b.finton
In the Unity of Faith
* Num. 12:
Some seem to argue that 'Cu****e' here refers to Zipporah and serves as an idiom meaning something akin to "strikingly unique." That seems like a stretch to me and, further, does little to render the pericope any less enigmatic. Any thoughts?
- And Miriam, and Aaron with her, spoke against Moses concerning the Cu****e wife he had taken, for he had taken a Cu****e wife.
- And they said, "Is it but through Moses alone that the Lord has spoken? Has He not spoken to us as well?" And the Lord heard.
[* translation by Robert Alter]
As they say, the more vague the literal reference in Torah, the deeper the hidden truth.
When my spotty understanding of the Oral Tradition brings such a question to my attention, I look to the Sinaitic script for clues to hidden meanings, if I'm being diligent.
The first thing I do is look for both right- and left-hand readings of the word or verse in question:
http://crowndiamond.org/cd/Resources/Cu****e.gif
(The woman) the Cu****e . . .
. . . illuminates (He) the Tree of Knowledge (Kaf) in order to bind (Waw) Wisdom (Shin) with activities (Yod).
. . . excites (He) the passions (Kaf) and (Waw) provokes (Shin) response (Yod).
Both of these parsings would explain grumblings among the people, by virtue of the work or the hubbub involved.
My view is that the Ethiopian woman is the Oral Tradition, itself-- the black text, the literal sense. Moses was schooled in all the arts of Egypt, which is why the Oral Tradition is also referred to as Zipporah (the bird), being capable of rising to much higher levels.
The purpose of this post is simply to demonstrate my approach, which goes on to examine the operation of numbers within a word or phrase.
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