THE DIALOGICAL BEAST
THE IDENTIFICATION OF ROME WITH THE PIG IN EARLY RABBINIC
LITERATURE
By Misgav Har-Peled
A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Baltimore, Maryland
March, 2013
© 2013 Misgav Har-Peled
All Rights Reserved
Abstracts
The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the logic behind the identification
of Rome with the pig in rabbinic literature. This identification is observed in the light of
the broad context of the discourse concerning the pig and the avoidance of pork in
rabbinic literature. Following this, we address the possible link of the rabbinic
identification with porcine simile in Roman political discourse. We also identify the role
of the pig in the legend of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the midrsh concerning
Jacob and Esau in Genesis Rabbah, and the midrash concerning forbidden animals in
Leviticus Rabbah chapter 13 as well some in other midrashim. It is proposed that by
identifying Rome with the pig, the sages made the avoidance of pork a locus o f resistance
to the Empire, which was first pagan and later Christian. By making the pig a symbol of
dialogical relations with the other in time, the avoidance of pork was inscribed in history
as embodying past, present, and future relations between Jacob and Esau, between Jews
and Romans, and between Judaism and Christianity.
Advisors:
David Nirenberg (University of Chicago)
Gabriel Spiegel (Johns Hopkins University)
ii
Acknowledgements
I was lucky to have two remarkable supervisors: Professor David Nirenberg (The
University of Chicago), and Professor Gabrielle M. Spiegel (Johns Hopkins University).
David Nirenberg made me cross an ocean, not just geographically but also intellectually,
making my sojourn at Johns Hopkins University a determining experience. Gabrielle M.
Spiegel took me under her wing after David Nirenberg moved to the University of
Chicago. She became one of my most critical readers, as she was severe and extensive in
her critique while extremely kind and cordial.
My parents, Michal and Nehemiah, encouraged me to finish my PhD long before
I started it, and were extremely helpful when pockets were empty and doubts abundant.
Also, thanks to my brother Sariel - with no further excuses, with all the excuses. Thanks
to my sister Lily, for her warm hospitality during my sojourns in California, much
encouragement, and help with the Shakespearian language. Thanks to Ann Greenberg for
being extremely thorough in the cyclical editing process.
Luz del Rocio Bermudez H., a true intimate colleague of love, wisdom and
patience, helped this research become a collective adventure. Thanks to Luz, I came to
know the warm generosity of Nati, Carmen, Francisco, Paco, Ana, Armando, Monica and
Victor. Most significantly, Maya joined Luz and I halfway along this journey, a happy
reminder of the possibility of enjoying dialogics - of being with others in life.
All I know is theirs; all errors, mine.
iii
A note on Style
Unless otherwise noted, translations from Greek and Roman sources are from the Loeb
Classical Library (LCL) edition. Biblical citations are from New Revised Standard
Version (NRSV).
Abbreviations
Rabbinic Texts
Abrevations of mishanaic and talmudic tractates generally follow those of H. L. Strack
and G. Stemberger in Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash. Edinburgh: Clark, 1991,
374-376.
ARN
B.
CantR
DeutR
DEZ
EcclR
ExodR
EsthR
GenR
LamR
LevR
M.
Mek
MHG
MidAgada
MidrPss
MidProv
Midr Tann
MRS
NumR
LamR
Abot de-Rabbi Nathan, Text A or B
Bavli = Bablylonian Talmud
Song of Songs Rabbah
Deutronomy Rabbah
Derekh Eretz Zutta
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah
Esther Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah
Lamentations Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah; M. = M. Margulies, Midrash Wayyikra Rabbah, 5 vols.,
Jerusalem, 1953-60.
Mishnah
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael; L = J. Z. Lauterbach, Mekilta de Rabbi
Ishamael, 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1933-35.
Midrash ha-Gadol
Midrash Agada, ed. Buber, Vienna, 1894.
Midrash on Psalms; B. = S. Buber, Midrash Tehillim, Vilna, 1892; repr.
Jerusalem, 1966.
Midrash on Proverbs; B. = S. Buber, Midrasch Mischle, Wilna, 1893; repr.
Jerusalem, 1965.
Midrash Tannaim; H. = D. Hoffmann, Midrasch Tannaim zum
Deutronomium, Berlin, 1908-09.
Mekhilta de R. Simeon b. Yohai; E.-M. = J. N. Epstein & E. Z. Melamed,
Mekhilta de R. Simeon b. Yohai, Jerusalem, 1965.
Numbers Rabbah
Lamentations Rabbah; B. = S. Buber, Midrasch Echa Rabbati, Wilna,
1899; repr. Hildesheim, 1967.
iv
PesR.
PRE
PRK
RuthR
Sifre Deut
Sifre Num
SongR
SZ
T.
Tan.
TanB
Y.
YalShim
Pesikta Rabbati; F. = M. Friedmann, Pesikta Rabbati, Vienna, 1880.
Pirqe deRabbi Eliezer; L. = D. Luria, Pirqe deRabbi Eliezer, Warsaw,
1852; repr. Jerusalem, 1960.
Pesikta de Rab Kahana = B. Mandelbaum, Pesiqta de Rav Kahana:
According to an τxford εanuscript with Variations….With Commentary
and Introduction, 2 vols. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1962.
Ruth Rabbah
Sifre to Deuteronomy
Sifre to Numbers
Song of Songs Rabbah
Sifre Zuttah; H. = H. S. Horowitz, Sifre Zuttah, 2nd ed. Jerusalem, 1966.
Tosefta
Tan uma
Tan uma Buber.
Yerushalmi (Palestinian Talmud)
Yalkut Shimoni
Primary Literature
ANF
ANRW
CCSL
GLAJJ
HUCA
HTR
JJS
JQR
LCL
PG
NPNF
PNF
PL
REJ
SC
Ante Nicene Fathers. The Early Church Fathers, 38 vols., ed. A. Roberts
and J. Donaldson. Edinburgh: T. & T. 1885-1887.
Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt.
Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina
Menahem Stern, Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, 3 vols.
Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1974-1984.
Hebrew Union College Annual
Harvard Theological Review
Journal of Jewish Studies
The Jewish Quarterly Review
Loeb Classical Library
Patrologia Graeca. 161 vols., ed. J. P. Migne. Paris, 1857-1966.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
A Select Library of the Nivene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian
Church. First and second series, tr. P. Schaff and H. Wace. Buggalo and
New York (Reprint: Grand Rapids, MI, 1980-1991.)
Patrologia Latina, 221 vols, ed. J. P. Migne, Paris, 1844-1855;1862-1865.
Revue des Études Juives
Sources Chrétiennes
v
Table of Contents
Abstract
Acknowledgements
A note on style
Abbreviations
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
ii
iii
iv
iv
vi
viii
Introduction
1
1. The Nature of the Pig
Omnivorous Animal
Excrement and Dirt
Sexual Lust
Harmfulness
Injurious Voice
Uselessness and Idleness
Diseases
Drunkenness
Hypocrisy
Discussion
19
21
22
24
25
27
27
28
30
31
31
2. The Prohibited Animal
Prohibition of Breeding
Feeding and Commerce
Pig Hide
Purity and Classification
The Sages’ Refusal to Explain the Avoidance of Pork
Discussion
33
33
38
40
40
48
54
3. Boundary Keeping
Persecutions
Forbidden Sexual Relations with Non-Jews
Apostasy
Epikorusiut and the Pig
Elisha ben Abuya, A er
Proselytes
Conclussion
61
61
65
76
81
85
90
93
4. The Pig and the Destruction of the Temple
August 70 CE
The Pig and the Profanation of the Temple Prior to 70 CE
The Legends of Destruction
The Pig’s Head
The Exchange of Lambs for Pigs
The Sprinkling of Pig’s Blood
95
95
97
101
101
106
111
vi
Discussion
113
5. The Boar Emble m of the Legion X Fretensis and Aeneas’ Sow
The Boar Emblem
Aelia Capitolina
The Sculpture of the Sow
117
117
121
122
6. The Diocletian Legend in Genesis Rabbah
Dicletian the Swineherd
Diocletian the Hunter
The Ruler as a Boar-Hunter
The Midrashic Context of the Rabbinic Legend
132
132
140
144
149
7. Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah 13.2
Leviticus Rabbah 13.3
Leviticus Rabbah 13.4
Leviticus Rabbah 13.5
Discussion
158
158
165
168
169
176
8. The Boar out of the Wood
Sifri Numbers 316-317
Bavli Pesa im 18b
Bereshit Rabbati of Moses ha-Darshan
Discussion
Christian Reading of Psalms 80 (79):14
Conclusion
183
185
188
193
195
199
202
9. Why is it called ḥazir?
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Hamidrash HaGadol
Discussion
Conclusion
205
206
210
211
218
10. The End of the Pig
Esther Rabbah
Discussion
221
221
227
Discussion and Conclusion
231
Bibliography
258
Vita
285
vii
List of Illustrations
Figures
1. Cysticercosis Muscle of a Pig. The Several Vesicular Ovoid Nodules,
Whitish-Yellow and Smaller than a Green Pea, are Larvae of Taenia
solium. (Gil J. Infante and J. Costa Durão, A Colour Atlas of Meat
Inspection (London: Wolfe, 1990), 66, fig. 104).
30
2. The Porcine Greco-Roman Discursive Sphere with the Rabbinic
topoi (framed).
32
3. Classification of beasts in Leviticus 11 according to Sifra Shemini 4.1.
43
4. The Three Parallel Domains of Classification According to Jacob Milgrom.
(Jacob εilgromέ “Ethics and Ritual: The Foundations of the Biblical
Dietary δaws,” in Religion and Law: Biblical, Jewish, and Islamic
Perspectives, ed. E. B. Firmage (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989),
179,181).
57
5. δegion X Fretensis' standards on Aelia Capitolina’s coin, Elagabal (21κ222 CE). A. topped with eagle, B. topped with boar. (Yaakov Meshorer,
The Coinage of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem: Israel Museum, 1989), 118).
96
6. Suovetaurilia Sacrifice to Mars on Arch of Titus (c. 81 CE).
96
7. Illustration of the Troops. Arch of Constantine (dedicated in 315 CE).
96
8. Standard with a boar on a Roman bas-relief, Narbonne, France. Photo by
the author. Narbonne, Musée Lapidaire, 737.
118
9. Two Brick Stamp Impressions of the Legio X Fretensis from Jerusalem,
68-132 CEέ (Dan Barag, “Brick Stamp-Impressions of the Legio X
Fretensis,” Bonner Jahrbücher 167 (1967): 255).
119
10. A Roman Coin Found in Jerusalem with a Secondary Mint of the Symbols
of the Legion X Fretensis. (Félicien De Saulcy, “δettre à εέ δéon Renier
sur une monnaie antique contremarquée en judée,” Revue archéologique
20 (1869): 252).
120
11. Aelia Cpitolina, Coin of Herennius Etruscus (250-251 CE). Boar running;
legionary eagle on its back, with vexillum topped by star. Meshorer,
Yaakov. The Coinage of Aelia Capitolina, (Jerusalem: Israel Museum,
1989), 114.
122
12. The Plan of Aelia Capitolina (cfέ Yaron Zέ Eliav)έ (Yaron Zέ Eliav, “The
Urban Layout of Aelia Capitolina: A New View from the Perspective of
the Temple εount,” in The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New
viii
Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome, edέ Peter Sch fer
(T bingen: Mohr, 2003), 277, map 2).
123
13. Legion X Fretensis in Judea (Cf. Dabrow 1993). (Edward Dabrowa, Legio
X Fretensis: a prosopographical study of its officers (I-III c. A.D.)
(Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1993), 6).
125
14. Rome, 2nd century marble sculpture of sow with piglets. Rome, Vattican
Museum (sala degli Animali, inv. 176). (Frederick Cameron Sillar, Ruth
Mary Meyler, and Oliver Holt. The Symbolic Pig: An Anthology of Pigs in
Literature and Art (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1961), pl. 7).
127
15. Ara Pacis: Relief of Aeneas sacrificing to the Penates.
<http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/rome/arapacis/0083.jpg>
Consulted October 07, 2012.
128
16. The Belvedere Altar. A. Aeneas and the Laurantine sow. B. Augustus and
the Vicomagistri. Belvedere Altar, Vatican, Rome (DAIR 1511). (Lowell
Edmunds, “Epic and εyth” in A Companion to Ancient Epic, ed. John
Miles Foley (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005), 31-44).
128
17. Vespasian, Denarius, minted 77-7κ CEέ δaureate head right ή Aneas’ sow
with piglets.
129
18. Antonine copy of the Hadrianic 'Aeneid' medallion, reverse design. Source:
bronze cast from original held in the Cabinet des Medailles, Bibliothèque
Nationale, Paris. Actual size: 3.5 cm diameter (approx.). (Michael R.
Jenkins, “The ' Aeneid' medallion - a narrative interpretation,” The
Numismatic Chronicle 148 (1988): 148-152, pl. 12/3-4).
19. Bronze Medallion of Antionius Pius (Reign 138-161 CE). (Andreas
Alföldi, Early Rome and the Latins (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan,
1965), plate VI).
130
20. Hadrianic Boar Hunt Relief, Arch of Constantine, Rome. (Jones Mark
Wilson, “Genesis and εimesis: The Design of the Arch of Constantine in
Rome,” The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 59, no. 1
(2000): 54, fig. 64).
147
21. Alexander the Great Hunting a Wild Boar. 1st century. Sardonyx; cameo.
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
148
22. The three-four model in Leviticus Rabbah 13.
178
23. Hypothetical reconstruction of the midrashic process of identification of
Rome with the pig.
237
24. The Discursive spheres of Israel and the Pig in Rabbinic literature.
239
ix
Tables
1. The pig and the destruction or profanation of the Temple.
116
2. The Four Kingdoms in Leviticus Rabbah 13.5.
170
3. Structure and message of Leviticus Rabbah 13.2-5.
177
4. Structure and content of Psalm 80
184
5. The reading of Deuteronomy 32: 13-14 in Sifre 316-317.
195
6. The interpretation of Psalm 104: 20-22 in Bereshit Rabbati.
204
7. Psalm 80:14 and the association of the pig with Rome.
214
8. Different answers to the question, “Why is it called azir”ς
217
9.
247
The pig in the historical model of the midrashic discursive sphere.
x
Introduction
The prohibition of pork is the Jewish food avoidance par excellence, one of the
strongest markers of Jewish identity in the eyes of Jews and non-Jews alike. Many
scholars have tried to explain the origin and raison d'être of this biblical avoidance.
Likewise modern research has placed much attention on the Christian association of the
Jews with the animal they disdain, the pig. In 1974, art historian Isaiah Sachar published
a monograph on the European image of the Judensau, the Jews’ sow, which depicted a
group of rabbis with a sow, riding it, sucking its tits, licking its anus, and eating its
excrement. 1 Twenty years later, ethnologist Claudine Fabre-Vassas published the book
The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig (1994). In this fascinating book, based
on her fieldwork in the French East Pyrenees and material from throughout Europe, the
author demonstrates the rich association of the Jew with the pig in European folklore. 2 As
does much research on anti-Judaism, both scholars ignore the Jewish side of the story.
Were the Jews just figures of thought? Were they passive and not active actors? Were
they solely victims of Christian hate discourse? Can we assume that Jews were not aware
of the degrading association of them with the pig? Did they not react to this insulting
association of them with the impure animal? Can we assume that the Christian
association of the Jews with the pig has nothing to do with Jewish discourse concerning
the pig? This asymmetric history where the Jewish voice is absent is quite problematic,
not only because it renders the Jews into non-historical persons, and hence lacking
1
Isaiah Shachar, The Judensau: A Medieval Anti-Jewish Motif and Its History (London: Warburg
Institute, 1974).
2
Claudine Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1997) [Original title: La bête singulière. Les Juifs, les chrétiens et le cochon (Paris:
Gallimard, 1994)].
1
responsibility, but also because it ignores the dialogical nature of Jewish-Christian
relations, relations that have never been simple, almost never symmetrical, and rarely
unidirectional.
In fact, if the Christians associated the Jews with the pig at least since the High
Middle Ages, already by the end of antiquity, rabbinic literature identified the Roman
Empire with the pig, and since the Christianization of the Roman Empire, sages have
identified the pig with Christianity. 3 Was there no link between the Christian and the
Jewish identification? If there was a link, what was its nature? To answer these questions,
we must observe discourses concerning the pig, the avoidance of pork, and the other
religion, both in Judaism and Christianity in the longue durée (long term). The dialogical
history of the interrelations between the two around the pig should not only seek direct
polemics, but also seek the meta-dimensions of the theological, anthropological, and
moral issues at stake. In other words, the dialogical history should ask to what extent the
logic of each side was constructed vis-à-vis the logic of other, and in what ways
differences between the different religions were constructed. Notions emphasizing the
negation of the other, such as polemics, anti-Judaism, racism, etc., are problematic for
they often assume a “pure” existence of selfήgroupέ However, no selfήgroupήidentity
exists in a vacuum. Like language, culture is highly dialogic. Therefore, otherness is not a
secondary dimension of human experience, but rather a primordial one. Negation of the
other is just one manifestation of the triangulation of identities, where the location of one
3
In fact, both Sachar and Fabre-Vassas demonstrated that the association of the Jews with the
abominable pig in Europe had its roots in Christian writings from Late Antiquity, hence from the same
period as classical rabbinic literature.
2
entity is understood by its real or imagined location in a network of entities. 4 In this play
of triangulation, similarities, distinctions, and negations together create rather complex
relations. By focusing our analysis on the negative/violent dimension of intergroup
relations, we risk ignoring the broad span of configurations of identities. One can
compare the researcher who focuses on the negation of the other, and hence focuses on
the violent nature of the relations, to a geologist who analyzes earthquakes while ignoring
plate tectonics. Just as earthquakes are a consequence of movement of plates along a
common rift, so the negation of the other between human groups which are dialogically
connected is a part of their mutual construction of identity along the same frontier. This is
the case of Judaism and Christianity, whose grids of alterity in diverse ways encompass
each other.
In this dissertation, I hope to contribute to the dialogical history of JewishChristian relations over the longue durée. However, for practical reasons, the actual work
focuses on the identification of Rome with the pig in early rabbinical literature. Hence,
the work mainly covers: the Mishnah and Tosefta from the Tannitic period (50-200 CE);
the Midrash Sifre from the Amoraic period (200-400 CE); and Midrash Genesis Rabbah,
Midrash Leviticus Rabbah, the two talmudim, the Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud)
Talmud, and the Bavli (Babylonian) Talmud, all from the post-Amoraic period (400-700
CE). In some cases, material from later midrashim is discussed (900-1300 CE). The main
period addressed in this work is Late Antiquity (2th - 7th cent.), a period corresponding to
the formative stages of Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism. Due to the limited scope of
this dissertation, the Christian discourse concerning the pig and avoidance of pork will
On the concept of triangulation, see: Jean-Loup Amselle, ranchementsμ anthropo ogie de
uni ersa it des cu tures (Paris: Flammarion, 2ίί1)έ Ibidέ “εétissage, branchement et triangulation des
cultures,” Revue germanique internationale 21 (2004): 41-51.
4
3
briefly be addressed in those cases in which rabbinic literature seems to be polemical or
in which the church fathers refer to rabbinic literature. However, several elements
contributing to the understanding of rabbinic discourse concerning the pig and the
identification of Rome with the pig in its Jewish-Christian dialogic context will be
provided, mainly in the final discussion. In order to fill the gap, detailed analysis of the
Christian discourse on the pig and the avoidance of pork in the patristic era will be
necessary.
The Current State of Research
Unlike the great body of literature on the biblical prohibition of pork, relatively
little attention has been paid to the avoidance of pork in rabbinic literature in general and
the identification of Rome with the pig in particular. 5 Jacob Neusner, in Judaism and
Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the Initial
Confrontation (1987), analyzed the identification of Rome both with the fourth kingdom
and the pig in Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 13, explaining this identification as being a
polemic with Christianity. 6 In 1986, Mireille Hadas-Lebel dedicated an article to the
identification of Rome with the fourth kingdom of the book of Da niel and with the pig;
this was further developed in her book Jerusalem Against Rome (2005, a translation of
Jérusalem contre Rome, 2003).7 Her main interest was to reconstruct the history of the
The entry “ azir
” in the Tamudic Encycopedia, like any encyclopedical entry, is far from
complete. Encyclopedia talmudit, vol. 13 (Jerusalem: Talmudic Encyclopedia Institute, 1977), 443-44θ
(Hebrew).
6
Jacob Neusner, Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History, Messiah, Israel, and the
Initial Confrontation (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1987), 102.
7
Mireille Hadas-Lebel, “Rome ‘Quatrième Empire’ et le symbole du porc,” dans e enica t
udaicaμ ommage
Va entin σi iprowet y, édέ André Caquot, Mireille Hadas-Lebel et. J. Riaud
(Leuven: Peeters, 1986), 297-312. Ibid. Jerusalem Against Rome, trans. Robyn Fréchet (Leuven: Peeters,
2005) [original title: Jérusalem contre Rome (Paris: Cerf, 2003)], 413-416.
5
4
creation of this identification. She did not analyze the midrashim in depth or try to
analyze the inner logic of the midrashic construction or locate it in its larger context of
Roman or Christian discourses. David Kraemer, in Jewish Eating and Identity through
the Ages (2007), briefly explains why the pig became the food avoidance par excellence
in Judaism, but does not analyze in detail the relevant rabbinic texts. 8 In 2010, Jordon D.
Rosenblum published the article, “Why Do You Refuse to Eat Porkς Jews, Food, and
Identity in Roman Palestineέ” 9 His main point is that the sages identified Rome with the
pig following the metonymic logic of “you are what you (do and do not) eatέ” Aside from
this idea, Rosenblum’s discussion does not add much to Hadas-δebel’s work (which he
seems not to be aware of). Since the nineteenth century, five explanations have been
given in the literature for the identification of Rome with the pig; these have to do with: 1)
The god Mars, 2) The boar emblem of the Legion X Fretensis, 3) The erection of a
sculpture of a sow in Jerusalem, 4) The Roman myth of Aeneas, and 5) A metonymic
identification of the Romans with their meat.
1. The God Mars
Abraham Epstein (1κκη) proposed that the equation ‘Rome = Esau = Pig’ had its
origin in the Roman cult of the war-god Mars, who, in his view, was portrayed as a pig.
According to Epstein, the Syrians called εars “ aziran,” derived from a ir (pig).
Because Mars gave his name to the red planet (Mahadim in Hebrew), his redness was
8
David Kraemer, Jewish Eating and Identity through the Ages (New York and London: Routledge,
2007), 30-33.
9
Jordon Dέ Rosenblum, “Why Do You Refuse to Eat Porkς Jews, Food, and Identity in Roman
Palestine,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 100, no. 1 (2010): 95-110. See also his Food and Identity in Early
Rabbinic Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 48-51, which is based on his PhD
dissertation:‘They Sit Apart at εea s’μ ar y Rabbinic Commensa ity Regu ations and Identity
Construction. PhD dissertation (Providence, Rhode Island: Brown University, 2008).
5
linked to Esau-Edom, both of whom had red hair. 10 This interpretation is far from
convincing, and will not be discussed here. 11
2. The Boar Emble m of the Legion X Fretensis
Theodore Reinach suggested (1903) that the sages identified Rome with the pig
because the boar was the emblem of the Legion X Fretensis, which participated in the
conquest of Jerusalem in 70 CE and was stationed in the city ruins after the Great
Revolt.12
3. The Erection of a Sculpture of a Sow in Jerusalem
Samuel Krauss (1λ14) proposed that “there is reason to believe that this
[symbolization of Rome as a pig in rabbinic literature] came into prominence only since
Abraham Epstein, “The Beasts of the Four Kingdoms,” Bet Talmud 4 (1885): 177 (Hebrew). Ibid.,
Mi-Qadmoniot ha-Yehudim, 2 vols (Jerusalem: Mossad ha-Rav Kook, 1965 (Vienna, 1887)), 33 (Hebrew).
Epstein is followed by Jay Braverman, erome’s Commentary on Daniel: A Study of Comparative Jewish
and Christian Interpretations of the Hebrew Bible (Washington: The Catholic Biblical Association of
America, 1978), 79.
11
For criticism of this explanation, see: Jane Barr, “Review of Braverman, Jayέ Jerome’s Commentary
on Daniel: A Study of Comparative Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, Washington,
The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1λ7κ,” Journal of Biblical Literature 100, no. 2 (1981): 288.
Gershon Dέ Cohen called it “farfetched,” see: Gershon Dέ Cohenέ “Esau as Symbol in Early εedieval
Thought,” in Jewish Medieval and Renaissance Studies, ed. Alexander Altmann (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Univ. Press, 1967), 21, note 7.
12
Théodore Reinach, “εon nom est δégion,” Revue des études juives 47 (1903): 172-178. Louis
Ginzberg writes, for example, “The designation of Esau (=Rome) as “swine” is very common in rabbinic
literature, and occurs in so old a source as Enoch 89. 12. Originally it was not intended as an expression of
contempt, but was coined with reference to the standard of the Roman legion stationed in Palestine, which
had as its emblem a boar, a wild swine, and hence the designation of Rome as
‘the boar out of the
wood’έ” δouis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, vol. V (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of
America, 1947), 294, note 162. Isaac Heinemann, The Methods of the Aggadah (Darkhe ha-agadah)
(Jerusalem: Magness, 1949), 32 (Hebrew). Samuel Krauss, Paras VeRomi BaTalmud UbaMidrashim
(Persia and Rome in the Talmud and Midrashim) (Jerusalem: Mosad HaRav Cook, 1948), 100-105; 177178 (Hebrew). Irit Aminoff, The Figure of Esau and the Kingdom of Edom in Palestinian MidrashicTalmudic Literature in the Tannaic and Amoraic Periods. PhD dissertation (Melbourne: Melbourne
University, 1981), 258-2θη (“Chapter 4: The Swineέ”). Louis H. Feldman, Josephus's Interpretation of the
Bible (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 323. Ibid., Remember Amalek: Vengeance, Zealotry,
and Group Destruction in the Bible According to Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus (Cincinnati, OH:
Hebrew Union College Press, 2004), 67. Daphne Barak-Erez, Outlawed Pigs: Law, Religion, and Culture
in Israel (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007), 20. Samuel Tobias Lachs, A Rabbinic
commentary on the New Testament: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav; New
York: Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1987), 139. For criticism of this identification, see: Hadas Lebel, Jerusalem Against Rome, 104.
10
6
the time of Hadrian and the fall of Betar (135 CE) since, in order to insult the Jews, the
image of a pig was attached to the southern gate of Jerusalem which had been
transformed into the Roman colony, Aelia Capitolinaέ” 13
4. The Roman Myth of Aeneas
Moshe David Herr (1970) proposed that the rabbinical identification of Rome
with the pig was linked to the sow and her thirty piglets. According to Virigil’s Aeneid,
this was the sign given Aeneas as to where the city of Lavinium, the mother city of Rome,
should be founded, and hence the sow with piglets became a symbol of Rome. 14
5. A Metonymic Identification of the Romans with their Meat
David Kraemer (2007) proposed that the sages identified the Romans with the pig
because of the importance of pork in the Roman diet. 15 Likewise, Rosenblum proposed
that “if to be Roman meant, in some sense, to eat pork, then the pig makes a seemingly
logical symbol for Rome: after all, ‘‘you are what you eatέ’’ 16
My approach
While each of the explanations that have been given for the identification of
Rome with the pig may be worthy, it seems reductionist to attempt to explain the
Rabbinic identification of Rome with the pig by a single cause. If the pig had rich,
diverse meanings in rabbinic literature as well in the Greco-Roman world, we can assume
13
Samuel Krauss, Monumenta Talmudica , vol. 5, Geschichte, 1. Teil: Griechen und Rimer (Wien:
Orion, 1914), 15. Cited in: Braverman, erome’s Commentary on Danie , 94. Mireille Hadas-Lebel argues
against the idea that: “after 13η, there was little contact between the Jewish populations and the Xth
Fretensis quartering at Aelia Capitolina where the Jews were forbidden the right to stayέ” Hadas -Lebel,
Jerusalem Against Rome, 518.
14
Moshe David Herr, Roman Rule in Tannaitic Literature Its Image and Conception, PhD Dissertation
(Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 1970), 128, note 99.
15
Kraemer, Jewish Eating, 31.
16
Rosenblum, “Why,” 1ί7-108.
7
that the identification of Rome with the pig will correspond to this complexity, that it will
function at diverse levels and with diverse meanings. Current research suffers from what
εarc Bloch called historians’ “obsession with origins,” 17 an “obsession” which shifts us
from the question of the logic behind the identification. Hence, to seek to understand the
identification of Rome with the pig, I will analyze it in the broader context of discourse
concerning the pig in rabbinic literature. Due to the semi-oral nature of Rabbinic
literature, it is very hard to date the different texts within it; therefore I will not analyze
the rabbinic discourse in a supposed chronological order. However, in the discussion, I
will propose some historical observations on the evaluation of rabbinic porcine discourse
over time, from the Mishnah to the medieval midrashim. Before going on to Chapter
One, I will briefly summarize the place of the pig in the Hebrew Bible.
The Pig in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew word a ir, which means both pig and wild boar,18 is mentioned in
the Hebrew Bible only seven times (Deut. 14:8; Lev. 11:7; Is. 65:4; 66:3; Ps. 80:14; Prov.
11:22). 19 Consumption of pork is prohibited in Leviticus 14 and Deuteronomy 11,
priestly sources which probably date from the end of Iron Age, but may reflect an earlier
tradition:
Leviticus 11
Deuteronomy 14
2: From among all the land animals, these
are the creatures that you may eat.
17
3 You shall not eat any abhorrent thing.
4: These are the animals you may eat:
Marc Bloch, The Historian's Craft (New York: Knopf, 1953), 24.
Likewise, Aramaic and Arabic do not distinguish between the domestic and the wild animal.
19
Compare this to other animals, such as the dog, which is mentioned thirty-two times, the goat
seventy-four times, and the sheep one hundred and seven times.
18
8
3: Any animal that has divided hoofs and is
cloven-footed and chews the cud ḳ such
you may eat.
4: But among those that chew the cud or
have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the
following: the camel, for even though it
chews the cud, it does not have divided
hoofs; it is unclean for you. 5: The rockbadger, for even though it chews the cud, it
does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean
for you. 6: The hare, for even though it
chews the cud, it does not have divided
hoofs; it is unclean for you.
7: The pig, for even though it has divided
hoofs and is cloven-footed, it does not chew
the cud; it is unclean for you.
8: Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch; they are
unclean for you.
the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5: the deer,
the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat,
the ibex, the antelope, and the
mountain-sheep.
6: Any animal that divides the hoof and
has the hoof cloven in two, and chews
the cud, among the animals, you may
eat.
7: Yet of those that chew the cud or
have the hoof cloven you shall not eat
these: the camel, the hare, and the rockbadger, because they chew the cud but
do not divide the hoof; they are unclean
for you.
8: And the pig, because it divides the
hoof but does not chew the cud, is
unclean for you.
You shall not eat their meat, and you
shall not touch their carcasses.
The prohibition of touching the dead body of impure animals seems to reinforce
the prohibition of consumption.
20
Curiously, the Hebrew Bible does not give a
theological explanation for food avoidance, but does clearly link it to purity as a state of
separateness, as summarized in Leviticus 20:24: 21
I am the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore make
a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and
the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by
anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.
You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other
peoples to be mine (Lev. 20:24-27).
As Walter Houston notes, this ban “is intended as a kind of ‘hedging of the law’; in order to remove
even the temptation of eating the flesh of these animals, or the possibility of doing so accidentally, it is
forbidden even to touch their bodiesέ” Walter Houston, Purity and Monotheism: Clean and Unclean
Animals in Biblical Law, JSOTSupSer, 140 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1993), 40. Jacob Milgrom. Leviticus 1-16.
The Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1991), 655.
21
Ibid., 54.
20
9
This logic of purity and separateness does not, however, explain the reason for the
criteria given for the purity or impurity of each particular animal. In any case, the pig is
explained as an anomaly of a purity classification system: it holds the first mark of purity
but not the second. In this sense, it can be understood as a symbol of impurity, hybridism,
and the transgression of category boundaries. Third Isaiah (c. late sixth century - mid fifth
century BCE), 22 rebukes the presence of a foreign cult in the Temple. In this passage, the
blood of the pig symbolizes the profanation of the Temple (Isaiah 66:3): “]He[ who
presented a cereal offering ]would now present[ the blood of a swineέ” 23 Isaiah 66:17
declares that “those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following
the one in the centre, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end
together, says the Lordέ” δikewise, Isaiah θη:4 condemns the ones “who sit inside tombs,
and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine’s flesh, with broth of abominable
things in their vesselsέ” In Psalms 80:14, the wild pig (
) symbolized the
destruction of the Temple: “(13) Why hast thou broken down its walls, so that all who
pass along the way pluck its fruit? (14) The boar from the forest (ya’ar) ravages it, and
the beasts of the field feed on itέ” 24 The pig, as a thing out of place, is also found in the
book of Proverbs (tenth to sixth centuries BCE), 25 which says “δike a gold ring in the
snout of a pig is a beautiful woman bereft of sense” (Provέ 11:22)έ 26
22
On the date of Third Isaiah, see Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 56-66: A New Translation with
Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Bible, vol. 19b (New York: Doubleday, 2003), 42-54.
23
Jack εurad Sasson, “Isaiah θθ:3-4a,” Vetus Testamentum 26 (1976): 200.
24
Arthur Weiser, The Psalms: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962), 546.
25
Proverbs is a collection of texts produced probably over the course of a very long period (10 th to 6th
cent. BCE) which was edited in its final form perhaps as late as the third century BCE: Leo G. Perdue,
Proverbs (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2000).
26
The saying as Tova δέ Forti notes is “a moral statement about the advantage of intellect over beauty,”
Tova L. Forti, Animal Imagery in the Book of Proverbs (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2008), 52.
10
In all of these passages, the pig is mentioned in a negative context, standing for a
thing “out of placeέ” In δeviticus and σumbers, the pig is an anomaly of the classification
system; in Isaiah, it is a forbidden food (eaten in an impure place, the tomb) or
inappropriate sacrifice. In Psalms, the pig is the animal that penetrates and destroys the
vineyard (Temple). In Proverbs, the pig is a vulgar creature. Hence, the pig in the Hebrew
Bible is above all an impure animal, its consumption is forbidden, and its general
symbolism makes it stand for an anomaly, whether ontological, cultic, or moral.27
Romanization and Pork Consumption
David Kraemer notes that the “major development in Jewish eating practices
between the Bible and the rabbis is the emergence of pork as a uniquely abhorred
substance” by the early first century CE, 28 which he explains through the central role of
pork in the Greco-Roman diet, which made pork a marker of difference in daily life:
(…) When the common Palestinian Jew viewed the common gentile eating meat at her or
his table Ḳ in the first century BCE or the first century CE Ḳ that meat was far more likely
to be pork than anything else. In other words, of all the species marked as off limits by
the Torah’s legislation, the only one concerning which this would make a difference on a
regular basis was the pig. The rest were primarily of academic interest, the pig was a
presence and potentially a temptation. But it was also, crucially, their meat Ḳ ubiquitously
so. And thus, it was taboo Ḳ because the Torah outlawed it, taboo because it was so
readily associated with “the otherέ” It emerged as the abhorred symbol par excellence
because it was available to serve in that capacityέ σo other species on the Torah’s list
could do the same.
(…) Palestine, in the second century BCE, saw rising numbers of Hellenized soldiers,
traders and other residents within its territories. Notably, pork was a mainstay of the
Hellenistic Ḳ and later, Roman Ḳ diet. By contrast, in the centuries before the Hellenistic
conquest, local peoples in Palestine rarely consumed pork (…) What this means is that in
the Hellenistic period, for the first time, Jews observing the Torah’s prohibitions would
have had increasing opportunity to witness their neighbors regularly consuming a
27
Except for Psalms and Proverbs, the pig is mentioned mainly as a concrete animal and not as a
metaphor or symbol.
28
Kraemer, Jewish Eating, 30.
11
particular prohibited flesh: pork. As this awareness grew, pork could grow into a
symbol Ḳ it could be viewed more and more prominently as the food of the other. 29
According to Baruch Rozen, the Roman occupation was a turning point in the
importance of pig breeding in Palestine, as witnessed by the increase percentage of pig
bones in archeological excavations in layers from the Roman period to the Arab conquest
in the seventh century. 30 The neo-Platonist Porphyry, in his Against the Christians,
argues against the story of the Gaderian pigs (Mt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:12-17; Luke 8:27-37)
- that it is not possible that Jesus had drowned so many pigs in the sea of Galilee, for
“how could there be so large a swineherd grazing in Judea, animals most unclean and
from the beginning hated by the Jewsς” 31 However, even this polemical argument takes
for granted that pigs were raised in the Holy Land. In fact, the sages of the Talmud even
imagined that the emperor Diocletian was a swineherd in the city of Tiberias, on the
shore of the sea of Galilee.32
29
Ibid.
Baruch Rozen, “Swine Breeding in Eretz Israel after the Roman Period,“ Cathedra 78 (1995): 25-42
(Hebrew)έ See also: Shimon Dar, “Food and Archeology in Romano-Byzantine Palestine,” in Food in
Antiquity, ed. John Wilkins, David Harvey & Mike Dobson (Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press, 1995),
328. εagen Broshi, “The Diet of Palestine in the Roman Periodέ” Cathedra 43 (1987): 15-32 (Hebrew).
Ibidέ, “The Diet of Palestine in the Roman Period: Introductory σotes,” in Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls
(London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 121-43 [originally published in: The Israel Museum Journal 5
(1986): 41-56]. For a detailed discussion of pork consumption in a Roman site, see for example the Roman
legionary fortress of el-δejjun (Jordan): εichael Toplyn, “δivestock and Limitanei: The Zooarchaeological
Evidence,” in The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980 1989, ed. S. Thomas Parker (Washington (D.C.): Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2006),
484-486.
31
Porphyry, Against the Christians, fr. 177 (apud Apokritikos 3.4). Robert M. Berchman, Porphyry
against the Christians, Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic tradition, v. 1 (Leiden: Brill,
2005), 200. A later scholiast (in the margin of the Manuscript) argues that the Jews raised pigs and sold the
meat to Roman solders and thus broke the law. Consequently, the Savior vindicated the law by letting the
demons go into the pigs. See Apocr. 3.4 (Blondel), discussed in John Granger Cook, The Interpretation of
the Old Testament in Greco-Roman Paganism (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), 178.
32
Rosenblum, “Why, ” λθέ
30
12
In Rome, even more than in Greece, 33 pork was a popular, inexpensive meat; it
was the meat par excellence.34 Pig breeding was so widespread in Rome that Varro (d. 27
BCE) asked the rhetorical question: “Who of our people cultivates a farm without
keeping swineς” 35 Polybius notes that “the number of swine slaughtered in Italy for
private consumption as well as to feed the army is very large,” 36 mentioning herds of
thousands of pigs, 37 while Pliny the Elder (d. 79 CE) notes that “no other animal
produces so much material for cooking: the pig has about fifty different flavorsέ” 38 In
Roman Italy, all parts of the pig were consumed, as pork, ham, sausage, or lard. 39 Pork
was an important component in the diet of the Roman soldier, especially during a
campaign. 40 Pork was supplied in large quantities to the city of Rome, where a public
33
Plutarch, Life of Cato the Younger 46.3. Emily Gowers, The Loaded Table: Representations of Food
in Roman Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 69.
34
Jacques André, L'alimentation et la cuisine à Rome (Paris: Klincksieck, 1961), 139-41. Eugenia
Salza Prina Ricotti, “Alimentazione, cibi, tavola e cucine nel l’età imperiale,” in δ’A iment ione ne mondo
antico (Roma: Instituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1987), 90-94.
35
Varro, On Agriculture 2.4.3.
36
Polybius, The Histories 2.15.2.
37
Polybius, The Histories 12.3.8-4.14.
38
Pliny, Natural History 8. 209. The following is an idea found in a satire of Petronius (Sat. Trim, 69.):
serving a meal in which everything was made of pork, the host explains: “my cook prepared all this from
porkέ There is none more valuable than heέ If you wish, he’ll prepare you a fish from a pig’s womb, a
wood pigeon from bacon, a turtle-dove from ham, and a chicken from pork loin …” Patrick Faas, Around
the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994),
255.
39
“The haute cuisine of Imperial Rome presents an astonishing array of recipes based on the pig; there
is scarcely any part of the carcass that did not provide the basis for some gourmand’s delight…Pliny alone
mentions fifty such recipes“ K. D. White, Roman Farming (New York: Cornell University Press, 1970),
231.
