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  • From: MarianneLuban AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] A Request
  • Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 05:15:15 EDT

To diverge--I need a little help with modern Hebrew. How would one say
"Let's put our cards on the table"--meaning "quit bluffing and show me your
hand"--aw, you know what I mean. There must be some expression like
that--and if
it's in Biblical Hebrew that would be fine, too. Certainly, I know how to
say
this in Yiddish, but it's rather vulgarly put ;-(

BTW, to get back on topic. One of the best riposts in the entire Tanach was
said to be uttered by King Ahab of Israel. "Let him that puts on his armor
not boast louder than he who takes it off." I like this. For me it means
that
anybody who is in a position to put on armor and go into battle is one
thing--but he who lives to take it off is another matter. Anybody agree? Of
course,
ultimately this king didn't live to take off his armor but here is something:
Ahab, in I Kings 22:34, instructs his chariot driver to take him out of the
battle because he had sustained a wound. But right afterward it states that
he "was stayed up in his chariot" until the evening. Battles weren't fought
at
night in those times and so it seems to me that Ahab had somebody hold him up
so that he could at least be seen by his men so they wouldn't lose heart.
Then, when evening came and the fighting had to stop, he died--and no wonder!

One can't really dislike a man like that, no matter what else was written
about
him. That's my take.

Marianne Luban




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