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Judges chapter 19 contains one of, if not the most despicable and heinous stories of the bible.  We follow a Levite and his concubine into Gibeah in the land of King Saul’s tribe, Benjamin.

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Two listeners’ questions lead us into a brief lesson on translation problems and Melchizedek.  Then we continue the story of Micah’s Levite (and possibly learn his identity) as he gets a better offer from the Danites who capture Laish as their inheritance and establish a place of worship in the North, in Chapter 18.

Numbers 19 discusses the subject of the “red heifer”, which was used to cleanse the people when coming in contact with the dead.  In this article I want to discuss the question of colour of the heifer, and what may or may not disqualify the animal from being used.

Unfortunately we have many attempts by well-meaning teachers to teach the public on different topics.  In our case, we are dealing with a seemingly simple case of Hebrew.

The name קֹרַח-Qorach shares a form with the word קֵרֵחַ-Qereach-Bald.  Martin Noth, for example, argued that the name Qorach was derived from the Hebrew word for “bald”, but many others have done the same.

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In Chapter 17 there’s a change in Micah’s name that we don’t see in English.  Jono and Yoel discuss this as well as blessing and cursing, the Levite from the family of Judah(?), and Yoel explains the use of the name BenShlomo and the grape pressing of his very first video in our schmoozing session.

הָיָה לָכֶם, לְצִיצִת, וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוות יְהוָה, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם

“It is to be a tzitzit for you to look at and thereby remember all of YHWH’s commandments and obey them”

Numbers 15:39

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Maybe Samson wasn’t a big guy!  Yoel and Jono discuss this possibility, as well as the Canaanite god Dagon, prostitution in the bible and ancient world, and the infamous Delilah as we wrap up Samson’s story in chapter 16.

On occasion when I meet a group not from Jewish descent, I get asked to give the Priestly Blessing after I talk.  The first time this happened I asked why, and the answer was that this was a common practice, and that teachers do this all the time.  I will admit I was surprised because this is unheard of in the Jewish world.  When I declined, I was asked why.  My answer is based on wording in the text.

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Chapters 14 & 15 bring up discussion about possible violations of Samson’s nazirite vow,  the biblical stance on more than one wife, as well as the connection between Lehi and the jawbone of an ass.

When you try to find a meaning of a word, sometimes the meaning cannot be found in a dictionary, but in a book of a different nature.  I was reading M. Weinfeld’s book on justice in the ancient world and found an interesting interpretation of the word יובל Yovel– Jubilee.