40
“The Roman military ate pork in a number of forms: cooked, roasted or boiled, made into sausages
(ifarcimina), ham (perna) or bacon (lardum/laridum)έ ]…[ Smoked or salted pork was particularly
important during a campaignέ Indeed, from the quartermaster’s, if not the soldier’s, point of view, salt pork
has always been a favorite food for campaigning because it is cheap and long-lastingέ” Jonathan Pέ Roth,
The Logistics of the Roman Army at War (264 B.C. – A.D. 235) (Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, 1999), 29-30.
Hadrian, if we have to believe the Historia Augusta (late 4th century): “led a soldier’s life among the
maniples, and ]…[ cheerfully ate out of doors such camp-fare as bacon, cheese and vinegarέ” Historia
Augusta¸ Hadrian 10.2
13
system of pork distribution existed. 41 Authors from the imperial period presented pork
consumption as part of the ideal Roman diet, that of early Roman times, which they
contrasted to the “corrupted” diet of their own daysέ 42 Juvenal, in Satire Eleven, praises
the old practice of consuming homemade bacon: “For feast days, in olden times, they
would keep a side of dried pork, hanging from an open rack, or put before the relations a
flitch of birthday bacon, with the addition of some fresh meat, if there happened to be a
sacrifice to supply itέ” 43 This humble diet is contrasted with that of his own day,
characterized by a “magnificent feast of hares and sow's paunches, of boars and
antelopes,”44 or that of Satire One:
(…) lordly patron will be devouring the choicest products of wood and sea, lying alone
upon an empty couch; for off those huge and splendid antique dinner-tables he will
consume a whole patrimony at a single meal. Ere long no parasites will be left! Who can
bear to see luxury so mean? What a huge gullet to have a whole boar----an animal created
for conviviality----served up to it! 45
It seems that pork consumption was subject to sumptuary laws, as Pliny the Elder
(d. 79 CE) notes:
Nor does any animal supply a larger number of materials for an eatin g-house: they have
almost fifty flavors, whereas all other meats have one each. Hence pages of sumptuary
laws, and the prohibition of hog’s paunches, sweetbreads, testicles, matrix and cheeks for
banquets, although nevertheless no dinner of the pantomime writer Publius after he had
obtained his freedom is recorded that did not include paunch - he actually got from this
Peter Garnsey, “εass Diet and σutrition in the City of Rome,” Cities, Peasants and Food in
Classical Antiquity: Essays in Social and Economic History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1998), 226-252, especialy pp. 242- 245.
42
τn this theme in the satire of Plautus, see: Jέ Cέ Bέ δowe, “Cooks in Plautus,” Classical Antiquity 4,
noέ 1 (1λκη): 77έ “The Roman stereotype of the humble peasant with his flitch of salted bacon assumed that,
once a year at least, the fatted animal would be killed, perhaps at a festival or wedding which coincided
with the start of winter. This, incidentally, helps to explain the particular connections between pigs and the
Saturnalia (along with their anthropomorphic features)έ” See also σicholas Purcell, “The Roman Villa and
the δandscape of Production” in Urban Society in Roman Italy, ed. T. Cornell and K. Lomas, 151-179
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995), 155-ηλέ Ibidέ “The Way We Used to Eat: Diet, Community, and
History at Rome,” American Journal of Philology 124, no. 3 (2003): 329-358.
43
Juvenal, Satiries 11έ δikewise, Varro “contrasts modern luxury with the opprobrium attached in the
old days to a peasant who bought bacon at the market instead of producing it on his own plotέ” Gowers,
The Loaded Table, 72.
44
Ibid.
45
Ibid.
41
14
the nickname of Pig’s Paunchέ But also wild boar has been a popular luxuryέ As far as
Cato the Censor we find his speeches denouncing boar meat bacon. Nevertheless a boar
used to be cut up into three parts and the middle part served at table, under the name of
boar loin. Publius Servilius Rullus, father of the Rullus who brought in the land
settlement act during Cicero’s consulship, first served a boar whole at his banquets - so
recent is the origin of what is now an everyday affair; and this occurrence has been noted
by historians, presumably for the improvement of the manners of the present day, when it
is the fashion for two or three boars to be devoured at one time not even as a whole
dinner but as the first course. 46
Likewise, after bringing the menu of a banquet for a pontiff, Macrobius mentions
the reproach made in 161 BCE by a certain C. Titius to the people gathered to receive the
Fannia sumptuary law.47 This reproach was made to them because they ate the dish called
“Trojan pig” (porcus troianus), a pig that “was stuffed with other animals that were
closed inside the same manner that the Trojan horse was filled with warriorsέ” 48 If this
critique of luxury by the regimen in imperial Rome involves that of pork, consuming it
confirms and reinforces the role of pork consumption as part of Roman identity.
If the Empire incorporated the food of the different cultures under its control,
creating a kind of cosmopolitan diet, while at the same time making the Roman diet the
unified diet of the empire,49 was pork in the diet an important part of Romanization? In
Pliny, Natural History 8. 127-12κέ As Emily Gowers notes, “It is not known which sumptuary laws
contained the restrictions on pig-meat mentioned by Plinyέ” Gowers, The Loaded Table, 70.
47
Vincent Jέ Rosivach, “δex Fannina Sumptuaria of 1θ1 BC,” The Classical Journal 102, no. 1 (2006):
1-15.
48
Macrobius, Satires 3.16.14. Cited by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa. The Taste of Ancient Rome (Chicago
and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992), 98. Also see the description of Petronius, Cena
Trimalchionis (The Banquet of Trimalchio). An idea of this dish is also given by Apicius´ (4th/5th cent. CE)
recipe of stuffed piglet: “Suckling pig with two types of stuffing: Clean it, gut it from the throat, truss ]the
feet] to the neck. Before cooking it, open the ear under the skin. Fill the ox bladder with Terentian stuffing,
and attach a bird’s quill at the neck of the bladder: through this squeeze as much ]stuffing[ into the ear as it
will hold. Then plug the hole with paper and close with fibulas, and prepare another stuffing. Make it thus:
Grind pepper, lovage, oregano, a bit of silphium root; moisten with garum; add cooked brains, raw eggs,
cooked spelt, cooking broth, small birds if available, pine nuts, peppercorns. Mix with grum. Stuff the pig,
plug with paper, and close with fibulas. Place in the ovenέ When it is cooked, spread with oil, and serveέ”
Apicius 367. Cited in Giacosa, The Taste of Ancient Rome, 97.
49
τddone δongo, “δa nourriture des autres,” in istoire de ’a imentation, dir. Jean-Louis Flandrin et
Massimo Montanari (Paris: Fayard, 1996), 274.
46
15
other words, if “the Roman polity was more inclusive than the Greek, built to expand,” 50
was this true also of the Roman diet, and pork consumption in particular? Was
consuming pork sine qua non for becoming a true Roman? Louis H. Feldman notes that
“the abstinence from their national dish ]pork[ must have struck the Roman nationalists
much as a deliberate abstention from roast beef would have affected an English citizen in
our day who believes that patriotism and roast beef are somehow connectedέ” 51 As noted
above, Rosenblum goes one step further: “By refusing to eat pig, Jews are never able to
ingest Romanness and thus can never truly become Romanέ” 52 This is an essentialist and
simplistic conception of Roman identity. While “Roman nationalists” such as Juvenal or
Tacitus would probably agree with Rosenblum, this does not change the fact that the
paths of Romanization were diverse, including with respect to diet. 53 However, the idea
that pork consumption became common after the Roman conquest must be nuanced.
Many groups, beside Jews in the Roman Levant, abstained from pork: Phoenicians,
Syrians, Arabs, Egyptian priests, Samaritans, and some Jewish Christians. Therefore,
either pork consumption was not part of the traditional diet in these particular cultures, or
it had a marginal place in it, and it is not clear to what extent these groups maintained
their preference for meats other than pork. 54 In fact, as the zoo-archeologist Justin Lev
50
Peter Garnsey, Food and Society in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1λλλ), κίέ Ze’ev Safrai, “Pigs,” The Economy of Roman Palestine (London and New
York: Routledge, 1994), 172-173.
51
Feldman, Jew and Gentile, 167.
52
Rosenblum, Why,” λθέ
53
On the diverse opinions of Greco-Roman authors on Jewish avoidance of pork see: Louis H.
Feldman, “The Attack on the Jewish Dietary δaws,” Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1993), 167-17ίέ Peter Sch fer, “Abstinence from Pork”, Judeophobia. Attitudes
toward the Jews in the Ancient World (Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press, 1997), 66-81.
54
As Leonard V. Rutgers notes, the presence of pig bones in a house in Shephoris (Dioceasria) does
not necessarily testify that its occupants were Christiansέ δeonard Vέ Rutgers, “Some Reflections on the
Archeological Finds from the Domestic Quarter on the Acropolis of Sephoris,” in Religious and Ethnic
Communites in Later Roman Palestine, ed. Hayim Lapin (Bethesda, MD: Univeristy Press of Maryland,
1λλκ), 1λ1έ Regarding ethnic diversity in Roman Palestine: Glen Wέ Bowersockέ “The Greek εoses:
16
Tov proposes, the real impact of Romanization on the diet in Palestine seems not so much
to be regarding pork consumption, but rather regarding fish consumption:
Foodways, as much as any other cultural habit, have as much the power to unite as to
divide. What this survey of bone data most clearly suggests is that, contrary to much
wishful thinking on the part of archaeologists working in a variety of periods, ethnic and
religious groups are difficult to separate by dietary traditions. Pigs are universally rare in
the Near East, while fish, starting in the Roman period, are universally abundant. In
searching for the evidence that can be used to separate the ancient populations of
Palestine, we have overlooked the evidence that the external influences of Rome and the
desire of many to imitate Roman culture to an extent unified these ethnic and religious
groups. Perhaps both the pig and the fish bone evidence are significant and
complementary. While the general lack of pig bones may indicate the maintenance of a
traditional Near Eastern, if not specifically Jewish, diet on the one hand, the popularity of
fish indicates that Jews and others were able to emulate Roman culture without
sacrificing their own. With the advent of the Roman-era, fish consumption rises in
importance at both civilian and military sites (Kreuz 1995:80). Acculturation is not the
same phenomenon as assimilation, and in late antique Palestine it appears from dietary
evidence that many people adopted those foreign practices which did not conflict with
their own traditions, thus undergoing dietary acculturation but not assimilation. 55
Taking into account the many paths of acculturation and the wide range of
assimilation, it is possible that for some (both Jews and non-Jews), not eating pork was
an obstacle to fully becoming part of the Empire, while for others (both Jews and non
Jews), this was not at all the case. However, it is reasonable to assume that Romanization
roused the tension around Jewish avoidance of pork and that it influenced the vivacity of
the rabbinic association of Rome with the pig.
Confustion of Ethnic and Cultural Components in Later Roman and Early Byzantine Palestine,” Ibidέ, 3148.
55
Justin Lev-Tov, “‘Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed…ς’ A Dietary Perspective on
Hellenistic and Roman Influence in Palestine,” in eichen aus Text und Steinμ Studien auf dem Weg u
einer Arch o ogie des σeuen Testaments, ed. S. Alkier and J. Zangenberg (Tübingen: Francke, 2003), 21.
17
The Plan of the Dissertation
This dissertation will discuss the rabbinic discourse concerning the pig and
avoidance of pork (chapters 1-3) before turning to the role of porcine symbols in the
confrontation between Jews and Romans in the first and second centuries (ch. 4-5), and
then analyze the midrashic identification of Rome with the pig (chapters 6-10). Chapter
One deals with diverse topoi that define the nature of the pig in rabbinic literature.
Chapter Two analyzes legal aspects concerning the pig and the sages’ refusal to explain
the avoidance of pork. Chapter Three deals with the pig as a frontier marker involving
persecutions, sexual relations, apostasy, and proselytes. Chapter Four shifts the
discussion to the role of the pig in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE
and in the legends concerning this destruction. Chapter Five deals with the link between
the rabbinical identification of Rome with the pig and the boar emblem of the Legion X
Fretensis, its representation on the coins of Aelia Capitolina, and the statue of the sow
near the Jaffa Gate. Chapter Six addresses the rabbinical legend according to which
emperor Diocletian was a swineherd, which is analyzed in the light of Roman legend
regarding Diocletian as a boar hunter and the midrashic context of this legend in midrash
Genesis Rabbah. Chapter Seven is dedicated to the discourse on eating in midrash
Leviticus Rabbah 13. Chapter Eight discusses the interpretation of Psalms 80:14 (“The
wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it”) by
the sages as well as by the Church Fathers. Chapter Nine deals with the midrash on the
name of the pig, and Chapter Ten addresses why the sages rarely use the simile of the
killing of the pig.
18
Chapter 1
The Nature of the Pig
What was the nature of the pig for the sages of the Talmudim and midrashim?
Before we proceed to discuss the diverse porcine topoi in rabbinical literature (omnivores,
excrement and dirt, sexual lust, harmfulness, injurious voice, uselessness and idleness,
diseases, drunkenness, hypocrisy) let us observe the diverse observations that the sages
made concerning the biology and realia of the pig: the domesticated pig and the wild boar,
although similar to each other, are considered to be diverse-kinds;56 pregnancy of the sow
lasts sixty days;57 a sow becomes smaller as her litter grows;58 the pig is one of three
animals whose strength increases with age; 59 the pig has “sixty-hundred thousand
“Rέ Judah said, “A female mule which craved a male ]mule[ Ḳ “they do not mate with it either ]one[
of the horses or of the asses, but only [one] of the male mules. The ox and the wild ass, the hog and the
wild boar, even though they are similar to one another, they are [considered] diverse-kinds [when they mate]
with one anotherέ” Tέ Kilayim 1έκέ Translation by Jacob σeusner, The Tosefta, vol. I, Zeraim (The Order of
Agriculture) (New York: Ktab, 1977), 250, with a slight alteration.
]
.
:
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.
"
57
T. Bekhorot 1.9-110 (cf. B. Berakhot 8a. GenRab 20.4.) “]Even though they said[ A small clean
beast gives birth at five months. A large clean beast gives birth at nine months. A large unclean beast gives
birth at twelve months, the dog at fifty days, the cat at fifty-two, the pig at sixty days, the fox and all
creeping things at six months; the wolf, the lion, the bear, the panther, the leopard, the elephant, the baboon,
and the ape at three years, and the snake at seven yearsέ” Translation by σeusner, The Tosefta, vol. V,
Qedoshim, 164. The period of sixty days is given by Aristotle, History of Animals 8.6 and Pliny, Natural
History 8.77.207.
58
LamR 1.51: “εy children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed” (δamentations 1:1θ): Rέ Aibu
said, “It is like the tuber of a cabbageέ As the cabbage increases in size, the tuber shrinksέ” Rέ Judah bέ Rέ
Simon said, “It is like a sow that shrinks as the litter growsέ” Translation by Jacob Neusner, Theological
Commentary to the Midrash: Lamentations Rabbati (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2001),
172.
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59
B. Avodah Zarah 30bέ εy translationέ “Rav Safra said in the name of R. Yehoshua of the South:
There are three types of venom: that of a young [one] sinks, that of a young [one] penetrates, and that of an
old [one] floats. To say that the older [one] grows the weaker it becomes? And it was taught in a Braisa:
three as they age their strength increases. These are they: the fish, the snake, and the pig. Its strength
increases, ]but[ its venom weakensέ”
,
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And b. Sabbath 77b.
56
19
(θίί,ίίί) cards ]foldersήmembranes[” in its stomach; 60 pig’s intestines are similar to
those of human beings; 61 and each seven years the field mouse is transformed into a
boar.62 Mishnah Bechoroth 4.4, referring to the physician Todos, mentions that a cow or a
sow does not leave Alexandria unless it is castrated,63 probably so that other breeders will
not be able to breed the Alexandrian race.64 As we will later see, the midrashim play with
B. Be orot 57b. “Pigs in our places have sixty-hundred thousand (600,000) cards
[folders/membranes] in their stomachsέ”
έ
61
. Ta’anit 21b. Translation by A. Steinsaltz, The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition, vol. XIV, Tractate
Ta’anit, part II (New York: Random House, 1995), 98-99
62
Y. Shabbat 1:3, 3b. “Once in seven years God changes his world: the chameleon becomes a great
serpent, the head-louse after seven years becomes a scorpion, the horse worm becomes a human worm, the
ox worm is changed into another species of vermin, the male hyena becomes female, the field-mouse
becomes a wild boar, the fish vertebra turns into a centipede and the human vertebra turns into a serpent
(…)” Translation by A Rabbinic Anthology, ed. Claude Goldsmid Montefiore and Herbert Loewe (New
York: Schocken, 1974), 662.
"
:
60
…
Columella notes an operation is which is “performed with the knife on the wombs of the females to
make them suppurate and close up as a result of scarring over, so that they cannot breedέ” Columella, On
Agriculture 7.9.5.
64
ε. e orot 4.4. “If one that was not a ]properly qualified[ expert beheld the firstling, and it was
slaughtered at his word, it must be buried, and [this examiner] must pay compensation from his own
possessions. If [an unqualified person] gave a legal decision, declaring the guilty exempt or declaring the
innocent culpable, or declaring the clean unclean, or declaring the unclean clean, what he has done can not
be undone, but he must compensate [the wronged litigant] from his own means. But if an [authorized]
expert approved by the court [to act as judge gave a wrongful decision], he is exempt from having to make
restitution. It happened once that a cow had its womb removed, and R. Tarfon declared the carcass trefah
and fed it to the dogs; and when the matter came before the Sages they declared it permitted. Todos the
physician said, No cow or sow leaves Alexandria before they cut out its womb so that it can not bear
offspringέ Rέ Tarfon said, ‘Gone is thine ass, Tarfon! Rέ Akiba said to him, ‘Rέ Tarfon, tho u art exempt, for
thou art an expert [qualified] by the court, and every expert [authorized] by the court is exempt from having
to make restitutionέ’” Translation by Philip Blackman, Mishnayoth, vol. V. Order Kodashim. (New York:
Judaica Press, 1964), 259-260.
,
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,
:
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,
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And see also: . e orot 28b; B. Sanhedrin 33a; 93a. Psikta Zutara (Lekach Tov), Genesis 45.19. Sechel
Tov (Buber), Genesis 45.19. The Bavli (Sanhdrin 93a) asks what Daniel was doing when his friends
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were in the furnace (Daniel 3): “And where did Daniel go [that he was
absent when this incident occurred]? Rav said: [He was sent by Nebuchadnezzar] to dig a great river in
Tiberias. And Shmuel says: [He was sent] to import aspasta seed [to Babylon]. And R. Yochanan says: [He
was sent] to import Alexandrian hogs [to Babylon to be bred there]. [The Gemara asks:] Is that so? But it
was taught in a Mishnah: Todos the Physician said: No cow or sow leaves Egyptian Alexandria without
their cutting out her womb so that she not bear young. [The Gemara aswers:] [Daniel] brought young ones
[out of Egypt] without their knowledge [of his intended purpose].”
63
20
the root H.Z.R ( έ έ ) of the word for pig, azir (
) to insist on its nature of return,
while the later medieval Psikta Zutara explains the name of the pig, in that it “turns all its
body, and does not turn its neckέ” 65
Omnivorous Animal
The pig is an omnivorous animal that puts whatever it finds in its mouth: 66 it is
even an eater of corpses. According to Mishnah Ohalot 18.8, a Jew that enters to live in
house in Eretz Israel that previously belonged to a goy should examine it for buried
aborted babies because of corpse impurity, since according to the sages, the Goyim are
suspected to be buried in their houses.67 The school of Hillel states that “wherever a pig
or a rat can get into no examination is required,” probably because it was considered that
where a pig or a stoat can enter they took out or ate any buried body:
What [parts about a dwelling] have to be examined? The deep drains and the foul water.
The School of Shammai says, also the manure heaps and loose earth. And the School of
Hillel says, wherever a pig or a stoat can get into no examination is required. 68
:
,
65
έ
:
έ
:
Psikta Zutra, Leviticus Shemini 29b.
έ
,
:
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Ecclesiastes Zuta 1 (ed. Buber).
.
]
[(
)
Compare to Aristophanes’s saying: “What is the pig’s favorite weaknessς” “Anything you give themέ”
Aristophanes, The Acharians 795. See also: Aristotle, History of Animals 8.6.15-22.595A.
67
For Gentile impurity and corpse impurity, see: Christine Elizabeth Hayes, Gentile Impurities and
Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2002), 202.
68
M. Ohalot 18.8 (And B. Pesachim 9a). Mishnayoth, vol I. Order Taharoth (New York: Judaica,
1964), 291.
:
:
έ
?
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66
21
Excrement and Dirt
Few rabbinic texts refer to the well known topos in the Greco-Roman world of the
pig’s love for excrement and dirt: 69 a Bavli’s proverb says: “Give a pig the heart of pal m
and he will do its deeds (burrow in the waste).”70 According to Ecclesiastes Rabbah, “at
two and three [years old, the child] is like a pig, sticking his hands in the guttersέ”71 In
other versions, the reason the child is compared to a pig is that he rolls in waste heaps and
excrement, 72 or because he looks in niches like a pig, putting whatever he finds in its
mouth. 73 According to Tan uma, the drunkard is like the pig, “wallowing about in urine
and other things [sexual relations/excrement?].” 74 A famous Talmudic saying states that
“a pig is a moving toiletέ” 75
The Yerusalmi states that one should remove himself at least four cubits from pig
dung before reciting the prayer of Sema:
Rabbi Yose bar Hanina said: One removes himself four cubits from animal dung. Rebbi
Samuel bar Rav Isaac said, if it is soft, but only from donkeys. Rebbi Hiyya bar Abba
See: Cristiano Grottanelli, “Avoiding pork: Egyptians and Jews in Greek and δatin texts,” in Food
and Identity in the Ancient World, ed. C. Grottanelli and L. Milano (Padova: S.A.R.G.O.N., 2004), 74-77.
70
YalShim 968.
71
“Rέ Samuel bέ Rέ Isaac taught in the name of Rέ Samuel bέ Eleazar: The seven ‘ anities’ mentioned
by Koheleth correspond to the seven worlds which a man beholds. At a year old he is like a king seated in a
canopied litter, fondled and kissed by all. At two and three he is like a pig, sticking his hands in the gutters.
At ten he skips like a kid. At twenty he is like neighing horse, adoring his person and longing for a wife.
Having married, he is like an ass. When he has begotten children, he grows brazen like a dog to supply
their food and wants. When he has become old, he is [bent] like an ape. What has just been said holds good
only of the ignorant; but of those versed in the Torah it is written, Now king David was old (1 Kings 1:1) Ḳ
although he was ‘old’, he was still a ‘king’έ” EcclR 1.1
72
Tan Pekudei 3 (and minor tractate semachot 1.3)
.
,
73
Ecclesiastes Zuta 1 (ed. Buber).
74
Tan σoa 13. (and YalShim, σoa 61).
75
As for example in Yerushalmi (Berakhot 2.4.3.3) which deals with the question as to whether one
may pray in a bathouse which is not in use: “Rabbi Jermiah asked before Rabbi Zeïra: If it was used as bath
house in summer but not in the rainy season, what is the rule? He said to him, a bath house even if it is not
in use, a toilet even if it does not contain excrement. Mar Uqba said: a pig is a moving toilet.” Y. Berakhot
2:3, 4c. Translation by Heinrich W. Guggenheimer, The Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot (Berlin and New
York: Walter de Gruyter, 2000), 187. And: b. Berakhot 26a.
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69
22
said, if it arrived from a trip. Levi said, one removes himself four cubits from the
excrement of a pig. And it was stated: One removes himself four cubits from the
excrement of a pig, four cubits from the excrement of a marten, four cubits from the
excrement of chickens. Rebi Yose ben Rebbi Abun in the name of Rav Huna: Only from
red76 one.77
Bavli Nida 58b notes that in a city in which there are pigs, a woman should not
fear that a bloodstain on her cloths is from her menstruation, and hence that she is impure:
Rav Ashi said: In a city, in which there are pigs, we are not concerned about [blood]
stains. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: And this city Dedokart [a city in Mesopotamia]
is like a city in which there are pigs. 78
Some commentators prefer to understand “Edomite.”
Y. Berakhot 3:5, 6d. Translation by Guggenheimer, The Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot, 314.
έ
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:
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Bavli Berakhot 2ηa: “It has been stated: a putrid odor that has a tangible source. Rabbi Huna said: [one]
distances himself four cubits and recites the Shema. And Rabbi Chisda said: distance four cubits from the
place where the odor has dissipated, and recite the Shema. It was taught in a Baraisa in accordance with
Rabbi Chisda: A man will not recite the Shema opposite human excrement, nor opposite dog excrement,
nor opposite pig excrement, nor opposite chicken excrement, nor opposite a trash heap whose odor is putrid.
But if [one of the above] was a place ten spans [tefyachim] higher or ten palms lower, [one should] sit
alongside [that place] and recite the Shema and if not he distances within eyesight, and so it for prayer. A
putrid odor that has a tangible source, one distances four cubits from the place of the smell and recites the
Shema. Rava said: the law is not in accord with this [aforementioned] Baraisa, but with this [other] Baraisa:
a man will not recite the Shema opposite human excrement, nor opposite pig excrement, nor opposite dog
excrement, when one placed hides in them ]for tanning[έ]…[ It was stated: passing excrement. Abaye said:
it is permitted to recite the Shema. Rava said: it is forbidden to recite the Shema. Abaye said: From where
do I say this? As we learned in a Mishnah: if an impure [person] is standing under a tree and a pure [person]
passes [underneath that tree], [the latter] is impure. If a pure [person] is standing under a tree and an impure
[person] passes [underneath], [the former, remains] pure. And if [the impure man stops and] stands [under
the tree, the other person is] impure. And so in the case with contaminated stone [with leprosy]. Rava could
tell you [that] there the matter is dependent on [the] permanence as it is written: “He shall dwell in isolation;
his dwelling shall be outside the camp (Lev.13:4θ)”έ Here, the εerciful τne said, “And your camp shall be
holy” (Deutέ 23:1η), and this there is not [the case]. Rav Pappa said: The mouth of a pig is like passing
excrement. [This is] obvious. [This teaching] is not necessary even though [the pig] has [just] emerged
from a river.”
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78
B. Nida 58b.
76
77
23
The reasoning seems to be that the pig dirties its environment with drops of
bloods coming out of his mouth. A city of pigs stands for a filthy city, and hence a city
that is considered impure, such as Dedokart, is “like” a city of pigsέ
This rabbinical disgust for the dirty pig became famous due to the 12th century
Rabbi, doctor, and philosopher εaimonides’ explanation of avoidance of pork:
I maintain that the food which is forbidden by the Law is unwholesome. There is nothin g
among the forbidden kinds of food whose injurious character is doubted, except pork and
fat. But also in these cases the doubt is not justified. For pork contains more moisture
than necessary [for human food], and too much of superfluous matter. The principal
reason why the δaw forbids swine’s flesh is to be found in the circumstance that its habits
and its food are very dirty and loathsome. It has already been pointed out how
emphatically the Law enjoins the removal of the sight of loathsome objects, even in the
field and in the camp; how much more objectionable is such sight in towns. But if it were
allowed to eat swine’s flesh, the streets and houses would be dirtier than any cesspool, as
may be seen at present in the country of the Franksέ A saying of our Sages declares: “The
mouth of a pig is like passing excrement" (B. Berakhot 25a)” 79
This explanation suggests that we differentiate between the sages who refuse to
directly explain the reason d’être of the avoidance of pork and medieval rabbis who
attempt to give a few rational explanations for this. In early rabbinic literature, the pig’s
dirtiness does not explain the avoidance of pork, but rather indirectly reinforces its
meaning by insisting on the repugnant nature of the animal.
Sexual Lust
The pig is associated in several texts with negative sexuality. Bavli Avoda Zara
states that a man should not look at a male pig and a sow while they procreate:
Nor upon the colorful clothing of a woman. Nor shall one gaze upon a he-donkey, nor
upon a she donkey, nor upon a pig, nor upon a sow, nor upon birds, at the time they mate
with one another. 80
έ
:
"
έ
:
Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, trans. M. Friedlander (London: Geroge Routledge,
1919), 370-71.
80
B. Avodah Zara 20b.
79
24
Another link between the pig and sexuality is found in Bavli Moed Katan, where
the pig is the instrument of punishment for having forbidden sexual relations:
Rafram bέ Papa said, It is taught in the Ebel Rabbathi: “A mourner is forbidden to use the
[conjugal] couch during his [seven] days of mourning;” and it happened ]once[ with one
who used his [conjugal] couch during the [seven] days of his mourning that a swine
hauled away his carcass. 81
Likewise, the later Midrash on Proverbs interprets the pig as representing a
prostitute in Proverbs 11:22: “Gold ring in a pig's snout, a beautiful woman of errant
sense”:
“Gold ring in a pig's snout, a beautiful woman of errant sense,” (Proverbs 11:22) - If he
put all the gold in a pig’s snout and it ]the pig[ goes and makes it dirty in the mud it does
not corrupt it [the gold]. Likewise a Ta mid a am ]Torah’s scholar[ that goes to a
prostitute and has sexual intercourse with her, did not corrupt his Torah. And it is true,
for concerning it was said: “Gold ring in a pig's snoutέ” 82
Harmfulness
The Hebrew Bibe describes the pig as a harmful animal: In Psalms 80:14, the wild
pig (
) symbolized the destruction of Israelήthe Temple: “(13) Why hast thou
broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? (14) The boar
]
[
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Also Midr Tann, Deutronomy 23.10.
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B. Moed Katan 24a.
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MidProv 11, 62-64. My translation.
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Midrash Mishle: A Critical Edition based on Vatican MS. Ebre. 44, ed. Burton I. Visotzky (New York: The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1990), 91-92 (Hebrew).
25
from the forest (ya’ar) ravages it, and the beasts of the field feed on itέ” 83 As we will later
see, in several midrashim this phrase refers to the oppression of Israel by the Romans,
who, like “the boar of the forests kills people and injures folk and smites menέ” 84 The
boar is an evil beast, which one has to eradicate. Referring to Leviticus 26:6, “I will give
you peace in the land, after I will cause evil beasts to cease from the land,” the midrash
notes that “evil beasts can refer only to the boar, for it is said, “The wild boar out of the
wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it” (Psέ κί:14)έ” 85 The
damage caused by pigs led to legal problems. The Tosefta notes that one has to pay the
full payment for the damage caused by a pig that ate pieces of meat. 86 In the discussion
on tzerorot laws concerning the damage done indirectly by an animal which, while
walking, splashes stones or earth which damage things in its way, it is noted that - for “a
pig which was rooting around and did damage with its snout Ḳ [the owner] pays the full
value of the damages it has causedέ” 87
The danger of the pig is also magical. According to Bavli Pesa im, a man should
not pass between two pigs or a pig between two men: “Our Rabbis taught: There are three
who must not pass between [two men], nor may [others] pass between them, viz.: a dog, a
palm tree, and a woman. Some say: a swine too; some say, a snake tooέ” The Talmud also
provides the remedy for such a transgression: “Said, Rέ Papa: δet them commence ]a
83
Weiser, The Psalms, 546.
ARN A 34. Translation by Goldin, The Fathers, 138.
.
,
,
85
Translation by William G. Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, vol. 2 (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1959), 293.
,
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86
T. Baba Kama 1.8.
87
T. Baba Kama 1.8. B. Baba Kama 17bέ See: Amitai Salomon, “Din Tzerorot veεekorotav, (The
δaw of Tzerorot and its τrigin),” Petuhi Hotam 3 (2008): 110-145 (Hebrew). Avishalom Westreich,
“Gibuso ePituho she din t erorot bedibrei haTana’aim, bedibrei haAmora’aim ubata mudim (The
Formation and Development of Tzerorot δaw in the Saying of the Tannaits, Amoraics and the Talmuds,”
Sidra 19 (2004): 77-100 (Hebrew).
84
26
verse] with el [God] and end with el. Others say: Let them commence [a Scriptural
passage] with lo [not] and finish with lo.88
Injurious voice
A later midrash notes, “Three voices are hard to humans: the voice of adolescent;
the voice of mice; the voice of pigs. And there are who say also the voice of thunder and
the voice of donkeysέ” 89 It is also possible that in some versions of the legend of the
destruction of the Temple, the pig is said to cause the destruction by its screaming. 90
Uselessness and Idleness
The uselessness of the pig is a common Greco-Roman topos,91 which goes hand
in hand with the idea that the pig is an idle animal which is only good after its death. This
is an idea found in an Aesopian story incorporated in midrash Esther Rabbah (which will
be discussed in detail in chapter ten). According to this story, a man that had a filly, a
sheḲass, and a sow gave the sow more to eat than he gave to the working animals, but
finally this worked against the sow´s interest, for after being fattened it was butchered.
Observing this, the she-ass barely ate. However, “her mother told her: “my daughter, it is
not the food that is the cause, but the idlenessέ”92 A similar observation on the use lessness
88
B. Peshim 111a. Translation by Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonain Talmud, Pesahim
(London: The Soncino Press, 1967), with slight alteration.
έ
:
,
:
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,
:
,
:
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89
Otzar haMidrashim, ed. J. D. Eiesenstein (New York: Eiesenstein, 1915), 168 (hupat Eliyau).
έ
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90
See: Saul Liberman, Tosefta Ki-Fshutah: A Comprehensive Commentary on the Tosefta, vol. 9,
Second Augmented Edition (New Yotk: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1992), 185 (Hebrew). And Ibid.
Studies in Palestinian Talmudic Literature (εe arim be-Torat rets- i ra e ) (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1991),
488-490 (Hebrew).
91
See for example Ovid, Fasti 1. 349-362; 1.655; Metamorphoses 15.111-121.
92
Esther Rabbah 7.10.
.
:
27
of the pig is found in Midrash Zuta’s comment that while the sheep is sheered and grows
wool, the pig is not sheered and does not grow wool:
A man should not say: I reduce my goods if I will give [alms] to the poor. [Rather] a man
should observe that what does not diminish does not increase. The hair of the head and
beard which are cut always grow, and the eyebrows are not cut ever and never grow. And
indeed Israel was compared to a sheep that is sheered and grows wool, while the pig is
not sheered and does not grow ]wool[έ” 93
Diseases
Bavli, Ta’anit explicitly notes the danger of contagion between pigs and humans:
They said to Rav Yehudah: “There is pestilence among the pigsέ” He decreed a fastέ Shall
we say [that] Rav Yehudah maintains [that] an epidemic that is spread among one species
will spread among all the species? No. Pigs are different, because their intestines are
similar to those of human beings. 94
It is not clear what sort of epidemic the Talmud associates with pigs and humans.
However, in some rabbinic sources we find the link between the pig and leprosy. 95 Bavli
Kidushin 4λb notes: “Ten measures of disease ]nèga’im] descended to the world. Pigs
took nine, ]and the rest of the world took one[έ” 96 The word nèga’im (pl.), nèga’ (sing.) is
one of the words for ‘leprosy” and other skin diseases in rabbinical textsέ The saying can
be understood to mean that the pig suffers from leprosy more than any other creature of
the world, that it is the leprous animal par excellence. In Bavli Sabbath, another
connection seems to be made between pork and leprosy:
93
94
,
ς
Midrash Zuta, Song of Songs (ed. Buber) 1.15. My translation.
:
έ
,
B. Ta’anit 21b.
έ
έ
,
:
έ
,
95
The link between leprosy and pigs is also found in Egyptian and Greco-Roman sources. See
Grottanelli, “Avoiding Pork,” 7ί-74 and Youri Volokhine‘s forthcoming book: Le porc en Egypte: Mythes
et histoire à ’origine des interdis a imentaires.
96
B. Kiddushin 49b. '
' ,
28
έ
:
,
Rav and Shmuel both say: One who undergoes the procedure [of blood letting] should eat
something [first] and then leave [the house]. For if he does not eat anything [before
leaving, he exposes himself to a host of dangers:] if he meets up with a corpse, his face
will turn greenέ If he meets up with a murderer, he will dieέ If he meets up with “that
other thing,” ]which Rashi identifies as a pig] it is harmful with regard to “that other
thing” ]Rashi: iέeέ leprosy[έ 97
The eleventh century commentator Rashi based his reading of ‘another thing’
[davar ha er] as first meaning once pig and then leprosy on Kidusin 4λb (“Ten measures
of disease [nega’im] descended to the world. Pigs took nine, [and the rest of the world
took one[)έ” Similarly, he understood a story in Bavli, Ketubot:
Ameimar, εar Zutra and Rav Ashi were ]once[ sitting by the entrance to King Izgur’s
palaceέ The king’s steward passed by ]carrying the king’s food[έ Rav Ashi saw that εar
Zutra’s face became paleέ He took ]some of the food[ with his finger ]and[ placed it into
]εar Zutra’s[ mouthέ ]The steward[ said to ]Rav Ashi[, “You ruined the king’s meal!”
]They[ said to him, “Why did you do thusς” ]Rav Ashi[ said to them, “Whoever prepared
]food[ in this manner disqualifies the king’s foodέ” They said to him, “Whyς” ]Rav Ashi[
said to them, “I saw another thing ](Rashi) leprous pig meat[ 98 ]in the dish[έ” They
inspected [the dish] and did not find ]any leprous meatέ Rav Ashi[ took ]the chef’s finger
]and[ placed it on ]one particular peace[ of the meat, ]and[ said to them, “Did you inspect
hereς” They inspected ]that piece of meat and miraculously[ they found ]it to be leprous[έ
The Rabbis said to ]Rav Ashi[ “What is the reason you relied on a miracleς” He said to
them, “I saw a spirit of leprosy sprouting on himέ” 99
We may conclude that the alleged connection between the “leprous” pig meat, iέeέ
meat suffering from Taenia solium custicercus, and leprosy, which is known to us from the
Middle Ages, also existed in early rabbinic literature (as in Greco-Roman literature).
Leprosy however must not be understood as only referring to Hansen’s disease, but rather
to a great number of skin diseases that cause scales and measles.
97
B. Sabath 129a. Translation by Schottenstein Talmud (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1990Ḳ2005),
with slight alteration.
,
,
,
:
έ
, 98
Rashi: "
,
99
B. Ketubot 61a. Translation by Schottenstein Talmud, with sligth alteration.
,
,
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,
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29
Fig. 1: Cysticercosis muscle of a Pig. The several vesicular ovoid nodules, whitishyellow and smaller than a green pea, are larvae of Taenia solium.
Interestingly, despite the negative nature of the pig, Bavli Shabbat 110b provides
a remedy for a disease called Yerakon (probably jaundice):100 take a “speckled another
thing (da har a er = pig), tear it open and apply it to the sick heartέ” 101
Drunkenness
Referring to σoah’s drunkenness after the flood, during which his pudenda was
exposed to his younger son Ham (Gn 9:21-28), the sages compare one of the stages of
drunkenness to the behavior of pig:
Our teachers of blessed memory stated: While Noah was planting the vineyard; Satan
appeared before him and asked: “What are you plantingς” He answered: “A vineyardέ”
“What is itς” inquired Satanέ “Its fruits are sweet, whether moist or dry,” he answered,
“and from them one produces a wine that causes the heart of man to rejoice, as it is
written: “And wine doth make glad the heart of man (Psέ 1ί4:1η)έ” Satan suggested:
“Come, let us be partners in the vineyardέ” And σoah replied: “Certainlyέ”
What did Satan do? First, he obtained a lamb and slaughtered it beneath the vineyard.
Then, he took a lion and slaughtered it there, and after that he obtained a pig and an ape
and slaughtered them in the same place. Their blood seeped into the earth, watering the
vineyard. He did this to demonstrate to Noah that before drinking wine man is as
innocent as a sheep: “δike a sheep that before her shearers is dumb (Isέ η3:7)έ” But after
he drinks a moderate amount of wine he believes himself to be as strong as a lion,
boasting that no one in all the world is his equal. When he drinks more than he should, he
behaves like a pig, wallowing about in urine and performing other base acts. After he
becomes completely intoxicated, he behaves like an ape, dancing about, laughing
Fred Rosner, “Yerakon in the Bible, and Talmud: Jaundice or anemia,” The American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition 25, no. 6 (1972): 626-628.
101
B. Shabbat 110b.
.
