Tanach Thoughts

I read on Shabbat a cool paper on the meaning of the word "tzinor" (צינור) as it appears in Tanach. The paper, titled "ויגע בצינור", is by linguist Tzion Okashi and was published very recently in a festschrift for linguist Dr. Uri Melammed, "לקט אורות: אסופת מאמרים לכבוד ד"ר אורי מלמד בהגיעו לשיבה", Yerushalayim 2024, pp. 253-263. The tzinor was most famously mentioned by David in relation to his conquest of Yerushalayim. The near-and-dear bit in the post's title refers to the blog's banner, which is a drawing of a midrashic imagining of another of David's conquests, that of an Amalekite city (see more here ). Both conquests featured Yoav ben Tz'ruyah in a lead role. The word tzinor in modern Hebrew means "pipe" but in context doesn't make sense as the meaning of the tanachic word. Shmuel 2:5:6-9 : "The king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, “You will ne...

May this post be a merit for the success of our soldiers and the safe return of all of the hostages that are still alive, and the bodies of the deceased, and a refuah shlemah for Dror Yisrael ben Rut Miriam (דרור ישראל בן רות מרים). As a friend of mine pointed out earlier today, it's somewhat ironic that on the week where we read of Yaakov and Lavan's treaty, Israel is signing a treaty with Hamas (ימ"ש). An interesting midrash notes that the treaty was still valid many centuries later: Midrash Tanchuma Devarim 3:1 "...מכתם זה דוד, שעשה עצמו מך, ותם על שהלך בתמימות עם קונו, אימתי בהצותו את ארם נהרים, מהון כשהלך יואב להלחם עם ארם נהרים, יצאו לקראתו, אמרו לו אתה מבני בניו של יעקב, ואנו מבני בניו של לבן, והרי תנאי שלהם [קיים], דכתיב עד הגל הזה (בראשית לא נב) , כששמע יואב חזר אצל דוד, א"ל מה אתה אומר הרי תנאו שבועת יעקב אבינו, מיד הושיבו סנהדרין שושן עדות, [ללמד] למדוהו ואמרו באמת כך היה, אלא הם עברוהו תחילה, בלעם הרשע מפני מה עבר, לא כך אמר מן ארם ינחני בלק מלך מוא...

 I always planned to make this post but never got around to it. What's the deal with the blog's banner? (image taken from my files. Copyright me) Well, first of all, what are we seeing here, and what does that have to do with Tanach? Okay, so this image as related to Tanach is a bit of a cheat because it's based on a midrash. The midrash, which exists in a few versions ( here 's one from Otzar Hamidrashim), describes Yoav ben Tz'ruyah, King David's general, going off with an army to battle the Amalekites in their state (or city-state?) of Kinsli. After six months of siege, the men get tired and want to leave. Yoav decides to launch himself over the city walls and figure out a way to unlock the gates and let his men in. He does this, and eventually manages to get his men in and they defeat the Amalekites. Fast-forward a few thousand years later, and it's Inktober of Elul-Tishrei 5779-5780 and I decided I would try the challenge (after not having done it sinc...