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Moses, King Arthur and Lot: Staff, Sword and Cross According to Midrashic and Non-Jewish Sources

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Moses, King Arthur and Lot: Staff, Sword and Cross According to Midrashic and Non-Jewish Sources MOSES, KING ARTHUR AND LOT: STAFF, SWORD AND CROSS ACCORDING TO MIDRASHIC AND NON-JEWISH SOURCES STANLEY SCHNEIDER INTRODUCTION The staff plays a prominent role in the Bible as it portrays the holder of the staff as an important person – a leader. The first use of the word mateh, staff, is in the Judah and Tamar story (Genesis, chapter 38). Judah has intimate relations with Tamar who had removed her widow’s garb from upon her, covered herself with a veil…and sat by the crossroads…he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38:14-15). As a promise of payment, Judah leaves with her three valuable items, as per her request: your signet, your wrap and your staff that is in your hand (Gen. 38:18). Having the staff showed that Judah was a strong and important person. As the Midrash notes: “Judah who is a king sits at the head.”1 Judah eventually received ‘kingship’: The scepter shall not depart from Judah (Gen. 49:10).2 As to strength, Jeremiah notes: How is the strong staff broken (Jer. 48:17). Brown, Driver and Briggs (1962) on this verse write: “staff as a badge of a leader or ruler.”3 The staff was a symbol of leadership. The second time mateh, staff, appears in the Bible is when Moses approaches the burning bush and enters into a dialogue with God. The purpose of this first encounter is to convince Moses of the urgency to go down to Egypt and extricate the Children of Israel from servitude in Egypt and the rule of Pharaoh. God asks Moses: What is that in your hand? And he [Moses] said: a staff.” (Ex. 4:2). The ensuing dialogue puts Moses on the defensive because he is fearful of the task at hand. God tells Moses: And this staff you shall take in your hand, and with it you shall perform the miracles (Ex. 4:17). Moses returns to Midian, to Jethro his father-in-law, and tells him he is returning to Egypt to see if his people are still alive. Here the text reads: And Moses took the staff of God in his hand (Ex. 4:20). Where did Moses’ staff, which is later called ‘the staff of God,’ originate? Stanley Schneider, PhD., a graduate of Yeshiva University and its rabbinical school, was Professor and former Chairman of the Integrative Psychotherapy Program, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 74 STANLEY SCHNEIDER According to the Mishnah, Ethics of the Fathers (5:6), the staff was one of the “Ten things that were created on the Eve of the Sabbath in the twilight hours.”4 Yisrael Lifschitz5, in his commentary on this Mishnah notes: “this was the staff of Moses that was made of Sanpiron6 and it was created with God’s name engraved upon it,7 so it was able to perform the miracles.8 In the beginning Moses wasn’t aware of its power until God said, and this staff you shall take in your hand (Ex. 4:17).” How did Moses ‘acquire’ his staff? PIRKEI DE RABBI ELIEZER The 8th century Midrash, Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 40), tells an interesting story of the staff’s provenance during the ‘journey’ from its creation on the Eve of the Sabbath until it reached Moses’ hands. In brackets are added some comments by Rabbi David Luria.9 “The staff that was created in the twilight hours was given to Adam the First Man, in the Garden of Eden {God gave the staff to Adam when he was banished from the Garden of Eden and he had to work in the fields. Some say the wood for the staff came from the Tree of Life in the Garden}. Adam gave it to Chanoch. And Chanoch gave it to Noah {Chanoch never met Noah. There is a scribal error here and it should read: Chanoch gave it to Methuselah and Methuselah gave it to Noah}. And Noah gave it to Shem. And Shem gave it to Abraham. And Abraham gave it to Isaac. And Isaac gave it to Jacob {When Jacob ran away to Padan Aram (Genesis 28:5) and received the staff from Isaac. See also: for with my staff I crossed the Jordan (Gen. 32:11)}. And Jacob took it down to Egypt and gave it to Joseph, his son {This is hinted at in the allusion to the stick of Joseph in Ezekiel (37:15- 28)}. When Joseph died, his entire household {possessions} was taken to Pharaoh’s palace. And Pharaoh was one of the magicians of