,
100
30
hysterically, prattling foolishly, and is completely unaware of what he is doing. All this
happened to the righteous Noah. If the righteous Noah, whom the Holy One, blessed be
He, praised, could behave in such a fashion, how much more so could any other man! 102
Hypocrisy
In Leviticus Rabbah 13 (and Genesis Rabbah 65.1), it is argued that the Roman
Empire/Esau is compared to a pig because the empire in its hypocrisy pretends to be pure:
“Just as the swine when reclining puts forth its hooves as if to say: See that I am
cleanέ”103
Discussion
We have reviewed some of the topoi concerning pigs found in the rabbinic
literature: omnivores, excrement and dirt, sexual lust, harmfulness, injurious voice,
uselessness and idleness, diseases, drunkenness, and hypocrisy. To these, we must of
course add impurity, which is the most present and will be at the heart of our discussion
later on. All these topoi are found in Greco-Roman literature, 104 but many other topoi
found in these texts are absent in rabbinic literature: criminality, tyranny, injustice, death,
Tan, σoa 13. (and YalShim, σoa 61). Translation by Samuel A. Berman, Midrash TanhumaYelammedenu: An English Translation of Genesis and Exodus from the Printed Version of Tanhuma Yelammedenu with an Introduction, Notes, and Indexes (Hoboken, NJ: KTAV, 1995), 66-67
ς
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For this story in the context of the rabbinic folktale, see: Eli Yassif, The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre,
Meaning (Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press, 1999), 82.
103
LevR 5.4. (and GenR, Toledoth 64.1). Translation by J. Israelstam and Judah J. Slotki, Midrash
Rabbah, Leviticus (London; New York: Soncino Press, 1939), 174.
104
Grottinelli is wrong when stating that aside from the topos of the filthiness of the pig, other GrecoRoman topoi concerning the pig are not found in Talmudic literatureέ See Grottanelli, “Avoiding Pork,”
78.
102
31
being nothing but meat, earthiness, fecundity, gluttony, excrement-eating, cannibalism,
courage, ferocity, and stupidity. However, the rabbinic portrait of the pig more or less
resembles the main traits of this animal in Greco-Roman discourse, as for example in the
anonymous Latin Treatise of Physiognomy (4th cent. CE?), where the pig is portrayed as
violent, ignorant, filthy, voracious, foulmouthed, insatiable, unclean, irascible, a drunkard
and a criminal [fig. 2]. 105
sky
Improper meat for
philosophers
Pig sacrifice
The courageous
Boar
Enemy of the
divinty
Positive
Negative
Stupidty
Boar sterility
Criminality
Downcast eyes
Impurity
Strong meat
Flthiness
Gluttony
Rich as the soil
excrement
Lust
Death
Rooting
animal
Leprosy
Fecundity
Plowing animal
Earth
Fig. 2: The Porcine Greco-Roman Discursive Sphere
(Rabbinical δiterature’s themes in boxes)έ
Two characteristics of the rabbinic porcine discourse distinguish it from GrecoRoman discourse: first, it does not give any positive place to the pig, and secondly it
tends to refer to the domestic animal and the savage one in the same terms, associating
both animals together, which is manifested by calling both a ir. As we will later see,
this negative nature of the pig reinforces the meaning of the avoidance of pork as well of
its eaters.
105
Treatise of Physiognomy (De Physiognomonia Liber) 14, 17, 18, 48, 51, 194. Anonyme Latin,
Traité de physiognomonie, trad. Jacques André (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1981), 61, 64, 66, 88-89, 90,
127.
32
Chapter 2
The Prohibited Animal
For the sages, the pig was above all a prohibited animal that raised diverse legal
issues. While Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11 prohibit only its consumption and the
touching of its carcass, the Sages also discuss a variety of other possible prohibitions:
breeding, feeding, commerce, or using pig hide. After discussing these cases, I will
address the Sages’ understandings of the biblical prohibition of pork and their refusal to
explain the grounds for this prohibition.
Prohibition of Breeding
One of the manifestations of the repulsion the sages held for the pig is the
εishnaic’s law that “no one may raise swine in any place”έ 106 Likewise, Avot deRabbi
Nathan (version A), speaking about the ritual laws concerning Jerusalem, notes that
“neither geese nor chickens may be raised there, nor needless to say, pigsέ” 107 In the
Tosefta, Rabbi Eleazar is quoted saying, “One who raises dogs is like one who raises
pigs.” 108 The context of the mentioned curse is given in the Bavli: 109 the civil war
M. baba Kamma 7.7. “They may not raise small cattle in the δand of Israel, but they may rear them
in Syria or in the wilderness in the Land of Israel. They may not raise fowls in Jerusalem because of the
sacrifices; nor may priests [rear them] in the Land of Israel because of [the laws regarding Levitically
prepared] clean foods. And no one may raise swine in any place. A man may not rear a dog unless it is tied
on a chain. They may not set snares for doves unless they are thirty ris from an inhabited placeέ”
Translation by Blackman, Mishnayoth, vol. IV, 62.
.
.
.
.
:
107
ARN A 35. Translation by Goldin, The Fathers, 144.
έ
106
108
T. Baba Batra (ed. Liberman) 8.17.
έ
:
See also the discussion of Rabi Eleazar in Tosefta Yevamot 3έ3: “They asked Rέ Eleazar, “A mamzer Ḳ may
he inheritς” He said to them: “εay he perform halisahς” “εay he perform halisahς” He said to them,
“εay he inheritς” “εay he inheritς” He said to them, “εay one plaster his houseς” ] “εay one plaster his
houseς”[ He said to them, “εay one plaster his graveς” “εay one plaster his graveς” He said to them,
“εay one raise dogsς” “εay one raise dogsς” He said to them, “εay one raise pigsς” “εay one raise
33
between the brothers Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II at the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.
According to the story (discussed in detail in chapter four), during the siege of Jerusalem
each day the besieged lowered dinars over the wall in a box, and the besiegers raised up
to them sacrificial animals for the daily offering (the tamid). However, one day,
following the advice of an old man who was knowledgeable about Greek wisdom, the
besiegers replaced the pure sacrificial animals with a pig. When the pig thrust its paws
against the wall, the city fell. Hence, “at that time did they declare: “Cursed be the man
who will rear pigs! And cursed be the man who will teach his son Greek wisdom. 110 Here,
pig breeders are analogous to assimilated Jews who blur the boundary between Jews and
non-Jews and finally became traitors. The sages’ disdain for pig breeding is also
pigsς” He said, “εay one raise roostersς” “εay one raise roostersς” He said to them, “εay one raise small
cattleς” “εay one raise small cattleς” He said to them, “εay one save the shepherd from the wolfς” “εay
one save the shepherd from the wolfς” He said to them, “It seems you have asked me only concerning the
lambς”And as regards the lamb, “εay one save ]it[ς” He said to them, “It seems you have asked only about
the shepherdέ” So-and-so, what is he as to [does he enter] the world to come? So and so, what is he as to the
world to comeς” He said to them, “It seems that you have asked only about so-and-soέ” “And so-and-so,
what is he ]=his status[ as the world to comeς” Rέ Eleazar was not putting them off, but he never said
anything which he had not heardέ” Translation by Jacob σeusner, Eliezer Ben Hyrcanus: The Tradition and
the Man, Part 1, The Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 1973), 178.
:
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109
B. Baba Kamma 72b; Menahot 49b; Sota 49b. The three versions are identical, but in the Sota 49b
version the place of Aristobolus and Horkanus is reversed.
110
B. Menahot 49b.
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The Yerushalmi (Ta’anit 4.68; Berachot 4.7) tells two analogous episodes from the time of Greece and
Rome. Bavli Baba Kama (κ3a) after discussing the studying of Greek refers to Rabbi Eleazar’s saying: “It
was taught in ]another[ Beraitah: R’ Elieser the Great says: One who raises dogs is like one who raises pigs.
[the Gemara asks:] Regarding what [matter] is this relevant? To implicate him, [the one who raises dogs,]
in the ]Rabbis’ imprecation,[ “Cursed be ]the man who raises swine[έ”
έ
ς
έ
:
34
manifested in a story told by the Yerusalmi of how a non-Jewish noble woman told a
rabbi that his face is radiant like that of a pig breeder:
When Rabbi Yona drank four cups during the night of Pesach, he held his head until
Pentecost. Rabbi Yuda son of Rabbi Elai, drank four cups in the night of Pesach, and held
his head until Sukkot! A Matrona saw his face glowing. She said to him: Old man, old
man, one out of three things is in you: Either you are wine drinker, or a usurer or a pig
farmer. He answered her: May the spirit leave this woman! None of these three things is
in me but my learning as is written: “the wisdom of man makes his face shineέ” (Ecclέ
8:1) 111.112
Why does the face of wine drinker, or a usurer or a pig farmer shine? Rashi
explains that the three faces shine of happiness for they gain a lot without effort. 113 In
rabbinic and Greco-Roman sources, we find the link of the pig to drunkenness, 114 and
also to richness, 115 which might explain the analogy the story creates between a wine
drinker, a usurer, and a pig farmer. What is important to our subject here is that the pig
breeder is presented as the opposite of the Talmudic scholar.116 In another version of the
story, the reason for the shining visage of the sage is very different from Torah learning
(here b. Berakhot 55a):
Ecclέ κ:1έ “Who is like the wise manς And who knows the interpretation of a thingς Wisdom makes
one's face shine, and the hardness of one's countenance is changedέ”
. ֻ ְ פ ְש, ת פ
ְ ; פש ד, ֹ ּ ,
ְ ,
112
Y. Pesa im 10:1, 37c (and: y. Shabbat 8:1, 11a; y. Shekalim 3:2, 47c). Translation by Daniel Stökl
Ben Ezra, “Parody and Polemics on Pentecost: Talmud Yerushalmi. Pesahim on Acts 2?” in Jewish and
Christian Liturgy and Worship: New Insights into Its History and Interaction , ed. Albert Gerhards and
Clemens Leonhard (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 287.
'
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.
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113
Rashi: "
,
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114
Tan, σoa 13 (and a Shim, σoa 61).
115
“σone richer than a swineέ” B. Sabbath 155b.
116
Midrash Samuel (ed. Buber) 16, notes the analogy of the effect of wine drinking and Torah studying:
“δike this vine ]=Torah[ that as much one eats and drinks from it he has a beaming face, hence “the
wisdom of man makes his face shineέ” (Ecclέ κ:1) - [this is] when he has been asked and responds, “and the
hardness of one's countenance is changedέ” (Ecclέ κ:1) Ḳ when he has been asked but does not responseέ”
My translation.
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.
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111
35
(…) a certain noblewoman said to R’ Yehudah the son of R’ Il’ai, “Your ]radiant[ face
resembles ]that of[ pig breeders and usurersέ” He said to her, “Faith! Both of these
[occupations] are prohibited to me. Rather, there are twenty-four privies between my
lodging and the house of study. [And] when I go [from one location to the other] I check
myself in all of themέ”117
In this version, the sage’s face shines because he is relieved after using the toilet.
Perhaps this is because in contrast to breeders of pigs (an animal whose mouth was
considered by the sages to be a walking toilet) or usurers, the sage does not accumulate
impurity but to the contrary eliminates it. Indeed, what the midrash seems to reproach
pigs breeders for is excess. In Koelet (Ecclesiastes) Rabbah Zuta, Rabbi Hunah notes on
Ecclesiastes 6:11: “The more words, the more vanity, [so how is one the better?]” - “like
117
B. Berakhot 55a (and: b. Nedarim 49b; PesR 14; Tan ukkot 191; YalShim 977).
,
:
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,
,
,
,
,
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,
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:
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In Bavli Nedarim 4λb, a version of this story the one that says Rabbi Yehudah’s face resembled that of pig
breeders is a Sadducee: “]A certain Sadducee once said to R’ Yehudah, “Your face seems to be ]the fac e of]
either usurers or pig farmersέ” ]R’ Yehudah[ replied to ]the Sadducee[, “By the oath used among, Jews,
both of those [occupations] are prohibited [to me and are not the reason for my glow.] Rather, I have
twenty-four lavatories between my house and study hall, and each and every hour I enter each and every
one of themέ ]This explains my shining faceέ”[
,
: " !
:
'
έ
,
And Tan uma (edέ Buber) 1λ “A certain gentile saw Rέ Judah bέ Rέ Il’ay with his shiningέ He said: σow
one of three things is the matter with the man: Either he is lending at interest, or he is raising swine, or he is
drinking wineέ ]When[ Rέ Judah bέ Il’ay heard his remark, he said to him: May the breath of that man blow
out ]of him[, for none of them applies to meέ I am not lending at interest, because it is written:’ “You shall
not lend to your brother at interest” (Dtέ 23:2ί)έ εoreover, I am not raising swine, because a child of Israel
is forbidden to rear swine, since we are taught there (cf. Bavli, Qidushin κ2b) ‘σo one may raise swine in
any place’έ σor am I sotted with wine, because the four Paschal cups which I drink at Passover has my
head tied in knots from Passover to Pentecost. R. Mani had his head tied in knots from Passover to the feast
of Tabernacles. [The gentile] said to him: Then for what reason is your face shining? He said to him: It is
the study of Torah that makes my face shine for me. It is written: ‘A person’s wisdom lights up his face’
(Ecclέ κ:1)έ”
,
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And PesR 14; YalShim 977.
,
36
the breeders of monkeys, cats and pigsέ” 118 It seems that pigs stand for vanity not jus t
because they are impure but also because they are prolific animals, and hence
demonstrate vain excess.
We find the contrast “pig breeder - Talmudic scholar” also in a legend (discussed
in detail in chapter six) concerning the emperor Diocletian. According to the legend the
young Diocletian was a swineherd in Tiberiasέ Whenever he came near Rabbi’s school,
the young students would come out and beat him up. When he became emperor, he tried
to take vengeance on the sages, but miracles protected them. Diocletian criticized the
sages, saying that they disdained the king because they knew that God performs miracles
on their behalf. To this, the sages answered: “Diocletian who was a swineherd we did
indeed disdain, but to Diocletian the king we are enslavedέ” 119 Another foreign ruler
whom the sages compare to a swineherd is Pharaoh. In a parable in Exodus Rabbah (also
discussed in detail in chapter six), Pharaoh is compared to a swineherd who found an
ewe-lamb (=Israel), and kept it among his pigs. The owner (God) asked for his ewe-lamb
(Israel) but in the face of the swineherd’s refusal, acquired it only after a serious of
sanctions. 120 Hence, Israel is the lamb, the non-Jews (Egyptians) are pigs; the foreign
ruler (Pharaoh) is a swineherd, while the ruler of Israel, God, is the ultimate shepherd.
The swineherd is the opposite social pole of the King, hence referring to a king as a
swineherd is degrading. Yalkut Shimoni tells a story about the Persian King who
dreamed that the Romans captured him and forced him to feed pigs:
Koelet Rabbah Zuta 6.11."
"
' έ”
See: Reuven Kipperwasser, Midrashim on Kohelet; Studies in their Redaction and Formation, PhD Thesis
(Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University, 2005), 54.
119
GenR Toledoth 63.8.7. and Y. Terumot 8:11, 46c. My translation.
έ
,
:'
120
ExR 20.
118
37
The Emperor [of Rome] said to R. Joshua b. R. Hananyah: You [Jews] profess to be very
clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Persians
coming and taking you captive and making you grind date-stones in a golden mill. He
thought about it all day, and in the night he saw it in his dream. King Shapor [I, the
Persian king] once said to Samuel: You [Jews] profess to be very clever. Tell me what I
shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Romans coming and taking you
captive and making you feed pigs with a golden crook. He thought about it the whole day
and in the night saw it in a dream. 121
Feeding and Commerce
Contrary to the texts that forbid pig breeding, other texts deal with questions of
feeding or selling pigs (theoretically but likely also practically). Bavli Shabbath notes that
one should feed a dog on the Sabbath but not a pig. The logic seems to be explained later
by the observation that “there is no poorer than a dog, and richer than the pigέ” The
question is how long the animal will not suffer without being fed. The Braitah seemed to
assume that the dog digests quickly and thus has to be feed even on the Sabbath, while
the pig digests slowly,122 and thus should not be fed. 123
121
ς
YalkShim Daniel 1060. My translation.
: " ς
:
έ
:
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.
,
:
Compare to Bavli Berakhot ηθa: “The Emperor ]of Rome[ said to Rέ Joshua bέ Rέ Hananyah: You ]Jews[
profess to be very clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see the Persians
making you do forced labor, and despoiling you and making you feed unclean animals with a golden crook.
He thought about it all day, and in the night he saw it in his dream. King Shapor [I] once said to Samuel:
You [Jews] profess to be very clever. Tell me what I shall see in my dream. He said to him: You will see
the Romans coming and taking you captive and making you grind date-stones in a golden mill. He thought
about it the whole day and in the night saw it in a dreamέ”
:
ς
:
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:
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έ
.
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:
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Becoming a swineherd as sign of humiliationή”fall” is found in the σew Testament’s parable of the
Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).
122
For a similar distinction between the digestive systems of the dog and that of the pig in Greek
thought, see: Christophe δafon, “Un organisme interne semblable au chaudron du sacrifice,” La sacrifice
antique: vestiges procédures et stratégies, Sous la direction de Véronique Mehl et Pierre Brulé (Renne:
Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2008), 155-166.
123
B. Sabbath 1ηηbέ “Even as it was taught: Food may be placed before a dog but not before a swineέ
And what is the difference between them? You are responsible for the food of the one, but you are not
responsible for the food of the otherέ ]…[ R. Jonah lectured at the entrance to the Nasi's academy: What is
38
While pig breeding is clearly forbidden, under some circumstances a Jew can sell
pigs. For example, according to the Bavli, Baba Kama, a proselyte who inherited pigs, is
not obliged to sell them all immediately, but may sell them off little by little. 124 However,
Mishnah Ukatzin states that the carcass of a pig, camel, hare, and rabbit could be sold to a
non-Jew anywhere. 125 Tosefta Avodah Zara states that one can sell pigs to a taga r
because there is no danger that he will sacrifice them to idolatry:
And of all of them, he would sell them a bundle. And how much is a bundle? R. Judah b.
Peterah says, “In the case of frankincense, it is no less than three by numberέ” τne sells
[the stated substances] to a tagar [merchant], but does not sell to a householder [M.
Avodah Zara 1.5A]. But if the tagar [merchant] was suspect [of idolatrous practices], it is
prohibited to sell [them] to him. One sells them pigs and does not scruple that he might
offer them up to an idol. One sells him wine and does not scruple that he might offer it as
a libation to an idol. But if he explicitly stated to him [that his intent was to make use of
what he was buying for idolatry], it is prohibited to sell him even water, even salt [M.
Avodah Zara 1.5f]. 126
As Emmanuel Friedheim notes, the tagar is probably a Syrian or Arab nomad
merchant, for whom pork and wine are forbidden and thus there is no risk that he will use
them for idolatry.127
meant by the verse, “The righteous knoweth the cause of the poor”? The Holy One, blessed be He,
knoweth that a dog's food is scanty, therefore He makes him retain his food in his stomach for three days.
As we learnt: How long shall the food remain in its stomach and yet defile? In the case of a dog, three full
days of twenty-four hours; while in the case of birds or fish, as long as it would take for it [the food] to fall
into the fire and be burnt. R. Hamnuna said: This proves that it is the proper thing to throw raw meat to a
dog. And how much? Said R. Mari: Measure its ear and the stick [straight] after! But that is only in the
fields but not in town, because it will come to follow him. R. Papa said: None are poorer than a dog and
none richer than a swineέ”
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B. Baba Kama 80a.
125
M. Ukatzin 3:3.
126
T. Avodah Zara (ed. Zurkmendel) 1.21.
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127
Emmanuel Friedheim, “The Travelling εerchant and Arabian-Syrian Pagan Rituals Mentioned in
the Toseftaέ” Tarbiz 69, no. 2 (2000): 170 (Hebrew). And Ibid. Rabbinisme et Paganisme en Palestine
39
Pig Hide
Mishnah u in 9:1 states that in general the hide of an animal is not subject to the
rules of food impurity, but rather to those of carcass impurity. Mishanh
u in 9:2 lists
some animals whose hides follow the rules of flesh in all respects. R. Johanan holds that
for eating pigskin one never can be prosecuted, while R. Shimeon ben Laqish holds that
eating pigskin, not yet transformed into leather, is as punishable as eating pork. 128
Purity and Classification
How did the sages understand the prohibition of pork in Deuteronomy 14:8 and
Leviticus 11:7? The early midrash Sifra questions the logic of the biblical classification
system concerning the pig in diverse places. Sifra Shemini 2.4 asks how one knows on
the basis of the four anomalous animals mentioned in Leviticus (camel, rock badger, hare,
and pig) that one may not eat other impure animals?
“…έWhich you may eat among all the beasts” (δevέ 11:1): ]…[ I know only that the
prohibition of eating an unclean beast is subject to a positive commandment ]“which you
may eat,” meaning the others may not be eaten; eat these only[έ How do I know that
unclean beasts are subject also to a negative commandmentς Scripture says, “The
camel…the rock badger…the hare…the pig…of their flesh you shall not eatέ” I know that
is the case only for these that have been specified alone. How do I know that is the case
for other unclean domesticated beasts? It is accessible through a logical argument: If
these, which possess some of the indicators of cleanness, lo, they are subject to a negative
commandment against eating them, those that lack any of the indicators of cleanness
surely should be subject to a negative commandment against eating them. Thus the rule
governing the camel, rock badger, hare, and pig derives from Scripture, and the rule
romaine: étude historique des Realia talmudiques (Ier -IVème siècles) (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2006), 250262. The avoidance of pork in ancient Syria is mentioned by Syrian avoidance of pork by Epictetus,
Porphyry and Damascius. The avoidance of pork in proto Islamic Arabia is mentioned by: Solinus, The
Wonders of the World (De mirabilibus mundi) 33.2.4; Pliny, Natural History 8.78.213; Jerome (d. 420 CE),
Against Jovinian 2 (NPNF2-06); Hermias Sozomen (c. 440 CE), Church History 6.38 (PG 67.1412C;
NPNF 2, 375).
128
M. u in 9.2.
:
έ
:
:
έ
:
έ
:
And b. u in 122a; b. Shabbat 14b; y. Pesahim 7:11, 35a; y. Shabbat 14:1, 14b.
40
governing other unclean beasts from an argument a fortiori. The affirmative
commandment affecting them derives from Scripture, the negative one from an argument
a fortiori.129
The pig is understood here as a generic symbol for impure animals. While it is
doubtful that this was the intention of the biblical text itself, it probably reflects the
special importance of the avoidance of pork in the rabbinic period. We find a similar
legal discussion in Sifra Shemini 4.1, which deals with the prohibition of touching the
carcass of an animal (Leviticus 11:24-28).130 The midrash starts by questioning whether
the law covers all animals:
“And by these you shall become unclean” (δevέ 11:24): εight one suppose that “these”
refers to all the categories stated in context [so that the rules that follow pertain through,
and not only to carrion of beasts]? And what are the categories stated in context?
Domesticated beasts, wild beasts, birds, fish and locusts.
In order to eliminate this possibility by reducing the span of the law, proof texts
are taken from δeviticus 11:2θ (the word “animal” excludes fish, “parts the hoof”
excludes locusts and fowl, and “cloven-footed” eliminates birds):
Might one suppose that a limb cut from a living creature should impart uncleanness in the
case of all of themς Scripture says, “animalέ” I may then eliminate fish that live in the
ocean, which are not susceptible to uncleanness, but I shall not eliminate locusts. To the
contrary, Scripture says, “Every animal which parts ]the hoof[…” I shall then eliminate
locusts, to the species of which uncleanness does not apply, but I shall not eliminate fowl,
to species of which uncleanness does applyέ To the contrary, Scripture says, “]Every
animal which parts[ the hoof…” Then perhaps I should eliminate unclean birds but not
eliminate clean birds? It is a matter of logic. If a beast, which cannot impart uncleanness
129
Sifra 2.4. Translation by Jacob Neusner, Sifra: An Analytical Translation, vol. 2 (Atlanta, GA:
Scholars Press, 1988), 155-156.
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130
“24: And by these you shall become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until
the evening, 25: and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until
the evening. 26: Every animal which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed, or does not chew the cud, is
unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27: And all that go on their paws among the
animals that go on all fours are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the
evening, 28: and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they
are unclean to youέ” (Lev. 11: 24-28).
41
to clothing when a bit of it is in the gullet, produces a limb from the living creature which
does impart such uncleanness, a bird, which does impart uncleanness to clothing when a
bit of it is in the gullet, surely should yield a limb from the living creature which does
impart such uncleanness! To the contrary, Scripture says, “But is not cloven-footedέ”
[That eliminates all birds.]131
After explaining that Leviticus 11:26 reduces the law to only four footed animals,
it is explained how the same phrase covers all the possible cases among those animals:
I know then that the law applies only to clean beasts. How do I know that it applies to
unclean beasts as wellς Scripture says, “Every animal” (δevέ 11:2θ) and as to a beast that
is cleanς Scripture says, “Every animal which partsέέέ” (Ibidέ) And as to a beast that is
uncleanς Scripture says, “…the hoofέ” (Ibidέ) And as to those that have cloven hoofsς
Scripture says, “Cloven-footedέ” (Ibidέ) And those that do not have cloven hoofs?
Scripture says, “But is not cloven-footedέ” And as to those that chew the cud among
domesticated beastsς Scripture says, “τr does not chew the cudέ” σow is there not the
case of the pig, which parts the hoof and is cloven-footed? Is it possible that the limb cut
from a living creature in that case should not impart uncleannessς Scripture says, “Does
not chew the cud, is unclean to youέ”132
If it is prohibited to touch the carcass of pig, 133 this prohibition is taken to its
extreme by being inscribed in the discussion of eating a limb cut from a living creature. It
is clear that what is at stake is not the real possibility but a theoretical one. In any case,
the classification system is described as perfect, for it covers all imaginable possi bilities.
131
,
Sifra 4.1. Translation by Neusner, Sifra, vol 2, 171-172.
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Sifra 4.1. Translation by Neusner, Sifra, vol 2, 171-172.
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133
The Mishnah, Okazin 3.3 notes that the pig is polluted in any case, whether contact with it was
intentional or random: “The carcass of an unclean beast anywhere, and the carcass of a clean bird in
villages, need intention, but [being already unclean] they do not require to be rendered susceptive to
uncleanness. The carcass of a clean beast in any place, and the carcass of a clean bird and fat in the markets
do not need either intention or to be made susceptive to uncleanness. R. Simon says, Also, [the carcass of]
the camel, or the hare, or the cony, or the pig [- these do not need intention[έ”
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And εidrash Tana’aim to Deutronomy 14.7; b. e orot 10a.
42
"έ
The textual inquiry by a series of distinctions repeats and reinforce the original
distinction of the classification system in general and that of the pig in particular (fig. 3).
Fig. 3: Classification of beasts in Leviticus 11 according to Sifra Shemini 4.1.
u in 59a:
We find the pig as a locus of distinction also in Bavli
And Rav Chisda said: [If] one was traveling on the road and he found an animal whose
mouth was mutilated, [so that he cannot determine whether it had upper front teeth] he
may examine its hooves [and thereby determine its status:] If its hooves are split [then] it
is definitely pure, and if [they are] not [split then] it is definitely non kosher; [but he may
rely on this method only] provided that he can identify a pig. Did you not say [that] there
is the pig, [which represents an exception to your rule that any animal with split hooves is
kosher? Perhaps, then] there is also some other species [of animal of which we are
unaware] that resembles a pig [in that it has split hooves yet is nonkosher. How can
anyone who does not see an animal’s mouth assume, simply because it has split hooves
and is not a pig, that it is kosher species? It should not enter your mind [that there is any
such speciesέ[ For it was taught in a Braitah in the academy of R’ Yishmael: ]Scripture
states: But this is what you shall not eat …[ The pig, for it has a split hoof [and its hoof is
completely separated, but it does not bring up its cud.] The ruler of his universe knows
that there is no creature that has a split hoof yet is impure [on account of not bringing up
its cud] except for the pig. Therefore scripture specifies regarding [the pig that] it [has a
split hoof but does not bring up its cud.] 134
B. u in 59a.
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Also here we find the idea of the uniqueness of the pig, as well of his classificatory
ambiguity. These aspects are at the heart of Sifra Shemini 2.5, which asks why the four
anomalous animals (the camel, hare, rock badger, and pig) are prohibited both in
Deuteronomy 14 and in Leviticus 11:
“…the camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof is unclean to youέ And
the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you.
And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you” (δevέ
11: 5)
What is the point of Scripture here?
If it is only to provide Scripture with a complete account, lo, it is written, “The camel, the
hare, and the daman - for although they bring up the cud, they have no true hoofs - they
are unclean for you; [also the swine - for although it has true hoofs, it does not bring up
the cud - is unclean for youέ You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses[” (Dtέ
14: 7-8). What then is encompassed in the statement above? The included items we have
already listedέ “…the camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof is
unclean to you” (δevέ 11: η): What is the point of Scripture hereς τne might have
thought that that beast should be permitted if it displays a single validating trait. And the
opposite of that proposition is a matter of logic: If the pig, which has a cloven hoof, is
unclean, the camel, which does not have a cloven hoof, surely should be unclean! If that
were so, I should reply, “What is it that causes the prohibition of the pig?” It is the matter
of its not chewing the cud. Then that same matter should render the camel permitted!
Accordingly, Scripture says, “…the camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the
hoof is unclean to you” (δevέ 11: η): δet the rule be given for the camel, and an argument
a fortiori for the pig will follow: If the camel, which chews the cud, is unclean, the pig,
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According to Genesis Rabbah, in order to avoid uttering an unclean expression, God enumerated the
positive sign of the pig before its negative one: “τf every clean beast thou shalt take to thee…and of the
beasts that are not clean, etc.” (Gnέ 7:2)έ Rέ Judan in Rέ Johanan’s name, Rέ Berekiah in Rέ δeazar’s name,
and Rέ Jacob in Rέ Joshua’s name said: We find that the Holy τne, blessed be He, employed a
circumlocution of three words in order to avoid uttering an unclean [indelicate] expression: It is not written,
‘And of the unclean beasts,’ but…That are not cleanέ Rέ Judan said; Even when ]Scripture[ comes to
enumerate the signs of unclean animals, it commences first with the signs of cleanness [which they possess]:
it is not written, ‘The camel, because he parteth not the hoof, ‘but, Because he cheweth the cud but parteth
not the hoof (Lev. 11: 4); The rock-badger, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof (ib. 5);
“The hare, because he cheweth the cud but parterth not the hoof” (ibέ θ); “The swine, because he parteth the
hoof, and is cloven-footed, but cheweth not the cud” (ibέ 7)έ” GenR 32.4. Translation by Freedman,
Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, vol. I, 251.
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which does not chew the cud, surely should be unclean. If that were the case, then I
should reply, What is it that causes the prohibition of the camel? It is the matter of the
hoof. Then the same matter should render the pig permitted! Accordingly, Scripture says,
“And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven footed but does not chew the cud”
(Lev. 11:5). 135
The repetition of the law is understood here as provided in order to avoid any
misunderstanding which will follow just one sign of purity. The emblematic status of the
pig makes it a token of impurity: the Mishnah for example discusses whether a sacrificial
animal is blemished if it has its mouth 136 or tail like that of a pig is blemished. 137
Likewise, the Mishnah forbids taking a vow of eating pork (because one has to take a
vow on something which is not inherently forbidden). 138 Similarly, if a man conditioned
135
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Sifra Shemini 2.5. Translation by Neunser, Sifra, vol 2, 160.
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Also Bavli e orot θb: “]The Gemara returns to its discussion at the top of this amud: ] But now [that you
have explained that the two times the term “camel” is stated in Scripture is for expositional purposes, when
it states:] hyrax, hyrax; hare, hare; pig, pig;[two times each,] are they coming for these [types of
expositions?] Indeed, not!] Rather, [they are repeated] for [the reason] that was taught in a Baratia: [why as
the enumeration of those that are kosher and nonkosher] repeated regarding the animal [species,] for [t he
addition of ] the shesuah, [which was not mentioned the first time.] And regarding the birds [the
enumeration is repeated] for the Raah. [If so,] camel, camel also comes for this [reason, and not for the
purpose of the expositions cited above!-?- The Gemara answers:] Wherever it is possible to expound [the
verse[ we expoundέ”
,
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136
M. e orot θέκ: “If a bone of its foreleg or a bone of its hindleg be fractured, even if it be not
evident [when the beast stands up, but is manifest when it walks, this is deemed a blemish]. These [two]
blemishes Ila recounted in Jabneh, and the Sages concurred. And, further, he added three [other blemishes],
[but the Sages] said to him, We have not heard [any tradition] about these [that they should be considered
blemishes, namely], if its eye-ball be round like that of person, or if its mouth be like that of a pig, or if the
greater parts of its fore-tongue had been removed; but the court [that succeeded] after them said that these
]three, also[ were blemishesέ” Translation by Philip Blackman, Mishnayot, vol V. Order Kodashim (New
York: Judaica, 1964), 271-272.
.
And: Tosefta (ed. Zukermendel) 4.11; B. Bechoort 3b; 40a.
137
M. Bechorot 6.9. B. e orot 50b.
:
:
138
M. Nedarim 2έ1: “]And these are declarations that leave the vower[ permitted: “ ulin which I eat of
yours,” “δike pork,” “like an idol,” “like skins perforated at the heart,”, “like neveolos and tereifos,” “δike
45
the validity of a get, a divorce document, on the wife eating pork, then the get is valid and
the condition annulled, for the husband does not really intend to this condition for he
knew that it is forbidden. 139 Being a token of impurity, the pig serves the sages to discuss
hypothetical cases. Bavli
u in, for example, while discussing whether a fetus of impure
animal in the uterus of pure animal is pure or not, asks if “the pig within the womb of a
sow should not be uncleanέ”ς 140 Likewise, in Bavli Bechorot, the sages asked what is the
rule in a case where a pig follows a ewe and suckles from her? Is this the ewe's first
offspring, born in the form of a pig, and so subject to the laws of the firstborn (forbidden
for non-priests to eat) or is this a real piglet, born to a sow, but since its own mother
shekatizm and remasim,” “δike Aaron’s challahm” or “like ]Aaron’s[ terumah,” Ḳ [In all these cases, the
vower is] permitted [to eat his fellow’s food[έ”
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,
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Also see the discussion of B. Nedarim 14a.
139
M. Nedarim 2.1; T. Ketubot (ed. Liberman) 7.2; T. Nedarim (ed. Liberman) 7.2; Y. Nedarim 2:41,
37a; B. Nedarim 14a. B. Gitin 84b-κηa states: “According to Abaye, the “general rule” of Rέ Yehudah
comes ]to include[ a condition that she eat pig meat,” what is ]the law; iέeέ is the condition bindingς[ Abaye
responds: This is identical [to the case of R. Yehudah ben Teima, and the condition is void.] Rava
responded: It is possible [for her] to eat pig [meat] and be lashed [as a punishment. Therefore, the condition
is bindingέ[ According to Abaye, the “general rule” ]of Rέ Yehudah coms] to include [a condition that she
eat] pig meat [as non-binding[έ According to Rava, ]Rέ Yehudah’s statement void of stipulations,[ “such as
this” ]comes[ to exclude ]a condition that she eat[ pig meatέ”
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Also Y. Terumot κ:1, 4ηcέ “Abba bar Rav Huna in the name of Rabbi Johanan: He who slaughters an
animal and found in it a pig may eat it. Rabbi Jonah said, it is forbidden to eat, what is the reason? An
animal “inside an animal you may eatέ” (δevέ 11:3)έ You should not eat a bird inside an animal and not an
abomination inside an animalέ” Translation by Guggenheimer, The Jerusalem Talmud,, Zeraïm, 267.
:
έ
:
.
46
abandoned him he follows the ewe and has adopted her as his mother? 141 The emblematic
status of the avoidance of pork makes it fit for discussing exceptional situations where
u in for example notes that even impure animals were
consuming is permitted: Bavli,
permitted to the Israelites during the conquest of the promised land, “as it written: “And
houses full of all good things ]…you will eat[” (Deutέ θ:11) and Rabbi Yirmiyah bar
Abba said in the name of Rav: [this refers to] baconέ” 142 Likewise Bavli Pesa im states
an opinion that it is permitted to eat a kosher animal that was roasted together with a pig:
Rabh said: “(Ritually) slaughtered fat meat, if roasted together with lean meat of carrion,
must not be eaten, because one draws the juice of the otherέ” δevi, however, said “Even
slaughtered lean meat roasted together with fat meat of carrion may be eaten, because it
only draws the odor of the fat meat, and that does not interfere with itέ” δevi acted in
accordance with his decision in the house of the Exilarch, where a goat and “another
thing” ]a pig[ were roasted togetherέ 143
To the prohibitions concerning pig mentioned thus far, we should add a few other
laws: The Tosefta forbids shearing pig hair on the Sabbath, noting that “there are those
who make a distinction in the case of a pig between its snout and the rest of its body,”
B. e orot 24a.
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142
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T. Sabbath (edέ δiberman) κέ1έ “He who shears a domesticated beast, a wild beast, fowl, even a
hide, so much as a double-sit’s measure - Lo, he is liable. There are those who make a distinction in the
case of a pig between its snout and the rest of its bodyέ”
.
'
T. Sabbath λέ2 (edέ δiberman): “He who takes out two hairs of horse’s tail or a cow’s tail, lo, this one is
liable, because he makes them into hunting nets. He who takes out two stiff bristles of a pig, lo, this one is
liableέ Rέ Shimon bέ Elieazar says, “Even oneέ” There are those who make a distinction in the case of a pig
between its snout and the rest of its bodyέ” Translation by Neusner, Tosefta, Moed, 25, 30.
144
47
or that it is lawful on the Sabbath to take food out to feed an animal, “as much as a pig’s
mouthful,” which is equal to one pitέ 145 Likewise, the sages forbid eating cheese made by
a non-Jew inter alia because he may add to it pig fat, 146 or salkundris salt because the
non-Jew may add to it or coat its surface with pig fat. 147
The Sages’ Refusal to Explain the Avoidance of Pork
The singling out of the avoidance of pork for the sages might seem problematic:
from a pure halachic point of view, all food avoidances have the same status, and eating
pork is one of the minor offenses, for which one only receives lashes. 148 Placing
importance on the avoidance of pork might put other food avoidances in the shadows.
Hence, the later midrash Numbers Rabbah notes that the avoidance of pork is a symbol of
all other food avoidances:
An analogous instance [of the singling out of one item from among a number[: “Eating
swine’s flesh, and the detestable thing, and the mouse” (Is. 56:17). In what way is the
prohibition of the swine stricter than that of other unclean beasts, or that of the mouse
than that of other creeping things? Truly, not at all; but the swine was mentioned, and the
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T. Sabbath (ed. Liberman) 8.31; Y. Sabbath 8:2, 11b; B. Sabbath 90b.
146
B. Avoda Zara 35b.
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Y. Avoda Zara 2:9, 42a.
145
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148
B. Gitin 84b-85a. See also the comment of Yehuda Halevi in the eleventh century in The Kuzari
3.49.
48
same applies to all other unclean cattle and unclean beasts; the mouse was specified and
the same applies to all creeping things in the world. 149
Although it is hard to evaluate the scope of non-Jewish criticism of the Jewish
avoidance of pork, it is clear that of all Jewish food avoidances, that of the pig received
the greatest attention from non-Jews. While Greco-Roman opinions concerning the
Jewish avoidance of pork diverged, ranging from strong hostility (as in the case of
Roman authors such as Juvenal, Petronius, or Tacitus) to a positive opinion (for example:
Plutarch or Julian the Apostate),150 Christian authors are strongly hostile to the avoidance
of pork. 151 Thus, it seems that with the rise of Christianity, the avoidance of pork beca me
increasingly problematic, for Christians as well as for Jews.
Whether in their real or imagined encounters with Greeks and Romans, Jews had
to answer the question, “Why do you not eat porkς” In Jewish Hellenistic literature Philo
answers Emperor Caligula (38/39 CE), 152 Josephus Apion (1st cent. CE), 153 the elder
Eleazar King Antiochus (2 and 4 Books of Maccabees, 2nd cent. BCE and 1st cent. CE).
Interestingly, there are no parallel early rabbinic answers. In fact, the sages consciously
refused to answer the question according to a famous Tana’itic midrash in Sifra,
Qedoshim 9.13:
“You shall keep my ordinances“ (δevέ 1κ:4): This refers to matters that are written in the
Torah. But if they had not been written in the Torah, it would have been entirely logical
to write them, for example, rules governing thievery, fornication, idolatry, blasphemy,
murder, examples of rules that, had they not been written in the Torah, would have been
logical to include them. Then there are those concerning which the impulse to do evil
149
NumR 12. Translation by Jusah J. Slotkin, Midrash Rabbah: Numbers (London; New York:
Soncino, 1983), 462-463, with slight alteration.
