[b-hebrew] Genesis 12: 5: Are "Souls" Slaves?
Shoshanna Walker
rosewalk at concentric.net
Sat Nov 17 21:07:49 EST 2007
Stone Chumash:
"The souls refer to those whom they had converted to faith in Hashem,
for Abraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women.
According to the SIMPLE meaning, however, it refers to the servants
they had acquired (Rashi) [note- "servants" not "slaves" -
Shoshanna], WHO HAD AGREED UNANIMOUSLY TO ACCOMPANY AVRAHAM ON HIS
MISSION (Radak)"
See, Yigaal, you don't tell us the whole story.
Moreover, HOW in the world would a human being (Avraham and Sarah) be
able to CREATE ("asher asu" - ie' Avraham and Sarah, plural) a
Nefesh, ie; a spiritual aspect of a person???? Because the Torah
specifically states that they made a SPIRITUAL being, this must mean
spiritual ELEVATION of a human being, ie; conversion to knowledge and
worship of G-d.
Also, why is Nefesh singular?
Shoshanna
Actually, Shoshanna, Saadiah Gaon, Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Radak all interpret
it as meaning slaves, either before or after metioning that they could also
be people who they had "converted".
Yigal Levin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shoshanna Walker" <rosewalk at concentric.net>
To: <b-hebrew at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 1:03 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 12: 5: Are "Souls" Slaves?
> It is the consensus (unanimous as far as I know) among Chazal, that
> these refer to the people who he "converted" to the knowledge of G-d.
> It is beyond belief that this could be construed as slaves.
>
> Shoshanna
>
>
>>Genesis 12: 5 tells us that certain people came with Abraham and Lot from
>>Harran to Canaan, who almost certainly were not members of the
>>immediate family
>>of Abraham or Lot: "the souls that they had gotten in Haran". Are these
>>people "slaves", who had been "bought" by Abraham and Lot in Harran? Or,
>>rather, are these people distant relatives of Abraham's father,
>>whose families were
>>the social equals of Abraham's father's family, and who were on a long
>>caravan trip out to Mesopotamia with Abraham's father's family as
>>security guards?
>>Here is the JPS1917 translation of Genesis 12: 5:
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