Egypt {Pharaoh is erroneously placed here. For why would Pharaoh want to plant a staff in Jethro’s garden in Midian? It must be referring to Jethro as he was one of the magicians of Pharaoh} and he saw the staff and the letters upon it {he couldn’t read the letters} and his heart desired it and he took it and planted it in Jethro’s {in his} garden. And no one could approach the planted staff {no one could pull the stick out of the ground – as this was a condition of Jethro for potential suitors for his daughters}. When Moses came to Jethro’s house, JEWISH BIBLE QUARTERLY MOSES. KING ARTHUR AND LOT 75 he went into the garden and saw the planted staff and read the letters upon it. He stretched out his hand {this is hinted at in the verse: he put forth his hand and took of the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22)} and took the staff out of the ground. Jethro saw this and said ‘this one will be the future redeemer of Israel from Egypt. Then he gave Tzipporah his daughter as a wife…” YALKUT SHIMONI An elaboration of the story of the staff in Jethro’s house is found in an aggadic compilation of the early 13th century, the Yalkut Shimoni.10 The story begins with Moses running away from Egypt after killing the Egyptian and his fleeing to Cush where he lives and rules as king for approximately 40 years.11 Moses eventually leaves Cush and heads for Midian. “And Moses travelled to Midian because he was afraid to return to Egypt because of Pharaoh and he came to Reuel’s12 house and Moses told him that he had run away from Egypt, was ruler of Cush and how he was asked to leave Cush. When Reuel heard this, he thought to himself that he would imprison Moses and eventually turn him over to the people of Cush . He imprisoned him for ten years.13 During the time of his imprisonment, Tzipporah his daughter had compassion for Moses and secretly fed him food and gave him water. After the ten years imprisonment Tzipporah asked her father about Moses – no one in the ten years asked about Moses. They go to see, with Reuel thinking that no one could survive ten years without sustenance. But Tzipporah said to her father: “Haven’t you heard how the God of the Hebrews is great and mighty and provides for all. Abraham was saved from Ur Kasdim,14 Isaac from the sword15 and Jacob from the angel who wrestled with him.16 And for this one17 even more was done: he was saved from the Nile of Egypt18 and from the sword of Pharaoh.19 And from this he can also be saved.” Reuel liked what Tzipporah said so he went to where Moses was imprisoned and saw that Moses was alive and praying to the God of his Fathers. He took him out, had him shaved and changed his clothes and gave him bread to eat. Moses went to Reuel’s garden which was behind the house, and prayed to his God who did for him so many miracles. While praying Moses saw a staff of sapphire standing straight planted firmly in the garden. He went to the staff and saw that engraved upon it was the Name of the Lord God. He called out the Name and uprooted the staff as one Vo. 49, No. 2, 2021 76 STANLEY SCHNEIDER uproots a tree in the forest, and took the staff for himself. This was the mighty staff that was created by the acts of God after the creation of the heavens and earth and all the heavenly hosts, the seas and rivers and all the fish. When Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, he took the staff in his hand and went to work the soil from which he was taken.20 The staff reached Noah, was left for Shem and his progeny until it reached Abraham the Hebrew. Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac including the staff that was engraved with the letters. And when Jacob ran away from Padan Aram he took the staff …and when he went to Egypt he took it and then gave it to Joseph, “one portion more than your brothers.”21 Jacob had succeeded, along the way, to keep the staff away from Esau, the father of Edom. And it came to pass after the death of Joseph that the Ministers of Egypt came to Joseph’s house and the staff reached the hands of Reuel the Midianite,22 and when he left Egypt he took the staff and planted it in his garden. Many suitors tried to pull the staff out of the ground so that they would be able to marry Reuel’s daughter, Tzipporah. But they couldn’t and the staff stayed in the garden until someone could pull it out.
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