(
)"
":
έ
"
ς
150
Feldman, Jew and Gentile, 167-170. Schäfer, Judeophobia, 66-81.
151
See for example: Novatian, On the Jewish Meats; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.15.4;
Augustine, Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, 16.
152
Philo, The Embassy to Gaius 363-364.
153
Josepus, Against Apion 2. 137.
49
raises doubt, the nations of the world, idolaters, raise doubt, for instance, the prohibition
against pork, wearing mixed species, the rite of removing the shoe in the case of the
deceased childless brother’s widow, the purification-rite for the person afflicted with the
skin ailment, the goat that is sent forth - cases in which the impulse to do evil raises doubt,
the nations of world, idolaters, raise doubt. In this regard, Scriptures says, “I the δord
have made these ordinances, and you have no right to raise doubts concerning themέ”154
The Sifra interprets here Leviticus 18:1-5:
“The δord spoke to εoses, saying: 2: Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am
the Lord your God. 3: You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived,
and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You
shall not follow their statutes (
). 4: My ordinances (
) you shall observe and
my statutes (
) you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God. 5: You shall
keep my statutes (
) and my ordinances (
); by doing so one shall live: I am the
δordέ”155
The Sifra distinguish between two types of commandments: ordinances (
mishpatim) which are universal and “natural”, and statutes (
huqqim) which, like the
commandment to avoid pork, are particular and apparently arbitrary. As David Novak
notes regarding the latter, “precisely because they have neither universal nor historical
reasons, because their sole authority is God’s mysterious will, they are able to function as
active reminders that Israel is totally defined by the covenant, whereas God participates
in the covenant but is not defined by itέ” 156 Hence, the sages appear to accept at least i n
some sense the critique of some non-Jews such as the Roman physician Galen who wrote
that “it is his ]εoses´] method in his books to write without offering proofs, saying, ‘God
154
Sifra, Qedoshim 9.13. Translation by Neusner, Sifra, vol. 3, 79, with slight alteration.
"
:
,
- "
"
"
,
"
έ
'
'
155
Lev. 18: 1-5.
;ּש
ֹ ּש ְש ְת ב
ְ
׃ ְ ש
ֹ
ְ
;
ְ ְת,
ְְב ש
׃ דב
ש
ְ ְב
; ב
ּ ְ ְתש
ֻ
ְ ּשְפ ת ש
ּ׃
ֹ
ֻ ְ ּ ,ּש
ֹ ְ שמ
ש
ְ
ְּ ש
ְ ׃
; ב
ש ש, שְפ
ְ
ֻ
׃ ּשְ ְ ת
ֹ
ְ
156
David Novak, The Election of Israel: The Idea of the Chosen People (Cambridge; New York;
Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 251-52.
50
commanded, God spokeέ” 157 In early rabbinical literature it is exactly the arbitrary nature
of avoidance of pork that renders it a powerful symbol of separateness, chosenness, and
holiness, which are concieved dialogically vis-à-vis God and non-Jews. This
characteristic of the Jewish avoidance of pork might be better understood in light of
Edmund Leach’s discussion of food avoidanceέ As Leach notes, “the edible part of the
environment usually falls into three main categories:”
11. Edible substances that are recognized as food and consumed as part of the normal
diet.
12. Edible substances that are recognized as possible food, but that are prohibited or else
allowed to be eaten only under special (ritual) conditions. These are substances which
are consciously tabooed.
13. Edible substances that by culture and language are not recognized as food at all.
These substances are unconsciously tabooed.158
The Jewish avoidance of pork is of the second category, for as δeach notes, it “is
a ritual matter and explicitέ It says, in effect, “pork is a food, but Jews must not eat itέ” 159
The sages are conscious of this dimension. They do not present avoidance of pork as
natural, or give it rational explanations as some Greco-Roman (and later medieval)
authors might. As Claudine Fabre-Vassas observes, following Mary Douglas, “if
forbidden foods manifest the categories of a culture, they also necessarily demonstrate
the indigenous distinctions between societies. They are only fully affirmed, and can only
be understood, in the context of this confrontationέ” 160 The sages admit the inter-cultural
confrontation around the avoidance of pork, for which “the impulse to do evil raises
157
Richard Walzer, Galen on Jews and Christians (London: Oxford University Press, 1949), 11 (from
an Arabic version of Galen’s ippocrates’ Anatomy).
158
Edmund δeach, “Anthropological Aspects of δanguague: Animal Categories and Verbal Abuseέ”
New Directions in the Study of Language, ed. E. H. Lenneberg (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1964), 31
159
Ibid., 32.
160
Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast, 6. Also: Claudine Vassas, “Questions anthropologiques autour
de l’interdit du porc dans le judaïsme et de son élection par le christianisme,” dans De la domestication au
tabou : le cas des suidés dans le Proche-Orient ancien. Travaux de la Maison René-Ginouvès 1, éd. B.
Lion et C. Michel (Paris: De Boccad, 2006), 229.
51
doubt, the nations of the world and idolaters raise doubt,” or the Bavli put it: “Satan and
the nations of the worldέ”161 This dialogical dimension, which as we have seen above, is
at the heart of Leviticus 18:1-5, is also found in Leviticus 20:22-26:
22: You shall keep all my statutes (
u im), and all my laws (
mishpatim) and
observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out. 23:
You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because
they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24: But I have said to you: You shall inher it
their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am
the Lord your God; I have separated you from the peoples. 25: You shall therefore make
a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unc lean bird and
the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by
anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26:
You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other
peoples to be mine. 162
The interpretation in Sifra Qedoshim of this paragraph inscribes in it, inter alia,
the avoidance of pork:
“I am the δord your God who has separated you from the peoples ]
[” (δevέ 2ί:24):
“see how vast is the difference between you and the nations [
[! “τne of them fixes
up his wife and hands her over to someone else [for sexual relations], a man fixes up
himself and gives himself to someone else ]for sexual relations[έ” “You shall therefore
make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean”: Scripture should say,
“between a cow and an assέ” For has the matter at hand not already been spelled outς
Why therefore does it say, “You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean
beast and the unclean” (δevέ 2ί:2η)ς The sense is, between what is clean for you and
what is unclean for you, specifically, between the one the greater part of the gullet of
which has been cut and the one only half of which has been cut. And what is the
difference between the greater part and halfς A hair’s breadthέ “…and between the
unclean bird and the clean; you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird
or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold
unclean” (δevέ 2ί:2η): that is, to subject such to a prohibitionέ “You shall be holy to me,
B.Yoma θ7b: “such commandments to which Satan objects, and the nations of the world, object,”
(“
”); YalShim, Ahri mot 587: Satan, the impulse do evil and the
nations of the world (“
”); Tan, Mishpatim 7 : “the impulse to
do evil raises doubt, the nations of the world raise doubt,” ( “
"
“)έ On the impulse to do evil (Yetzer Hara), see: Ishay Rosen-Zvi, “Yetzer Hara in Amoraic
δiterature: A Reevaluation,” Tarbiz 77 (2008): 1-38 (Hebrew). Ibid., Demonic Desires: Yetzer Hara and
the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011).
162
Lev. 20:22-26.
ּ ְ
ְֹ ְ שמ ש בּ׃
ש,
ְ
ְֹ ;
ש, שְפ
ְ
ֻ
ּשְ ְ ת
ש
ְת
,
ְ
ּ ת ת ְ ש,
ֻ ב, ּש
; ְפ
ְש
ש, ֹּ
ֻ ְב
ֹ
ּ, ְ
ְ
ְב
מ ְ ְד ְת ב
ְ ְד ְת
ש,
ֹ
ְ
;ּ ְ ש
,ּ
, ְ ש
ְ ְ מ ׃
ְד ְת
ש,
ש תְ ש
ְ ּ, ֹ ּ
ב ְב
ְש
ּ ְ ; ְֹ ְש
ְֹ ׃
מ
ְ
ְ ; ְד
ֹש
161
52
for I the δord am holy”: “Just as I am holy, so you be holy,” “Just as I am separate, so
you be separate,” “…and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine”
(Lev. 20:26): If you are separated from the nations, lo, you are for my Name, and if not,
lo, you belong to σebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, and his associatesέ” Rέ Eleazar bέ
Azariah says, “How do we know that someone should not say, ‘I do not want to wear
mixed fibers, I don’t want to eat pork, I don’t want to have incestuous sexual relationsέ
Rather: I do want [to wear mixed fibers, I do want to eat pork, I do want to have
incestuous relations.] But what can I do? For my father in heaven has made a decree for
me!’ So Scriptures says, ‘and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be
mineέ’ (δevέ 2ί:2θ) So one will turn out to keep far from transgression and accept upon
himself the rule of Heavenέ” 163
As Gherhard Bodendorfer notes, “this explanation of the commandment is very
significant as it makes the biblical text [Lev. 20:22-26] topical in a most drastic way. It is
put down to the unconditional divine will and on the next level is connected to
sanctificationέ” 164 An analogy is created between three distinctions: Jewish morality a nd
non-Jews’ moral deviance (itself present as lack of separateness in sexual morality);
Judaism’s distinction between pure and impure foods; and God’s separateness and
Israel’s separatenessέ
Some midrashim soften the idea of the arbitrariness of the divine commandment:
God in his compassion, for each thing which He prohibited, He authorized another
163
Sifra, Qedoshim 10.11. Translation by Neusner, Sifra, vol. 3, 137, with slight alteration.
,
"
'
"
,
",
"( ) .
,
”
“
,
“( ) έ
(
)
",'
"( ) έ
”
".
"( ) έ
,
:
' .
: " .
,
,
“έ
.
And also: YalShim, Qedoshim 626.
164
Gherhard Bodendorfer, “
: God’s Self-Introdution Formula in Leviticus in Midrash Sifra,” in
Book of Leviticus: Composition and Reception, ed. Rolf Rendtorff, Robert A. Kugler, and Bartel S. Smith
(Leiden: Brill, 2003), 417.
53
similar thing; while God forbid pork, He permitted brains or the tongue of a fish called
shibuta, which tastes similar to the pig (here Bavli ulin 1ίλb’s version): 165
Yalta said to Rav σachman, ]her husband:[ “σow, ]let us see,[ whatever the εerciful
One forbade us, He permitted us something corresponding. He forbade us blood, [but]
permitted us liver, [He forbade relations with a niddah, [but permitted relations with a
woman who has discharged[ ‘blood of purity’; ]He forbade eating the[ cheilev of a
domestic animal, [but permitted] cheilev of an undomesticated animal; [He forbade] pork,
[but permitted] the brains of a shibuta. [He forbade] girusa, [but permitted] fish tongue;
[He forbade relations with] a married woman, [but permitted relations with] a divorced
[woman] while her husband is alive; [He forbade relations with[ one’s brother’s wife,
[but permitted] a yevamah; ]He forbade relations[ with a Cuthian, ]but permitted[ ‘the
beautiful captiveέ’ I wish to eat meat in milkέ Rav σahman said to the cooks: Cook her
the udder. 166
Yalta, the wife of Rav Nachman, the daughter of Resh Galuta, who was known
for her wittiness and eruditeness, gives a list of permitted things which are substitute for a
forbidden thingέ As Eliezer Diamond notes, Yalta argues that the Torah “regulates
pleasure but does not forbid itέ” 167
Discussion
For the sages, the prohibition of pork is a practical legal question that is more
extensive than the simple prohibition of its consumption. May a Jew breed pigs? May a
Jew feed pigs or trade them? And, if yes, under what conditions? The sages, however, do
not only ask practical questions concerning the pig, but use its emblematic status to
discuss exceptional or hypothetical situations: Can a Jew eat pork during war? Can he eat
For the identification of the Shibuta, see: Zohar Amar and Ariέ Zέ Zivotofsky, “Identification of the
Shibuta Fish,” HaMa'ayan 45, no. 3 (2005): 41-46 (Hebrew). And: Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Zohar Amar.
“Identifying the Ancient Shibuta Fish,” Environmental Biology of Fishes 75, no. 3 (2006): 361-363. In
August 2005, the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post published that the fish indentified as the Shibuta
had recently been smuggled from Iran to Israel for the purpose of breeding. Judy Siegelέ “Kosher 'pork of
the sea' makes aliya from Iran,” Jerusalem Post (Friday, August 19, 2005), 6.
166
B. u in 109b. Translation by Schottenstein Talmud.
,
,
,
,
:
έ
,
,
,
,
,
.
:
!
167
Eliezer Diamond, Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 130.
165
54
meat that was cooked near pork? Is a pig in a uterus of a pure animal pure or impure? etc.
If for some issues such as selling pigs, the sages seem to demonstrate some openness to
the possibility of proximity between pigs and Jews, most of their discussion insists upon
increasing the distance between Jews and the abominable animal, which became a strong
boundary marker with non-Jews. This tendency is clearly observed in the sages’ ban on
pig breeding which is linked to the ban on learning Greek wisdom: both learning the
other’s wisdom and eating the other’s meat became a symbol of impurity. The inner
classification anomaly of the pig (being pure and impure) came to stand for anomal ous
relations between Jews and non-Jews: the inner negative mixing of categories became
exterior negative mixing of categories. In other words, the sages follow and enlarge the
biblical tendency to link the inner legal distinction of classification between pure and
impure animals to the distinction between Jews and non-Jews.
This classificatory discrimination is repeated by legal speculations as well as by
respect for the avoidance of pork itself. To distinguish and be distinguished became the
leitmotiv of the religious system: one who discriminates between pure and impure
animals, pure and impure foods, and pure and impure humans will be distinguished from
the impure and will be holy. Not eating pork is an active way of affirming a categorical
world order: it is a locus of repetition and at the same time of eternal distinction, a minor
distinction but at the same time a very concrete one which embodied the larger distinction
between God and the world, that of the process of Creation (heaven and earth, light and
darkness, etc.), as well as of his chosen people and the nations. As Walter Houston notes,
the discrimination between clean and unclean flesh is part of Jewish national and
religious identity, for “it defines and protects equally their ‘vertical’ relationship to God
55
and their ‘horizontal’ difference from all other peoplesέ” 168 For the sages, avoidance of
pork “vertically” marks their unique relations with God, while it “horizontally” marks
their separateness from the rest of humanity.
Jacob Milgrom, following Mary Douglas, 169 argues that the tripartite biblical
animal classification between pure-sacrificed, pure-edible, and impure animals is parallel
to the biblical classification of humanity priests, Israel and non-Jews, as well as the
classification of space into: Sanctuary, Land of Israel, and Earth (fig. 4).170 If we refer to
this basic unified-analogical conception of humanity, animality, and space, the pig is part
of the outermost sphere.
168
Houston, Purity and Monotheism, 260.
Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (New York:
Praeger, 1966). Ibid. “Impurity of δand Animals,” Purity and Holiness. The Heritage of Leviticus, ed. M. J.
M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz, 24-45 (Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, 2000).
170
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (New York: The Anchor Bible, 1991), 718-725. Ibid., Leviticus 1722, (σew York: The Anchor Bible, 2ίίί), 171κέ εilgrom interprets the dietary laws as an “ethical systemέ”
Jacob εilgromέ “The Biblical Diet δaws as an Ethical System,” Interpretation 17 (1963): 288-301
(reprinted in Studies in Cultic Theology and Terminology, 105-106. Leiden: Brill, 1983). For criticism of
this idea, see: Houston, Purity and Monotheism), 76-78.
169
56
Fig. 4: The three parallel domains of classification according to Jacob Milgrom.
In light of this categorical order, perhaps it is not surprising that some non-Jews
saw Judaism as misanthropic, for it introduced a strong distance between Israel and the
rest of humanity,
171
especially with respect to customs such as the prohibition of pork
which create a real culinary difference and made eating together problematic. The
Hellenistic tradition viewed misanthropy as the opposite of hospitality, a crucial element
As Jean Bottéro remarks, Judaism “volontairement constitué comme isolé et ferméέ Il y avait là le
germe d’une opposition, où d’Israël au reste des hommes ou du reste des hommes à Israël. Mais cet
isolement, ce sentiment de l’altérité, comme disent les philosophes, se tenait toujours sur le seul plan de la
cultureέ” Jean Bottéro, “δ’homme et l’autre dans la pensée babylonienne et la pensée israélite,” in Hommes
et bêtes, Entretien sur le racisme, ed. Léon Poliakov (Paris; La Haye: Mouton, 1975), 112. Although Jean
Bottéro’s generalization is problematic, it is valuable at least with respect to the way many Jews and nonJews viewed Judaism.
171
57
of which was the sacrifice of an animal and partaking of its meat with the guest.
172
Hence,
the refusal of Jews (or some Jews) to eat non-Jewish food (especially meat), could be
understood as implying that the Jews also do not invite foreigners to eat their food, and
therefore that they are misanthropes.
173
For example, the Roman historian Tacitus writes
that “Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion,
but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmityέ”
174
He especially targeted
Judaism’s separateness:
They sit apart at meals, and they sleep apart, and although as a race, they are prone to lust;
they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; yet among themselves nothing is
unlawful. They adopted circumcision to distinguish themselves from other peoples by
this difference. Those who are converted to their ways follow the same practice, and the
earliest lesson they receive is to despise the gods, to disown their country, and to regard
175
their parents, children, and brothers as of little account.
Such accusations were repeated by the sophist Philostratus, in the early third
century:
(…) the Jews have long been in revolt not only against the Romans, but against humanity;
and a race that has made its own a life apart and irreconcilable, that cannot share with the
rest of mankind in the pleasures of the table nor join in their libations or prayers or
sacrifices, are separated from ourselves by a greater gulf than divides us from Susa or
Bactra or the more distant Indies. 176
172
From the Greek perspective, perhaps the pig was not the most valuable offering to a host, but it was
probably the most common animal to sacrifice and eat with a guestέ The refusal of the Jews to “partake” of
the pig strongly contrasts with one of the emblematic scenes of hospitality in Greek culture - that of
τdysseus’ swineherd, Eumaeus, who immolates pigs for his master who is disguised as a stranger (Odyssey
10.407-44; 14.80-109). In the Odyssey, this scene of sacrificing and partaking of the pig are the antipode of
the pretenders’ swinish, misanthropic behavior: they eat without sacrificing, they insult the stranger
(Odysseus), giving him the worst parts of the meat.
173
Katell Berthelot, Phi anthrôpia udaicaμ e d bat autour de a “misanthropie” des ois juives dans
’Antiquit (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 90. According to Berthelot, the accusation of misanthropy against the
Jews is often linked to “une perception négative des lois alimentaires juives, qui découle de l’observation
de leurs conséquences sur la convivialité entre Juifs et non-Juifsέ” Ibid. 83.
174
Tacitus, Histories 5.5.
175
Tacitus, Histories 5.5.
176
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana , 33. See: Berthelot, Philanthrôpia Judaica , 153-156.
Simmilar accusation can be found in Rutilius Namatianus, A Voyage Home to Gaul, 382-398.
58
While the sages were aware of this common accusation of misanthropy against
the Jews by Greco-Roman authors, 177 they did not seek to deny Jewish separateness but
rather to glorify it. Hence, in the face of the accusation that Jews do not marr y non-Jews,
the sages insist on the prohibition of sexual relations with non-Jewish women, which
came to stand for idolatry. Refusing sexual relations with non-Jewish women came to
represent the moral superiority of the Jews, their control of their desires. As seen above,
Sifra Qedoshim (10.11) contrasts the sexual deviance of the non-Jews with Jewish
morality, emphasizing food avoidances. It also contrasts non-Jews´ sexual proximity
with the Jewish keeping of purity laws. Hence, food purity serves as an a fortiori
argument: while the Goyim do not maintain separateness concerning sex, the Jews even
keep the separateness of food avoidances which are of minor importance. Another
message here is that the Jews must distinguish between themselves and non-Jews as
much as they distinguish between clean animals (which are analogous to Jews) and
impure ones (which are analogous to non-Jews). As the Sifra states, Jewish social
exclusion is parallel to that of God: “You shall be holy to me, for I the δord am holy, just
as I am holy, so you be holy, j ust as I am separate, so you be separateέ” (δevέ 2ί:2θ)έ” 178
Hence the Sifra placed the avoidance of pork and forbidden sexual relations together, one
after the other, in the list of commandments concerning which “someone should not say,
‘I do not want to wear mixed fibers, I don’t want to eat pork, I don’t want to have
incestuous sexual relations. Rather: I do want. But what can I do? For my father in
heaven has made a decree for me!’ 179
See: εoshe David Herr, “Persecutions and εartyrdom in Hadrian’s Days,” Scripta
Hierosolymitana 23 (1972): 85-125. Herr, Roman Rule in Tannaitic Literature, 33.
178
Ibid.
179
Ibid.
177
59
The sages refuse to enter into dialogue regarding the sense of the avoidance of
pork with non-Jews in the Greco-Roman manner. Their argument about the arbitrary
nature of food avoidance is part of their declaration of uniqueness and hence holiness.
This refusal to dialogue is highly dialogic for it inscribes the avoidance of pork in a deep
tension with the customs of the other, and hence reinforces its power as a boundary
marker. The vivacity of the boundary is not due to its being an impenetrable fixed
obstacle, but rather a dynamic one, a mediatory zone, part of a field of tensions.
60
Chapter 3
Boundary Keeping
In chapter two, we observed the extent to which the sages´ analyzed the avoidance
of pork in relation to non-Jews. Now we will observe how pork was used to maintain
boundaries around Jewishness. We will focus on four liminal situations: persecutions,
forbidden sex with non-Jews, apostasy, and proselytes.
Persecutions
Contrary to the common modern impression that Jews throughout history have
been persecuted by being forced to eat pork, the early rabbinic texts are almost silent
concerning cases of this sort. The topic of persecution by Antiochus in the Books of
Maccabees, in which pork plays an important role, and in which the king forces the Jews
to sacrifice pigs and eat their flesh, are absent from early rabbinic literature. In the
Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Midrashim, we do not hear of the sacrifice of the pig in the
Temple, or of forcing the Jews to eat pork; we hear nothing about the martyrs who prefer
death to eating the forbidden meat. Nor do we find in the rabbinic literature stories such
as the one that Philo of Alexandria tells about forcing Jewish women to eat pork in the
Alexandrian riots of 38 CE.180 Furthermore, although in the early rabbinical literature we
do not find martyrdom stories about not eating pork, we do find stories about trickery or
deception on the theme. One example is the story about Rabbi Meir who pretended to eat
pork, expressing the tactic of deceit:
They (…) engraved Rέ εeir's likeness on the gates of Rome and proclaimed that anyone
seeing a person resembling it should bring him there. One day [some Romans] saw him
and ran after him, so he ran away from them and entered a harlot's house. Others say he
happened just then to see food cooked by heathens and he dipped in one finger and then
180
Philo, Flaccus 96.
61
sucked the other. Others again say that Elijah the Prophet appeared to them as a harlot
who embraced him. God forbid, said they, were this R. Meir, he would not have acted
thus! [and they left him]. He then arose and ran away and came to Babylon. Some say it
was because of that incident that he ran to Babylon; others say because of the incident
about Beruria. 181
Rabbi εeir’s conduct is very different from that of τld Eleazar in 2 and 4
Maccabees, who refused to pretend to eat pork to save his life. 182 It also differs from the
actions of the mother and her seven sons, who refused even to touch pig’s meatέ 183 While
the martyrdom story of Eleazar came to glorify martyrdom as resistance, the story about
Rabbi εeir prefers what Daniel Boyarin calls “the trickster option.” 184 Another rabbinic
legend in the later midrash Numbers Rabbah tells about a Jewish innkeeper who
181
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B. Avoda Zara 18b.
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Compare to Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7έ12έ1: “Rέ εeir was being sought by the ]Roman[ Governmentέ He fled
and passed by the store of some Romans. He found them sitting and eating from that species ]swine’s flesh[έ
When they saw him they said, ‘Is it he or notς Since it may be he, let us call him over to us; if he comes
and eats with us ]it cannot be he[έ’ He dipped one finger in the swine’s blood and placed another finger in
his mouth, dipping one finger and sucking the otherέ They said one to the other, ‘If he were Rέ εeir, he
would not have done soέ’ They let him go and he fledέ The text was therefore applied to him, The
excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom preseveth the life of him that hath itέ” EcclR 7.12.1. Translation by
A. Cohen, Midrash Rabbah, vol. VIII, Ruth and Ecclesiastes (London: Soncino Press, 1939), 194.
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Maimonides, in The Epistle on Martyrdom (wrέ cέ 11θη) relates another version of the story: “It is common
knowledge that in the course of a persecution during which Jewish sages were executed, Rabbi Meir was
arrestedέ Some who knew him said: “You are εeir, aren’t youς” and he replied: “I am notέ” Pointing to
ham, they ordered: “Eat this if you are not Jewishέ” He responded: “I shall readily eat it,” and he pretended
he was eating, but did not in fact. In the view of this modest person who knows the true meaning of Torah,
Rabbi Meir is undoubtedly a gentile, for so his responsum rules: He who acts openly as a gentile, although
secretly he behave like is a Jew, is a gentile, since according to him worship of God is open, and he hides it,
as Rabbi Meir didέ” Translation by Abraham Sέ Halkin and David Hartman, Epistles of Maimonides: Crisis
and Leadership (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1993), 20.
182
2 Macc. 6; 4 Macc. 1.
183
2 Macc. 7.
184
Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Meaning of Christianity and Judaism (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 1999), 73.
62
pretended to be a non-Jew. To non-Jews he served pork, but to the Jews, whom he
recognized because they washed their hands before the meal, he served kosher meat: 185
’And he ]Balaam[ took up his parable’ (σumbers 24:3)έ Halachah: if a man has eaten
without previously washing his hands, does he incur a penalty? Our Rabbis have taught:
Washing the hands before a meal is optional; after the meal it is obligatory. An incident is
related that during the period of religious persecution a certain Israelite shopkeeper used
to cook ritually clean meat as well as the flesh of swine and sell them, so that it might not
be suspected that he was a Jew. His practice was that if anyone came into his shop [to eat]
and did not wash his hands, he would know that he was an idolater and would place
before him the flesh of swine, but if a man washed his hands and recited the blessing he
would know that he was an Israelite and would give him clean meat to eat. Once a Jew
came in to eat and did not wash his hands, so he thought that he was an idolater and
placed swine’s flesh before himέ The man ate and did not say the Grace after εealsέ
When he came to settle the account with him for the bread and the meat the shopkeeper
said to him: ‘I have a claim on you for such-and-such a sum on account of the meat you
have eaten, for each piece coasts ten ma nehsέ’ Said the other: ‘Yesterday I got it for eight
and today you want to take ten from me, do youς’ The shopkeeper answered him: ’The
piece you have eaten is from the swineέ’ When he told him this his hair stood on end, and
he fell into a great fright and said to him under his breath: ’I am a Jew and you have
given me swine’s flesh!’ Said the shopkeeper to him: ‘A plague on you! When I saw that
you ate without washing your hands and without a blessing I thought you were an
idolater!’ Hence the Sages have taught: The [neglect of the] water before the meal killed
the soul. 186
T he eating of pork is the consequence of non-fulfillment of a minor
commandment: the washing of the hands before the meal. 187 This is parallel to the
transgression of another minor commandment: the second washing of the hands that leads
185
B. Holin 106a; Yoma 83b; Y. Hala 2:1, 58c. NumR 10.21; Tan, Balak 24.
NumR, Balak 20.21. Translation by Judah Slotki, Midrash Numbers Rabbah, vol. II (London and
Bourmemouth: Soncino Press, 1939), 817-818.
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τn hand purity see: Avrham Aderet, “Tumat Yadaim (Impurity of the Hands),” in From Destruction
to Restoration: The Mode of Yavneh in Re-Establishment of the Jewish People (Jerusalem: Magnes Press,
1990), 210-231 (Hebrew)έ Chaim εilikowsky “Reflections on Hand-Washing, Hand-Purity and Holy
Scripture in Rabbinic δiterature,” in Purity and Holiness: The Heritage of Leviticus, ed. M. J. H. M.
Poorthuis and J. Schwartz (Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, 2000), 149-162.
186
63
to a murder. 188 After telling a story concerning a man who, because he did not wash his
hands after the meal, killed his wife, the midrash resumes:
For this reason the Holy One, blessed be He, exhorted Israel to be careful even in regard
to a trifling precept; as it says, For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life (Deut.
32:47), which implies that even a precept which you consider to be vain and trifling
contains the reward of like and length of days. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to
Israel: ‘If you observe εy commandments I shall cast down your enemies before you’; as
188
The two episodes detailed in Numbers Rabbah allude to Yerusalmi and Bavli, while Bavli Yoma
83b relates the story concerning the second washing of the hands. Y. Berakhot κ:2, 12aέ “]washing both
before and after the meal is compulsory in accordance with the following:[ Said Rέ Jacob bar Idi, “τn
account of [neglect of] the first [washing before the meal], they came to eat swine’s meatέ And on account
of ]neglect of[ the second ]washing after the meal[, three persons were killedέ” Translation by Tzvee
Zahavy, Talmud Yerushalmi, Berakhot (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989), 286. Y. Hala 2:1,
58c.
.
:
B. u in 106a.
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B. Yoma κ3bέ “Also, Rέ εeir and Rέ Judah and Rέ Jose were on a journey togetherέ (Rέ εeir always paid
close attention to people's names, whereas R. Judah and R. Jose paid no such attention to them). Once as
they came to a certain place, they looked for a lodging, and as they were given it, they said to him [the
innkeeper]: What is your name? ḳ He replied: Kidor. Then he [R. Meir] said: There from it is evident that
he is a wicked man, for it is said: For a generation [ki-dor] very forward are they. R. Judah and R. Jose
entrusted their purses to him; R. Meir did not entrust his purse to him, but went and placed it on the grave
of that man's father. Thereupon the man had a vision in his dream [saying]: Go, take the purse lying at the
head of this man! In the morning he [the innkeeper] told them [the Rabbis] about it, saying: This is what
appeared to me in my dream. They replied to him: There is no substance in the dream of the Sabbath night.
R. Meir went, waited there all day, and then took the purse with him. In the morning they [the Rabbis] said
to him, ‘Give us our purses’έ He said: There never was such a thing! Rέ εeir then said to them: Why don't
you pay attention to people's names? They said: Why have you not told this [before]. Sir He answered:
consider this but a suspicion. I would not consider that a definite presumption! Thereupon they took him
[the host] into a shop [and gave him wine to drink]. Then they saw lentils on his moustache. They went to
his wife and gave her that as a sign, and thus obtained their purses and took them back. Whereupon he went
and killed his wife. It is with regard to this that it was taught: [Failure to observe the custom of] the first
water caused one to eat the meat of pig, [failure to use] the second water slew a person. At the end they, too,
paid close attention to people's names. And when they called to a house whose [owner's] name was Balah,
they would not enter, saying: He seems to be a wicked man, as it is written: Then said I of her that was
]balah[ worn out by adulteriesέ”
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64
it says, “τh that εy people would hearken unto εe a little…I would subdue their
enemiesέ” (Psέ κ1:14f)έ 189
The avoidance of pork is portrayed as a minor commandment that has a major
importance: its keeping brings life; its transgression, death. Interestingly, the personal
reward (long life) is paralleled here to the freedom of Israel from outside oppression. It is
not the Jewish innkeeper who served pork who is criticized, but rather the Jew who does
not wash his hands before eating. It seems than that the focus of the story is not Roman
oppression, but rather the failure of some Jews to keep the law and thus cause the
subjection of Israel to foreign rule. The message is that the real field of action for a Jew is
not the fight against the foreign oppressor but that of fulfilling the Divine law.
Forbidden Sexual Relations with non-Jews
In the Greco-Roman world eating and sex were associated (mainly negatively, but
not exclusively so) with the pig. 190 Hence, for example women´s genitals were called pig
in Greek and Latin. 191 Likewise, in rabbinic literature the term da ar a er (another thing)
designated the pig as well as the female sex. Both eating and sex, as much as they are
fundamental to human survival, are sources of anxiety and phobias, subject to strong
prohibitions, and therefore particularly apt to serve as boundary markers between groups.
It is not surprising than that we find the pig in the sages’ discussions of forbidden sexual
relations with non-Jews.
189
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NumR, Balak 20.21.
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190
εichel Briand, “Grec
π ο : du (porc) au sanglier,”dans Les Zoonymes : Actes du colloque
international tenu à Nice les 23-25 Janvier 1997 (Nice: Publications de la Faculté des Lettres, Arts et
Sciences humaines de Nice, 1997), 99-100.
191
εark Golden, “εale Chauvinists and Pigsέ” Echos du Monde Classique/Classical Views 32, no. 7
(1988): 1-12.
,
,
65
The sages extended the earlier connection of impurity with non-Jews (goyim) to
the idea that Goyim are intrinsically impure. One of the reasons for Goyim impurity is
their diet, as bavli Shabbath 145b notes: “Why are idolaters impure (
they eat abominable (
) and creeping things (
)? Because
).”192 Indeed, as will be seen, the
sages linked the eating of forbidden food on the one hand, and having forbidden sexual
relations with non-Jews on the other, with states of impurity. As in the two stories
concerning Rabbi Akiba’s master, Rabbi Joshua in Avot deRabbi Natan (version B):
A story is told of Rabbi Joshua that he went to ransom a woman taken captive. And when
he returned, he went (into the pool) and bathed. He said to this his disciples: Comrades,
what did you say about me? They said to him: Rabbi, what we said about you was: We
have no one in Israel like you. What (laws of) uncleanness and cleanness are there current
in Israel which did not come from your mouth. He said to them: And afterwards, what did
you say about me? They said to him: We said: When you were among the unclean,
uncircumcised Gentiles, you were like one who eats pork, and when you came back
among (the people of) Israel, you said: I will go (to the pool) and bathe and become like
them, clean. He said to them: I swear that you were exactly right. About you it is said:
“And judge everyone with the scale weighted in his favourέ” (mέ Avot 1έθ)έ 193
The mere being in a non-Jewish environment is compared to the state of impurity
involving eating pork. The following episode of the midrash associates this state of
impurity to the impurity of non-Jewish women:
A story is told about a woman in Ashkelon [a non-Jewish city]. None the likes of Eve
was more beautiful than she. Rabbi Joshua went to talk with her. When he reached her
door, he removed his (outer) garment and phylacteries. When he entered, he locked the
door behind him and when he came out, he went (into the pool) and bathed. He said to his
disciples: Comrades, what did you say about me? They replied: Rabbi, what we said
about you was: We have no one in Israel like you. What (laws of) uncleanness are there
B. Shabbath 145b. "
'
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" As Christine Hayes notes,
“the verifiably ancient desire to prohibit intermarriage and ultimately apostasy is the rationale for a rabbinic
decree of Gentile impurity, not the other way aroundέ” Christine Hayes, “Intermarriage and Impurity in
Ancient Jewish Sources,” HTR 92, no. 1 (1999): 36.
193
ARN B 19. Translation by Anthony, J. Saldarini, The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Abot de
Rabbi Nathan version B) (Leiden: Brill, 1975), 126-127.
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66
in Israel which did not come from your mouth. He said to them: And afterwards, what did
you say about me? They said to him: We said (You are removing your garment and
phylacteries) so that nothing clean will enter into something unclean, or so that no one
will recognize that you are a Jew. And when I entered and locked the door behind us,
what did you say about me? They replied: We said that while the door is open,
permission is given for one about to go out and for one about to enter to enter. You said: I
will lock the door behind us until I have discussed all my business with her. And when I
came out and went (into the pool) to bathe, what did you say about me? They replied: We
said: Perhaps when she was talking with you, a drop of spittle sprayed from her mouth
onto you and you said: I will go (to the pool) to bathe and I will be like them, clean. He
said to them: In this you were exactly rightέ About you it is said; “And judge everyone
with the scale weighted in his favour” (mέ Avot 1έθ)έ 194
The two stories seem to explain Rabbi Joshua ben Perahyah’s saying in εisnah
Avot (1.6), “Appoint for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a fellow ]haver], and
judge everyone with the scale weighted in his favourέ” 195 The irony of course is that
“everyone” in the stories in Avot deRabbi Natan concerns only the sage and not the nonJew, who is portrayed as impure, and suspect of sexual corruption. For the sages, the
gentile is like a zab (impure man due to abnormal seminal discharge), who defiles
through spit, urine, and indirect contact. This explains the risk of impurity by the nonJewish woman’s spittleέ Indirectly, between the two episodes, a parallel is created
between eating forbidden food and having forbidden sexual relations, eating pork and
eating saliva. To this anxiety of eating impure food in the context of intimacy with a non
Jew we can add the discussion in Bavli Megilla 13a concerning Queen Esther’s diet in
the Persian king palace:
194
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195
ARN B 19. Translation by Saldarini, The Fathers, 126-127.
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[The girl pleased him [the king] and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with her
cosmetic treatments and her portion of food, and with seven chosen maids from the king's
palace,[ and advanced her ]and her maids to the best place in the harem[έ” (Esther 2:9) Rav says that he fed her Jewish food. And Samuel says that he fed here with pork chops.
And Rabbi Yohanan says ]that he fed her[ seeds, as it was written: “So the guard
continued to withdraw their royal rations [and the wine they were to drink,] and gave
them seedsέ” (Daniel 1:1θ)έ 196
Rav and Rabbi Yohanan think Esther did eat pure food, while according to
Samuel, she failed to keep the kashrut laws in the King’s palaceέ 197 Queen Esther’s
porcine diet is contrasted to the exemplary behavior of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah, who refused to eat the royal rations of food in the Book of Daniel. 198
An even more virulent critique of mixed marriage is found in Genesis Rabbah
65.1; while commenting on Esau´s marriage with Hittite women, Esau is described as a
pig (Genesis 26:34):
And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the
Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon [the Hittite, 35: and they were a source of
grief to Isaac and Rebekah[ (Gnέ 2θ:34)έ It is written, “The swine out of the wood doth
ravage it, ]that which moveth in the field feedeth on it[” (Psέ κί: 14)έ Rέ Phinehas and Rέ
Helkiah in Rέ Simon’s name said: τf all the prophets, only two, εoses and Asaph,
exposed it: Asaph: “The boar ]swine[ out of the wood doth ravage it.” While Moses said:
“And the swine, because he parteth the hoof” (Dtέ 14:κ)έ Why does he compare it ]the
Roman State] to a swine? For this reason: when the swine is lying down it puts out its
hoofs, as if to say, ‘I am clean’; so does this wicked State rob and oppress, yet pretend to
be executing justice. So for forty years Esau used to ensnare married women and violate
them, yet when he attained forthy years he compared himself to his father, saying, ‘As
196
B. Megilla 13a. My translation.
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197
For traditional views on the question, see: Sara Weinstein, “Aaron Arend, A Critical Ḳ Annotated
Edition of Elef Haεagen,” Pathways Through Aggadah IV-V (2001-2002): 317-321 (Hebrew).
198
Daniel asks that they not be fed this food, but the palace master feared for the children’s healthέ
Daniel proposed that the palace master make a test and feed the children only seeds for ten days to see if it
affected their health. After eating seeds and drinking water for ten days “to these four young men God gave
knowledge and skill in every aspect of literature and wisdom; Daniel also had insight into all visions and
dreamsέ” (Dan 1:17)έ The abstention from non-Jewish foods, a topos almost absent from the Hebrew Bible,
is repeated in a few Jewish texts of the Hellenistic period; see: David Moshe Freidenreich, Foreign Food: A
Comparatively-Enriched Analysis of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Law (PhD Dissertation, New York:
Columbia University, 2006), 58-95. Kraemer, Jewish Eating, 25-3κέ σathan εacDonald, “Food and drink
in Tobit and other ‘Diaspora novellas’,” in Studies in the Book of Tobit: A Multidisciplinary Approach
(London and New York: T&T Clark, 2006), 165-178.
:
68
my father was forty years old when he married, so I will marry at the age of fortyέ’ Hence
it is written, “And when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife, etc.”199
While in this midrash, the context of the identification of Rome with Esau and the
pig is commonly commented upon, the connection between Esau, the pig, and his
marriage to foreign wives is ignored. The hypocrisy of the pig, which pretends to be pure
while being impure, which in the midrash is related to the Roman Empire, also relates to
Esau’s marriage. Clearly, the midrash made Esau a violator who pretends to be an honest
man by marriage, but taking in consideration the negative view of the sages regarding
Esau´s marriages with the Hittites wives, 200 which the Bible condemns (Gn. 26:35), it
seems that the midrash hints that Esau is a pig inter alia due to his marriage with nonJewish women.
