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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: MarianneLuban AT aol.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] A Request
  • Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 17:24:21 +0100

On 24/10/2004 10:15, MarianneLuban AT aol.com wrote:

...

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.


Reminds me of a recent presidential election in a country I know well, where the outgoing president, an old man, was taken seriously ill a few months before the election but conveniently survived until a few months after his successor took over. Rather too convenient to be true, the opposition alleges (although I doubt if a cover-up was actually possible as the outgoing president was at a clinic in the USA). If the truth was indeed more than was told publicly, would that be something admirable?

Sorry, back off topic, but I don't see this action of Ahab's as particularly admirable.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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