Torah Reading is Exodus 33:12-34:26; Haftorah is Ezekiel 38:18-39:16
By Irv Jacobs, M.D.
LA JOLLA, California — These entirely prose ‘verses,’ from our previously encountered fantasy-crazed Prophet Ezekiel, have no connection to the assigned Shabbat Torah portion in the middle of Sukkot. The Torah passages depict dialogue between Moses and God. In the Torah, first God concedes to ever-curious Moses a look at his back. God then pronounces directions to observe the Sabbath and the three annual festivals.
In this Haftorah, Ezekiel creates a doom prophecy against an evil imagined person named Gog, from Magog. It comes from his book of Prophecy. The setting is c. 573 BCE, i.e. early in the Babylonian exile. Overall, Ezekiel exudes a hope-vision for a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, but the selected verses in this haftorah go off in a different direction. [1]
However, Ezekiel can’t help descending into a violent fantasy text, fighting an imaginary foe.
Following are excerpts from this Haftorah, via the translations and commentaries of Emeritus Professor Robert Alter of the University of California Berkeley from his opus volume ‘Prophets’. [2]
“And it shall happen on that day when Gog comes against the soil of Israel, said the Master, the LORD, my wrath shall mount in My nostrils [3]…there shall a great earthquake…the fish of the sea and the fowl in the heavens shall quake before Me…and every human…on earth…I will call forth the sword against him in all My mountains…Each man’s sword shall be against his brother…I shall wreak punishment upon him through pestilence…through blood…pelting rain and hailstones; sulfurous fire will I rain down on him…and on the many people that are with him [4]… and they shall know that I am the LORD.
“…you (Ezekiel)…prophesy concerning Gog and say,…here I am against you, Gog, supreme prince of Meshech and Tubal [5]…And I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you shall fall…I will make you food for carrion birds…and…beasts of the field…
Here comes the mandatory ‘upbeat’ ending of the haftorah!
“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel…and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel…And the dwellers of Israel’s towns shall go out and light fires with the weapons, the bucklers and shields…bows…arrows…clubs…and spears, and they shall light fires with them for seven years [6]…(and not need to) cut down trees from the forest, for with weapons they shall light fires. And they shall plunder their plunderers…And it shall happen on that day that I will give Gog a burial place…bury Gog…with all his throng and call it the Valley of the Throng of Gog.
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The mad Ezekiel, with a rich angry fantasy life, compulsively goes on and on with fiery words against an imaginary brute and his following. It reminds me of Don Quixote thrashing at windmills.
We are reminded that Ezekiel and the other exiled Hebrews were living in Babylon. There they soon thrived. They established a learned community that lasted some 2500 years until the modern state of Israel was established.
Gog and Magog legends proliferated, even into modern times. Jewish eschatology viewed Gog/Magog as enemies to be defeated by the Messiah. Christianity’s interpretation made Gog/Magog allies of Satan, as described in the book of Revelation. [7]
One might say that a real life modern version of Gog in Magog exists in the today’s hostile Islamist Middle East.
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NOTES
[1] Etz Hayim,The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, p. 1259
[2] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 1169-72
[3] Ibid. p.1169 He imagines God breathing fire, exhaled through his nostrils: a metaphor
[4] Gog’s army to be devastated by both natural forces and violent internal divisions
[5] legendary barbarous regions settled by Noah’s son Japheth, ruled by Gog
[6] hyperbolic claim that the enormous stash of captured Gog’s arms will provide firewood for seven years.
[7] Wikipedia: Gog and Magog
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.