The Amoraic midrash (5/6th cent.?)201 Pesikta de Rab Kahana (and Avot deRabbi
Nathan, version A) relates three successive stories about Jewish men in captivity who
refuse to have sexual relations with non-Jewish women, after a short paragraph about the
inclination to evil (Yetzer hara) and the inclination to good (Yetzer haTov), the latter of
which is compared to a ruler in a prison:
When a man, his imagination heated, proceeds to commit an act of unchastity, all the
parts of his body obey him. But when he sets out to fulfill a religious obligation, all the
parts of his body protest from deep within him because the Inclination to evil in his
innermost being is king over the two hundred and forty-eight parts that make up a man;
the Inclination to good, however, may be likened to a king who is shut up in a prison, as
is said “For out of prison he comes forth to rule” (Eccles. 4:14) that is, the Inclination to
good [finally comes out in a man and ruled his conduct]. 202
199
GenR, Toledoth 64.1. Translation by H. Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, vol. II (London and
Bournemouth: Soncino Press, 1951), 580.
200
Aminoff, The Figure, 85-91.
201
On the dating of Pesikta de Rab Kahana , see: H. L. Strack and G. Stemberger, Introduction to the
Talmud and Midrash (Edinburgh: Clark, 1991), 295-297.
202
PRK, Annex 3. Translation by W. G. Braude and I. J. Kapstein, Pesikta deRab Kahana : R.
Kahana's Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society of America, 1975), 475.
69
The sinner is ruled by the inclination to evil, but the just man is freed by the
inclination to good and becomes a king. As will later be seen, the dialectic “to be ruled/to
rule” is at the heart of the episodes that follow. The first story the midrash relates is
about Joseph and Potiphar’s wife:
Another comment: The words “For out of prison he came forth to rule” (Ecclesέ 4:14)
apply to Joseph, of whom it is said “Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph” (Genέ 41:14)έ
Of the righteous Joseph - concerning the time when Potiphar’s wife said to him, “δie
with me,” and he refused: “He refused, and said unto his master’s wife…’How can I do
this great wickednessς’” (Genέ 3λ:κ,λ) - the following is told: When she threatened “I
shall shut you up in prison,” he replied, “The δord looseth prisoners” (Ps 14θ:7)έ When
she threatened, “I shall put out your eyes,” he replied, “The δord openeth the eyes of the
blind” (Psέ 14θ:κ)έ When she threatened, “I shall make a humpback out of you,” he
replied, “The δord raiseth up them that are bowed down (ibidέ)έ When she threatened, “I
will make you into a stranger - banish you,” he replied, “The δord preserveth the
strangers” (Psέ 14θ:λ)έ 203
Although here food is not mentioned, in the medieval Midrash Tan uma Joseph’s
refusal of Potiphar ’s wife is presented as a refusal to eat pork: 204
“Why will you not listen to meς She pleadedέ “Since I am the wife of another man, no
one will know that there is anything between usέ” He replied: “Your virgins are forbidden
to us, how much more so is the wife of a man,” as it is said: “σeither shall thou make
marriages with them (Deutέ 7:3)έ” That is why he would not listen to herέ
R. Judah the son of Nahman explained: This may be compared to an idolater who tells an
Israelite: “I have some delicious food for youέ” “What kind of food do you haveς” he
asksέ “The meat of a pig,” he repliesέ Whereupon the Israelite retorts: “You fool! If the
flesh of a pure animal that you kill is forbidden to us, how much more so is the flesh of a
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PRK, Annex 3.
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204
In the a Hellenistic-Jewish version of the story Testimony of Joseph 6:1-5 one of the ways
Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph is by serving him enchanted foodέ See: εέ Braun, “Biblical δegend
in Jewish-Hellenistic Literature with Special Reference to the Treatment of the Potiphar Story in the
Testament of Joseph,” in History and Romance in Graeco- Oriental Literature (Oxford: Blackwell, 1938),
44-104. Devora εatza, “The Story of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife,” in Studies in Jewish Narrative:
εa’aseh Sippur, ed. Avidov Lipsker and Rella Kushelevsky (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2006),
249-50 (Hebrew). The connotation between forbidden food and sex with non-Jewish women is found also
in Joseph and Aseneth, See: Gideon Bohak, Joseph and Aseneth and the Jewish Temple in Heliopolis
(Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1996), 55-58.
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70
pigέ” Similarly, Joseph told her: “If your virgins are forbidden to us, how much more so
another man’s wifeέ” 205
The second story the Pesikta de Rab Kahana relates concerns Rabbi Zadok in
Roman captivity:
And do not be astonished at Joseph. Witness R. Zadok who showed even greater restraint
when he was taken as captive to Rome where a prominent noblewoman [matrona]
purchased him [in the slave market] and sent a beautiful maidservant to tempt him to lie
with her. When he saw the maidservant, he fixed his eyes upon the wall and sat silent and
motionless all night. In the morning the maidservant went and complained to her mistress,
saying, “I would rather die than be given to this man ]and be rebuffed by him[έ” When
the noblewoman asked Rέ Zadok: “Why did you not do with this woman what men
generally seek to doς” he replied: “I am of a family from which High Priests are chosen,
and I thought: Shall such as I lie with such as she and multiply bastards in Israelς”
At once the noblewoman gave orders that R. Zadok be freed with great honor. 206
What is at stake in this story is the purity of noble blood. The story that follows
concerning Rabbi Akiba‘s refusal to have sex with non-Jewish women takes a more
extreme tone:
And do not be astonished at R. Zadok. Witness R. Akiba who showed even greater
restraint than he. When R. Akiba went to Rome, it was slanderously said of him before a
certain general [that he enjoyed the company of loose women]. Thereupon the general
sent two very beautiful women to him. These were bathed, anointed, and adorned like
brides for their grooms. All night, they kept thrusting themselves at R. Akiba, one saying,
“Turn to me,” and the other saying, “Turn to meέ” Sitting between them, he spat in
disgust at both.
In the morning the women went off and complained to the general, saying to him, “We
would rather die than be given to this man [and be rebuffed by him]έ” Whereupon the
general asked Rέ Akiba: “Why did you not do with these women what men generally seek
to do? Are they not beautiful? Are they not human beings like yourself? Did not He who
205
MidTan, Vayshev 8. Translation by Berman, Midrash Tanhuma -Yelammedenu, 240-241.
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The association of sex, forbidden food, and idolatry is also known from other midrashim. For the the me of
food, sex, and idolatry in a Christian context, see: Stephen Cέ Barton, “Food Rules, Sex Rules and the
Prohibition of Idolatryέ What’s the Connectionς,” in Idolatry: False Worship in the Bible, Early Judaism
and Christianity (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2007), 141-162. Michael Satlow, Tasting the Dish:
Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995).
206
PRK, Annex 3.
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created you create themς Rέ Akiba replied: “What could I doς The odor of their bodies, as
foul as the stench of carrion or of swine overcame meέ” 207
Adiel Schremer, referring to the version of the story in Avot deRabbi Nathan, sees
in it an inner humanistic critique. According to his interpretation, the Roman general’s
reproach to Rabbi Akiba (“Are they not human beings like yourself? Did not He who
created you create themς”) alludes to Rabbi Akiba’s statement in the Mishnah Avot (3.14)
- “beloved is man, for he was created in the image ]of God[έ” 208 This might be the case at
some level, but as Sacha Stern notes, “this edifying story is clearly perspective and
designed for emulationέ” 209 Indeed, the Pesikta de Rab Kahana summarizes the three
stories about Rabbi Akiba, ending with:
Of men [such as Joseph, R. Zadok, R. Akiba], and their like, Scripture says, “Bless the
δord, ye messengers of His, ye mighty in strength, that fulfill His wordέ” (Psέ 1ί3:2ί)έ 210
207
PRK, Annex 3.
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Compare to ARN A 16. “And do not be astonished at Rabbi Zadok, for lo, there was (the case of) Rabbi
Akiba, greater than he. When he went to Rome, he was slandered before a certain hegemon. He sent two
beautiful women to him. They were bathed and anointed and outfitted like brides. And all night they kept
thrusting themselves at him, this one saying “Turn to me,” and that one saying “Turn to meέ” But he sat
there in disgust and would not turn to them. In the morning they went off and a complained to the hegemon
and said to him: “We would rather die than be given to this man!” The hegemon sent for him and asked:
“σow why didst thou not do with these women as men generally do with womenς Are they not beautifulς
Are they not human beings like thyself? Did not He who created thee create themς”“What could I doς”
Rabbi Akiba answered: “I was overcome by their breath because of flesh of carrion, terefah, and creeping
things they ate! ]in τxford manuscript: and Pig’ meat[” Translation by Goldin, The Fathers, 84.
,
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Adiel Schremer, “τther Brothers,” Reshit 1 (2009): 183, note 39 (Hebrew).
209
Stern, Jewish Identity, 58, note 57. For the broader link of this story to Rabbi Akiba and the GrecoRoman world see David Stern, “The Captive Woman: Hellenization, Greco-Roman Erotic Narrative, and
Rabbinic Literature,” Poetics Today 19, no. 1 (1998): 115.
210
PRK Annex 3. έ( :
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208
72
Rabbi Akiba’s answer to the Roman general: “What could I do (
)”ς
recalls the Sifra’s rule that a man should not say that he do not want to eat pork, or
incestuous relations, etc., but should say: “ ut what can I do (
) ? For my father in
heaven has made a decree for me!” 211 Hence, what seems to be part of the humoristic tur n
in Rabbi Akiba’s answer is that instead of answering with the obliged nature of God’s
rule, he answers with a physical repulsion. In a sense, the story asks to glorify the notion
that the subjection to God´s commandments should become second nature. Thus, if the
Sifra argues that the Jews should not intellectualize the commandments but rather simply
obey them, 212 the story concerning Rabbi Akiba argues that a Jew should interiorize and
naturalize the commandments.
The smell of the non-Jewish women is for Rabbi Akiba as repulsive as the “stench
of carrion” or, in Avot deRabbi Nathan, that of “flesh of carrion, terefah (the flesh of a
torn animal), and creeping thingsέ” While Avot deRabbi Nathan explains this smell of the
non-Jewish women as the result of what “they ate,” the Psikta states that their bodies had
the smell “as of carrion or of swineέ”213 Aside from these differences, in both versions,
the non-Jewish women are repulsive as are their impure foods. As Sacha Stern notes,
revulsion “goes well beyond the level of the mind: the entire body can be shaken with
revulsion, typically with a nauseous tremor or with actual nausea. It must be stressed that
nausea itself does not merely ‘represent’ or indicate mental revulsion, but is itself a
bodily form of rejection and revulsion. The same may well apply to spitting: thus, R.
211
Sifra, Qedoshim 10.11.
The story concerning Rabbi Akiba and the critique of the Roman General could be seen as echoing
Sifra, Qedoshim λέ13, saying that to the commandments “concerning which the impulse to do evil ]
]
raises doubt, the nations of the world, idolaters, raise doubt, for instance, the prohibition against pork,
wearing mixed species ]…[”έ In this regard Scriptures says, “I the δord have made these ordinances, and
you have no right to raise doubts concerning themέ” Sifra, Qedoshim 9.13. Translation by Neusner, Sifra,
vol. 3, 79, with slight alteration.
213
PRK, Annex 3.
212
73
Akiba spat in the presence of repulsive non-Jewish female captives. But the midrash also
refers to other forms of bodily revulsion: when the Jew discovered that he had
accidentally eaten pork, ‘his hair stood up - he was agitated and in a flurryέ’ 214 Whatever
its form, the whole person is mobilized in the experience of revulsion; it acquires thereby
tremendous potencyέ” 215 As noted by P. Rozin et al., disgust “becomes the means by
which culture can internalise rejection of an offensive object, behavior, or thoughtέ (…)
The process of socialization in any culture involves acquisition of many values. It is more
efficient to have these values internalized than to have to ensure compliance by policing
compliance with a rule or law. Disgust accomplishes much of this internalization of
negative values. A good way to prevent traffic with something is to make it an elicitor of
disgustέ” 216 However, the repulsion one feels to the other’s forbidden diet might be
merely a consequence of cultural difference, not necessarily a rejection of the other. 217
Visigothic law (7th cent. Spain), for example, recognized such physical repulsion when it
214
B. Holin 106a; Yoma 83b; Y. Hala 2:1, 58c; NumR 10.21; Tan, Balak 24.
Stern, Jewish Identity, 61-62.
216
Pέ Rozin and Jέ Haidt, Cέ εcCauley, and Sέ Imada, “Disgust: Preadaptation and the Cultural
Evolution of a Food-Based Emotionέ” in Food Preferences and taste, ed. H. MacBeth (Providence:
Berghahn Books, 1λλ7), 77έ τr, as notes anthropologist David δe Breton, “δe dégoût est essentiellement
une menace réelle ou symbolique pour le sentiment d’identitéέ Danger pour soi, pour l’entre-soi, il instaure
les frontières symbolique qui permettent de se poser de manière cohérente à l’intérieur de l’ambig ité
essentielle du mondeέ Inassimilable à soi, principe de destruction d’une identité personnelle ou collective
toujours précaire, il est irréversible, altérite absolue, sans appelέ C’est pourquoi le dégout est aussi un
sentiment moral provoquant une répulsion envers un individu, un groupe ou une situation (...) Le dégout est
une « réaction de défense », la mise à distance sans rémission d’un danger (Kolani, 1λλ7, 27)έ Son
paradoxe, s’il est partagé par les membres d’un même groupe, est de fonder le lien social sur une séparation
radicale, de se rassembler contre l’abjection, et simultanément de se démarquer des autres qui en apprécient
l’objet ou y prêtent moins d’attentionέ Il n’est pas anomalie au sein du système culturel, il s’inscrit dans un
ordre global ou tout se tient plus ou moins, il n’est pas une fantaisie individuelle ou collective mais un
principe culturel appliqué à un objet ou à une situation. Le dégoutant recouvre le hors-champ du pensableέ”
David Le Breton, La saveur du monde: une anthropologie des sens (Paris: εétailié, 2006), 389.
217
For the disgust pork evokes for many Jews and Muslims in contemporary Europe, see for exemple:
Andrew Buckser, “Keeping Kosher: Eating and Social Identity among the Jews of Denmark,” Ethnology
38, no. 3 (1999): 191-209. Mohammed Hocine Benkheïra, “Tabou du porc et identité en Islam,” dans
Histoire et identités a limentaires en Europe, dir. Martin Bruegel et Bruno Laurioux (Paris: Hachette, 2002),
37.
215
74
exempted baptized Jews from eating pork because of the disgust it provoked in them.
218
However, the story about Rabbi Akiba does not seek to neutralize this “natural” disgust,
but rather to mobilize it in order to reinforce the boundary between Jews and non-Jews.
The disgust felt by Rabbi Akiba is not just a manifestation of “proto racism,” 219
but also a resistance to oppression. The refusal of the prisoner to have sex according to
the will of his Roman jailor mani fests his moral supremacy and moral freedom, in the
spirit of the introduction to the three stories in which Rabbi Akiba’s episode ended: “the
Inclination to good, (…) may be likened to a king who is shut up in a prison, as is said
“For out of prison he comes forth to rule” (Eccles. 4:14).220 Hence, the resistance is
transferred from the political (Rome-Israel) to the interior (the inclination to evil-the
inclination to good), and finally the first is subjected to the last. To be free is to be
subjected to Gods’ commandments; to rule means to refuse the rule of the inclination to
evil, not that of foreign power. The difference between Israel and Rome parallel s the
difference between the person who accepts the kingdom of God and the one who does not,
as well as the difference between the inclination to do good and the inclination to do evil,
Oath of the baptized Jews to the Visigoth king Recceswinth (640-672 CE): “We shall truly hold and
sincerely embrace all the usages of the holy Christian religion, in holidays, marriage, and food, as well as in
all its observances, without any reservation of an opposition or of a device of falsity by which we should do
again what we undertake to repudiate or execute only exiguously or insincerely what we promise to do.
Concerning pork, we promise to observe this, that if we could not possibly take it according to custom, at
least we shall take the food cooked with pork without loathing and horror [fastidio et orrore[έ” And
likewise King Erwig (680-687 CE): “As for the foods, however, namely, the meat of pork alone, we decree
out of a discerning rather than negligent piety, that if anyone of them should absolutely abhor the eating of
pork and if perchance they should avoid it out of fastidious nature and not condemn it - be discriminating
according to that perverse custom, and particularly if they are considered to be similar to the Christians in
other actions and they are not wanting in their commitment to Christianity and in their wish to act in any
way in the Christian manner, such as those who are found to be faithful in all the other ways of life shall
not be held punishable by the law’s sanction as mentioned above for this rejection of pork aloneέ”Amnon
Linder, The Jews in the Legal Sources of the Early Middle Ages (Detroit: Wayne State University Press,
1997), 280, 297.
219
For the term “proto racism,” see: Benjamin Isaac, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity
(Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2004).
220
PRK, Annex 3. Translation by Braude and Kapstein. Pesikta deRab Kahana , 475.
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75
and the difference between to rule and to be ruled Ḳ a series of oppositions linked to the
difference between not eating pork (self-control) and eating pork (lack of self control).
Apostasy
For the sages, eating pork is the transgression par excellence of food purity laws
and of the law in general.221 Rabbi Akiba compares for example one who wanted to sin
but did not to one who wanted to eat pork but ate lamb, and the one who wanted to sin
and indeed sinned to the one who wanted to eat pork and indeed ate it:
The woman who took a vow to be a Nazir Ḳ her husband annulled the vow for her, but
she did not know that her husband had annulled the vow, she went around drinking wine
and contracting corpse-uncleanness Ḳ lo, this one receives forty flogging. When R. Akiba
would reach this matter, he would cryέ Saying, “σow if someone who intended to take up
in his hand pig-meat and took up in his hand lamb-meat who ate it has to effect
atonement, he who intends to take up in his hand pig-meat and who actually does take up
in his hand pig-meat Ḳ how much the more so that requires atonement and
forgiveness!” 222
The woman did not know that her vow was annulled and hence she is like the one
that sinned with intention. To this, the second case applies, as Rabbi Akiba says: the one
that “intends to take up in his hand pig-meat and who actually does take up in his hand
pig-meatέ” In several places, the one who eats pork became a token for a transgressor of
221
A later legend in Midrash Hagadah (Buber) Exodus 20.7 tells of a couple who ate pork on Yom
Kippur, the day of Atonement.
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T. Nazir (Liberman) 3.14.
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And: Sifri Numbers 153; 154; Evel Rabbati 6.1; Y. Nazir 4:3, 53b; B. Nazir 23a; B. Kidushin 71b; YalShim,
Vayikra 479.
76
the law. Mishnah, Shevi'it 8.10 states that the one who eats from the bread of Samaritans
(Kutim) is like one who eats pork:223
If one has smeared a hide with oil of Sabbatical Yea r produce, R. Eliezer says, it must be
burned; but the Sages say, He must consume of equal value. They stated before R. Akiba
that R. Eliezer used to say, if one smeared a hide with oil of Sa bbatical Year produce it
must be burntέ He replied to them, ‘Be silent! I will not state to you what R. Eliezer says
regarding thisέ’
And they stated further before him, ‘Rέ Eliezer used to say, He that eats of the bread of
Samaritans is as one who eats the flesh of swine’έ He replied to them, ‘Be silent! I will
not state to you what Rέ Elizer says regarding this’έ 224
Eliezer ben Hurcanus (1st-2nd century) was a student of Rabbi Yochanan ben
Zakai, but contrary to his master, who was inclined towards the extremist line of Beith
Samai, Rabbi Eliezer was more inclined toward the moderate school of Beith Hillel.
Hence, Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion here goes hand in hand with the hard line view
concerning separation between Jews and non-Jews.225 It seems that Rabbi Akiba rejected
his master´s thought that Samaritan food is not forbidden. However, there is an inner
problem in the mishnah’s text: what is the link between the first and second saying of
Rabbi Eleazar: the one that deals with oil of the sabbatical year and the one that deals
with Samaritan bread? A possible solution is that the second saying deals with the
Sabbatical year. The Samaritans should respect the Sabbatical year but do not do so, and
hence their fruits are forbidden. 226 If this is the case, Rabbi Eleazar states that the one
who eats the Samaritans’ bread during the Sabbatical year is like the one that eats pork. 227
223
M. Sheviit 8.10. y. Sheviit 8: 48, 37d. YalShim, II Kings 234. Tan, Vayeshev 2.
M. Sheviit 8:9-10. Translation by Blackman, Mishnayoth, vol. 1, 276-277.
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Neusner, Eliezer Ben Hyrcanus, 18-45.
226
Ze'ev Safrai, “The Exemption of the Territory of Caesarea from the Commandments Relating to the
Land,” Sinai 96, no. 5-6 (1985): 223 (Hebrew).
227
The later Pirke deRabbi Eliezer, chapter 36, provides the historical context of the ban on Samaritan
bread, which is understood as ban on Samaritan meat: “What did Ezra and Zerubavel ben Shaltiel and
Yehoshua ben Yohtzadak then do in response (to the Samaritan attack on building the Temple)? They
224
77
The idea that one who transgresses the Sabbatical year is like one who eats pork is also
found in an obscure story in Tosefta Ahilot:228
Testified Judah ben Jacob of Bet Guvrin and Jacob b. Isaac of Bet Gufnin concerning
Qisri ]Caesarea[ that they possessed it from ancient times and declared it free without a
voteέ Said Rέ Hanin, “That year was the seventh year, and gentiles went to their circuses
and left the market full of fruits, and Israelites came and swiped them, and when they
came back, they said, ‘Come, let us go to sages, lest they permit them pigs alsoέ’ 229
The story may be set during the patriarchate of Yehudah Ha-Nasi, called Rabbi,
during the latter quarter of the 2 nd century CE, when he and his court released Caesarea
from the condition of impurity decreed earlier upon the land of the Gentiles.230 The stor y
gathered all of Israel into the Courtyard of the Temple, and they brought 300 Kohanim and 300 shofars and
300 Torah scrolls and they were blowing the shofars and the Levites were chanting, and they
excommunicated the Samaritans with the secret of the explicit name of God, with the script that is inscribed
in the Tablets, and with the excommunication of the heavenly court and of the earthly court, that no perso n
should ever eat the bread of Samaritans. As a result of this, it is said that whoever eats from the slaughtered
meat of a Samaritan is as if he ate from the meat of a pig. And [they further decreed that] a person should
not convert a Samaritan, and that they have no portion in the Resurrection of the Dead, as it is stated: “It is
not for you, but for us [to build God's house] (Ezra 4:3) Ḳ you have no portion with us not in this world or
in the next. And they sent this excommunication to all of Israel, and they heaped excommunication upon
excommunication, and even Cyrus the King decreed upon them an eternal excommunicationέ”
’
”
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,
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,
,
… ”
And also: y. Shevhit 8:4, 37d. Tan Vayesev 2. YalShim, Kings 234.
228
The tractus intially deals with Ohalot: the uncleanness imparted to persons and objects by reason of
their location within the tent of a corpse, which is to say, under the same roof as a corpse (Num. 19:14 -19)
229
T. Ahilot 18. 15 (ed. Zukermandel, 617). Translation by Neusenr, The Tosefta, vol. VI, Tohorot ,
132.
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230
For the story in the context of the history of the Jews in Caesarea, see: Irving εέ δevey, “Caesarea
and the Jews,” in The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima , vol. I. Studies in the History of Caesarea
Maritima, ed. Charles T. Fritsch, (Missoula, MN: Scholars Press for the American School of Oriental
Research, 1975), 44. It is not clear based on what prooftext A. Büchler and Lee I. Levin date the episode to
61/62 CE, Sabbatical year. A. Büchler, “Der Patriarch R. Jehuda I. und die Griechisch-Römischen Städte
Palästinas,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 13, no. 4 (1901): 688. English translation: A. Büchler,“The
Patriarch R. Judah I and the Graeco Roman Cities of Palestine,” in Studies in Jewish history: the Adolph
Büchler memorial volume, ed. Israel Brodie and Joseph Rabinowitz (London: Oxford University Press,
1956), 184-185. Lee I. Levine, Caesarea Under Roman Rule (Leiden: Brill, 1975), 30. Ze’ev Weiss’
interpretation that “the story of stealing the fruits in Caesarea, during the first century, where it is
mentioned that the “pagans had gone and plundered it,” may indicate that the Jews did not attend games
and spectacles at that time,” taking into cosideration that the legendary nature of the story is farfetched.
Ze'ev Weiss, “The Jews and the Games in Roman Caesarea,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After
78
of R. Hanin (late 2nd cent.?)231 addressed how Caesarea came to be declared permitted i n
a sabbatical year.232 Hence, the story puts in the mouth of the non-Jewish residents of
Caesarea the rabbinical idea that one who does not respect the sabbatical year is like one
who eats pork. 233
Eating pork was already associated by the Tannaitic period with apostasy, as
Tosefta Horayot testifies when it enumerates it as one of the actions of apostasy:
One who eats abomination Ḳ behold, this one is an apostate [
]. [This also applies to]
the one who ate carrion and/or ter efah, abominations or creeping things; the one who eats
pork or drinks libation wine, the one who desecrates the Sabbath; the one who stretches
his foreskin ]in order to conceal his circumcision[έ Rέ Yosi bέ Rέ Yehudah says: “Also the
one who wears garments of mixed speciesέ” Rέ Simon bέ Elazar says: “Also the one who
does something ]prohibited[ that his impulse does not desireέ” 234
Two Millennia , ed. Avner Raban, Kenneth G. Holum, and Jodi Magnes, Bulletin of the American Schools
of Oriental Research. no. 308: 108 (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 445.
231
Ze'ev Safrai, “The Exemption of the Territory of Caesarea from the Commandments Relating to the
Land,” Sinai 96, no. 5-6 (1985): 219 (Hebrew).
232
R. Abbahu, who lived in Caesarea, relates how the non-Jews mocked the sabbatical year (LamR.
17). See: Weiss, “The Jews and the Games,” 446.
233
Ephrat Habas, “The Halachic Status of Caesarea as Reflected in the Talmudic δiterature,” in
Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After Two Millennia , ed. Avner Raban, Kenneth G Holum, and Jodi
Magnes (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 462.
234
T. Horayot 1:5 (ed. Zukermandel, 474)
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Rosen-Zvi, Demonic Desires, 30. See also Bavli Horayoth 11a. In the sixteenth century, Gdaliah ibn
Yahia’s Sefer Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah told the story of an apostate who ate pork in front of his rabbi:
“With the rabbi standing before him, he killed a pig, cut it up, cooked it and ate itέ When he finished eating,
he asked his teacher how many condemnable offenses he had committed, to which Rabbi Moses replied,
“Fourέ” Abner said that he wished to dispute his teacher and claim that there were really fiveέ The rabbi
stared angrily at him and silenced him Ḳ for he still retained some fear of his teacher. Finally his teacher
asked him who it was that had led him to his apostasy. [Abner] said that he had once heard it explained that
all the commandments and everything in the world was contained within Parashat ha’a inu (the thirtysecond chapter of Deuteronomy), and that in order to disprove this idea, he became a different person
(nehefakti le-ish a er)έ The rabbi answered, “I still say this is trueέ Ask whatever you wantέ” The man was
very surprised and said to him, “τKέ tell me if you can find my name written thereέ” The
RaεBaσ…έimmediately walked himself to a corner of the room and prayed, and into his mouth came
Deuternomy 32: 2θ: “I said I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to
cease from among menέ” Ḳ for the man who was Rabbi Abner is contained within the [combination of the]
third letter of each [Hebrew] word. When the man heard this, he became sad, and asked his rabbi if there
was a remedy for his afflictionέ The rabbi said, “You heard the words of the verse!” and went on his wayέ
Immediately, and without uttering a word, the man boarded a ship. He went where the wind would take him,
and nothing was ever heard of him againέ” Gdaliah ibn Yahia, Sefer Shalshelet ha -Kabbalah (Chain of
Tradition) (Venice, 1585. Reprint: Jerusalem: τtza’at HaDorot HaRishonim veKorotam, 1972), 56a.
Translation by Mark Barry Ross, “Kabbalistic Tocinofobia: Américo Castro, δimpieza de Sangre, and the
79
It seems that because eating pork is understood as apostasy, Bavli Sanhedrin 26b
states that the pork eater is incompetent as a witnesses:
R. Nahman said: those who eat of another thing [pork] 235 are incompetent as witnesses.
Provided, however, that they accept it publicly, but not if they accept it in private. And
even if publicly [accepted], the law is applicable only if, when it was possible for them to
obtain it privately they yet degraded themselves by open acceptance. But where [private
receipt] is impossible, it [public acceptance] is vitally necessary. 236
What is at stake here is not so much the eating of “another thing,” but if this was
done in public. Eating pork was one of the laws of the Torah about which the Mishnah
argues: “every law of the Torah, if a man is commanded: 'Transgress and suffer not death'
he may transgress and not suffer death, excepting idolatry, incest [and adultery], and
murder” (Sanhedrin 74a). This law, however, was limited: “When Rέ Dimi came, he said
in Rέ Yohanan’s name: If there is a royal decree ]forbidding the practice of Judaism[, one
must incur martyrdom rather than transgress even a minor precept. When Rabin came, he
said in Rέ Yohanan’s name: Even without a royal decree it was only permitted in private;
but in public one must be martyred even for a minor precept rather than violate itέ” ( B.
Sanhedrin 74a). Therefore, while eating pork is a minor precept that one can transgress
(at least in private) and not die, if it is a part of an idolatrous sacrifice or a form of
persecution, one should die rather than transgress the law. If a person prefers to transgress
the law in public he is a heretic.
Inner εeaning of Jewish Dietary δaws,” in Fear and its Representations in the Middle Ages and
Renaissance, ed. Anne Scott and Cynthia Kosso (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002), 173-174.
235
Rashi thoght that “those who eat of another thing,” are those who received alms from the Goyimέ
:
236
B. Sanhedrin 26b.
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80
Epikorsiut and the Pig
The word epikorus became in rabbinic literature a generic word to designate the
heretic, while the word epikorsiut designated heresy. 237 Epicurus (d. 270 BCE) held a n
ethical theory of eudemonistic hedonism, advocating tranquility, ataraxia, as the goal of
life, or telos. This has two aspects: “First, it is identified as the absence of pain Ḳ where
pain is understood to be not only physical pain but also the mental pains of anxiety,
distress, or worry. Second, it is identified as pleasure or at least as a certain kind of
pleasureέ”238 Because hoggishness was seen as a pursuit of pleasure, it was maliciously
associated with Epicureanism. 239 Clement of Alexandria writes for example: “Epicurus,
in placing happiness in not being hungry, or thirsty, or cold, uttered that godlike word,
saying impiously that he would thereby vie even with Father Jove; teaching, as it were,
that the life of pigs devouring rubbish and not of rational philosophers, was supremely
happyέ” 240 The pig, after being associated with the Epicureans by their adversaries, was
Joseph Geiger, “To the History of the Term Apikoros,” Tarbiz 42 (1972-73): 499-500 (Hebrew).
Saul δieberman, “How εuch Greek in Jewish Palestineς” in Biblical and Other Studies, ed. A. Altmann
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963), 130. Jenny Rέ δabendz, “’Know What to Answer the
Epicurean’ - A Diachronic Study of the Apiqoros in Rabbinic δiteratureέ” Hebrew Union College Annual
74 (2003): 175-214. Hans-Jürgen Becker, “Epikureer im Talmud Yerushalmi,” in The Talmud Yerushalmi
and Graeco-Roman Culture, vol 1, ed. Peter Sch fer (T bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998), 379-421.
238
James Warren, Epicure and Democritean Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002),
3.
239
Timon, Fr. 51 Diels. Cicero, Against Piso 16.37. Plutarch, That Epicurus Actually Makes a Pleasant
Life Impossible 7 (Moralia 1091C). Horace, Epistle 1.4.15-16; 2.2.72-75. See: Jacques Boulogne,
P utarque dans e miroir d’Épicure. Ana yse d’une critique syst matique de ’ picurisme (Villeneuve
d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2ίί3), 141-143. A silver cup from Boscoreale, near Pompeii
(c. 30 CE), represents skeletal figures belonging to various philosophical schools. On one side of the cup, a
pair of philosophers is depicted: to the left is the Stoic Zeno; to the right is Epicurusέ “The latter figure is
not only intent on the meal in the pit at the centre of the picture (above which is written an Epicurean tag:
‘pleasure is the telos’), but he is also indentified as a hedonist by the presence of the pot-bellied pig
jumping up to smell the cookingέ” Warren, Epicure, 131.
240
Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies (Stromata) 2.21 (ANF). Likewise, Isidore of Seville (6th cent.
CE): “The Epicureans are so called from a certain philosopher Epicurus, a lover of vanity, not of wisdom,
whom the philosophers themselves named ‘the pig,’ wallowing in carnal filth, as it were, and asserting that
bodily pleasure is the highest goodέ” Isidore of Seville, Etymology 8.6.15. The Etymologies of Isidore of
Seville, trans. Stephen A. Barney (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 179. For another
237
81
associated by Christianity with the heretics (sometimes described as Epicureans).241 In
Christianity, the identification of the heretic with the pig is mainly based on 2 Peter
2:22:“’The dog returns to its vomit’ and ‘The pig, once washed, wallows in mudέ’” (wr.
ca. 130 CE ?).242 The image of the pig returning to the mud after the bath is from a
known saying attributed to Heraclitus. The two parallel proverbs summarizing a
paragraph (2 Pe 2:1-22) deal with the “false prophetsήteachers” (2:1), who are compared
to dogs and pigs.243 Hoggishness is a movement towards the earthly, the bodily desires,
toward animality. This downward movement is the opposite of the upward movement of
salvation: the turning to Christ, from the body to the spirit, from the earth to heaven, from
animality to the divine. Because conversion is understood (literally) as an act of turning
in Christianity, the image of the heretic is as one who takes a negative turn: hence the
simile of the pig returning to the mud. As great as is the salvation, so great is the fall. 244
patristic mention of Epicurus as a pig, see: M. Di Marco, “Riflessi della polemica antiepicurea nei Silli di
Timone II: Epicuro, Il porco e l’insaziable ventre,” Elenchos 4 (1983): 60, note 3.
241
As Pierre Courcelle notes: “le porc et son bourbier, après avoir désigné Épicure et ses disciples, ont
été considérés comme désignant les hérétiquesέ” Pierre Courcelle, “δe thème littéraire du bourbier dans la
littérature latine,” Comptes rendus de ’Acad mie des Inscriptions et e les-Lettres (avril-juin 1973):
281. Rέ Jungkurtz, “Fathers, Heretics, and Epicureans,” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 17 (1966): 310.
242
Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the the New Testament, The Anchor Bible Reference
Library (New York et al.: Doubleday, 1997), 767.
243
The “false teachers” which “follow the polluting desires of the flesh” (2:1ί) are compared to
“beasts without reason, creatures of instinct for capture and destruction” (1ί:12)έ They are doggish and
hoggish, filthy and impure: “17. These men are springs without water, mists driven by storms; for them
gloomy darkness is kept. 18. They mouth empty boasts; they entice with debauchery and desires of the
flesh those who but recently fled from the company of those who live in error. 19. They promise them
freedom, but are themselves slaves of destruction. For people are slaves to that which masters them. 20. For
if they, who fled the pollution of the world by acknowledging our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, again are
entangled in evil company and are mastered by it, this last state is worse than the first. 21. Far better for
them that they should never have acknowledged the way of righteousness, than acknowledging it, to turn
away from the holy rule given them. 22. For them the proverb has proved true: “The dog returns to its
vomit” and “The pig, once washed, wallows in mudέ” (2 Pe 2:17-22). See: Jerome H. Neyrey, 2 Peter,
Jude: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible, vol. 37C (New York et
al.: The Anchor Bible, 1993), 217.
244
For example, the Armenian Bishop εovsēs of Siwinik‘ (dέ 731 CE) writes:“Wherefore, you, high
priests and heads of the Church: Rejoice with ecstasy and shake with fear and much trembling, lest you
who are elevated heads and knowledgeable about heaven should become like swine that crawl on earth and
wallow in ashes, thinking only of the earthlyέ” εovsēs Bishop of Siwinik, “Hymn to Stέ Gregory the
82
Hence, 2 Pe 2:22 was mainly understood to refer to heretics.245 Were also the minim,
epikorsim, or mesumadim of rabbinic heresiology associated with the pig?
Tosefta Avoda Zara contrasts the scholars of Torah, who are likened to a lawful
sacrificial animal, with those who do not learn Torah, who are likened to impure animals
such as the camel and the pig:
R’ Shimon ben Yochai says: one does not say, “examine that camel that it might have a
deformity” or examine that pig that it might have a deformity”; just pure ]temimim] are
checked ´(for deformities). And who is this? This is a Torah scholar who forsakes the
Torahέ Regarding him scripture says: “What is crooked cannot be made straight,” (Ecclέ
1:1η) and “The wicked borrow and do not repay” (Psέ 37:21)έ And Rabbi Yehuda says on
him He says: “Like a bird wandering from its nest,[so is a man who wanders from his
place.] (Proverbs 27:8). And: What wrong did you forefathers find in me,[that they
distanced themselves from me.] (Jeremiah 2:5). 246
The pig is inherently impure, unfit for sacrifice, and hence one does not look to
see whether it had defects as with pure animals which are fit to sacrifice. Similarly, only a
person who was initially straight can be said to have become “crooked (
)έ” Hence, as
a pure animal that has a defect, the Talmud scholar acts impurely. What is implicit is that
by acting so, he is even worse than the camel and the pig, which in their natures are
impure, for he is acting against his own nature. In a similar manner, chapter six of
Illuminator,” hymn η2 ]Part II[, In Abraham Terian, Patriotism and Piety in Armenian Christianity: The
Early Panegyrics on Saint Gregory (New Rochelle, NY: Avant, 2005), 149.
245
“δe porc et son bourbier, après avoir désigné Épicure et ses disciples, ont été considérés comme
désignant les hérétiquesέ” Courcelle, “δe thème littéraire,” 2κ1έ See Robert M. Grant, Early Christians and
Animals (London and New York: Routledge, 1999), 6-7έ Terrance Callan, “Comparison of Humans to
Animals in 2 Peter 2,10-22,” Biblica 90 (2009): 101-113. For the Middle Ages see: Jacques Voisenet,
Bestiaire chrétien. L'imaginaire animale des auteurs du Haut Moyen Age (Toulouse: Presses universitaire
du Mirail, 1994), 219. See for example Hilary of Potiers, On Matthew 6.1. Hilaire de Poitiers, Sur
Matthieu, vol 1, trans, Jean Doignon, SC 254 (Paris: Cerf, 1978), 170-171
246
T. Avoda Zara 1.8.
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And b. Hagigah 9B; EcclR 1.5.2έ In both places, the midrash is told in the context of prohibited sexual
relations with a married woman.
83
Mishnah Avot (Pirke Avot), which is a later addition to the Mishnah, compares one who
does not learn Torah to a pig:
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every day a heavenly voice goes forth from Mount Horev
]εount Sinai[ proclaiming and saying: ‘Woe to mankind for their disdain of the Torah!’
For he who does not occupy himself with the Torah is called “rebuked ]nazuf
[,” as it
is written: “As a golden ring in the snout of a swine, so is a fair woman without discretionέ
(Provέ 11:22)” And it says: “And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was
the writing of God, graven upon the tabletsέ” (Ex. 32:16) Read not “graven” (harut), but
“freedom” (her ut); for no man is free but he who occupies himself with the study of
Torah, and he who devotes himself regularly to the study of Torah shall be exalted, as it
is written: “And from εattanah ]=gift[ to σahaliel [=inheritance of God]; and from
σahaliel ]=inheritance of God[ to Bamoth ]heights[έ” (σum 21:1λ)έ 247
The midrash reads the word “censured (
of gold in a swine’s snout (
)” as notrikon (acronym) of “As a ring
)έ” It seems also that being “rebuked
”
means here losing one´s freedom, as the animal that is controlled by its nose-ring. 248 This
idea that the one who does not learn Torah is not a free man is followed by the idea of the
second part of the midrash that only the one who learns Torah is free. While in the
Mishnah the one who deviates from the study of Torah (= gold) is indirectly compared to
a pig, 249 in Kala Rabati’s version of the same midrash he is fully a pig:
247
M. Avot 6.2. Translation by Pinhas Kehati, The mishnah, vol. 4, Seder Nezikin (Jerusalem: Eliner,
1987), 195. Also: Seder Eliyahu Zuttah 17.5 (ed. Friedmann (Ish-Shalom)).
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248
The midrash seems to play with the proximity of the word “rebuked ( )” to “nose-ring ( ).
