The OT and Euphemisms

[Katy Lied]

Judges 3:24

Eglon King of Moab ruled the Israelites for 18 years. Relief comes in the form of the Jewish hero, the lefthanded Benjamite Ehud who purports to bring a gift for Eglon. The gift is a dagger the length of his forearm. In the privacy of the King's summer chamber, Ehud shoves the dagger in, then closes the doors of the parlor, and locks them.

A little while later, the King's servants come looking for him and find the doors of the parlor locked, and suppose he is otherwise occupied:

When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.

Everybody knows the kings business.

[Katy Lied]

Another colorful OT expression is "pisseth against the wall."

LDS author Alan Goff defines it in one instance as someone who doesn't appreciate the helpful efforts of others. In his article, he writes:

David, incensed at Nabal’s refusal to pay for the protection David afforded Nabal’s shepherds, threatens to kill everyone who “pisseth against the wall” (1 Samuel 25:22). “The biblical author is making it clear that the main ‘pisser’ is Nabal himself. The wall he pisses on, at least metaphorically, is David and his men.

I disagree. The meaning is simpler than that. It means a male, usually an adult male, for obvious physiological reasons. The term "pisseth" is found in the OT six times, all in conjunction with the term "pisseth against the wall." No other phrasing of "pissing" or "pisseth" is found. I think it was a colorful israelite expression.

[Solon]

Since it is pillow talk week on CUF here goes:

One of the best examples of euphemisms in the Old Testament are phrases involving "feet." Particularly "uncovering or covering of feet." It is a general purpose euphemism for "genitals." It, naturally, often is used as a sexual emphemism but not always. For example, there is the famous story involving David sneaking up and cutting off part of Sauls's robe (1 Samuel 24:3-4):



In context, Saul is urinating or doing other plumbing related business (The LDS chapter heading refers to David catching Saul sleeping which I think adds to the humor) when David sneaks up on him. Understanding the euphemism here is actually important to get the full literary force of the passage.

However, my favorite passage using this euphemism is from Ezekiel 16:25 where Jerusalem is described as the following:


I trust that the meaning of "hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by" is apparent. Ezekiel was a funny ... seriously funny.


Of course, the most famous story in the OT that this probably affects is the story of Ruth (I say probably because there are at least some commentators who believe it is not used euphemistically but I personally don't think the story makes sense without it):



For those that didn't know you will never read Ruth the same way again.

Fantastic, pelagius.

[TheBYUGuy]

I love Ezekiel. He is my favorite prophet by a mile. His vision of the bones is awesome.

Hmm...speaking of Ezekiel's euphemisms, I really hope this isn't a gay porn reference.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Another colorful OT expression is "pisseth against the wall."

LDS author Alan Goff defines it in one instance as someone who doesn't appreciate the helpful efforts of others. In his article, he writes:



I disagree. The meaning is simpler than that. It means a male, usually an adult male, for obvious physiological reasons. The term "pisseth" is found in the OT six times, all in conjunction with the term "pisseth against the wall." No other phrasing of "pissing" or "pisseth" is found. I think it was a colorful israelite expression.

That's an interesting expression, particularly since at many sports venues I've visited, we're given little choice but to engage in wall pissing. Sometimes the line is long, and I wonder if the 1 Samuel passage was meant to condemn those who don't hurry things along while those waiting are jumping up and down in anxious anticipation.

[pelagius]

Judges 3:24

Eglon King of Moab ruled the Israelites for 18 years. Relief comes in the form of the Jewish hero, the lefthanded Benjamite Ehud who purports to bring a gift for Eglon. The gift is a dagger the length of his forearm. In the privacy of the King's summer chamber, Ehud shoves the dagger in, then closes the doors of the parlor, and locks them.

A little while later, the King's servants come looking for him and find the doors of the parlor locked, and suppose he is otherwise occupied:

When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber.

Everybody knows the kings business.

This is a good example. IF you read the whole story it is obvious what Eglon was doing when he was killed so it becomes pretty clear that "cover his feet" must be a euphemism in this story. (Also the writer of the story would probably feel at home on CUF given his dim view of over-weight people).

[pelagius]

I'll add one more comment about euphemisms and the OT. They are important in a literary sense. I think the examples show that. Another nice example is some of the dialogue between David and Uriah (2 Samuel 11). However, I do try to tred lightly in teaching situations at church. I would, for example, mention the potential use of euphemism in Ruth's encounter with Boaz. On the other hand, you can really put people on the defensive if you don't raise the possibility with a light touch.

When I was teaching the Matthew 1 a few year ago I discussed the genealogy of Jesus quite extensively. I particularly wanted to talk about the implications of having women feature prominently in the genealogy. I tried to raise and discuss 4-5 different possibilities. One of them was the following:

Genealogy: There are Ladies in the Genealogy

• One of the odd features is that four woman beside Mary are mentioned : Tamar (Thamar), Rahab (Rachab), Ruth, and Bathsheba the wife of Uriah
  
  
• Matthew could have written the genealogy without mentioning these woman so their inclusion strikes me as important. Why mention these woman? What do they have in common? Is Mary being compared these woman? Is Mary like them over some dimension? Does the inclusion of these woman tell us something important about Jesus?
  
  
• Sinners: Brown (Birth of the Messiah) mentions that this is the first known proposal or explanation for the inclusion and commonality (it goes all the why back to Jerome).
  
  
  • Does this work? Do all the woman have this in common? Do any of the woman have this in common?
    
    
  • I actually don’t think this one works well. While it is certainly possible to describe each of the woman as sinners, it is never the point or the focus of their narratives in the Old Testament.
    
    
  • Suppose that was Matthew’s understanding of the commonality. Why would Matthew explicitly mention a group of woman sinners in the genealogy?
    
    
  • It could certainly point to the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is kind of a cool image: Jesus was sent to redeem is very family. Or in other words, the family of Jesus is a family of sinners both in a narrow genealogical sense and in the broader sense of all of us.

This really backfired on me. I couldn't lay the ground work for Ruth possibly being involved in some sexual impropriety given the constraints of the lesson. It made one or two members of the class quite defensive. So even though I still think it is a reasonable thing to discuss in Sunday School I wouldn't do it again because I don't think I can pull it off given the time constraints without making at least some of the class defensive (which ruins the experience for them). I do think I could pull it off in a lesson exclusively about the book of Ruth.

[Babs]

Here we go. Maybe the first testament is just what millennial ms need to spice things up in the bedroom.

[Bo Diddley]

That's an interesting expression, particularly since at many sports venues I've visited, we're given little choice but to engage in wall pissing. Sometimes the line is long, and I wonder if the 1 Samuel passage was meant to condemn those who don't hurry things along while those waiting are jumping up and down in anxious anticipation.

You've been to Sam Boyd Stadium!

[Katy Lied]

Pelegius mentions the use of the term "feet" in the story between David and Uriah, and this passage makes clear what the interpretation is. David has slept with Bathsheba and now she is pregnant while Uriah is away at way. David recalls Uriah from the battlefront and greets him at his return,

"And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king."

When David asks Uriah later why he didn't sleep with Bathsheba, Uriah responds,

"And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and asthy soul liveth, I will not do this thing."

[Pelado]

Deleted

Agreed.