Page 235 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
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214 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
Comments
There are two pairs of biblical heroes, one epitomizing evil (or at the least indiffer-

ence to evil), and the other epitomizes fight against evil (or compassion to people).

The first pair is Laban and Noah . The second pair is Abraham and Jonah .

Laban is a villain for all the detailed descriptions of his conduct and utterances,
as conveyed in the Bible and as elaborated on by Jewish sages throughout years of
Jewish scholarship. Noah is a person of a special kind. He is called Noah by his

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parents because “This one shall comfort us [yenachamenu ] for our work and the
toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed” (Gen. 5:29).
However, the root of Noah is not derived from “comforting,” but from another
root that means “to rest.” In fact, in modern Hebrew, noah means “comfortable,”
which is apparently associated with the verb “to rest,” rather than with the verb “to
comfort.” “Resting” is a good description of Noah’s conduct relative to his fellow
citizens. When Noah realizes that disaster is approaching, since “the earth was full
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of iniquity [chamas ]” (Gen. 6:11), he comfortably refrains from issuing warnings
to his fellow citizens to mend their moral transgressions. This is why Jewish sages
interprets the verse “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations” (Gen.
6:9) to imply that Noah was “perfect,” but just relative to his generation.
The story of Noah should be contrasted with the conduct of Jonah . After some

futile attempts to escape the mission assigned to him by God, Jonah travels to

the city of Nineveh to warn its wicked people of their immoral conduct. He is
fulfilling his assignment. The people of Nineveh change their ways, and they are

saved. The Bible wishes to drive home the comparison between Noah and Jonah
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by using in both cases the same word (chamas ) to describe what was wrong: “So
the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast …” and the king of
Nineveh issued a decree “saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste

any thing … and let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the iniquity
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[chamas ] that is in their hands” (Jonah 3:5, 8).

Describing how the people of Nineveh were saved because they mended their
’
ways, following Jonah s warning, and comparing that to Noah’s story , gives one a
sense of the many different modes in which evil can express itself, and why Noah
was only “perfect in his generations” (Gen. 6:9).

On top of these is Abraham , trying to save Sodom and Gomorra from total
destruction. Abraham is arguing with God, lest he allow the righteous to perish
with the wicked: “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt though also destroy the
righteous with the wicked?” (Gen. 18:23).
That a human being should not relax and feel comfortable, either in the face
of evil (as in Noah’s case ) or when help needs to be provided to fellow citizens, is
repeatedly alluded to throughout the Bible. For example: “If thou see the ass of