Ancient Hebrew Social Life and Custom As Indicated in Law Narrative and Metaphor
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ANCIENT HEBREW SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOM AS INDICATED IN LAW NARRATIVE AND METAPHOR BY R. H. KENNETT THE SCHWEICH LECTURES OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY '93' LONDON PUBLISHED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY By HVMPHREY MILFORD, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMEN HOUSE, E.G. '933 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS PREFACE AMEN HOUSE, E.C. 4 LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW HE Lectures contained in this volume were delivered LEIPZIG NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPETOWN BOMBAY in December, I 93 I, by the late Professor Kennett, and CALCUTTA MADRAS SHANGHAI the preparation of the MS. for the printers was far advanced HUMPHREY MILFORD PUBLISHER TO THE at the time of his regretted death last year. In fact, there was UNIVERSITY only a small section (pp. 79-89) where the full notes were wholly unrevised. The perorationwas also wholly unwritten, as it was taken from the late Mr. Austin Kennett's descrip- tion of an actual Ordeal by Fire. The work required, when the papers were put into my hands, was therefore little more than verifying the quota- tions and correcting the proofs. The labour of making the Indices I was able to entrust to the careful hands of Mr. G. A. Yates, B.A, of St. John's college, Cambridge, who is the last of Dr. Kennett's pupils. I was the first, having begun to learn Hebrew from him in the summer of I 886. The many pupils who came in between Mr. Yates and myself will recognize in this book the characteristics of Kennett's spoken voice, the amazing fullness of detail, so easily and so lightly employed to illustrate and not to con- fuse, and the happy mixture of critical boldness with appreciation of what is preserved in the text. Kennett was above all things what the Gospel calls an instructed scribe, and in this book he brings forth out of his treasure things new as well as old. F. C, BURKITT. PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN CONTENTS PREFACE . LECTURE I INTRODUCTION . BIRTH AND EARLY YEARS . MARRIAGE . LECTURE I1 HOUSES FUmRE * FOOD . MEALS AND BANQUETS - CLOTHING . MOURNING . DEATH . LECTURE I11 MANLY OCCUPATIONS: WARRIORS OWNERS OF FLOCKS AND HERDS HUNTING . AGRICULTURE LAND DIVISION . WORKERS IN WOOD WORKERS IN METAL GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS MECHANICS . BARBERS FULLERS PERmTMERS . PHYSICIANS AND APOTHECARIES JEWELLERS AND WORKERS IN PRECIOUS STONES . ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND LAW . INDICES . ADDENDA LECTURE I PAGE19, note 3, add ed. of 1903,p. 207 INTRODUCTION ,, 20, ,, 3, ,, ed. of 1903, P. I94 HE subject of ancient Hebrew social life and custom Tmust of necessity attract all serious students of ancient Hebrew literature. The present treatment of it therefore is no pioneer work, but is rather, in the main, the treading of a path trodden in many generations by many earnest explorers. Any one, accordingly, who attempts to deal with such a subject is indebted to the labours of many pre- decessors, and his only justification for traversing the path which they have trodden is that even the most carefully constructed and most frequented roads sometimes prove inadequate to the exigencies of modern heavy traffic, and need in places both widening and strengthening by the application of fresh material. In this course of lectures it is proposed to consider only the evidence supplied by the Hebrew Scriptures. Although much useful illustration can be gained both from the Near East as it exists to-day, and from the customs of peoples of more or less primitive culture in various parts of the world, it must not be forgotten that even the ' unchanging East' has changed in the course of centuries ; and therefore that it must not be assumed that what may be observed at the present time is in all respects identical with what existed in the age covered by the Hebrew Scriptures. Accordingly, before attempting to illustrate an ancient Hebrew phrase or story by modern usage, it is desirable to subject such a phrase to careful scrutiny in order to determine whether the proposed illustration is suitable to each occurrence of it. In this connexion it is particularly important to emphasize the paramount necessity of a careful study of Hebrew meta- phor. That light should be thrown on a nation's social life and custom by its laws and by its stories of its past is indeed self-evident ; but it is too often overlooked that equal light B 2 HEBREW LIFE AND CUSTOM HEBREW METAPHOR 3 may be found to proceed from a careful study of the than one of its special characteristics. In particular, atten- metaphors which are commonly used. tion is almost invariably directed towards the efect of what Hebraic