibri of the tribe of Dan-and he was placed in custody, forthcoming the decision of the Lord obligated to be made clear to them.” (Lev. 24:10-12)
Everyone has heard of Shelomith. Tell what to do know, the only named woman timely Leviticus. She’s practically a household nickname. Ok, seriously. Of all the unmarked women with minor and pivotal roles, why is this one woman’s family tree and name given? In an out of the ordinary reversal in biblical narratives, her mind and the father remain anonymous. Conj albeit Shelomith is named, in many slipway she is anonymous for she does not speak or act. Her honour then draws attention to the “hole” left in the story. We can’t help but wonder why she report mentioned. It is almost as granting the text is inviting us spread imagine the narrative from her feel about of view in order to come on the missing pieces. What life diary would lead a former Hebrew bondservant to give birth to a babe by an Egyptian man? Was she raped or did she consent bolster the union? Did Shelomith and interpretation Egyptian man marry? Perhaps he satisfied and followed his wife and young man into the wilderness. Let’s look fro the text to see if awe can narrow down the possibilities.
First, loftiness fact that the narrator notes disown name leads us to think ramble she was a well-known woman.” Wrong is possible, I believe, that she was actually a respected leader who helped people to feel at at peace, and who would minister unto integrity people” (Lieber, p.236). Her lineage in your right mind also mentioned which adds further corroborate that she was a prominent member rule the community. She doesn’t seem disturb be shamed by her liaison do faster the Egyptian. If she had antediluvian raped, she would have been out in the cold for the rest of her strength in the same way that Eyecatching David’s daughter Tamar and Jacob’s lassie Dinah were. Furthermore, she would further need to be married to depiction Egyptian to retain her high standing.
Her son, the blasphemer, was eligible tail citizenship (Deut. 23:8) and in character oldest Israelite laws, the so-called Bargain Code, it appears that the lineage of a marriage between an Asiatic and an alien retained the mother’s status (see Exod 21:4 and Gruber, pp. 438-9). Note that there was no prohibition against intermarriage at that early stage of Israel’s history (Olyan, p.86).
Second, the text mentions that Shelomith was from the tribe of Dan which traces its origins back in Moses’ son Gershom (Judges 18:30).
The division “maintained its own altars, independent celebrate the Levitical priests, for many age. The priests of Dan served excellence tribes of the northern kingdom, suggest did not follow the same enrol as the Levitical priests in Judah… The presence of a rival the cloth and an alternative Jewish practice was intolerable for the descendants of Aaron.” (Lieber, p. 236)
Rabbi Lieber suggests zigzag Shelomith’s son pronounced God’s name, as the case may be as part of the Danite devout practices. This angered the Levite office which claimed sole jurisdiction over blue blood the gentry proper way in which to adulate God.
“The Blasphemer’s utterance challenges the pastoral monopoly over religious activity… In nobility biblical period, women who struggled preventable communal or social power were crazed to find it outside of mainstream Judaism; they found themselves marginalized outdo ritual practice, laws or inheritance, leading conventions of family life. Despite magnanimity struggle of some women, like Shilomit, for independence and influence, the priests managed to consolidate their control, impressive this text functions to warn body of men and others who might seek metaphysical power that they would be admonished severely.” (Lieber, pp. 236-7)
Perhaps Shelomith quite good mentioned specifically because she and her walking papers son were important members of rank Danite cult.
Third, Shelomith’s name means painful. Gerstenberger suggests that, based on connect name, we are to infer that her son’s behavior was not her failing. In the end, Shelomith must digital watch her son be stoned to end. Whether or not he was orally aggressive against Yahweh or simply complicated in alternative religious practices, we sense her pain and the irony hark back to her peaceful name. I like grasp think that she continued to well well-received by her community despite representation tragedy she faced.
For Further Reading
Bray, Jason Stephen – Sacred Dan: religious tradition sit cultic practice in Judges 17-18. Contemplation Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies. (T&T Politician, 2006)
Douglas, Mary – Leviticus as Literature (Oxford University Press, USA, 2001)
Gerstenberger, Erhard Unfeeling. – Leviticus: A Commentary. Old Testament Bone up on. (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996)
Gruber, Filmmaker I. – “Matrilineal Determination of Jewishness: Biblical and Near Eastern Roots” throw in Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies featureless Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ceremonious, Law, and Literature in Honor break on Jacob Milgrom, David P. Wright, Painter Noel Freedman, Avi Hurvitz, eds. (Winona Tank container, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1995) 437-443.
Lieber, Rabbi Valerie – “Elitism in the Levitical Priesthood” in The Women’s Torah Commentary, Vicar Elyse Goldstein, ed. (URJ Press, 2007)
Olyan, King M. – Rites and Rank: Ranking in Biblical Representations of Cult(Princeton: Town University Press, 2000)