“Mountains of Gilboa — may there be on you
no dew, no rain, no fields with good crops;
because there the shields of the heroes were dishonored,
the shield of Sha’ul was no longer rubbed with oil.”
-2 Samuel 1:21
Over the next couple of days, let’s take a look at this grand eulogy that David composed to commemorate Saul’s death.
In verse 21, a curse is directed at Mount Gilboa where Saul and Jonathan died.
This isn’t a real curse ordained by God by the way.
This is just the way folks in the ancient Middle East expressed their anger and remorse towards anyone or anything involved.
Onward.
In the Complete Jewish Bible, it says…
“…may there be on you
no dew, no rain, no fields
with good crops“
The nuance here ain’t quite right.
As we normally do, we gotta go to the original Hebrew to figure things out.
The Hebrew word for “field” is SADEH.
That part of the translation is fine.
Where the translation gets messed up is the part where it says “good crops.”
That Hebrew is TERUMAH.
Faithful Torah students will know immediately this word refers to a special grain offering.
It’s similar to a wave offering.
In other words, TERUMAH does NOT mean crops in general.
It means the BEST grain.
It’s the type of grain used in holy rituals at the Temple by the priests.
So the verse doesn’t mean that no “good crops” can grow on Mount Gilboa.
It means this specific, special type of grain won’t grow there.
Ya feel me?
The takeaway here is this underscores the importance of distinguishing between the secular and the sacred.
There is a clear line of demarcation dividing the common from the holy.
As believers, this is how we’re called to live.
We are supposed to distinguish between clean and unclean, the common and the holy in every aspect of our lives.
Whether it’s dietary, or sexual relations.
And by the way, when we say Israel is the HOLY nation, that isn’t no throwaway phrase.
Israel is holy and in that regard above and beyond any other nation on the planet.
Ya feel me?
Done.
I like the message, as always, but the title needs an edit.
Israel is different from other nations, and is different from gentile nations, but it is not different from OTHER gentile nations because Israel is not a gentile nation.
See what I mean?
Fixed!