Written in 2000 while active in the ANU chaplaincy and talking about such things.
This was published in The Eros magazine in July 2000
as a guest appearance in Bill Huff Johnson's regular column. He was also in the ANU chaplaincy and a deacon in the diocese.
And there is more about potentates and potency in The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume III, (Commentary on I and II Kings, by Choong-Leong Seow; page 17… commenting on IKings 1:5-6…
"This story of an ambitious prince attempting to seize power is reminiscent of the Canaanite Legend of King Keret, where we read of an effort by a prince — the heir presumptive by the custom of primogeniture — to depose his old and infirm father on the grounds of the old man's ineffectiveness and impotence.3"
The conversation over lunch turned to circumcision. The Bible has some interesting stories on circumcision, but I leapt onto another red herring:
Did you know that Moses could still do it when he died? And, that David couldn't? Potency and impotency are important when discussing potentates! Perhaps Monica did Bill a favour when Bill's performance became a matter of public knowledge!
But to get back to the bible stories you didn't hear in Sunday School. When King David's impotency was exposed, he was in danger of being overthrown. The court put a beautiful young woman, Abishag The Shunammite, in his bed "to keep him warm" It didn't help and there was an attempt to overthrow him.
The details of these stories are still there. About Moses in Deuteronomy, chapter 34, verse 7. The story about David in the first book of Kings, chapter 1, verse 1 and following. Of course they have been translated into English which means they are more metaphorical than even the original metaphorical Hebrew. But read between the lines. Talmudic, Jewish scholars have and even modern Christian ones have too.
So, Moses' "moisture was still in him". Did he gleam as if he had been rubbed down with water and oil? Shining with good health? Perhaps, even probably, but the "sap of life" was still flowing in him, strongly, and the word used in Genesis 34:7 is often used as a metaphor for semen.
David was old and cold. Not so unusual. But being given a concubine, a young virgin, for warmth? But, the text says "he did not know her" which is another common metaphor for being sexual. As soon as his impotency is known, the eldest surviving son attempts to seize the throne for himself. And the story goes on.
It all goes to prove that this is a very human book and sexuality is a very important part of our humanity. God is involved and interested in these human details. Moses and David were both the "apple of his eye", and three thousand and more years later these details are preserved in the stories of God's people.
The references for these assertions are posted on my web page at:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/lindafrd/Queer/Potentates
the details:
Deut 34:7 When Moses died "his vigour had not abated" *or* KJV "His moisture was still in him"…
I first heard of the connection between vigor and sperm from lecturers I think, then the final confirmation came from a friend on the egroups QueerTheology_BEYOND list on 07 July 2000:
hi linda —
what an interesting connection! i guess the metaphor that we've got the "hots" for someone or that we're all "hot" and bothered is more ancient than i thought.
anyway, i was poking around in the library today and i think i may have found one of the references that you were thinking of — under the entry for lah in Botterweck's TDOT (trans. Green, 1995), volume VII, p. 514, there is a discussion of the use of lah as a metaphor for sperm in the talmudic tradition:
"Talmudic lah, "moist, fresh," often used metaphorically on the basis of Dt. 34:7. The male semen is the "sap of life" par excellence; its degeneration shows the total corruption of the individual (leha seruha: Cant. Rab. vii.9)."
btw, the jps commentary on deuteronomy argues that deut 34:7 means "he had not become wrinkled" (i.e., moses "did not look aged"), citing the commentary of ibn ezra. anyway, happy writing on your project!
qi yin
and earlier on Friday 07 July I had written:
The treasury of scripture knowledge (see at the end of this email for the full reference) pointed to 1 Kings 1:1 for a word with the opposite meaning of vigour or freshness or moisture… and *this* refers to King David's lack of vigour as he shrank into old age. Now, what the courtiers did to "keep him warm" was to put the Shunamite into bed with him. Was it really only to keep him warm? Why did it matter that she was young and beautiful then? This is no mystery at all… It was known that he did not have sexual relations with her, and an attempted coup was the consequence. So other people have made the connection between these two stories!
Linda
The references to Deut 34:7 were:
7. And Moses. 1 S p4:18. 1 K p1:1. p11:4. an hundred and twenty. Dt 31:2. Ps p90:10. Ac 7:23, 30, 36. his eye. Ge 27:1. 48:10. Jsh 14:10, 11. Jb 17:7. natural force. Heb. moisture. or, freshness, greenness. 1 K p1:1. [opposite: and it is David!] Is 40:30, 31. abated. Heb. fled. Jg 6:11mg. Ps 104:7. 114:3, 5. SS 2:17. 4:6. Is 35:10. 51:11. Jerome H. Smith, editor, The new treasury of scripture knowledge [computer file], electronic edition of the revised edition of The treasury of scripture knowledge, Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1992 by Jerome H. Smith.
qi yin had earlier written in reply to me on July 05th
hi linda —
i wasn't able to find any express connections between lah (i.e., velo'-nam lehoh, "and had not abated his vigor" (deut 34:7)) and sperm per se, but there does seems to be a strong connection between moisture and life force in the ANE (e.g., hebrew, aramaic and ethiopic).
from a queer point of view, though, i think it's particularly interesting that lah is used elsewhere in the hebrew scriptures in the context of branches and trees (e.g., gen 30:37 (jacob's use of moist branches to produce multicolored sheep), eze 17:24, 20:47 (equating dry and moist trees with israel and/or objects of judgment), 1QH 3.29, 8.19 (same)). as you may know, some scholars hypothesize that there was a strong link between trees, the goddess asherah, fertility rituals and local religious practices in ancient israelite — and not just canaanite — culture. also, some scholars think that circumcision developed out of an agricultural practice of pruning branches for increasing fertility. which adds a whole new feminist-syncretic-ecotheological dimension to the moses/vigor thing!
i'd be curious to find out what your research turns up.
peace,
qi yin
[3] The Legend of King Keret, in: Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. J.B. Pritchard (Princeton University Press, 1969) 142-49.