For the man (אישׁ) of the house is away, He is off on a
distant journey. (Prov 7:19 | 1985 JPS Tanakh)
Interestingly, some Jewish
commentators, even after rejecting an anthropomorphic God and downplaying instances
of anthropomorphism, understood the “man” (אישׁ) here to be God. For example,
Rashi (c. 1040-1105) wrote:
For the man is
not at home You have seen
that the Holy One, blessed be He, has removed His Shechinah and has given all
good to the pagans. (source)
In Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 11:40 (16th century), we read:
Ula said: "Amon and Moab were the two bad neighbors
of Jerusalem, and when they heard the prophets prophesying the destruction of
Jerusalem, they sent to Nebuchadnezzar, 'Come up,' and he answered, 'I am
afraid that they should not do to me as they have done with their former
enemies.' They sent to him (Prov. 7, 19) For the man is not in his house; ish
(man) refers to the Holy One, praised be He! as it is said (Ex. 15, 3) The
eternal is ish (the Lord) of war. Whereupon he sent to them, 'He is near to
them, and will return.' They sent again to him, 'He is gone on a journey a
great way off.' Nebuchadnezzar, however, sent to them, 'I am aware that among
them are righteous, who will pray to Him and He will return,' and they
answered, '(Pr. 7) The bag of money hath he taken with him,' and by a bag of
money, the righteous are meant, as it is said (Hos. 3, 2) So I bought me such
an one for fifteen pieces of silver, etc. He sent again, 'The wicked of them
will repent, pray and will be hearkened to.' And they answered, 'He has already
set a time [how long He will not listen to their repenting], as it is said
(Prov. 7, 19) By the day of 'kesa' only will he return, and the term kesa means
an appointed time, as it is said (Ps. 81, 4) Blow on the new moon, the cornet
at the time appointed (kesa) on the day of our feast.' He, however, sent to them,
'It is winter, and I cannot come up because of snow and rain.' And they sent to
him, 'The mountains will protect thee, as it is said (Is. 16, 1). Send ye the
lambs of the ruled of the land from Sela, through the wilderness unto the mount
of the daughter of Zion." He sent to them, 'When I will arrive there I
will have no place to reside.' And they answered, 'Their graves are better than
your palaces, as it is written (Jer. 8, 1-2) At the time, saith the Lord, shall
they bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of the princes,
and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. And they shall spread them
out before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, which they have
loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked'." (source)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