249
We find a similar idea in midrash Tan uma : “If a man makes a vow involving human life, as it is
said, “the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise” (Provέ 11)έ If a man is just,
even though he is just and does not study the Torah, he has nothing. Rather, the fruit of the just is the tree
of life, meaning that since he is a Torah scholar he learns how to deal with human life; as it is said, wise is
he who deals with human life. If he knows how to deal with vows regarding human life he learned it from
the Torah, and if he has no learning he has nothing. Thus it was with Jephthah the Gileadite, who because
he was not a Torah scholar, lost his daughter when he was fighting Ammonites, in the hour when he made
the vow: “…if thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be, that
whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house shall surely be the δord’s and I will offer it up for a
burnt offering” (Judges 11:3ί-31). In that hour the Lord was angry with him and he said, if a dog or a pig
or a camel comes out of his house he would offer it up as a sacrifice to me? So he provided his daughter.
Why? So that all who make vows will study the laws of pledge and oaths, and will not act mistakenly when
they make vowsέ” Tan Behukotai ηέ Translation by Shulamit Valler, “The Story of Jephtah’s Daughter in
84
For whoever is not constant in the study of the Torah is termed “rebuked ]nazuf
[;” as
it is stated, “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout”- gold refers to the Torah, for so it states,
“And I put a ring upon thy nose,” (Provέ 11:22); and it also declar es, “As a ring of gold in
a swine’s snout” : this refers to one who studies the Torah at ]irregular[ intervalsέ The
Holy τne, blessed be He, says: “τf what ]use[ is this before swine, seeing that εy Torah
is beautiful and I have given it [to man] to meditate thereon, but he does not meditate on
it until he forgets itέ’ 250
This midrash is similar to Sifre’s note that, “At the time that Torah comes from
his mouth he [the priest=Israel] is like an angel; when [it does] not, he is like a beast and
an animal that knows not its creatorέ” 251 In these texts, animalization is not turned
outward (toward non-Jews) but inward (to Jews); the pig is the one who is going astray
from the world of Torah. In fact, the heretic par excellence in the Rabbinic tradition,
Elisha ben Abuya, known as A er (Other), was perhaps associated through this very nickname with the pig.
Elisha ben Abuya, Aḥer
According to the Babylonian Talmud, it is a prostitute who named Elisha ben
Abuya A er (Another): “He went and found a prostitute and asked for herέ She said to
him: Are you not Elisha ben Abuya? When he tore a radish (or turnip) out of the ground
the εidrash,” in A Feminist Companion to Judges, ed. Athalya Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield academic
Press, 1999), 54-55.
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250
Kala Rabati 54b (ed. Higger). Translation by A. Cohen, The Minor Tractates of the Talmud:
Massektoth Ketannoth, vol. II (London: Soncino Press, 1966), 502.
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251
For a reading of the universalistic trends of this text, see: Marc Hirshman, “Rabbinic Universalism
in the Second and Third Centuriesέ” HTR 93 (2000): 101-105.
85
on the Shabbat and gave it to her, she said: ‘He is another ]a er hu[έ’”252 The change
within the Sage is so great, that even the prostitute is astonished. The
otherness/strangeness became his name, his essence. The name A er (another), recalls the
expression for the pig in rabbinic literature: Davhar A er (Another thing). Both bynames
are used in order to avoid pronouncing the abominable min: word which designs heretic
but also species and kind. The Yerushalmi (Hagiga 2έ1) answer the question “Why did all
this happen to himς” in three episodes. The first is as follows:
Once Elisha was sitting and studying in the plain of Gennesaret, and he saw a man climb
to the top of a palm tree, take a mother bird with her young, and descend safely. The
following day he saw another man climbing to the top of the palm tree; he took the young
birds but released the mother. When he descended a snake bit him and he died. Elisha
thought, “It is written, ‘you shall let the mother go, but the young shall you take to
yourself; that if may go well with you, and that you may live long (Deut. 22:6f). 253 Where
is the welfare of this man, and where his length days? 254
The second episode explains A er’s heresy by his reaction to the martyrdom of
Rabbi Judah the Baker in the times of Hadrian’s persecutions: 255
(…) he saw the tongue of Rabbi Judah the Baker, dripping blood, in the mouth of a dog.
He said, “This is the Torah, and this its reward! This is the tongue that was bringing forth
the words of the Torah as befits them. This is the tongue that labored in the Torah all its
B. Hagigah 1ηaέ Different explanations are given to A er´s name in the Bavli Hagiga 1ηb: “Why
was he called A er ς ]Because[ Greek songs were always on his lips”έ His hellenophilia is thus the origin
of his name. See: Nurit Be’eri, Went Forth into Evil Courses: Elisha Ben Abuya – A’her (Tel-Aviv:
Miskal ḲYedioth Ahronoth Books and Chemed Books, 2007) (Hebrew).
253
‘]If you chance to come upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs,
you shall not take the mother with the young;[ ‘you shall let the mother go, but the young shall you take to
yourself; that if may go well with you, and that you may live long (Deut. 22:6f).
254
Y. Hagiga 2:1, 77b. Translation by Jacob Neusner, The Talmud of the Land of Israel, vol. 20,
Hagiaga nad Moed Qatan (Chicago and London: The Univeristy of Chicago Press, 1982), 48-49.
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The Talmud suggests that his doubts will not let him to go astray if he knew the explanation of
Deuteronomy 22:θ: “He did not know that Rέ Jacob had explained it before him: “That it may go well with
you” in the World to Come which is wholly good, “And that you live long,” in the time which is wholly
longέ” Y. Hagiga 2:1, 77b.
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255
On the martyrdom of Rabbi Judah the Baker, see: Herr, “Persecutions and εartyrdom,” 114, note
103.
252
86
days. This is the Torah, and this its reward! It seems as though there is no reward [for
righteousness[ and no resurrection of the deadέ” 256
According to Bavli Hullin 142a, Elisah-A er saw the tongue of R. Huzpit, the
Interpreter, cast in a rubbish heap, 257 while according to Bavli Kiddushin 39b, he saw it
dragged by a pig:
Now what happened with A er ? Some say, he saw something of this nature. Others say,
he saw the tongue of utzpit the translator being dragged by davhar a er [another thing
= a pig[έ He said: “The mouth that uttered pearls now licks the dirtς” He went out and
258
sinned.
The words of Elisha- A er in front of the tongue dragged by the pig recall the
words of Jesus in the sermon on the mountain:”Do not give what is holy to the dogs, or
throw your pearls before the swines, so that they will not trample on them with their feet,
and turn around and tear you apartέ” (εtέ 7:θ)έ In both cases, pearls stand for Torah (or
Holy things)έ εatthew’s parable refers to a thing out of place; the “holy” and “pearls”
represent something valuable, which contrasts with ignoble, impure animals such as dogs
and pigsέ The pig trampling the pearls refers to the pig’s destructive nature as well to the
Greco-Roman idea that the pig reverses the “normal” hierarchy of values, it detests
marjoram but delights in the mud. 259 In the Christian exegetical tradition, Matthew 7:6
256
!
257
:
258
:
Y. Hagiga 2:1, 77b.
?!
B. Holin 142a.
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B. Kidushin 39b.
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Also Hagadot Hatalmud 56a (Kiddushin) = 135c/d ( u in): “He saw the tongue of a great man being
dragged by a pigέ”
259
As for example Lucretius, in On the Nature of Things writes: “Pigs detest oil of marjoram and fearή
all kinds of ointments, for to the bristly pig/ What seems to us refreshing is rank poison./ But on the other
hand, what is to us/ Most loathsome filth, why, pigs delight in itή And love to roll their bodies in the mudέ”
Lucretius, On the Nature of the Things 6.973-978; Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe, trans. Ronald
Melville (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), 208.
87
;
ς
was often understood as referring to heretics.260 In the Talmud, the image of the pig tha t
dirties the pearls with mud refers to a world turned upside down: a strong image of
injustice.
The third possible reason the Yerushalmi gives might be also related to the pig:
“But some say that when his mother was pregnant with him, she passed by temples of
Idolatry, and smelled from that kind (Veheriha meoto ha-min).261 And that odor pierced
her body like the poison of a snakeέ” 262 Rather than thinking that what Elisha-A er’s
mother smelled was incense, it seems more probable that “that kind” refers to sacrificial
meat, perhaps pork (as in the expression “another thing”). Whatever the case, this episode
may become clearer by observing the case mentioned in Bavli Yoma 82a of a pregnant
woman who during the fast of Yom Kippur smelled sacrificial meat or pork and wanted
to eat it:
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita: [If] A pregnant woman smelled sacrificial meat or pork
[and craved it], we stick a pindle into the soup [in which the prohibited food was cooked]
and place it on her mouth. If she feels relieved, fine; But if not, we feed her the soup itself.
If she feels relieved, fine; But if not, we feed her the very fat [ of the prohibited food,] for
there is nothing that stands in the way of saving a life, other than [the cardinal sins of]
Idol worship, illicit relations, or murder. 263
In the continuation of the discussion, the Bavli relates the following two episodes:
The Alexandrian gnostic Basilides (c. 130-14ί CE) goes far as to say in his gospel: “We (…) are
the human beings, but all the others are pigs and dogs. And because of this he [scέ Jesus[ said, ‘Do not
throw the pearls before the pigs, nor give the holy to the dogsέ” Epiphanius, Pan 24έ5.2. Cited by Hans
Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49) (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995), 498.
261
Jacob σeusner translates “smelled their particular kind of incensesέ” Jacob Neusner, Hagigah and
Moed Qatan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 49.
262
Y. Hagiga 2:1, 77b.
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263
B. Yomah 82a.
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88
There was a certain pregnant woman who smelled food [and craved it on Yom Kippur.]
They came before Rebbi [and asked him what to do.] [Rebbi] said to them: whisper to her
that it is Yom Kippur. They whispered [it] to her, and she accepted the whisper. [Rebbi]
applied the [following] verse to [the fetus]: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
etc [before you left the womb I sanctified you[έ (Jeremiah 1:η)έ From her issued R’
Yochanan.
There was [another] pregnant woman who smelled food [and craved it on Yom Kippur].
They came before R’ Chanina ]and asked him what to doέ[ He said to them: Whisper to
her [that it is Yom Kippur.] [They whispered it to her,] but she did not accept the whisper;
]R’ Chanina[ applied the ]following[ verse to ]the fetus[: The wicked are estranged, fr om
the womb. [And indeed,] Shabasi, 264 the hoarder of produce, issued from her. 265
Two contradictory cases are exposed here: the pregnant woman who does not eat
the forbidden meat and the one that does; the one that begot a just man and the one that
begot a wicked man. It seems that the story of Elisa/A er’s mother refers to the second
case. Indeed, according to Ruth Rabbah and Ecclesiastes Rabbah, A er’s mother did not
just smell the forbidden meat but also ate it. 266 The forbidden meat of a pagan sacrifice is
described as having a magical quality - as having the power to alter the nature of the fetus
and hence influence the nature of the adult, as in the case of Elisha’s heresyέ
The apostasy of Elisha-A er is indirectly associated with what might stand for
the pig. Perhaps this hints at an equation: Elisha ben Abuya = A er (Another) = Davar
A er (Another thing) = Min (Apostate) = pig. This porcine connection to A er might also
be associated with the supposed epicurean element of his heresy, mainly his negation of
divine providence. This is perhaps the subject of a midrash in Bavli Berakhot 43b were
heresy seems to be associated with the pig:
264
Shabsai was a well-known market manipuator who engineered price increases in produce by
hoarding large supplies. He then took advantage of the poor by selling the produce at the inflated prices
(see b. Baba Batra 90b).
265
B. Yoma 83a. Translation by Schottenstein Talmud.
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R. Zutra b. Tobiah said in the name of Rab: Whence do we learn that a blessing should be
said over sweet odorsς Because it says, “δet every soul praise the lordέ”(Psέ 1ηί:θ) What
is that which gives enjoyment to the soul and not to the body? Ḳ you must say this is a
fragrant smell. Rabbi Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab; The young men of
Israel are destined to emit a sweet fragrance like δebanon, as it says: “ His branches shall
spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his fragrance as Lebanonέ” (Hosea
14:6) R. Zutra b. Tobiah further said in the name of Rab: What is the meaning of the
verse: He hath made everything beautiful in its time [He has also set eternity in the hearts
of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.]? (Eccl. 3:11)
It teaches that the Holy τne, blessed be He, made every man’s trade seem fine in his own
eyes. R. Papa said: This agrees with the popular saying: Hang the heart of a palm tree on
a pig, and it will do the usual things with it [take it to the dung heap]. 267
Why does the text, after praising the Torah learners, turn to Ecclesiastes 3:11 and
finally to the proverb concerning the pig? It seems that the students of Torah are
contrasted with those who, like the pig, take a good thing and make it filthy. Who are
those persons? It is hard to know. But the continuation of Ecclesiastes 3:11 may propose
that they are the ones that doubt God’s deeds, for: “He has also set eternity in the hearts
of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Proselytes
To cease eating pork was one of the markers of the process of conversion to
Judaism, at least according to Juvenal’s Fourteenth satire (wr. c. 90 Ḳ 127 CE), which
describe the children of god-fearers who convert to Judaism: 268
267
B. Berakoth 43b. Transltion by Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim
(London: The Soncino Press, 1967): 190.
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,
:
,
έ
,
ς(
)"
,
](
=)
[
έ]
=[
And YalShim Ecclesiastes 968.
:
,
"
:
,"
"
έ
:
268
See: E. Courtney, A Commentary on the Sattires of Juvenal (London: Athlone, 1980), 561-562.
90
Some who have had a father who reveres the Sabbath,
worship nothing but the clouds, and the divinity of the heavens,
and see no difference between eating swine’s flesh,
from which their father abstained, and eating that of human beings; and in time they take
to circumcision.
Having been wont to flout the laws of Rome,
they learn and practice and revere the Jewish law,
and all that Moses handed down in his secret tome,
forbidding to point out the way to any not worshipping the same rites,
and conducting none but the circumcised to the desired fountain.
For all of which the father was to blame, who gave up every seventh day to idleness,
keeping it apart from all the concerns of life. 269
Juvenal distinguishes two stages of Jewishness: in the first stage the Sabbath is
kept, and the “heavenly god” is worshiped and pork is avoided; in the second stage comes
circumcision. Like Juvenal, the rabbis refer to avoidance of pork as a sign of conversion.
Mekilta deRabbi Ishmael (4-5th century) states that one should not mention to the convert
his past porcine diet:
“And a Stranger Shalt Thou σot Vex, σeither Shalt Thou τppress Him; for Ye Were
Strangers in the δand of Egyptέ” (Exέ 22:2ί)έ You shall not vex him Ḳ with words.
Neither shall you oppress him Ḳ in money matters. You should not say unto him: But
yesterday you were worshiping “Bel, bowing (kores
) Nebo,” (cfέ Is 4θ:1θ) 270 and
unti now swine’s f esh has stic ing out from between your teeth, and now you dare to
stand up and to speak against me!271 And how do we know that if you vex him he can
also vex youς It is said: “And a stranger shalt thou not vex, neither shalt thou oppress him;
for ye were strangers in the land of Egyptέ” (Ex. 22:20) In connection with this passage R.
Nathan used to say: Do not reproach your fellow man with a fault which is also your
own.272
269
Juvenal, Satire 14.96-106.
Jacob Z. Lauterbach [Mekilta de Rabbi Ishmael, vol. 3 (Philadephia: The Jewish Publiciton Society
of America, 1935), 137] and Jacob Neusner [The Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael: An Analytical
Translation, 2 vols. Vol. 2 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1988), 210.] translate this phrase as
refering to three gods: Bel, Kores, and Nebo. This seems a mistake for the phrase is a pharprase of Isaiah
4θ:1: “Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over; Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle. The
things that you carry are burdensome, A load for the weary beast.” See: Rosenblum, Food, 56, note 82.
271
Saul δiberman suggests that in the convert’s voice can be heard the voice of the pig, see: Liberman,
Tosefta Ki-Fshutah, vol. 9, 185. And Ibid. Studies, 488-490.
272
Mekilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Tractate Nezikin, 18.95.1 (ed. Lauterbach). Translation by Jacob Z.
Lauterbach, Mekilta de Rabbi Ishmael, vol. 3 (Philadephia: The Jewish Publicaton Society of America,
1935), 137-138. Italics mine.
( ,
)"
"
,
έ
270
91
Bel and Nebo are both Babylonian deities mentioned in Isaiah 46:1 (“Bel boweth
down, Nebo stoopeth ֹ ְ
, ב
”) and their cult was popular in Syria.273 Interestingl y,
in Bavli Sanhedrin we find Isaiah 46:1 as the proof text that one may mock idolatry:
R. Nahman said: All scoffing is forbidden, excepting scoffing at idols, which is permitted,
as it is written, Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth … they stoop, they bow down together;
they could not deliver the burden. 274
Hence, Mekilta deRabbi Ishmael excludes the Gerim from the mockery of idolatry.
The midrash plays with the double sense of the word Ger
: a proselyte and a stranger.
Hence, a Jew should not mention to a proselyte (ger) his foreign origin nor his past nonJewish diet, because the Jews themselves were strangers (gerim) in Egypt. We find a link
between the proselyte and the pig also in Bavli Baba Kama 80a, where it is stated that “a
proselyte to whom dogs and pigs fell in his inheritance, we do not obligate him to sell
]them all[ immediatelyέ Rather he may sell ]them off[ little by littleέ” 275
For others variants of the text, see the online critical edition of the Mekhilta of Bar Ilan University, The
Primary Textual Witnesses to Tannaitic Literature, <http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/tannaim/mekhilta/> Consulted
February 5, 2012.
Also: Minor treatises, Gerim 4.1 (
,
,
,
έ
). TanB, Vayera 14; 32 (
).
Leqah Tob, Exodus 22.20 ( ,
,
). YalShim, Mishpatim 349 (
). MidAgada, Exodus 22.20 (
"
,
).
273
See the chapter “The Cult of σebo and Bel,” in Hέ Jέ Wέ Drijvers, Cults and Beliefs at Edessa
(Leiden: Brill, 1980), 40-75. Bel was one of the gods of Palmyra, see: Ted Kaizer, The Religious Life of
Palmyra: A Study of the Social Patterns of Worship in the Roman Period (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag,
2002), 67. In the Greco-Roman period Bel was sometimes identfied with Zeus and Nebo with
Hermes/Mercur. The bavli Avodah Zarah 11b mentiones the famous temple of Bel in Babylon and the
temple of Nebo in Chursi. See: Jacob εartin, “Pagan tempel in Pal stina Ḳ rabbinische aussagen im
vergleich mit arch ologischen funden,” in The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman culture [2] II, ed.
Peter Sch fer and Catherine Hezser (T bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998), 148.
274
B. Sanhedrin 63b and b. Megilah 25b.
275
B. Baba Kama 80a. έ
,
,
T. Baba Kama κέ14 (edέ δiberman) does not mention the man as a proselyte: “]if[ a person has received an
inheritance of pigs or dogs, they do not require him to sell all of them at once. But he goes along to sell
them little by littleέ”
92
Conclussion
Eating pork is associated by the sages with non-Jews, persecutions, impurity of
non-Jews, forbidden sexual relations with non-Jewish women, eating Samaritan bread or
forbidden fruits during the sabbatical year, and heresy. The eater of pork is impure, a
defiled person. A Jew who eats pork is a transgressor of the law; if he eats it intentionally
he is a heretic. Eating pork, literally or metaphorically, stands for transgression of the law,
and the “eater of pork” is synonymous with an heretic.
If the non-Jews are eaters of pork (aside from exceptional cases such as that of the
tagar), then for the Jews pork-eating can serve as a sign of alterity or otherness. This
sense is manifested in the Rabbinic hyponym to the pig: davar a er = another thing. This
expression not only manifests the will to not utter the impure (a kind of reverse of the
prohibition to utter the tetragrammaton, Yahweh
), but also to mark it as an outsider
element, its deep otherness. Furthermore, A er is not just the “other,” but also the name
of the heretic par excellence: Elisah ben Abuya, whose heresy as we have seen was
perhaps associated with the pig/pork eating. The heretic is like the pig, because like the
pig he is half pure - half impure. His alterity lies in his proximity, his monstrous status
due to his hybridityέ Becoming “other” is becoming a pork eater, as becoming Israel
means to cease to eat pork. 276 As we have seen, eating pork is a sign of heresy already in
Tannaitic sources (20-200 CE), but this seems to be even more developed in later sources.
If the creation of heresiologies and orthodoxies of both Christianity and Rabbinic
The “pork eaters” stand for hertics who follow a forigien cult Isaiah θθ:17: “those who sanctify and
purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the centre, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin,
and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lordέ” This phrase however is not linked to heretics in
rabbinical literature, but rather, as we will later see, to punishment of the non-Jews, especially Rome in the
messianic era.
276
93
Judaism were not without connection, 277 then we may ask (and will later try to answer)
to what extent the Christian denouncement of avoidance of pork as heretical influenced
the sages’ marking of eating pork as a sign of heresy? For now, we can simply observe
that contrary to Christianity, in rabbinic discourse on heresy we do not find a strong use
of porcine similes. What seems to be the main difference between Christian similes and
the rabbinic similes of the heretic is that, in the first, the pig stands more for a negative
return while in the second it seems rather to signify transgression of the law. Because
separation and distinction is so central to Judaism, the hoggishness of the heretic seems to
lie mainly in his failure to respect the boundary: a failure symbolized and embodied by
the eating of the forbidden meat. To the contrary, in Christianity, because of the centrality
of positive mediation between categories (transfiguration, transubstantiation, conversion)
the heretic is portrayed as the one who fails to convert, or more specifically, as a person
who undergoes a negative conversion; the heretic is the pig that after washing in the river
returns to the mud. In other words, in rabbinic thinking the pig is a locus of distinction
between two categories, while in Christianity, as Jonathan Boyarin notes, following the
work of Claudine Fabre-Vassas, the pig is the locus of passage, poros. 278 From this
comes the basic difference of eating and not eating pork in the two religions’ orthodoxies
and heresies. However, as we have seen, in rabbinic porcine discourse on heretics, we
find some points of possible convergence with the Christian discourse on heretics as
hoggish and the philosophical tradition which portrays the “heretics among the
philosophers,” the Epicureans (and perhaps also the sophists) in similar terms.
277
See: Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines: The Partition of Judeo-Christianity (Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
278
Jonathan Boyarin, “δe porc en dieu Pôrosέ” Penser/Rêver 7 (2005): 151-176. I thank Jonathan
Boyarin for allowing me to read the Englsih version “The Pig as Poros: On the Uses (and Loss) of a
Swinish Symbolic εediator,” (April 2ίίη), unpublished paperέ
94
Chapter 4
The Pig and the Destruction of the Temple
August 70 CE
In August 70 CE, after a four-month siege, on the 9th of Ab in the year 3830
according to the Jewish calendar, Roman soldiers stormed the Temple Mount. 279 The ne xt
day, according to Josephus, while: “the sanctuary itself and all around it were in flames,
[the Romans] carried their standards into the temple court and, setting them up opposite
the eastern gate, they sacrificed to them, and with rousing acclamation hailed Titus as
imperatorέ” 280 The emblems worshiped probably included those of the Legion X Fretensis ,
which included the boar [fig. 5].281 Whatever the sacrifice, it might have resembled tha t
of the suovetaurilia sacrifice to Mars, the god of war, of a pig (sus), a ram (ovis) and a
bull (taurus), as depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome or the Arch of Constantine [fig. 67].
For the 9th of Ab as the date of the Destruction, see: Yuval Shahar, “Rabbi Akiba and the
Destruction of the Temple: the Establishment of the Fast Days,” Zion 68, no. 2 (2003): 153-159 (Hebrew).
280
Josephus, Jewish War 6.6.1. By doing so, the Romans transgressed several Jewish prohibitions: that
of non-Jews entering the Temple, that of making an image of a being (aniconism), and idolatry. Josephus
tells us how pious Jews destroyed a statue of an eagle that Herod erected in one of the entrances to the
Temple (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 1.33.2-4), and of the violent reaction of the Jews when the Roman
governor Pilate (26-36 CE) ordered Roman legionary standards with the imperial emblems to be taken into
Jerusalem (Josephus, Jewish War 2.10). This was detestable idolatry to the Jews, as the Qumran scroll
Pesher on Habakkuk (1QaHab 6:1-η) describes: “the Kittim ]the Romans[, and they increase their wealth
with all their booty/ like the fish of the sea. And when it says ‘Therefore he sacrifices to his netή and burns
incense to his seine ]Habakkuk 1:1θ[,’ the interpretation of it is that theyή sacrifice to their standards, and
their military arms areή the objects of their reverence…” Hanan Eshel, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the
Hasmonaean State (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K: Eerdmans; Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2008),
174.
281
Kέ εέ Tέ Atkinson, “The Historical Setting of the Habbakuk Commentary,” Journal of Semitic
Studies 4 (1959): 238-263. Helmut Schwier, Tempe und Tempe erst rungμ ntersuchungen u den
theo ogischen und ideo ogischen a toren im ersten disch-r mischen rieg (66-74 n. Chr.) (Freiburg:
Schweiz: Universit tsverlag Freiburg Schweiz, 1989), 315 (non vidit). Brian J. Incigneri, The Gospel to the
Romans: The Setting and Rhetoric of Mark's Gospel (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 192.
279
95
Fig. 5: δegion X Fretensis' standards on Aelia Capitolina’s coin, Elagabalus
(218-222 CE). A. topped with eagle, B. topped with boar.
Fig. 6: Suovetaurilia sacrifice to Mars on Arch of Titus (c. 81 CE).
Fig. 7: Illustration of the Troops. Arch of Constantine (dedicated in 315 CE).
96
If this was the case, the abominable animal was present in the destruction of the Temple
as an image (on the δegion’s standard, as well on the shields and helmets of its soldiers)
and in flesh and blood as a sacrificial animal. In any case, we find the pig in several
legends concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple: Avot de Rabi Nathan,
Yerushalmi, Bavli, Targum of La mentations, Targum Sheni to Esther , and the JudeoPersian Apocalypse. In order to better understand the formation of these legends, before
adressing them we will identify the role of the pig in Jewish traditions concerning the
profanation or destruction of the Temple prior to 70 CE.
4.2. The Pig and the Profanation of the Temple Prior to 70 CE
Third Isaiah (Is. 66:3, (c. late sixth century - mid fifth century BCE), rebukes a
foreign cult in the Temple:
He who slaughtered an ox
Who sacrificed a lamb
Who presented cereal offering
Who burnt commemorative incense
(would now) slay a man,
(would now) break a dog’s neck,
(would now present) the blood of a swine
(would now) worship an idol. 282
The prophet rebukes cultish observance without a pure heart (which is
metaphorically described as a foreign/impure cult) or the replacement of the pure cult
with idolatry. Here, pig blood symbolized the profanation of the Temple in a scheme of
Sasson, “Isaiah θθ:3-4a,” 200. For a comparison of pork in Isaiah 66:3 and in 1 and 2 Maccabees,
see Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish, “Pig Use and Abuse in the Ancient Levant: Ethnoreligious BoundaryBuilding with Swine,” in Ancestors for the Pigs: Pigs in Prehistory, ed. Sarah M. Nelson, MASCA
Research Papers in Science and Archaeology, vol. 15 (Philadelphia, PA: Museum Applied Science Center
for Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1998), 131.
282
97
pollution-purification. 283 In Psalms 80:14, dated by some to Eighth Century BCE, 284 the
boar ravaging the vineyard symbolized the foreigners destroying Israel or the Temple:
13
14
15
Why hast thou broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way
pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
and the beasts of the field feed on it.
Return to us, O God Sabbath!
Look down from heaven, and see,
And visit this vine,
The sapling which thy right hand planted… 285
The penetration of the boar and other savage animals into the holy space
symbolizes destruction and defilement. 286 This description of the destruction of the
vineyard (Israel/the Temple) by the boar may perhaps represent the Assyrians, and, as we
will see, was understood in rabbinic literature as standing for Rome. 287 The pig plays a
central role in some versions of the history of the profanation of the Temple by the
Sasson, “Isaiah θθ:3-4a,” 200. The “abomination” (sikutz), the sacrilege, is answered by a
punishment: “Just as they have chosen their ways and take pleasure in their abomination [ubesikutzeyhem];
so will I choose to mock them, to bring on them the very thing they dreadέ (Isέ θθ:4)”
284
As Craig Cέ Broyles notes, “Psέ κί has been variously considered to reflect every national crisis
from the Tenth Century division of the kingdom to the time of Maccabees. The most plausible conjectures
locate the psalm either in 732-722 BC when the northern tribes were under threat (…) or in the time of
Josiah and his reformέ” Craig Cέ Broyles, The Conflict of Faith and Experience in the Psalms: A FormCritical and Theological Study (Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1989), 161.
285
Weiser, The Psalms, 546.
286
The topos of the penetration of the animal into the holy or urban space as a sign of destruction
appeared in many biblical texts: Isaiah (5:18; 7.25;13:20-23; 27:10; 32:14; 34:11,14-15), Jeremiah (9:10;
10:22; 12:8-10; 15:3; 49:33;50:39; 51:27,37), Ezekiel (14:15,21; 25:5; 31:13), Tsefania (1:6,14,15),
Pssalms (80:14), Lamentations (4:18). For medieval use of this topos, see: Penny Jέ Cole, “‘τ God, The
Heathens Have Come into Your Inheritance’ (PSέ7κέ1) - the Theme of Religious Pollution in Crusade
Documents, 1095-11κκ,” in Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria, ed. Maya Shatzmiller
(Leiden; New York; Köln: Brill, 1993), 84-111. Misgav Har-Peled, “Animalité, pureté et croisadeέ Étude
sur la transformation des églises en étables par les Musulmans durant les croisades, XIIe -XIIIe
siècles,” Cahiers de civilisation Médiévale 52 (2009): 113-136. The Roman historian Dio Cassius
describing the result of the revolt of Bar-Kockva uses also the metaphor of the penetration of savage
animals in the holy place: “The whole of Judea was almost like a desert, as had been predicted before the
war. For the tomb of Solomon, which they highly revere, collapsed by itself and many wolves and hyenas
entered their cities and howledέ” Dio Cassius, Roman History 69.14.
287
David Bryan, Cosmos, Chaos and the Kosher Mentality (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1995), 116-117. Several scholars prefer to read ya’ar as ye’or (‘ayin suspensum), seeing in the boar the
invasion of Pharaoh σechoin θίλ BCE from the land of the σile (=ye’or) during the reign of Josiah (θ41 609 BCE). See: Gέ Jέ Botterweck, “
chazîr,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. IV
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1980), 296.
283
98
Seleucid King Antiochus IV, in 167 BCE. According to 2 Maccabees (θ:η), “The altar
was filled with abominable sacrifices which the δaw prohibited,” while 1 εaccabees tell
how the King seeks to force the Jews to “sacrifice pigs and other clean animals” in the
Temple (1:47), and how the abomination of abominations was placed on the altar (1:51).
It is probable that the Greek words used in 1 Maccabees for the “abomination of
desolation” are a translation of the Hebrew shikutz meshomem (
ְש
ּ )שused in the
Book of Daniel to describe the same event. According to the book of Daniel, the daily
offering in the Temple, the tamid, was replaced by the. 288 But what was the nature of the
latter? Was it a statue of an idol (a god) or of the king? Was it an altar dedicated to
foreign gods or a kind of sacrifice? All these possibilities have been raised by scholars. J.
Lust and O. Keel suggest that the shikutz meshomem in the book of Daniel and in 1
Maccabees was an altar dedicated to an idol or, more likely, the sacrifice itself: a pig. 289
According to Keel, the expression shomem (
)שor meshomem ( ) ְשstands for King
Antiochus, who ordered the shikutz ( ּ )ש. 290 The idea that the “Abomination of
desolation” was the sacrifice of a pig is supported by later authors Diodorus of Sicily and
Josephus Flavius. According to Diodorus (d. c. 30 BCE), Antiochus IV Epiphanes
sacrificed a “great sow” before the image of εoses that he found in the temple and the
open-air altar of the god, “and poured its blood over themέ” 291According to Josephus
The tamid is a technical abbreviation for the olat tamid the “dailyήconstant holocaust, or “constant
whole burnt-offeringέ” This offering was made twice daily, in the morning and in the eveningέ It consisted
of a lamb, fine flour, oil and wine (Ex 29:38-42)έ Johan δust, “Cult and Sacrifice in Daniel: The Tamid and
the Abomination of Desolation,” in The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception, ed. John Joseph
Collins, Peter W. Flint and Cameron VanEpps (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 672.
289
δust, “Cult and Sacrifice in Danielέ”
290
τthmar Keel, “Die kultischen εassnamen Antiochus’ IVέ Religionsverfolgung undήoder
reformversuchς” in Hellenismus und Judentum: vier Studien zu Daniel 7 und zur Religionsnot unter
Antiochus IV, Hellenismus und Judentum, ed. Othmar Keel und Urs Staub (Freiburg Schweiz:
Universitätsverl; G ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000), 103-112.
291
Diodorus of Sicily, The Library of History 34-35.1:3f.
288
99
(probably based on Diodurus), 292 “The king also built a pagan altar upon the temple-altar,
and slaughtered swine thereonέ” 293 One may conclude that in the ancient sources Daniel
and 1 and 2 Maccabees, the tamid is replaced by the sikutz haMeshukatz, the abomination
of desolation. In later sources such as Diodorus and Josephus, the tamid is replaced by a
pig sacrificeέ Hence, whatever the exact meaning of the term “abomination of desolation
(shikutz meshomem),” it is clear that at the end of the first century BCE and the beginning
of the first fentury CE, there was a tradition that the climax of the profanation of the
Temple was a sacrifice of a pig or a sow on the holy altar by Antiochus himself. We find
here a binary opposition: the sacrifice of the tamid versus the sacrifice of the pig, purity
versus impurity, Jew versus Greek.
To the sources mentioned above we may add 1 Enoch, probably written in the
early Hasmonean period (140 to 137 BCE), in which impure animals stand for the
enemies of Israel, while pure animals stand for Israel. The sheep is the main symbol of
Israel, while the boar symbolizes Esau or his descendants: the Edomites or the
Amalekites. 294 For example, the destruction of the First Temple (587/586 BCE) is
described in the following manner:
And the lions and tigers ate and devoured the greater part of those sheep [Israel], and the
wild boars [the Edomites] ate along with them; and they burned that tower and
demolished that house. And I became exceedingly sorrowful over that tower because that
house of the sheep was demolished, and afterwards I was unable to see if those sheep
entered that house. 295
We can assume that the image of the boar as the destructor of the Temple was
well established before 70 CE, inscribed in a narrative of pollution and purification,
292
Schäfer, Judeophobia, 66.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquites 12.253.
294
A. Patrick Tiller, A Commentary on the Animal Apocalypse (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993), 32.
Bryan, Cosmos, 115-18.
295
1 Enoch 89.66-67. Translation by R. H. Charles, The Book of Enoch Translated from Professor
Di mann’s thiopic Text (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1893), 245.
293
100
bondage and redemption. This image creates a contradiction between the lamb/sheep symbol of Israel, and the boar - symbol of its enemy; between the pure sacrifice (tamid)
and the impure (sikutz) abominable sacrifice. We can presume that this tradition
influenced the post 70 CE legends of destruction.
The Legends of Destruction
We may observe three different versions of the legends of destruction: 1) The
throwing by a war machine of a pig’s head into the Temple (Avot deRabbi Nathan,
Origen, Jerome), 2) The replacing of sacrificial animals with a pig (Bavli, Yerusalmi, and
the Jewish-Persian Apocalypse of Daniel), and 3) the sprinkling of pig’s blood during the
destruction of the First Temple (Targum of Lamentations, Targum Sheni to Esther, and
Jewish-Persian Apocalypse of Daniel).
The Pig’s Head
Although a post Talmudic compilation, Avot de Rabi Nathan seems to tell an
ancient version of the legend of destruction. 296 In version A (4), the legend of destruction
is part of the narrative of the running away of Raban Yohanan ben Zackkai from the
besieged Jerusalem, which may be understood as the foundation myth of Rabbinical
Judaism. The legend begins with the coming of Vespasian to Jerusalem and its
inhabitants´ refusal of his peace proposal:
Now when Vespasian came to destroy Jerusalem, he said [to the inhabitants of the city,],
“Idiots! Why do you want to destroy this city and burn the house of the sanctuaryς For
what do I want of you, except that you send me a bow or an arrow [as marks of
submission to my rule[, and I shall go on my wayέ” They said to him, “Just as we sallied
εenahem Kister, “δegends of the Destruction of the Second Temple in Avot De-Rabbi σathan,”
Tarbiz 67, no. 4 (1998): 483-530 (Hebrew).
296
101
out against the first two who came before you and killed them, so shall we sally out and
kill youέ”297
Those who are guilty of the destruction of the city are the city’s extremist
inhabitants. This is even more strongly emphasized by Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai,
opponent of the Zealots:
When Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai heard, he proclaimed to the men of Jerusalem, saying
to them, “εy sons, why do you want to destroy this city and burn the house of the
sanctuary? For what does he want of you, except that you send him a bow or an arrow,
and he will go on his wayέ”
They said to him, “Just as we sailed out against the first two who came before him and
killed them, so shall we sally out and kill himέ” Vespasian had stationed men near the
walls of the city, and whatever they heard, they would write on an arrow and shoot out
over the wall. [They reported] that Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai was a loyalist of
Caesar’sέ 298
The pragmatic Sage, after a third vain attempt to change the opinion of the city´s
inhabitants, runs away from the besieged city:
After Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had spoken to them one day, a second, and a third,
and the people did not accept his counsel, he sent and called his disciples, R. Eliezer and
Rέ Joshua, saying to them, “εy sons, go and get me out of hereέ εake me an ark and I
shall go to sleep in itέ”
R. Eliezer took the head and R. Joshua the feet, and toward sunset they carried him unt il
they came to the gates of Jerusalemέ The gate keepers said to them, “Who is thisς” They
said to him, “It is a corpseέ Do you not know that a corpse is not kept overnight in
Jerusalemς” They said to them, “If it is a corpse, take him out,” so they took h im out and
brought him out at sunset, until they came to Vespasian. 299
The escape from the city is followed by the dramatic interview with Vespasian:
297
ARN A 4.
:
298
ς
.
Ibid.
:
299
:
έ
:
έ
ς
έ
έ
Ibid.
(
:
)
ς
:
έ
έ
102
έ
:
:
ς
έ
They opened the ark and he stood before himέ He said to him,” “Are you Rabban
Yohanan ben Zakkai? Indicate what I should give youέ” He said to him, “I ask from you
only Yavneh, to which I shall go, and where I shall teach my disciples, establish a prayer
]house[, and carry out all of the religious dutiesέ” He said to him, “Go and do whatever
you wantέ” He said to him, “Would you mind if I said something to youς ]He said to him,
“Go aheadέ”[ He said to him, “δo, you are going to be made sovereignέ” He said to him,
“How do you knowς” He said to him, “It is a tradition of ours that the house of the
sanctuary will be given over not into the power of a commoner but of a king, for it is said,
“And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and δebanon ]which refers to
the Temple[ shall fall by a mighty one (Isέ 1ί:34)έ” People say that not a day, two or three
passed before a delegation came to him from his city indicating that the [former] Caesar
had died and they had voted for him to ascend the throne. 300
As Shaye J. D. Cohen notes, when Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai quoted before
Vespessian from Isaiah 10:34: “And the δebanon ]= the Temple constructed from the
cedars of Lebanon] shall fall by a majestic one [=Vespessian],” he “neglected to inform
the Romans that the next verse of the prophecy begins with the messianic prediction, “A
shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesseέ” Had Vespasian known the Bible of the
Jews, he might not have received the rabbi so kindlyέ” 301 The prophecy of the destruction
is but the first part of the script, hinting to its second part: the redemp tion. The ascent of
Vespasian to the throne of the emperor and that of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai to the
head of the house of study of Yavne, is followed by the destruction of the Temple with
the pig:
They brought him a catapult and drew it up against the wall of Jerusalem. They brought
him cedar beams and put them into the catapult, and he struck them against the wall until
a breach had been made in it. They brought the head of a pig and put it into the catapult
and tossed it toward the limbs that were on the Temple altar. At that moment Jerusalem
was captured. 302
300
Ibid.
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Knox Press, 2006), 24.
