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  • From: "Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
  • To: "'George F Somsel'" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] impure food
  • Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2005 08:46:07 -0400

Thanks George,

I guess earthenware can be fired but unglazed, and that according to Milgrom

this is the only type that need be broken. That must be rabbinic, it’s not
in the text.

Also, I don’t understand why food that is wet becomes impure. What about soup?

They boiled the meat before the ark at Shiloh.

Lisbeth S. Fried, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar
The Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
and the Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of Michigan
2068 Frieze Bldg
105 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285

_____

From: George F Somsel [mailto:gfsomsel AT juno.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 3:24 AM
To: lizfried AT umich.edu
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Leviticus 11:33



On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 18:24:57 -0400 "Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
writes:
> Dear All,
> This probably is not strictly a question of the
> Hebrew, but what type of earthenware vessel is
> implied here (Lev. 11:33)?
> Milgrom (1991:675) says that the prohibition would
> not apply to glazed clay which does not absorb
> impurities or to unfired clay which would maintain
> its status as soil, and so cannot be contaminated.
> I don't understand what type of vessel is left
> then which must be broken.
> Thanks.
>
> Liz Fried
_______________________________________________

The _Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament_, ed. Harris, Archer & Waltke
states s.v.

__________________________________________________

759 XR% (ḥrś). Assumed root of the following.

759a XeRe% (ḥereś) earthenware.

759b XeReS (ḥeres) an eruptive disease (Deut 28:27).

759c XRSWT (ḥrswt) (Kethib), XaR:SiYT (ḥarsı̂t) (Qere) potsherds (Jer
19:2).

This word, which occurs seventeen times, represents the potter’s product (Isa
45:9) which is dried and fired (Ps 22:15 [H 16]), or even glazed (Prov
26:23). Bottles (baqbūq), bowls (kĕlı̂), and pots/pitchers (nēbel) are made
of it. It is in vessels made of ḥereś that documents were stored (Jer 32:14).
ḥereś can apply generally to a vessel (Prov 26:23), or it can mean pieces of
potsherd at least large enough to use to carry a coal from a hearth or dip
water for a drink (Isa 30:14). Hence, ḥereś is the baked clay so commonly
unearthed by archaeologists.

Being porous, it absorbed the fat of holy things and the uncleanness of
unclean things. Thus it was to be broken when contacted by either holiness or
uncleanness (Lev 6:28 [H 21]; Num 15:12). A clay vessel was to be used in the
trial of jealousy (Num 5:17) and in leprosy purification rites, symbolizing
man’s commonness before God. The Psalmist prophetically compares the
Messiah’s strength to a dried up and baked piece of clay (potsherd, Ps 22:15
[H 16]). During the exile the “most precious” royalty of Israel became as
valueless and common as clay pots (Lam 4:2). God reminds the people of their
relative worthlessness and vulnerability by comparing them to clay vessels
(Isa 45:9). Jeremiah (19:1) bought (and subsequently broke) an earthenware
pot to symbolize how Israel had so absorbed sin that they had to be destroyed
according to God’s law regarding polluted pottery (Lev 11:33).

____________________________________________



It would appear that it does refer only to fired clay, but other than that,
it doesn't seem to specify whether it is glazed or not.



george
gfsomsel
___________





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