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Mi•shᵊpât•im, 7th Eve (Ërëv Sha•bât)

Post-Khū•mâsh Israeili History

Shō•pheit #13

Shi•mᵊsh•ōn Bën-Mân•ōakh, ha-Nâ•zir

Bare-handed Rips Apart A Male Yearling Lion
Judaean Hills Of Central Israel, Nakhal Sō•reiq & Ti•mᵊn•âh, Philistia (The Shᵊpheil•âh); ca. B.C.E. 1187
vineyard Sadot Winery Sde Yaaqov
Click to enlargeA vineyard of chest-high grapevines in modern Israel (photo: Shem Tōv Sas•sōn)
k?phir yearling lion
Kᵊphir

Followed by his Dad and Mom, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn went down from Nakhalreiq, in the foothills of Yᵊhudâh, to Ti•mᵊn•âh, a village of the Greek Pᵊli•shᵊt•in rulers in the Shᵊpheil•âh.


When they came to some vineyards on a hillside on the outskirts of Ti•mᵊn•âh,, his parents stopped in a vineyard to snack on some grapes. Meanwhile, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn continued through the vineyards, where he encountered a kᵊphir that roared menacingly and sprang upon him.

natural beehive (Shamsul Arafin thebeeinfo.com)
Newly-started natural beehive in a tree (Shamsul Arafin, thebeeinfo.com)

Adrenaline coursed through his system as the Ruakh é‑‑ä came over him. Barehandedly, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn ripped the kᵊphir apart like a shō•kheit cracks open a kid. So, without even mentioning it to his father or mother, he continued down to Ti•mᵊn•âh to talk with Dᵊlilâh as if nothing had happened. His eyes saw only the ish•âh.

A few days later, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn went down to Ti•mᵊn•âh again, for a tryst with Dᵊlilâh. On his way home, he decided to detour to see the carcass of the lion. He discovered that a colony of bees had established a hive in the skeleton of the lion – and there was dᵊvâsh.


Nâ•zir Shi•mᵊsh•ōn Bën-Mân•ōakh Eats Dᵊvâsh Tâ•reiph On Two Counts

He scraped pieces of honeycomb out into his hands and continued walking, eating as he walked.

When he met up with his father and mother he shared the dᵊvâsh. with them without mentioning that he had scraped it out of the carcass of the lion. So he caused his parents to unknowingly eat the tâ•reiph dᵊvâsh too.

After Shi•mᵊsh•ōn and his family had enjoyed a tâ•reiph repast of the honey he had collected from the bee-hive in the skeleton of the kᵊphir he had killed, his father went down from Nakhal Sō•reiq to the girl's home in Ti•mᵊn•âh, a village of the Pᵊli•shᵊt•in Greek rulers, to arrange for his son to marry her.

Optional parental preparation:

  1. 14.05, Split-up – 14.5 describes Shi•mᵊsh•ōn going down with his parents toward Ti•mᵊn•âh, then specifying "they" arrived at the vineyards of Ti•mᵊn•âh. Yet, only "he", Shi•mᵊsh•ōnnot "they", encountered the kᵊphir. Then, in 14.7, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn doesn't mention it to his parents, who seem unaware of the roaring and the violent thrashing of the fight. Ergo, they must have split up at the vineyard. Being a nâ•zir, Shi•mᵊsh•ōn wasn't supposed to eat grapes. (Though he did other things he wasn't supposed to do as a nazir, so…?) Likely, then, it was the parents who lingered in the vineyard snacking on grapes while Shi•mᵊsh•ōn, eager to see his girl, continued through the vineyard where he, alone, encountered the kᵊphir. Still, they must have been separated some distance not to hear the roar and other noise, or see the thrashing among the grape vines. When they had finished snacking, his parents apparently continued to Ti•mᵊn•âh down a different row of the vineyard, not seeing the dead kᵊphirReturn to text

  2. åÇéÀùÑÇñÌÀòÅäåÌ ëÌÀùÑÇñÌÇò (and he ripped it in two like one had ripped apart…) – Putting aside Superman comics and supernatural superstitions, there are reports of people, including mothers defending a child and women joggers, who have fought-off an adult mountain lion. In every case, however, the victim was always severely mauled and some died hours later.

    In the case of Shi•mᵊsh•ōn Bën-Mân•ōakh, his parents noticed nothing unusual about him after the incident, neither gashes nor bite marks nor other ill effects. It must be acknowledged that Shi•mᵊsh•ōn Bën-Mân•ōakh's later accomplishments demonstrated that he was a phenomenal warrior; perhaps most people might most easily visualize a hybrid of the best techniques of an elite special ops warrior with the build of The Rock. Moreover, the kᵊphir is only a "tween" (still very dangerous!) lion, presumably between 1-2 years, an inexperienced yearling perhaps already expelled from the pride and suffering the effects of hunger; not yet an adult with mane, but matured beyond a âÌåÌø; perhaps comparable to an adult mountain lion.

    But how could even a champion-warrior "split-apart" a kᵊphir empty-handed and without any noticeable scratch or bite marks? One idea, which is within the abilities of a big and well-trained warrior attacked from in front and warned by a roar, is (instinctively) to parry an initial spring by the lion, grabbing a hind leg. From that, one could continue the lion's motion to swing the lion into a tree trunk or down on a rock – several times, if necessary – hard enough to split the lion open. That may not be quite how it happened, but thinking in the real world of possibilities, rather than comic book Superman of supernatural powers, is the right ballpark to be investigating. Return to text

  3. 14.08, a (romantic) tryst – Lit. ìÀ÷ÇçÀúÌÈäÌ. In the Biblical era, taking a woman (consensual sexual intercourse; in contrast to rape) was one of three facets of culminating marriage (sexual intercourse, payment of a dowry or a marriage contract). Return to text

  4. 14.08, dᵊvâshtâ•reiph for two reasons, either of which is enough to make the dᵊvâshtâ•reiph – 1. by contamination from the lion, which is tâ•reiph; and 2. by contamination from the unclean carcass. Return to text

  5. 14.09, unknowingly – Being unaware of a transgression of Tōr•âh is different from uncertainty whether something known was, or was not, a transgression. There is no indication in the text that the parents might feel guilty over some uncertainty about it (as, for example, if the text had mentioned a neighbor informing them of the bee colony in the lion carcass near the path they used – which would have prompted the need to sacrifice an â•shâm in case the dᵊvâsh they had eaten had been tâ•reiph). Return to text

  6. 14.10;‎ îÄùÑÀúÌÆä (wine-fest, wine-banquet, e.g., bachelor party) – If Shi•mᵊsh•ōn himself drank wine or any other alcoholic beverage at the party, it would have been a conspicuous tō•ëh by him to the Pᵊli•shᵊt•in Greek culture – which violated and abrogated his obligations as a nâ•zir. According to the text, however, he didn't lose his nâ•zir-associated strength until his Pᵊli•shᵊt•in wife gave him a haircut. While this might suggest that Shi•mᵊsh•ōn must not have drunk any alcoholic beverage all week long at his bachelor party wine-fest, one must remember that, earlier, he took no notice of eating tâ•reiph dᵊvâshReturn to text

Questions you might anticipate that your child might raise and be prepared to discuss:

  1. What are "outskirts" of a city or village? Suburbs ('burbs)?

  2. What is adrenaline?

  3. What is a skeleton? Carcass?

  4. What is a honeycomb?

  5. What is a repast?

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