302
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301
103
Another version is found in Avot deRabbi Nathan: 303
When Vespasian surrounded Jerusalem ]…[ They brought him planks of wood and he
made them into something like a masbih [covered with branches? shielded?], like a kind
of klunos [bridle?]. He made them into two pegusot [catapults?] and they kept firing
(projectiles) against the wall until it was breeched. He made an arch of zir [ballista?] and
put a pig’s head in itέ They kept shooting and hitting with the machine [ballista?] and
they kept moving down (the length of the wall) until (the head) landed on the entrails that
were on the altar and defiled itέ” 304
The machine made of cedar beams that Vespasian used seems to correspond to the
first part of the prophecy of Isaiah (10:34), which Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai cites: “He
will hack down the thickets of the forest (
) with an axe and the Lebanon [cedar
] shall fall by a majestic one[έ” As in the pre - 70 CE tradition concerning the
profanation of the Temple, in Avot deRabbi Nathan, the pig stands for the highest
profanation of the Temple, and as in the tradition concerning the sacrifice of a pig/sow on
the Temple’s altar by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the times of the εaccabees, we find
here the description of the pig touching the sacrifice on the altar; the ending of the tamid
with the pig. As in Psalm 80, the profanation by the pig is inscribed in a scenario of
profanation-purification, destruction-redemption. The creation of the center in Yavne
(
). 305 Rabban
) is the diametrical response to the destruction of Jerusalem (
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The text includes several unclear technical words. For the different possible interpretations and text
variations, see: Kister, “δegends of the Destruction,” 4κ3-530 (Hebrew). Anat Yisraeli-Taran, The Legends
of the Destruction (Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1997), 90-94 (Hebrew). My translation follows
Kister’s explanationsέ
305
It is probably significant that the place chosen to be the new center of Judaism, Yavne, means to
build. However, it seems that this play on words is not implict in the sages’ writingέ For the meaning of
Yavne in Rabbinic δiterature, see: Bέ Zέ Rosenfeld, “The Changing Significance of the σame ‘Yavne’ in
Rabbinic Tradition,” in Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple, Mishna and Talmud Period: Studies in
104
Yohanan ben Zakkai is compared to Eli the high priest, and hence the house of study of
Yavne is implicitly compared to the Tabernacle, hinting that Yavne is a kind of substitute
for the destroyed Temple, as the sages replaced the Temple’s priests:
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai was in session and with trembling was looking outward, in
the way that Eli had sat and waited: “δo, Eli sat upon his seat by the wayside watching,
for his heart trembled for the ark of God (1 Sam. 4:13). When Rabban Yohanan ben
Zakkai heard that Jerusalem had been destroyed and the house of the sanctuary burned in
flames, he tore his garments, and his disciple tore their garments, and they wept and cried
and mourned. 306
As Menahem Kister notes, the story of the destruction of the Temple with the pig
probably expressed an ancient tradition, as evidenced by the fact that the Church fathers
Origen (c. 185 Ḳ c. 254 CE) and Ambrose (c. 339 Ḳ 397 CE) mentioned it. Origen, in his
Commentary on Matthew, notes that the Jews think that “the abomination of desolation”
(εatthew 24:1η; Daniel 12:11) concerns “the last plot of the Romans, or the pig head that
was launched to the Temple, or the emblems that Pilatus brought into the Templeέ” 307
The first event, the “last plot of the Romans,” probably refers to the foundation of Aelia
Capitolina (c. 130 CE); the launching of the pig’s head may refer to the destruction of 70
CE; while the third may refer to the events during the government of Pontius Pilate in
Judea (26-36/19-37 CE?).308 Interestingly, according to Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373
CE), “some say that the sign of its ]Jerusalem´s[ destruction was the pig’s head which the
Honor of Shmuel Safrai, ed. Isaiah Gafni, Aharon Oppenheimer and Menahem Stern (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak
Ben-Zvi, 1993), 149-164.
306
Translation by Jacob Neusner, The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (Atlanta, GA: Scholars
Press, 1955), 42-43, with slight alteration.
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307
Origenes Werke, XII, Origenes Matthäuserklärung: Fragmente und Indices, III, ed. Erich
Klostermann (Berlin: Akademie Verl, 1968 (1943)), 194. Cited in: Kister, “δegends of the Destruction,”
502 .
308
For the dates Pontius Pilate’s office, see: Flavius Josephus Translation and Commentary, vol. 1b,
Judean War 2, trans. Steve Mason (Boston: Brill, 2008), 139. Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.169-174;
Antiquities 18.55-59.
105
Romans gave Pilate to carry into the interior of the temple to place thereέ” 309 Ambrose
writes, in his commentary on δuke 21:2ί (“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by an
army”), “Indeed Jerusalem was besieged and was taken by storm by a Roman army:
concerning which the Jews thought that the “abomination of desolation” was
accomplished, because the Romans threw a pig’s head into the Temple to mock the ritual
observance of the Jewsέ” 310 These Christian authors testified that the legend in Avot
deRabbi Nathan dates at least to the beginning of the third century and that, at least by
Christians, it was associated with the “abomination of desolationέ”
The Exchange of Lambs for Pigs
The Yerusalmi (Ta’anit 4:5, 68c; Berakhot 4:1, 7b) tells two analogous episodes
from the time of Greece and Rome:
‘And the tamid (the daily whole offering) was canceled (Mishnah Ta’anit 4έθ)έ’
Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: In the days of the Kingdom of
Greece, [the besieged in Jerusalem daily] lowered over the walls two baskets of go ld and
obtained in exchange two lambs (required for the Tamid offering). Once they lowered
over the walls two baskets of gold [of pigs Ḳ Vatican Manuscript, fol. 66] and obtained in
exchange two goat kids (which are unfit to sacrifice). At that time, the Holy One blessed
be He enlightened their eyes and they discovered two duly examined lambs in the
Chamber of Sacrificial Lambs. At that time did it happen that, as reported by R. Judah.
Abba, the offering of the Tamid was delayed till the fourth hourέ”
Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 17.12. Translation by C. McCarthy, Saint
phrem’s Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron. An ng ish Trans ation of Chester eatty Syriac εS ι0λ
with Indtroduction and Notes, JSSt Supplement 2 (Manchester: Oxford University Press on behalf of the
University of Manchester, 1993), 276-277. Ephrém de Nisibe, Commentaire de l' Evangile concordant ou
Diatesseron, trad. Louis Leloir, SC 121 (Paris: Cerf, 1966), 322-232έ See: Phil Jέ Botha, “The Relevance of
the Book of Daniel for Fourth-Century Christianity According to the Commentary Ascribed to Ephrem the
Syrian,” in Die Geschichte Der Daniel-Auslegung in Judentum, Christentum Und Islam: Studien Zur
Kommentierung Des Danielbuches in Literatur Und Kunst, ed. Katharina Bracht and David S. Du Toit
(Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2007), 118.
310
Ambrose, Commentary on Luke 10.15. “Cum uideritiscircumdari ab exercitu Hierusalemέ Vere
Hierusalem ab exercitu obessa est et expugnata Romano, unde et Iudaei putauerunt tunc factam
abominationem desolationis, eo quod caput porci in templum iccerint illudentes Romani Iudaeicae ritum
observantiaeέ” Ambroise de Milan, Traité sur l`Evangile de S. Luc, trad. Gabriel Tissot, SC 45 (Paris: du
Cerf, 1976), 162.
309
106
R. Levi said: also in the days of this Wicked Kingdom (Rome), the besieged in Jerusalem
likewise lowered daily over the walls two baskets of gold and obtained in exchange two
lambs. In the end they lowered over the walls a basket of gold and obtained in exchange
two pigs. Hardly half way up, the pig thrust its paws against the wall. A tremor shook the
wall, and the pig leapt 40 parasa ngs from the Land of Israel. At that time, on account of
our sins (avonot), the Tamid ceased and the temple was destroyed. 311
The Talmud explains the Mishnah Ta’anit 4.6 which states a list of events that are
believed to have happened on the 17th of Tammuz and on the 9th of Av. The text of the
first episode is somewhat distorted, but it seems that in the original text, in the first
episode as well as in the second, the besiegers replaced the lambs for the daily offering
(tamid) with an animal unfit for sacrifice (goat kids/pigs), but miraculously the besieged
found two lambs in the Temple, so that continual sacrifice did not cease. This miracle of
the lambs, reminiscent of the oil jar of Hanukah, is contrasted with the second episode in
which the exchange of the lambs for the pigs ended the daily offering (tamid) and the
coincided with the destruction of the Temple. Thus, if in the first episode the Greeks sent
two kid goats, which were unsuitable for sacrifice, in the second episode the Romans sent
pigs, not only unsuitable, but impure animals. It seems, then, that the Maccabean motive
for replacing the tamid with the pig is here transferred to the Roman period, as is also the
case in the Bavli version of the legend.
. Ta’anit 4:5, 68c. εy translationέ For textual variants see Wilk, “When Hyrcanus was Besieging
Aristobulus,” 1ί3έ
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107
The Bavli (Baba Kamma 72b; Menahot 49b; Sota 49b) locates the second episode
mentioned in the Yerusalmi in the civil war between the brothers Hyrcanus II and
Aristobulus II at the end of the Hasmoneans dynasty (here b. Menahot 49b):312
When the Hasmonean kings were laying siege to each other, Hyrcanus [II] was outside
and Aristobulus [II] inside. Day after day, they [the besieged] lowered over the walls
dinars in a box, and they [the besiegers] raise them temidim [sacrificial animals for the
offering of the Tamid]. There was an old man who was knowledgeable in Greek wisdom
[language]. He told them [the besiegers] in Greek wisdom [in Greek language]: as long as
they [the besieged] went on working [sacrificing], they would not be delivered to youέ”
Next day, when they lowered them the dinars in the box, they sent up to them a pig [in
return]. Half way up, it thrust its paws against the wall. The land of Israel trembled for
four hundred pa rsotέ At that time did they declare: “Cursed be the man who will rear pigs!
And cursed be the man who will teach his son Greek wisdom [the Greek language]. 313
Although the Mishnah dated the ban of learning Greek and breeding pigs to the
Polmus of Titus (meaning to the Great Revolt of 66-73 CE, or perhaps to Polmus Kitos
{Quintus}, 314 the general of Trajan who oppressed the Jewish Diaspora revolt in 117 CE),
this did not prevent the Bavli from setting it in the time of Hyrcanus’ siege of his brother
Aristobulus in Jerusalem in 65 BCE. The transfer of what had been told in the Yerusalmi
about the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 CE to the end of the
Hasmonean period and the beginning of the Roman occupation might be significant. This
might be a typical Talmudic process, whereby different historical events are mixed
together.315 There was also a deeper link between the two events for the Babylonian sages:
312
The three versions are identical, but in the Sota 49b version, the places of Aristobolus and Horkanus
are reversedέ For the Historical background of the siege and additional bibliography see: Eyal Regev, “How
Did the Temple εount Fall to Pompeyς” The Journal of Jewish Studies 48, no. 2 (1997): 276-289.
313
B. Menahot 49b.
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314
Regarding the Cambridge and Parma manuscripts, see: Lieberman, Studies, 225, note 6. For
criticism of this identification, see: David Rokeahέ “Polmus shel Kitos–LeBirura shel Bayia PhilologitHistorit,” in Meridot ha-Yehudim bi-yeme Trayanus, 115-117 li-sefirat ha-Notsrim, ed. David Rokeah
(Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Center, 1978), 172-173 (Hebrew).
315
In fact, the prohibition of the teaching of Greek wisdom is mentioned by the Rabbinic corpus in
three different episodes: Polmus Kitus (M. Sota 9.14; Sifri Devarim 34), the civil war between Horkonus
108
the siege of 65 BCE was the climax of the quarrel between the two sons of Alexander
Jannaeus and Alexandra Salome over their inheritance. Hyrcanus with his allies Aretas
III, the king of the Nabateans, and Antipater the Idumean tried to take back the kingship
and the title of the great priest that his brother took from him just four years earlier. The
siege lasted a long time, and both sides asked the Roman general Pompeius in S yria to
intervene in their favor. Finally, in 63 BCE, Pompe y conquered the city and desecrated
the Temple by entering the Holy of Holies. This event officially marks the end of
Hasmonean rule and the subjection of Judea to Rome. In this sense, for the Babylonian
sages, the events which brought Pompeius to conquer Jerusalem foreshadowed the siege
of Jerusalem by Titus.
The Talmudic legends do not seek to clarify history, but to pass along a message.
In tractate Menahot, the legend places the bringing of the Omer offering over a long
distance from Jerusalem in a particular historical context; 316 in the two others tracts, it
was used to clarify the logic of two Mishnaic prohibitions: in Baba Ka mma (72b) the ban
on breeding of pigs, and in Sota (49b) the ban on Greek wisdom. Both prohibitions are
bound together in Menahot.317 Whether it was the pig’s legs striking the wall or its cry
which caused an earthquake that destroyed the land of Israel,318 the destruction was not
and Aristobulus (B. Sota 9b), and after the Great Revolt in 66AD (Y Sabath 1.4.3c). See: I. Lee Levine,
Judaism and Hellenism in Antiquity: Conflict or Confluence? (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998), note 34.
316
The ‘τmer to be offered on the second day of Passover was normally collected from the
neighorhood of Jerusalem. The story is told in the gemarah to explain in which context it was brought from
Gaggoth Serfin, far away from Jerusalem (m. Menahot 10. 2).
317
Joshua Efron, “The Psalms of Solomon, The Hasmonean Decline and Christianity,” in Studies on
the Hasmonean Period (Leiden: Brill, 1987 (1980)), 230.
318
Jordan Dέ Rosenblum, (“Why,” 1ί3) notes that pigs were used as weapons in war, citing Adrienne
Mayor, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient
World (Woodstock: Overlook Duckworth, 2003), 200-203, which mentions several texts speaking of the
use of pigs to terrorize war elephants, but just one episode concerning siege warfare. It seems that the pig in
the story has nothing to do with real military practices, nor with any siege machine (As Jacques André
notes: “Aucun nom de la truie ne semble avoir, comme au εoyen Age en français, par une substitution du
109
possible without the treachery of the old man “who was knowledgeable in Greek
wisdom”, and who gave the besiegers the advice on how to impede the Temple
sacrifices. 319 The legend here creates a parallel between the breeding of the impure
animal and the raising of one’s son in the light of the foreign wisdom, that is, between
pigs and Hellenized Jews. The Babylonian legend strengthens the ideal of the cultural
seclusion of the Jews from Hellenistic culture, and emphasizes the danger of blurring the
boundaries between the two. The legend is a transformation of a story told by Josephus in
Jewish Antiquities:
While the priests and Aristobulus were besieged, there happened to come round the
festival called Phaska [Pessah], at which it is our custom to offer numerous sacrifices to
God. But as Aristobulus and those with him lacked victims, they asked their countryman
to furnish them with these, and take as much money for the victims as they wished. And
when these others demanded that they pay a thousand drachmas for each animal they
wished to get, Aristobulus and the priests willingly accepted this price and gave them the
money, which they let down from the walls by a rope. Their countrymen, however, after
receiving the money did not deliver the victims, but went to such lengths of villainy that
they violated their pledges and acted impiously toward God by not furnishing the
sacrificial victims to those who were in need of them. But the priests, on suffering this
breach of faith, prayed to God to exact satisfaction on their behalf from their countrymen;
and He did not delay their punishment, but sent a mighty and violent wind to destroy the
crops of the entire country, so that people at that time had to pay eleven drachmas for a
modius of wheat. 320
Both Josephus (1st century) and the Bavli (edited 5th-6th centuries) give the same
historical context for the episode, but they express two different conceptions as to the
reasons for the Destruction of the Temple: in Josephus it is because of the wickedness of
the besiegers and the brothers’ hate; in the Bavli, it is the disloyalty of one of the
besiegers and the wickedness of strangers.
porc au bélier, désigné des machines de guerre, un bélier ou une catapulte qui lançait des pierresέ” Jacques
André, “δa part des suidés dans le vocabulaire grec et latin,” Anthropozoologica 15 (1991): 21.
319
On the use of Greek in Second Temple Jerusalem, see: Levine, Judaism and Hellenism, 33-95.
320
Josephus, Jewish Antiquity 14.25-28.
110
The Sprinkling of Pig Blood
This version of the legend of destruction transfers the pig episode to the
destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar. Targum of Lamentations, version of
δamentations 2:λ: “Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her
bars,” reads: “Her gates have sunk into the earth because they slaughtered a pig and
brought its blood over them. He has destroyed and shattered her doorpostsέ” 321 The
Targum Sheni to Esther 1:3 (4th-10th century CE?) reads similarly:
Then came the Chaldean armies, who brought with them 360 camels loaded with iron
axes, but the outer gates of the Temple swallowed them up. Nevertheless, they did not
want to open until Parnatos [prnitus] came and slaughtered a swine, sprinkling its blood
upon the Temple, thus defiling it. After being defiled, it opened itself, and the wicked
σebuchadnezzar entered the Temple (…)έ 322
According to Fέ Perles, “prnitus” refers to Fronto Haterius, the commander of the
legions from Alexandria that besieged the Temple Mount in 70 CE.323 This detail ma y
indicate that the original story was indeed about the Roman destruction of the Temple. 324
In the later Jewish-Persian Apocalypse of Daniel (εa‘aseh Danī’e ) (a unique
manuscript, c. 1600), we find a mixture of the second and third versions of the legend of
destruction:325
321
See: Christian M. Brady, The Rabbinic Targum of Lamentations: Vindicating God (Leiden: Brill,
2003), 45.
In Lamentations Rabbah (17a and 74b), the wall of the city sunk after the Babylonians measured the city
wall, see: Shaye Hέ Dέ Cohenέ “The Destruction: From Scripture to εidrash,” Prooftexts 2 (1982): 21.
322
Targum Sheni to Esther 1:3.
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323
Fέ Perles, “σachlese zum neuhebr ischen und aram ischen W rterbuch,” in Festschrift Adolf
Schwarz zum siebzigsten Geburtstage, 15. Juli 1916, edέ Samuel Krauss and Victor Aptowitzer, 2λ3-31ί
(Berlin: Rέ δ wit, 1917), 305. Manuscripts read: Parnesos, Partanos, Parsutnos, Peranetos. See: Bernard
Grossfeld, The Two Targums of Esther, The Aramaic Bible, 18 (Collegeville, MN: Michael Glazier, 1991),
119, note iiiii.
324
Rosenblum, “Why,” 1ίθέ
111
Now they (i.e., Israel) possessed two commandments, which while they were observing
them, no enemy could achieve victory against them. One of them was sacrifice, and the
other circumcision, and they did not maintain (the observance) of any other
commandment. Every day they would put a dirham for this sacrifice in a basket and
lower it from the wall with a rope into the camp of Nebuchadnezzar in order to purchase
a lamb for this sacrifice. Now one day an Israelite youth was on the wall of Jerusalem,
and so they asked him: ‘This lamb which you have been purchasing from us Ḳ what do
you do with itς’ The youth answered ]them[: ‘We offer it as an offeringέ’ Then they
stopped selling them any more lambs and devised a stratagem: instead of a lamb they
placed a pig in the basket and sent it to the wall. As soon as [the basket] had reached the
top of the wall, they shot arrows at the pig, the blood spewed onto the wall, and the wall
cracked openέ That day was the ninth of the month Avέ σebūzarādan realized that the
Lord was handing them over into his control.
He entered Jerusalem and proceeded directly to the Temple. Zedekiah, the king
of Judah, fled and the officers of Nebuchadnezzar chased after him (and captured him).
When they saw King Zedekiah, they said: ‘These eyes of yours are handsome!’ Then the
order was given to kill two of his sons before his eyes, and afterwards they blinded his
eyes. Then σebū arādan s aughtered a pig within the Temp e of the δord.
Nebuchadnezzar himself did not come to Jerusalem Ḳ he remained in Riblah Ḳ but he had
dispatched σebūzarādan to Jerusalem in order to gain profit through these deedsέ 326
325
Dan Shapira notes that his part of the text seems to be a kind of a paraphrase of Targum Sheni to
Esther 1:3 which the author adds to the Talmudic legend. Dan Shapira, “Qīṣṣa-ye Dāniyāl Ḳ ’o εa‘aseh
Danī’el Ḳ be-farsit-yehudit: Ha- ibbur we-targumo,” Sefunot 7 (1999): 339 (Hebrew).
326
The Jewish-Persian Apocalypse of Daniel (εa‘aseh Danī’e 4. Translation by Dan Shapira from
the Hebrew translation (cited below) of the original Judeo-Persian text by John C. Reeves (available on
line: <http://religiousstudies.uncc.edu/people/jcreeves/maaseh%20daniel.pdf> consulted 17 Janaury 2012.
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Shapira, “Qīṣṣa-ye Dāniyāl,” 1η4έ Wiesenberg’s English translation (“Related Prohibitions,” 22κ) seems to
follow both the Hebrew translation of M. Caplan, published in Jellinek (Bet Ha Midrash, V (Vienne, 1873),
117-13ί) and εέ Zotenberg’s German translationέ Caplan’s Hebrew translation, however, is a translation of
the German translation, See: Jέ Darmesteter, “δ'Apocalypse persane de Daniel,” dans Mélanges Renier;
recueil de travaux pub. par l'École pratique des hautes études (Section des sciences historiques et
philologiques) en mémoire de son président Léon Renier (Paris: École pratique des hautes, 1887), 407, note
1. For the Judeo-Persian text, see: Hermann Zotenberg, “Geschichte Daniels: ein apokryph,” Archiv für
wissenschaftliche Erforschung des Alten Testamentes 1 (1867-69): 385-427. Jes Peter Asmussen and H.
Dadkhan, “En jødisk-persisk Daniel apocalypse, en oversšttelse af en apokryf Daniel tekst (A JewishPersian Daniel apocalypse, a translation of an apocryphal Daniel text),” Dansk Teologisk Tidsskrift (1998):
199-215. While it probably has no direct connection to the destruction legends, the Persian general that
conquered Jerusalem in the seventh century perhaps was a man named Farrokhan, nicknamed Shahrbaraz,
the wild boar. Theophilus of Edessa in the eighth century explains this nickname: “]Khursau said[: “I am
ready to exact vengeance on the Romans. Which of you distinguished generals and nobles of the Persians is
ready to serve my purposeς” Thereupon Romizan, a powerful diligent man, with considerable experience in
combat, said in reply: “I am ready to accomplish your purpose; I will have the strength to do battle with
Romans. I flinch from nothing; I show no compassion nor pity nor remorse for any man; I know no
112
Discussion
Does the role of the pig in the legends of destruction echo the sacrifice of a pig on
the Temple Mount by the Roman soldiers? Perhaps, but not necessarily. As Anat
Yisraeli-Taran notes, the pig is “fit” for symbolizing the destruction-profanation of the
Temple because it was a strong symbol both of impurity and Rome, and because it was
the emblem of the Legion X Fratensis.
327
However as we have seen, the
profanation/destruction of the Temple by a pig, and especially the idea of the replacement
of the tamid with the pig, is a literary topos found in earlier Jewish texts, such as the book
of Isaiah and Psalms, or in the memory of the Maccabean revolt [table 1]. It seems, then,
that early rabbinical texts transferred this topos to the Roman’s conquests of Jerusalem by
Pompeius in 63 BCE and especially to that of 70 CE, while in later sources it is traced to
the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The first version
provided a violent image of penetration and profanation; the second version stressed the
danger of relations between insiders (Jews) and outsiders (Romans), as well as the
replacement of the tamid with the abominable animal; the third version stressed the
magical nature of the event. The first version seems to be the most ancient, perhaps from
the Tannaitic period, for the throwing of the pig’s head into the Temple is mentioned by
Origen, who died in 254 CE. The second version, which first appears in the Yerusalmi, of
the replacement of the sacrificial animals with the pig, appears to be dated to the
reverence nor regret for the aged or the youngέ” When he heard his words, Khursau rejoiced greatly and
said: “σo longer will you be called Romizan, but rather Shahrbaraz, that is, the wild boar!” Theophilus of
Edessa, Chronicle, 1234 (8th century CE). Translation by Robert G. Hoyland, Theophilus of Edessa's
Chronicle and the Circulation of Historical Knowledge in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (Liverpool:
Liverpool University Press, 2011), 56-57.
327
Yisraeli-Taran, The Legends of the Destruction, 85-86.
113
Ammoraic period, while the third version, which concerns the First Temple, is postAmoraic.
In the porcine legends of destruction, the abominable animal has magical qualities:
its contact with the wall or the altar causes destruction. 328 The pig’s killingήbodyήblood
serves as the anti-thesis of the normal-pure sacrifice. In the same way the tamid sacrifice
has the power to defend the city, the “sacrifice” of the pig has the power to destroy it.
This magical dimension comes to emphasize the unnatural character of the event, and
hence its being the fruit of divine intervention.
The profanation of the Temple by pigs has a long history, from the Bible to the
Maccabean era, to post 70 CE, to the Middle Ages, to the modern era, moving from the
profanation of the Jewish temple to profanation of the Muslim mosques built on the
Temple Mount. Already in the seventh century, the Bishop of Bagratunis, Sebeos, in his
History (wr. 660s), tells a legend of how, after the Muslims built the mosque on the
Temple Mount, three Jews slaughtered two pigs and put them in the mosque, plotting that
the fault would fall on the Christians. 329 In the era of the Crusades, Arab historian Yaqut
Kister, “δegends of the Destruction,” ηί3έ
Sebeos, History 31έ “σow I shall speak about the plot of the Jewish rebels, who, finding support
from the Hagarenes for a short time, planned to [re]build the temple of Solomon. Locating the place called
the holy of holies, they constructed [the temple with a pedestal, to serve as their place of prayer. But the
Ishmaelites envied [the Jews], expelled them from the place, and named the same building their own place
of prayer. [The Jews] built a temple for their worship elsewhere. It was then that they came up with an evil
plan: they wanted to fill Jerusalem with blood from end to end, and to exterminate all the Christians of
Jerusalem. Now it happened that there was a certain grandee Ishmaelite who went to worship in their
private place of prayer. He encountered three of the principal Jewish men, who had just slaughtered two
pigs and taken and put them [in the Muslim] place of prayer. Blood was running down the walls and on the
floor of the building. As soon as the man saw them, he stopped and said something or other to them. They
replied and departed. The man at once went inside to pray. He saw the wicked [sight], and quickly turned to
catch the men. When he was unable to find them, he was silent and went to his place. Then many [Muslims]
entered the place and saw the evil, and they spread a lament throughout the city. The Jews told the prince
that the Christians had desecrated their place of prayer. The prince issued an order and all the Christians
were gathered together. Just as they wanted to put them to the sword, the man came and addressed them:
"Why shed so much blood in vain? Order all the Jews to assemble and I shall point out the guilty ones". As
soon as they were all assembled and [the man] walked among them, he recognized the three men whom he
had previously encountered. Seizing them, [the Arabs] tried them with great severity until they disclosed
328
329
114
(1179-1229) wrote that the Franks transformed the Mosque of Omar and Al Aksa into a
pigpen, while Abu Shama (1203-1267) reports that the El-Aksa, and especially its mihrab,
were full of piglets. 330 More recently, in 1997, two Israeli far-right activists, Avigdor
Eskin and Damian Pakovitch, were arrested for planning to throw a pig’s head by a
catapult into the Temple Mount/al-Haram el-Sharif. 331 One may wonder how much this
plan was influenced by the rabbinic legend of the pig’s head that the Romans threw into
the Temple. Whatever the case, these examples demonstrate the vitality of images or acts
of profanation in narratives of purification. In the case of the rabbinic tradition, the
profanation of the Temple by the pig marks the ever continuing situation of the Temple
being impure, where the Jews are under the yoke of Rome, a profane world which is to be
purified in messianic times.
the plot. And because their prince was among the Jews present, he ordered [The subject probably is the
Arab, not Jewish, prince] that six of the principals involved in the plot be killed. He permitted the other
]Jews[ to return to their placesέ” Translation by Robert Bedrosian, Sebeos' History (New York: Sources of
the Armenian Tradition, 1985), 131-133. Cyril εango, “The Temple Mount AD 614-638,” in Bayt alMaqdis: 'Abd al-Malik's Jerusalem, ed. Julian Raby and Jeremy Johns (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1992), 1-16.
330
Yaqut al-Hamawi, Dictionary of Countries ( itab εu’gam a -Buldan), 4; Abu Shama, The Book of
the Two Gardens on the History of the Two Reigns (Kitab al-Rawdatayn fi akhbar al-dawlatayn), see: HarPeled, “Animalité, pureté et croisade,” 132
331
Ha’aretz 2η December 1λλ7έ
115
Source
Date
JewishPersian
Apocalypse of
Daniel
Targum Sheni
to Esther 1:3
Targum of
Lamentations
3.2.9
Avot deRabbi
Nathan
Bavli
Ms. c.
1600
Yerusalmi
5th -6th
cent.
4th-10th
cent.?
Actor
Destruction/
Profanation
of the
Temple
1st
2nd
σebūzarādan
under the orders
of
Nebuchadnezzar
Parnatos
Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar
▲
▲
▲
Romans
▲
d. 397
Romans
▲
306-373
Romans
▲
Origen
Commentary
on Matthew
Daniel
c. 185Ḳ
c. 254
Romans
▲
2nd cent.
BCE
[Greeks]
▲
The besiegers put
pigs in the basket but
two lambs were
found
the pig thrust its paws
against the wall
Pig’s head
▲
Pilate carries the
pig’s head into the
temple
Pig head
▲
?
?
5th cent
BCE
Table 1: The pig and the destruction or profanation of the Temple.
116
Other
Sprinkling of blood
upon the Temple
Sprinkling pig’s
blood on the city
gates
The pig touches the
wall and the altar
the pig thrusts its
paws against the wall
(Siege of 65 BCE)
▲
The Romans ?
(war between
Hyrcanus and
Aristobulus)
Greeks
Psalms 80:14
Sac
rific
e
▲
▲
Ambrose
Commentary
on Luke
Ephrem the
Syrian
Isaiah 66:3
tamid
▲
Vespasian
6th -7th
cent.
The action with the pig
The abomination of
desolation was a
sacrifice of a pig?
“The boar from the
forest ravages it”
Offering of pig blood
Chapter 5
The Boar Emblem of the Legion X Fretensis and Aeneas’ Sow
In the current chapter, we will discuss three explanations which have been
provided for the identification of Rome with the pig: 1) the boar emblem of the Legion X
Fretensis, 2) the erection of a sculpture of a sow in Aelia Capitolina, and 3) the myth of
Rome’s founding as told in Virgil’s Aeneid. First, we will discuss the recurrent
explanation following Theodore Reinach’s idea (1λί3) that the Rabbis identified Rome
with the pig because the boar was the emblem of the Legion X Fretensis.332
The Boar Emblem
The legion derived its appellation Fretensis from Fretum (Siculum), where it had
distinguished itself in the naval battle fought between Agrippa and Sextus Pompeius in
36 BCE. This explains the special link of the legion to Neptune and its symbols of the
galley and the dolphin. In 1869, Félicien de Saulcy suggested that the boar became the
δegion X Fretensis’s emblem with the intention of annoying the Jewsέ333 As Dan Bara g
notes “this theory has been rejected because three other legions ( Legio I Italica, II
Adiutrix, and 20th Valeria Victrix) had the same symbol, but never had any connection
Reinach, “εon nom est δégion,” 172-178. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, 294, note 162.
Heinemann, The Methods of the Aggadah, 32. Krauss, Paras VeRomi, 100-105; 177-178. Aminoff, The
Figure, 258-265. Feldman, Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible, 323. Feldman, Remember Amalek, 67.
Barak-Erez, Outlawed Pigs, 20. Lachs, A Rabbinic commentary, 139. Against this identification, see:
Hadas-Lebel, Jerusalem Against Rome, η1κέ See also: “Swine” Jewish Encyclopedia έ Wilk, “When
Hyrcanus was Besieging Aristobulus,” 1ί4έ
333
De Saulcy, “δettre,“ 259. Félicien de Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, description des
monnaies autonomes et impériales de la Palestine et de l'Arabie Pétrée... (Paris : J. Rothschild, 1874), 90.
Followed by P. Germer-Durand, “Aelia Capitolina,” Revue biblique 1 (1892): 384. Cagnat rejects this
argument, noting that the boar was the sign of other legions which had no connection to the war with the
Jews, Kέ εέ Rέ Cagnat, “δ’armée romaine au siège de Jérusalem,” Revue des études juives 22 (1891):
xlii. Eέ εichon, “εélanges, III, σote sur une inscription de Ba’albek et sur des tuiles de la légion Xa
Fretensis,” Revue Biblique 9 (1900): 95-105.
332
117
with the Jewsέ”334 The boar emblem manifested the strong long-standing identification of
the warrior with the boar in the Greco-Roman world, and especially in the Germanic
world (Fig. 8).335
Fig. 8: Standard with a boar on a Roman bas-relief, Narbonne, France. 336
The legion X Fretensis arrived in Judea in the spring of 66 CE. After assembling
the Roman troops in Ptolemais, in 67 CE the legion took part in the war in Galilee, at the
siege of Jotapata. After spending the winter in Caesarea Maritima, the legion participated
in the conquest of Tiberias, Tarichease, and Gamla, spending the winter of 68 CE in
Scythopolis. In 69 CE, after Vespasian ordered his son Titus to conquer Jerusalem, the
legion X Fretensis moved to Jerusalem via Jericho. First camping on the Mount of Olives,
Titus then moved the legion to the northern part of the city. Our unique source for the
history of the siege, Josephus, does not relate the exact role of the legion in the conquest
of the city, but it is probable that its troops took part in the conquest of the Temple Mount.
Barag, “Countermarks,” 11κέ
For a general survey of boar emblems, see: Bernard Marillier, δe sang ier h ra dique (Le CoudrayMacouard: Cheminements, 2003).
336
See: Émile Espérandieu, Recueil général des bas-reliefs de la Gaule romaine, tome 1 (Paris: Impr.
Nationale, 1907), 444. ]“Sanglier entre deux casques gaulois pourvus de cornes et de jugulaires; à droite,
deux bouclier d’amazone superpose, recouvrant deux lancesέ”[έ
334
335
118
After the fall of Jerusalem, Judaea received the status of a senatorial province and the
legate of the X Fretensis held the office of governor, until the time of Trajan, when the
legate was subordinated to the governor of Judea. 337 After capturing the fortresses of
Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada in 73 CE, the legion was stationed in Jerusalem until
the end of the third century when it was transferred to Aelia (modern Aqaba/Eilat) on the
shore of the Red Sea. 338 Tiles and brick-stamps with the legion X fretensis’s boar emblem
were discovered in Jerusalem and its vicinity (fig. 9) 339 and on countermarks (secondar y
mints on coins) (fig. 10). 340
Fig. 9: Two Brick Stamp Impressions of the Legio X Fretensis from Jerusalem,
68-132 CE.
337
Dabrowa, Legio X Fretensis,15-16.
Josephus, Jewish War 7.1-2: “Caesar ordered the whole city and the temple to be razed to the
ground, leaving only the loftiest of the towers, Pasael, Hippicus, and Mariamme, and the portion of the wall
enclosing the city on the west: the latter as encampment for the garrison that was the remains (…) As the
local garrison Caesar decided to leave the tenth legion, along with some squadrons of cavalry and
companies of infantry (…)έ”
339
Barag, “Brickέ” Approximately two kilometers west of Jerusalem (Binyanei Ha'uma/Seikh Bader),
a tile kilnworks was found with some tiles with the boar emblemέ Bέ Arubas and Hέ Goldfus, “The
Kilnworks of the Tenth δegion Fretensis,” in The Roman and Byzantine Near East: Some Recent
Archaeological Research, ed. John H Humphrey (Ann Arbor, MI: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1995),
273έ Hέ Goldfus and Bέ Arubas, “The Kilnworks of the Tenth δegion at the Jerusalem Convention Center,”
Qadmoniot 122, no. 2 (2002): 111-119 (Hebrew).
340
Dan Barag, “The Countermarks of the δegio Decima Fretensis (Preliminary Report),” The Patterns
of Monetary development in Phoenicia and Palestine in Antiquity. Proceedings of the International
Numismatic Convention, Jerusalem 27-31 December 1963, ed. Arie Kindler (Tel Aviv: Schocken, 1967),
117-125, plates IX-XIέ Kenneth Kέ Aέ δ nnqvist, “σew Vistas on the Countermarked Coins of the Roman
Prefects of Judaea,” Israel Numismatic Journal 12 (1992): 56-70. Countermarks of the boar emblem also
appear on a coin of a Palestinian Judaea Capta of Titus and of Vespasian Barag,”Countermarks,” 12ίέ A.
Spijkerman, “Some Rare Jewish Coins,” Liber Annuus 13 (1962/3): 315, fig. 56.
338
119
Fig. 10: A Roman Coin Found in Jerusalem with a Secondary Mint of the Symbols of the
Legion X Fretensis.
Whatever the exact location of the Legion X Fretensis camp in Jerusalem, 341 it is
clear that its mere presence in the holy city was a scandal for the Jews, as demonstrated,
for example, by the Jerusalem Talmud’s prayer to the ninth of ‘Av, the day of
lamentation of the destruction of the Temple: “Have mercy, δord our God, out of your
bountiful mercy and true loving-kindness, upon us, and upon your nation Israel, and upon
the city Jerusalem, and upon Zion your honored dwelling, and upon the city of mourning,
ruin, destruction, and desolation, which has been given over into the hands of strangers,
which the wicked devastated, foreign legions inherited, and idolaters desecratedέ”342
341
Scholars disagree as to the location of the tenth legion camp in the city; some propose it was on the
southwestern hill of the city; others in the area of the Holy Sepulcher, the city citadel (Jaffa gate), south of
the Temple Mount; and some even claim that it was on the Temple Mount itself. For a general review of
the various opinions, see: Yoram Tsafrir, “The Topography and Archaeology of Aelia Capitolina, “The
History of Jerusalem. The Roman and Byzantine Periods (70-638 CE), ed. Yoram Tsafrir and Smuel Safrai
(Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 1999), 125 (Hebrew). Eilat εazar, “The Camp of the Tenth Roman δegion
at the Foot of the South-West Corner of the Temple εount Enclosure Wall in Jerusalem,” in New Studies
on Jerusalem, Proceedings of the Fifth Conference December 23 rd 1999, ed. A. Faust and E. Baruch
(Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University, Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies, 1999), 52-67 (Hebrew).
G. D. Stiebel, “The Whereabouts of the Xth δegion and the Boundaries of Aelia Capitolina,” in New
Studies on Jerusalem, Proceedings of the Fifth Conference December 23 rd 1999, ed. A. Faust and E.
Baruch (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University, Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies, 1999), 68-103
(Hebrew). See also: Jodi εagness, “In the footsteps of the Tenth Roman δegion in Judea,” The First
Jewish Revolt: Archeology, History, and Ideology, ed. Andrea M. Berlin and Andrew J. Overman (London
and New York: Routledge, 2002), 189-212έ Dan Barag, “Brickέ”
342
Y. Berakhot 4:3, 8a. Italics mine. Translation by Neusner, The Talmud of the Land of Israel, vol. 1,
Berakhot, 174.
120
Aelia Capitolina
Approximately sixty years after the destruction of the Jewish city by Titus,
Emperor Hadrian founded the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina on its ruins. The new
colony was named after the second name of the emperor Hadrian (Aelius) and the
supreme deity in the Roman pantheon (Capitoline Jupiter). The founding of the new city
was probably one of the reasons for the Bar Kochba revolt (132-135 CE), at least if we
believe Dio Cassius, who notes that “the Jews deemed it intolerable that foreign races
should be settled in their city and foreign rites planted thereέ” 343 The city, for two
centuries until its Christianization in the fourth century, was a typical oriental pagan
Roman colony. As a veteran colony, the military cult was one of Aelia Capitolina’s
principal cults; one of these cults to the Legion X Fretensis’ signboards included the boar
emblem, 344 which was minted on the city´s coins (fig. 11).345
'
'
'
'
'
'
.'
See: Isaiah, εέ Gafni, “Jerusalem in Rabbinic δiterature,” in The History of Jerusalem. The Roman and
Byzantine Periods (70-638 CE), ed. Yoram Tsafrir and Smuel Safrai (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 1999),
35-60 (Hebrew).
343
Cassius Dio, Roman History 69.12έ1έ Hanan Eshel, “Aelia Capitolinaέ Jerusalem no moreέ” Biblical
Archaeological Review 23, no. 6 (1997): 46-48.
344
σicole Belayche, “’Dimenticareέέέ Gerusalemme’: les paganismes à Aelia Capitolina du IIe au IVe
siècle de notre ère,” Revue des Études Juives 158, no. 3-4 (1999): 302.
345
Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem): Antonius Pius (138-161 CE), Elagbal (218-222 CE), (250-251 CE).
