Sunday, January 15, 2017

Whiter than White Wine

The texts

בָּאתִי לְגַנִּי, אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה--אָרִיתִי מוֹרִי עִם-בְּשָׂמִי, אָכַלְתִּי יַעְרִי עִם-דִּבְשִׁי שָׁתִיתִי יֵינִי עִם-חֲלָבִי; אִכְלוּ רֵעִים, שְׁתוּ וְשִׁכְרוּ דּוֹדִים

(Shir HaShirim 5:1)

אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ

(Shemot 3:8, 3:17, 13:8; Vayikra 20:24; Bamidbar 13:27, 14:8, 16:13,14; Devarim 6:3, 11:9, 26:9, 26:15, 27:3, 31:20)

אֹסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עִירֹה, וְלַשֹּׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ; כִּבֵּס בַּיַּיִן לְבֻשׁוֹ, וּבְדַם-עֲנָבִים סוּתֹה. חַכְלִילִי עֵינַיִם, מִיָּיִן; וּלְבֶן-שִׁנַּיִם, מֵחָלָב

(Bereshit 49:11-12)

have something in common; the word חָלָב. According to Rav Reuven Margoliot (Hamikra Vehamesorah (Jerusalem, 5749), 62-64; first published in Hahed 12, (Jerusalem, 5696)), the meaning of חָלָב in the contexts of the first two texts is not "milk," but rather "white wine," and the meaning of דְבָשׁ is not "bee's honey," nor "date honey," but "fig nectar." I think the same meaning, of חָלָב, applies to the third text, as it is all about wine. Ya'akov's final words to Yehudah, חַכְלִילִי עֵינַיִם מִיָּיִן; וּלְבֶן-שִׁנַּיִם מֵחָלָב, thus mean "eyes darker than (dark) wine and teeth whiter than white wine." The Septuagint translates the difficult word חַכְלִילִי differently, making Yehudah a cheerful man, who shows his teeth: "eyes more cheerful than wine and teeth whiter than white wine."