diction is essentially a metaphorical diction. is used as an illustration rather than to its progress or to Even in words which we translate by abstract terms a its external characteristics-with the result that a Hebrew careful examination of the original roots will frequently may illustrate the idea of something which he has in mind show that in these words we have metaphors not as yet by anything of which the e$ect is similar ; though in its completely crystallized into abstracts. Even the word ext~malcharacteristics that which is used as an illustration commonly rendered ' glory ', for example, has not entirely may appear to be quite dissimilar to that whichit is intended lost its earlier meaning of that which is valuable, which in to illustrate. turn-perhaps in consequence of the weighing of uncoined Metaphors must, of course, be taken from what is fami- gold and silver-is associated with the idea of heaviness. liar; and though a metaphor may become crystallized It is surprising, in view of the abundant use of meta- into a proverbial expression, and its use may continue after phors in Hebraic speech, that in times past, even among the passing away of that which suggested it, it must always the most learned exponents of the Hebrew Scriptures, be possible to infer from it the state of things which origi- very little attention has been paid to this leading charac- nally caused it to be used as an illustration of an idea. teristic of Hebraic metaphor and to its strongly marked Thus, if in such an august audience as the present it is difference from, for example, English figures of speech. not out of place to use a very homely illustration, the Yet it should surely be evident even to the casual reader common maxim that it is unwise to ' buy a pig in a poke ' that whereas among ourselves consistency is insisted upon, may be accepted as evidence that at one time, before the and mixed metaphors greeted with ridicule, a Hebrew activities of the R.S.P.C.A., pigs were frequently carried could combine in one sentence two or more figures of to market in sqcks. If such a deduction is once accepted as speech which to our English minds are totally irreconcil- reasonable, it will be evident that in the use of meta- able. This peculiarity is due to the fact that in the phor we have a store of evidence bearing on life and Hebrew mind the idea conveyed by each metaphor was custom, and that this is particularly true in connexion with immediately separated from the particular figure of speech Hebrew metaphor. which illustrated that idea. Disregard of this character- A caution is here necessary. Inasmuch as a considerable istic of Hebrew diction has had most deplorable conse- portion of the ancient Hebrew literature which has come quences. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the down to us is in poetry, it is essential that some of the com- serious differences of belief and outlook among religious mon characteristics of this poetry should be clearly under- people at the present day are in most cases due to a literal- stood. Every one is aware that the most prominent feature izing and a consequent misunderstanding of Hebraic figures of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, a statement in one clause of speech, which in their original connexion were under- being followed by a parallel clause containing a similar stood by those to whom they were addressed as not intended idea. It may, however, be overlooked that there are various to be taken au pied de la lettre. kinds of parallelism, one of which in connexion with our But though it would be easy to devote a whole lecture- present subject must be clearly understood. This is what is indeed a course of lectures-to the subject of Hebraic known as 'divided parallelism ' in which the ideas expressed metaphor, considerations of time forbid reference to more in the two parallel clauses must not be taken separately DIVERSITIES OF BELIEF AND PRACTICE 4 HEBREW LIFE AND CUSTOM 5 but combined together. A good example of this is found ship of Moses, there may well have been as great a differ- in the anticipation that 'corn shall make the young men ence, both in belief and practice, as there was between a Richard Hooker or a George Herbert and the rabble who flourish, and new wine the maids '.I The author certainly did not hope that the young men should have all the corn assembled for their primitive pagan rites on All-Hallows and the maids all the new wine-a most undesirable Eve or on May Day. arrangement-but that corn and new wine, signeing But as it is impossible rightly to reconstruct the social life the abundant satisfaction of physical needs, should make and custom of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in our the young men and maids flourish. Similarly the prophet's own country without recognizing the diverse elements which hope that the non-Jewish peoples should bring Zion's sons Mr.