Caesarea: Herennius Etruscus, (249-251 CE), A boar walking to the right surmounted by two vexilla, coin
number 186. In Leo Kadman, The Coins of Caesarea Maritima (Tel-Aviv: Schoken; Jerusalem:
Publications of the Israel Numismatic Soceity, 1957), 69, 210, plate XV. As Yaakov Meshorer notes, “it
seems that Hadrian gave great prominence to the symbols of the legions on the coins of Aelia Capitolina in
order to emphasize that the colony was founded after a military victoryέ” Yaakov Meshorer, “An
Unpublished Coin of Aelia Capitolina,” Israel Exploration Journal 13 (1963): 60. Nichole Belayche writes:
“δe fait que la colonie tout juste naissante ait été confonté à la seconde révolte juive a dû contrivuer à
renforcer les symboles légionaires sur les monnaies hadrianiennes, histoire d’insister sur la victoire de
13ηέ“ Belayche, “Dimenticareέέέ,” 3ί4έ
121
Fig. 11: Aelia Cpitolina, Coin of Herennius Aelia Cpitolina, Coin of Herennius Etruscus (250-251
CE). Boar running; legionary eagle on its back, with vexillum topped by star.346
The Sculpture of the Sow
In the Chronicon of Eusebius (c. 311 CE), which came to us in its Latin
translation by Jerome (cέ 3κί CE), it is written for the year 13θ CE: “Aelia founded by
Aelius Hadrian; on the front [in fronte] of that gate, by which we go out to Bethlehem, a
sow was sculpted in marble [sus sculptus in marmore], denoting that the Jews were
subject to Roman authority. Some believe it was constructed by Titus Aelius, the son of
Vespasianέ” 347 The statue mentioned was erected in front of the western gate of the city,
As Kadman notes, the image of “the boar of the Decima Fretensis surmounted by eagle and
vexillum, occurs also on coins of Neapolis Samaria and Ptolemais-Acre, minted under Trebonianus Gallus
[Emperor 251-253 CE]; but on these coins the military symbol is associated with the figure of Poseidon and
Ḳ in the case of Neapolis Ḳ of εount Gerizimέ” Kadman, The Coins of Aelia Capitolina, 57.
347
“Aelia ab Aelio Hadriano condita, et in fronte ejus portae, qua Bethleem egredimur, Sus sculptus in
marmore, significans Romanae potestati subjacere Judaeos. Nonnulli a Tito Aelio filio Vespasiani
exstructam arbitranturέ” Jerome (Eusebius), Chronicle, 20. Repeated later on by Prosper of Aquitaine (d.
455 CE; PL 51, Col. 0560D.) and Cassiodorus (d. c. 585 CE; PL 69, Col.1232D), and in the middle ages
by Freculphus (Frechulf) of Lisieux, Chronicle 2.12 (written around the 820s in France; PL 106, col.
1160D). Interestingly, since the end of the sixteenth century, some explained the medieval image of the
Judensau, which shows Jews riding a sow, eating its excrement, breast-feeding from it, and kissing it, as
originating from the sow sculpture Hadrianus, allegedly erected in Jerusalem. Shachar, The Judensau, 1213.
346
122
the modern Jaffa Gate, between the city Forum and perhaps the camp of the Legion X
Fretensis (fig. 12). 348
Fig. 12: The Plan of Aelia Capitolina (cf. Yaron Z. Eliav).
Contrary to the Chronicon, K. M. R. Cagnat and Yoram Tsafrir believed that the
sculpture was not erected to humiliate the Jews, but to commemorate the contribution of
the Legion X Fretensis to the construction of the gate. 349 Whether or not the erection of
the statue was motivated by the intention to humiliate the Jews, in later periods it was so
conceived by Christian authors. Indeed, it seems probable that the pig, regardless of
Belayche, “Dimenticareέέέ,’” 3ί3έ
Tsafrir, “The Topography and Archaeology of Aelia Capitolina,” 12ηέ Also: Frederic Wέ εadden,
History of Jewish Coinage, and of Money in the Old and New Testament: With 254 Woodcuts, and a Plate
of Alphabets (London: Quaritch, 1864), 211.
348
349
123
whether it was a priori used against the Jews, could be seen in the eyes of the Jews and
Romans as insulting the Jews in the context of the conflict between the two. Samuel
Krauss goes as far as to propose that “there is reason to believe that” the symbolization of
Rome as a pig in rabbinic literature “came into prominence only since the time of
Hadrian and the fall of Betar (135 CE), since, in order to insult the Jews, the image of a
pig was attached on the South gate of Jerusalem which had been transformed into the
Roman colony, Aelia Capitolinaέ” 350 Mireille Hadas-Lebel argues that the link between
the sculpture of the sow at the Jaffa gate and the identification of Rome with the pig is
doubtful since, “after 13η, there was little contact between the Jewish populations and the
Legion X Fretensis quartering at Aelia Capitolina where the Jews were forbidden the
right to stayέ” 351 This is indeed true on some level, but we know that the legion was not
only active in the vicinity of Jerusalem (fig. 13), and that furthermore, the ban on Jewish
presence in the holy city was not fully respected and was exaggerated by Christian
authors for polemical reasons.352
Krauss, Monumenta Talmudica , 15. Cited in: Braverman, erome’s Commentary on Danie , 94.
Hadas-Lebel, Jerusalem Against Rome, 518. On the ban of Jews from the city, see: R. Harris,
“Hadrian’s Decree of Expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem,” Harvard Theological Review 19 (1926): 199206.
352
Sέ Safrai, “The Holy Congregation in Jerusalem,” Scripta Hierosolymitana 23 (1972): 62-78.
Belayche, “Dimenticareέέέ,” 294. G nter Stemberger, Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in
the Fourth Century (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000), 40-43. For the patristic discourse concerning the
destruction of Jerusalem, see: εέ Cέ Paczkowski, “Gerusalemme negli scrittori cristiani del II-III secolo,”
Liber Annus Studii Biblici Franciscani 45 (1995): 165-174.
350
351
124
Fig. 13: Legion X Fretensis in Judea (Cf. Dabrow 1993).
The idea that the sculpture was of the legion X Fretensis’ emblem is itself
problematic. If this was the case, why does the Chronicon say that the sculpture was of a
sow (sus) and not of a boar (aper)? Because Rome itself was evoked in the official image
that Aelia Capitolina gave to itself, one can wonder if the marble statue that was erected
125
at the Jaffa gate (hence near the Forum of the city) was not that of the boar of the Legion
X Fretensis but of Aeneas’ sow, one of Rome’s symbols.353
According to Virgil’s Aeneid (wr. 29-19 BCE), after the fall of Troy Aeneas and
his companions left the ruined city, looking for a place to found a new home. After seven
years of hardship along the Mediterranean, Aeneas finally founded the city of Lavinium,
the parent city of Alba Longa and Rome. According to the poem, Helenus prophesized to
Aeneas that he should build his new city where he finds an albino sow with thirty
piglets: 354
When, under pressure, you come to streams of a well-hidden river,
Under the bankside’s oak-shrub brush you’ll find an immense sow
Lying sprawled on the soil, on her side Ḳ an albino, with thirty
Newborn piglets, albino themselves, at her teats in a cluster.
This is the seat for you future state and your refuge from troubles. 355
Aneas’s sow became a symbol of Rome, and hence, as Andreas Alföldi notes in
early times, “it even seems that the statue of the sow with her piglets was erected in all
the forums of the new colonies of Rome which had a Latin status.” 356 It is not clear
whether sculptures of Aeneas’ sow were erected in Roman colonies in later periods, but
353
This was proposed by Cesare Baronius in his Annales Ecclesiastici (1588-1607). Cesare Baronio,
Annales ecclesiastici Caesaris Baronii, vol. 2 (Barri-Ducis: Guerin, 1κθ4), 22λ (“sixti annus θ-Christi
137”)έ
354
For the different configurations of this tradition see : Jacques Poucet, “δe motif de la truie romaine
aux trente gorets,” Folia Electronica Classica (Louvain-la-Neuve) 7 (janvier-juin 2004),
<http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/fe/07/TRUIEήGesine23έhtm <έ Consulted April 1κ, 2ί12έ Joël Thomas, “δa truie
blanche et les trente gorets dans l’Énéide de Virgile,” dans Mythologies du Porc. Actes du Colloque de
Saint Antoine ’Abbaye (4-5 avril 1998), texte réunis par Philippe Zalter, 51-72 (Grenoble: Jérôme Million,
1λλλ)έ Joël Thomas, “δe boeuf, la truie et la louve: les animaux-totems et les voyageurs dans le mythe des
origines de Rome,” dans Bouleversants voyages. Itinéraires et transformations, éd. P. Carmignani
(Perpignan: Presses universitaires de Perpignan, 2000), 67-84.
355
Virgil, Aeneid 3.387-393 (and also 8.42-46; 8.80-85). Translation by Frederick Ahl and Elaine
Fantham, Virgil, Aeneid (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 66.
356
Alföldi, Early Rome and the Latins, 272. Varro (116-24 BCE) notes that in his time there were
bronze images of Aneas’ sow in public spaces in the city of δavinium: “It is recorded that the most ancient
portent of this kind is the sow of Aeneas at Lavinium, which bore thirty white pigs; and the portent was
fulfilled in that thirty years later the people of Lavinium founded the town of Alba. Traces of this sow and
her pigs are to be seen even to this day; there are bronze images of them standing in public spaces even
now, and the body of the sow is exhibited by the priests, having been kept in brine, according their accountέ”
Varro, On Agriculture 2.4.17.
126
the theme received special importance in the political propaganda of the Imperial period
(fig. 14).
Fig.14: Rome, 2nd century marble sculpture of a sow with piglets.
In the time of Augustus, the scene of the sacrifice of the Laurentine sow appears
on the Ara Pacis, which the Roman Senate erected in λ BCE to celebrate Augustus’
triumph in Spain and Gaul several years earlier (fig. 15). Around the corner from the
scene of Aeneas sacrificing the sow, Augustus and his family are depicted. Hence, a
symbolic association is made between Aeneas and Augustus, which portrays the latter as
the new founder of Rome. The scene of the sacrifice of the white sow is exhibited also on
the Belvedere Altar that commemorates Augustus’ reorganization of the cult of the δares
compitales (fig. 16). 357 Augustus´ propaganda portrayed Aeneas as the founder of Alba
Longa and of the Julian lineέ Hence, Augustus’ filial piety originates from Aeneas. 358 Just
Pέ Zanker, “Die Larenaltar im Belvedere des Vatikans,” Mitteilungen des Deutschen
Archaologischen Instituts, Romische Abteilung 76 (1969): 205-218.
358
Jane DeRose Evans, The Art of Persuasion: Political Propaganda from Aeneas to Brutus (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992), 43-45.
357
127
as Aeneas was the founder of Rome, so was Augustus portrayed as the re-founder of
Rome after a series of civil wars.359
Fig. 15: Ara Pacis: Relief of Aeneas sacrificing to the Penates.
B.
A.
Fig. 16: The Belvedere Altar. A. Aeneas and the Laurentine sow. B. Augustus and the
Vicomagistri.
Contrary to the the Julio-Claudian dynasty which preceeded it, the Flavian
dynasty founded by Vespasian did not lay claim to any divine lineage in general, or to
Aeneas in particular. However, like their predecessors, they use the image of Aeneas’
359
Ibid., 46
128
sow in their propaganda: the white sow with her piglets appeared on Titus and
Vespasian’s coins (fig. 17), 360 and on medallions which Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian, and
Antoninus Pius’ minted with the nine hundredth anniversary of Rome in mind (figs. 1819).361
Fig. 17: Vespasian, Denarius, minted 77-78 CE.
δaureate head right ή Aneas’ sow with pigletsέ
Fig. 18: Antonine copy of the Hadrianic 'Aeneid' medallion, reverse design.
For propaganda on Vespasian coins see: Barbara δevick, “Propaganda and the Imperial Coinage,”
Antichton 16 (1982): 104-116.
361
Alföldi, Early Rome and the Latins, 273, pl. IV-VII. Stefan Weinstock, “Pax and the 'Ara Pacis',”
Journal of Roman Studies 50 (1960): 44-58.
360
129
Fig. 19: Bronze Medallion of Antoninus Pius (Reign 138-161 CE).
As in the case of Augustus, the association of the emperor with Aeneas sacrificing
the sow came to represent the emperor as a new founder of Rome. 362 Herr seems to go
too far when he proposes that the pig that the sages identified with Rome is really Aeneas’
symbol of Rome. We can at least remark that if the Romans inscribed the pig (and its
sacrifice) in one of their foundation myths, the Jews inscribed the pig in their destruction
myth. While Aeneas’ sow symbolized fortune for the Romans, for the sages the boar
symbolized both current Roman fortune and future misfortune in the messianic era, when
God would punish Rome.
The problem with the above explanations of the identification of the pig with
Rome is that we do not find any echoes of them in rabbinic sources. The Midrashim and
the Talmudim do not even mention the Legion X Fretensis, its boar emblems, the statue
of a sow at the Jaffa Gate, or Aeneas’ sowέ If the boar emblem was ”an insult thrown in
the face of the Jewish nation,” 363 as Félicien de Saulcy proposed, we do not find any
evidence of this in Jewish sources. The silence of the Rabbinic sources make it difficult
Francois Philippe Gourdain noted in 1787 that the representation of this theme on Vespasian’ coins
(and on later coins) “is not made with the intention of offending the Jewsέ” Francois Philippe Gourdain,
“Translation of a Dissertation on Satyrical εedals addressed to the Society by Pere Francois Philippe
Gourdain,” Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, vol. IX (London: The Society of
Antiquaries of London, 1789), 61-81. Frederic W. Madden, History of Jewish Coinage, 212, note 4.
363
“]u[ne insulte jetée à la face de la nation juive,” De Saulcy, “δettre,” 259.
362
130
to argue that the identification of Rome with the pig is a direct reaction to Rome’s
porcine symbols. Rather than asking to which particular porcine Roman symbols the
sages react, I propose that we ask to what Roman porcine discourse the sages react. In
other words, what was the political meaning the Romans gave to the pig or the boar, and
how did the sages react to this? We will respond to this question in the following chapter.
131
Chapter 6
The Diocletian Legend in Genesis Rabbah
Diocletian the Swineherd
According to a legend in the Jerusalem Talmud, and a more elaborated version in
the 4/5th century Genesis Rabbah (below), Emperor Diocletian in his youth was a
swineherd: 364
The emperor Diocletian was a swineherd in Tiberiasέ Whenever he came near Rabbi’s
school, the children would come out and beat him up.
Later he became king. He went and stayed at Paneas, [Caesarea Philippi, currently
Banias[ and sent letters to Tiberias just before the eve of the Sabbath, saying: “I
command the Rabbis of the Jews to appear before me on the first morning of the week
[Sunday morning[έ” He instructed the messenger and told him: “You will not give them
the message until just before the sunset in the Sabbath eveningέ” Rέ Samuel bέ σahman
went down to bathe. He saw Rabbi standing before the House of Study with his face pale.
He told him: why is your face all paleς He ]Rabbi[ told him: “So and so, letters were sent
to me from Diokletianus the Kingέ” He ]Rέ Samuel bέ σahman[ told him: “Come to bathe,
that our creator performs miracles for youέ” He ]Rabbi[ went in to bathe, and came
Argantin [a sort of spirit] jesting and dancing before him. Rabbi wished to scold him. R.
Samuel bέ σahman said to him ]to Rabbi[: “δeave him alone, for sometimes he makes
miracles appearέ” He told him ]Rέ Samuel bέ σahman to Argantin[: ‘Your master is in
distress, yet you giggleς’ He ]Argantin[ told them: “Go, eat and make a good Sabbath, for
your Creator performs miracles and I will set you in the first morning of the week in the
place you desireέ”
At the end of the Sabbath, after the Service, he [Argantin] took them and set them before
the gate of Paneasέ They ]Diocletian´s servants[ entered and told him ]Diocletian[: “δo,
they are standing before the gateέ” He said: “close the gateέ” He ]Argantin[ took them and
set them on the wall of the city. They [Diocletian´s servants] entered and told him
]Diocletian[έ He said: “I command that the baths be heated for three days, then let them
go and bathe therein and then appear before meέ” They went and heated the baths for
three days, and Argantin entered and poured [cold water] before them, and they entered
and bathed and they came before himέ He ]Diocletian[ told them: “Because you know
that your God performs miracles on your behalf, you disdain the kingέ” They ]the Rabbis[
told him: “Diocletian that was a swineherd we did indeed disdain, but to Diocletian the
king we are enslavedέ” He told them: “Even so, you will not disdain the humblest Roman
or the meanest servant [Guliar[”365
364
365
:
I thank Hakim Salem for sharing with me his reading of the story.
GeR Toledoth 63.8.7. My translation.
,
:
έ
έ
:
έ
:
ς
:
,
έ
:
έ
132
,
,
,
:
,
έ
Scholars have long searched for the historical background of this story. Heinrich
Graetz (1κκη) imagined that “the emperor was secretly informed that the Patriarch and
his companions made merry over his obscure parentage and his surname Aper (Boar),
concerning which the emperor was especially sensitiveέ” 366 Yitzhak Baer saw in this
story proof that Diocletian persecuted not just the Christians but also the Jews, an opinion
that was rejected by others. 367 A. Marmostein proposed that the story originally was
about Galerius, Diocletian’s adopted son, with whom he shared the rule of the East in 2λ3
CE. He noted that Galerius, according to some Roman sources, was a shepherd in his
youth, and because he ruled the East the sages in Eretz Israel would have known this.
This biographical detail was incorporated into the story, but later generations attributed it
to Diocletian who was better known to themέ Hence, the word “Guliar” in the response of
Diocletian is a later transformation of the original name ‘Galerius’έ Thus, according to
Marmostein, it was Galerius who told the sages: ‘
έ
:
:
έ
:
έ
:
έ
:
.
'
:'
έ
έ
:
:
έ
.
not disdain the
έ
:
:
'
?
:
ς
έ
,
έ
Compare to Yerusalemi, Terumot 8:11, 46b-c:
.
έ
en so, you wi
.
:
έ
'
έ
:
:
'
.
,
,
έ
:
?
Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews, vol. II (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of
America, 1956 [1893]), 533. Günter Stemberger mentions the link between the two stories, but does not
explain it. Günter Stemberger, “Die beurteilung Roms in der rabbinischen literatur,“ ANRW II. 19, no. 2
(1979): 379.
367
Yitzhak Baer, “Israel, the Christian Church and the Roman Empire from the time of Septimius
Severus to the Edict of Toleration of AέDέ 313,” Scripta Hierosolymitana 7 (1961): 127. A contrary opinion:
Saul δieberman, “The Persecutions of the Jewish Religion,” in Salo Wittmayer Baron Jubilee Volume on
the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, vol. 3, ed. Saul Lieberman and Arthur Hyman (Jerusalem:
American Academy for Jewish Research, 1λ74), 241έ εordechai Alfredo Rabello, “τn the Relations
between Diocletian and the Jews,” Journal of Jewish Studies 35 (1984): 147-167.
366
133
humblest Roman or the meanest Galerius.”368 For Zvi-Uri εa’aoz, “Diocletian was in the
Levant in 290 CE and traveled as far south as Tyre. Paneas was in the hinterland of the
Phoenician coastal cities and on the main route to Damascus.(…) It is, therefore, highly
likely that during his stay at Paneas, Diocletian summoned the leaders of the Jewish
community, who were located only about θη km away, in Tiberiasέ” 369 However,
evidence of this is insufficient. In any case, the story tells us more about the way the
sages understood history than about a real historical event. The sages, more than writing
history, are telling a story: “While the historical documents serve to describe events, the
stories serve to clarify, resolve, and teach a lesson o n “moralsέ”370 This story is indeed a
significant historical document, not about a doubtful historical event, but rather about the
way in which relations between Rome and the Jews were understood by the sages. Freed
from the burden of positive historicism, we may turn again to the story itself. 371 The
story may be divided into three parts: I. Introduction, II. Tiberias, and III. Paneas, while
each scene may be divided into two sub-scenes. The Introduction explains the motive for
Diocletian’s hostility to the sages: revenge for the bad treatment he received from
Rabbi´s peoples when he was a humble man, a swineherd. Now that he is the Emperor,
Aέ εarmorstein, “Dioclétien à la lumière de la littérature rabbinique,” Revue des études juive 98
(1934): 24.
369
Zvi Uri εa’oz, “The Civil Reform of Diocletian in the Southern δevant,” Scripta Classica
Israelica 25 (2006): 109.
370
Eliezer Marcus, The Confrontation Between Jews and Non-Jews in Folktales of the Jews of Islamic
Countries, vol 2 (Ph.D. thesis, Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1977), xliv (Hebrew).
371
The talmudic legend is not different in its nature from any other legend, for example from this late
Jewish legend: A swineherd is badly treated by the Jews. When he becomes king, he asks for the Jews to be
exterminatedέ A Jewish sage asked him what is the diffrence between two words “klia
” (anhilation)
and “Klia
" (roasting) [both words without punctuation marks might be read in the same way]. The
king did not know the answer. The sage told him, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs
18:21). The king repented and became a friend of the Jews. Israel Folktale Archives named in honor of Dov
Noy at the University of Haifa [no.18949. Collected by: Yifrah Habib; told by: Hasher ben Harush
(Marocco), 1993].
368
134
he is the one that orders.372 He orders his messengers, and he orders the sages. Diocletian
knows that the Jews are prohibited from travel on the Sabbath, so he orders that they
receive his command a short time before the beginning of the Sabbath (an hour before
Friday sunset). Diocletian puts the sages in a dilemma: to respect “the queen, the
Sabbath,” or the King’s orderς Should they respect the divine commandment - “you shall
keep my Sabbaths: I am the δord your God (δeviticus 1λ:3),” or the imperial orderς The
Tiberias episode is divided into two scenes. In the first, we see Rabbi Shmuel ben
Nahman on his way to bathe before Sabbath. But the idyl is broken with the meeting with
Rabbi Judah, the patriarch, standing in front of the house of study (Beith ha-Midrash), his
“face all paleέ” τut of his kingdom - the space of learning, hopeless and in need of advice,
Rabbi the patriarch (Nasi) seeks advice in the street. It is Rabbi Shmuel and not the
Patriarch who has advice: “Come to bathe, that our creator perform miracles for youέ”
One must continue in the routine of preparations for the Sabbath, as if it is a normal
Friday; in other words, they should observe the divine commandment and not the
imperial one. The second scene occurs in the bathouse, 373 a Roman institution, a place of
blurred frontiers, of mixing: non-Jews and Jews, rich and poor, the intimate body and
public nudity. 374 In this ambiguous place, the reversal of hierarchy between Rabbi
Shmuel ben Nahman and Rabbi became accentuated.
The text uses the term ‘Ana i ion’, which stands for the Greek
υον - “I ordered”έ Yaron Tzvi
Eliav, Introduction to the Research of the Jewish Daily life in the Roman Bath-Houses in Eretz Israel:
History, Halacha and Talmudic Realia (M.A. Thesis, Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 1993), 80
(Hebrew).
373
As εarc Gέ Hirschman notes, in the Yerusalmi five stories are told which happen in Tiberias’s bath
houseέ εarc Gέ Hirschman, “Stories of the bath-house of Tiberiasέ” Idan 11 (1988): 119 (Hebrew).
374
Joshua δevinson, “Enchanting Rabbis: Contest σarratives between Rabbis and εagicians in
Rabbinic δiterature of δate Antiquityέ” Tarbiz 75 (2006): 295-328 (Hebrew).
372
135
At the heart of this legend is the belief in miracles. Three times it is said in
Tiberias that one must believe in miracles, and three miracles take place: the demon
“jumped” with the sages from Tiberias to Panias, he set them on the wall of the city, and
he poured cold water to cool the sages’ bodies in the boiling bathέ Diocletian recognized
this: “Because you know that your God performs miracles on your behalf, you disdain the
kingέ”
A tension is created in the legend between past and present, the eve of Sabbath
and its end, between two options, two cities: Tiberias, a mainly Jewish city which is t he
seat of the Sanhedrin [the court of 70 sages], in the Province of Palestina, and Panias,
which lies 65km to the north, a pagan city, in Syria-Phoenice Province. 375 The
contradictions between the two cities are emphasized by the symmetry the legend creates
between them:
Tiberias
- Three times the belief in miracles is
expressed.
- The sages bathe in the bathhouse to
honor the Sabbath.
- The demon giggles and dances in the
bath.
- Rabbi Shmuel ben σahman: ‘δeave him
alone, for sometimes for miracles he [the
demon[ appearedέ’
Panias
- Three miracles happen.
- The sages bathe in boiled water.
- The demon poured cold water on the
sages.
- Diocletian: ‘Even so, you will not
disdain the humblest Roman or the
meanest servant [Guliar[”
This is the symmetry of Providence: measure for measure, “with whatever
measure you measure others you yourself are measured” (m. Sota 1.6; b. Sanhedrin 100a),
or “he who took the trouble to prepare on the eve of the Sabbath ]Friday[ will eat on the
375
For the city of Panias, see: John F. Wilson, Banias: The Story of Caesarea Philippi, Lost City of
Pan (London: I.B. Tauris, 2004).
136
Sabbath” (b. Avodah Zarah 3a). 376 The Jews are persecuted for their poor treatment of a
non-Jew, a swineherd; the punishment is according to the measure of the crime. 377 By the
same token, God’s help corresponds to the measure of the Sages´ belief in miracles and in
their guarding of the Lord´s commandment - the keeping of the Sabbath.
The story, however, does not only concern the relations with Roman power. In
fact, in the story, two circles of power exist: an external circle between Israel and Rome between the Nasi and the Emperor, and an internal conflict between the Nasi and a Sage.
As Origen (c. 185Ḳ254 CE) noted, the Nasi was like the king of the Jews.378 Because
Rabbi did not prevent his people from respecting a non-Jew; he put all the sages, if not all
Israel, in danger. The violation of the equilibrium between Jews and non-Jews finally
causes the breach of equilibrium between the Nasi and a sage. In the moment of crisis,
the one who leads is Rabbi Shmuel ben Nahman and not Rabbi the Nasi. In times of crisis,
the sages have no other option than to rely on God’s rescue, on miraclesέ In this sense, the
sages and the Nasi are equal before their creator. As Ofra Meir notes, this divine
intervention is at once a salvation and a rebuke; indeed the demon ( Argantin) saves the
sages from Diocletian, but the sages are rebuked for needing the help of a demon. 379
The dictatorship of Diocletian is contrasted with the collective decision-making of
the Jewish patriarch, Rabbi Yeuda Hanasi, and the others sages. While Diocletian sent
See: Isabel Aέ εassey, “εeasure for εeasure,” in Interpreting the Sermon on the Mount in the
Light of Jewish Tradition as Evidenced in the Palestinians Targums of the Pentateuch: Selected Themes
(Lewiston: Mellen, 1991), 74-89.
377
Saul Lieberman noted that the story in fact justifies Diocletian, when the rabbis themselves admit
that they despised the Swineherd Diocletian. See: Saul Lieberman, Studies in Palestinian Talmudic
Literature, ed. David Rosenthal (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1991), 378 (Hebrew).
378
Origen, Epist. Ad. Africanum 20.14.
379
Ofra Meir, The Acting Characters in the Stories of the Talmud and the Midrash (A Sample) (PhD
Thesis, Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1977), 186 (Hebrew). See also: Ofra Meir, Questions about Life:
Selected Stories from Bereshit Rabba (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2000), 110 (Hebrew).
376
137
messengers with his orders, Rabbi the Nasi left the house of study to seek advice. The
opposition between the emperor and the patriarch may serve internal Jewish polemics
regarding the status of the patriarch, for example, regarding the question of who had the
authority to appoint judges, the sages or the patriarch. 380 In the story, the contrast
between Diocletian and the Patriarch is clear: the latter is a first among equals (primus
inter pares) who takes the advice and criticism of his peers: the relation between the
patriarch and the sages is not like the relation between Caesar and his citizens.
The moral of the story is that one should not despise the lowly; in the Jerusalem
Talmud version, “not in a little (simple) Roman, and not in little haverέ” The word haver
has several meanings, but it seems that here, it means a pupil. The moral thus refers to
both external and internal social circles; one should not despise the minor Goy (non-Jew)
nor the minor pupil of the house of learningέ εarmorstein relates the story’s moral to
Bavli, Pesahhim 113a: “τur Rabbis said: three things one does not envy ]despise[: a
small foreigner, a small serpent and a small pupilέ” 381 This suggestion might have bee n
more convincing if Marmorstein had cited the following sentence which explains the
meaning of the saying: “What is its reasonς For it rules after his masterέ” 382 We have here
the implicit explanation of the explicit logic of the moral of the Diocletian legend; one
must respect the minor or powerless person for he might become important and take
revenge. The moral in Genesis Rabbah’s version: “you will not disdain the humblest
Roman or the meanest Guliar,” repeats this ideaέ The word Guliar comes from the Latin
See: Alon Gedaliahέ “Inner Tensions: The Patriarchate and Sanhedrin,” in The Jews in their Land in
the Talmudic Age (70-640 C.E. (Cambridge, MA. and London: Harvard University Press, 1989), 308-322.
381
B. Pesahhim 113a ("έ
,
'
"). See: Marmorstein,
“Dioclétien,” 22έ
382
"έ
, " " As Rashi explains: “they ]a small foreigner, a small serpent, and a
small pupil[ will grow, and their terror will grow, and they will revenge youέ”
380
138
word galiarius, soldiers serving in the army, and in the sages’ literature it indicates a
simple man. 383 The use of this word here may be understood in two senses: 1) one should
not disdain a simple man, or 2) an allusion to Diocletian’s humble origin. 384 Diocletian
was the first emperor with a full Greek name: Dioclês.385 When he ascended to power, he
Latinized his name to Diocletianus (Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus)έ Diocletian
was from the lower classes (a slave’s son, according to one tradition), virum obscurissime
natum (Eutropius λέ1λέ2), but became Emperorέ As a “self-made man,” his ascent raises
the question of electionέ As we will see, a Roman legend explains Diocletian’s rise to
power as a fulfillment of a prophecy - that is to say, the wish of the gods. In the Talmudic
legend as well, the question of election is central; even the lesser might become the king.
But in the sages’ story, his lesser origin testifies to the lesser value of Roman powerέ The
sages´ answer to Diocletian is equivocal (in the Jerusalem Talmud): “We despised
Diocles the swineherd; we did not despise Diocletianus the king,” playing with the name
change of the emperor from Dioclês to Diokletianus, from swineherd to emperor, from
Greek to Roman.
Joseph Tabory, “The Poems of the Seventh Chapter of Esther Rabba and εidrash Abba Gurion,”
Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature 16 (1997): 11 (Hebrew).
384
For Christian allusions to Diocletian´s humble origin, see: William Seston, Dioclétien et la
tétrarchie (Paris: E. de Boccard, 1946), 42.
385
Derived from the Greek díos kletos ("sky-called").
383
139
Diocletian the Hunter
Gbyaliah ibn Yahia, a Jewish historian of the sixteenth century, proposed that the
rabbinical legend concerning Diocletian is connected to a Roman legend:
The chronicles say that when he [Diocletian] was a young man and humiliated [humble],
he went to eat. When the house keepers asked him to pay, he answered that when he
becomes Caesar he will pay his debt. An old woman [that was present there] told him that
when he has killed a certain pig he will became Caesar. He went and killed many pigs.
Eventually he went to Rome and joined one of the parties of warriors, and he killed one
of the ministers of the opposite party, who in the language of Rome was called pig [Aper].
By this act he became finally emperor. And necessarily this [story] hints to Midrash
Rabbot [Rabbah[ with the phrase: “And the first came forth ruddy” (Gn 1η:24), that he
[Diocletian] was swine herder, etc.386
Diocletian was probably born in 243 CE at Salona [Dalmatia], 387 to a lower-class
family (the humiliores), and joined the army at an early age. In 283, after a long military
career as the commander of the Emperor´s bodyguard, the protectors, he accompanied
the Emperor Carus in the war against the Sassanid Empire. During the campaign, the
Emperor died, and his son Numerian was declared Emperor. While the army was moving
toward the west back to the frontier of the Empire, Lucius Aper, the Praetorian prefect
and father-in-law of Numerian, claimed that due to illness, the Emperor would have to
travel in a closed wagon. When the soldiers smelled a foul odor rising from the
Emperor’s wagon, they opened it and found in it the Emperor’s bodyέ Diocletian took
advantage of the opportunity, blaming Lucius Aper for the death of the emperor, and
executed him with his own hands in front of the army, who declared him Emperor on
386
Gdaliah ibn Yahia, Sefer Soshelet ha-Kabala, Venice, 1585 (Jerusalem: Hadorot HaHronim
VeKorotam, 1962), 150 (Hebrew). My translation.
:
387
έ
"
Stephen Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (New York: Methuen, 1985), 22.
140
November 20, 284 CE. The Historia Augusta (late 4th cent.)388 retells “an incident whic h
he ]Diocletian[ regarded as an omen of his future rule,” allegedly reported by Diocletian
to the grand-father of the factious author of the book, Flavius Vopiscus:
“When Diocletian” (…) “while still serving in a minor post, was stopping at a certain
tavern in the land of the Tungri in Gaul389 and was making up his daily reckoning with a
woman, who was a Druidess, she said to him, ‘Diocletian, you are far too greedy (avar us)
and far too stingy (parcus),’ to which Diocletian replied, it is said, not in earnest, but only
in jest, ‘I shall be generous enough when I become emperorέ’ At this the Druidess said, so
he related, ‘Do not jest, Diocletian, for you will become emperor when you have slain a
Boar (aper)έ’
Now Diocletian always had in his mind a desire to rule, as Maximian 390 knew and my
grandfather also, to whom he himself told these words of the Druidess. Then, however,
reticent, as was his wont, he laughed and said nothing. Nevertheless, in hunting,
whenever there was opportunity, he always killed the boars with his very own hand. In
fact, when Aurelian received the imperial power, then Probus, then Tacitus, and then
Carus himself, Diocletian remarked, “I am always killing boars, but the other man enjoys
the meatέ”
It is now well known and a common story that when he had killed Aper, the prefect of the
guard, he declared, it is said, “At last I have killed my fated Boarέ” εy grandfather also
used to say that Diocletian himself declared that he had no other reason for killing him
with his own hand than to fulfill the Druidess’ prophecy and to ensure his own ruleέ For
he would not have wished to become known for such cruelty, especially in the first few
days of his power, if Fate had not impelled him to this brutal act of murder. 391
This is a story in three acts: I. the prophecy of ruling, II. the hunt (striving for
power), and III. fulfillment of the prophecy (ascension to power). The story starts with a
dispute over the quantity of payment between young Diocletian and a woman, a Druidess.
The woman teases him that he is stingy: “Diocletian, you are far too greedy (avarus) and
far too stingy (parcus).” Diocletian jokingly answers that when he becomes Caesar he
will be generous. Diocletian’s joke creates a contradiction between the young
soldier/officer, serving in a frontier post on the border of the empire, and the emperor in
Ronald Syme, “The Composition of the Historia Augusta,” in Historia Augusta Papers (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1983), 12-29.
389
Modern Tongres in eastern Belgium.
390
The Roman Emperor (together with Diocletian) from March 286 to 305. Maximian was the ruler of
the West, while Diocletian was the ruler of the East.
391
Historiae Augustae, Carus et Carinus et Numerianus, 14-15. Translation by David Magie, The
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, LCL (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1922), 437-439.
388
141
Rome; between the concrete present and a far-off, impossible future. Nonetheless, the
joke exposed Diocletian’s concealed motivations for power, to become Caesarέ The
Druidess, in her prophetic power, well understands that behind the cynical remark there is
a grain of truth, and answers Diocletian enigmatically: “Do not jest, Diocletian, for you
will become emperor when you have slain a Boar (aper).” Is the prophecy uttered
seriously, taking into account its context? What is the connection between killing the pig
and ruling? The status of the prophecy is ambiguous - serious and ridiculous at the same
time. The story moves constantly between the humorous and the serious, the low and the
high, through a series of witty sayings: “Diocletian, you are far too greedy (avarus) and
far too stingy (parcus)… ‘I shall be generous enough when I become emperor… Do not
jest, Diocletian, for you will become emperor when you have slain a Boar (aper)…I am
always killing boars, but the other man enjoys the meat…At last I have killed my fated
Boarέ” The laughter conceals the bare truth at the same time that it exposes it: Diocletian
says he will be generous when he becomes emperor “not in earnest, but only in jest”έ The
Druidess turns the amusing to serious: “Do not jest, Diocletian, for you will become
emperor when you have slain a Boar (aper)έ” When Diocletian tells the prophecy later on,
he laughs. This is a laugh of embarrassment in the face of the risk that his lust for power
will be exposed, a laugh of disguise that gives the listener the impression that for
Diocletian, the prophecy is nothing more than an amusing anecdote. Diocletian laughs,
but while going to hunt, he “always killed the boars with his very own handέ” Diocletian
laughs a third time when he says, ”I am always killing boars, but the other man enjoys the
meatέ” This is a real expression of Diocletian’s frustration, that he remains a servant of a
succession of emperors. This recalls the statement of Eumaeus, the old swineherd of
142
Ulysses in the τdyssey, who refers to the pigs eaten by Penelope’s suitors: “We have had
trouble enough this long time feeding pigs, while others reap the fruit of our labourέ” 392
The play of exposure-concealment ends with the fourth and final joke, the grotesque
jesting of the executor: “At last I have killed my fated Boar (aper)έ”393
We may understand the dialogue in the following way: the Druidess argues that
Diocletian behaves like a pig. Diocletian answers that he will cease his hoggish behavior
when he becomes emperor. The Druidess says that in order to become Caesar, he has to
stop being hoggish, to kill the boar. Following Plato, we may distinguish between the
domestic pig (sus) - a symbol of the negative passions - and the savage pig, the boar,
which is the symbol of ardor and courage of the thumos.394 Diocletian must cease being
the domestic pig, and become the savage animal, master of himself. Diocletian must pass
from pettiness to greatness, from servitude to lordship.
The object of the story is to justify Diocletian’s rule in general, particularly the
murder of Aper, where he acted as prosecutor, judge and executor, killing with his own
hands: “Diocletian himself declared that he had no other reason for killing him with his
own hands than to fulfill the Druidess’ prophecy and to ensure his own rule, for he would
not have wished to become known for such cruelty, especially in the first few days of his
power, if Fate had not impelled him to this brutal act of murderέ” 395 More than bei ng
critical, the story shows a Diocletian full of wisdom and virtue, a man whom the gods had
392
Homer, Odyssey 15: 415.
The joke of the porcine name of Aper recalls Cicero´s jokes on the name Verres: Cicero, Against
Verres 2.4.95; 2.2.77. Plutarch, Lifes, Cicero 7. θ. See: Brian A. Krostenko, Cicero, Catullus, and the
Language of Social Performance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 161.
394
Frère, Le bestiaire de Platon, 53-54.
395
Historiae Augustae, Carus et Carinus et Numerianus, 14-15.
393
143
marked among men to avenge the murder of an emperor beloved by all. 396 The story
binds together the entertaining with the serious, telling of the rise of a simple man from
servant to master, from the inn in a remote border post to Caesar’s palaceέ The story’s
apparent lack of seriousness should not hide the fact that “The ‘hidden meaning’ is not
truly unconscious at all, but rather represents a layer which is neither quite admitted nor
quite repressed Ḳ the sphere of innuendo, the winking of an eye, and ‘you know what I
meanέ’” 397 In this legend, the ascent of Diocletian to power is complex: a mixture of
ambitiousness, courage, and luck, and above all, the predestination of fortuna. Cruelty is
justified as being part of the edict of fortuneέ This justification of power is that of “might
is always right” or la raison de plus fort. This concept is manifest in the hunting of the
boar, in the image of the ruler as hunter, and more particularly as a boar-hunter.
The Ruler as a Boar-Hunter
In Greece and Rome, the wild boar, as with many other savage animals (such as
the bear, the lion, or the eagle) symbolizes power and sovereignty. The Latin poets use
the following adjectives to describe the boar: “acer, ferox, ferus, frendens, fulmineus,
rabidus, saevus, spumans, torvus, violentus,”398 the very characteristics the upper class
Roman generally chose for himself, as testified by names of important Roman families. 399
Seston, Dioclétien, 4κέ “montre un Dioclétien plein de sagesse et de vertu, que les dieux ont désigné
avant les hommes pour venger le meurtre d’un empereur aimé de tousέ”
397
Theodor, W. Adorno, The Stars Down to Earth and Other Essays on the Irrational in Culture
(London and New York: Routledge, 1994), 54.
398
εichel Pastoureau, “δa chasse au sanglier: histoire d'une dévalorisation (IVe-XIVe siècle),” dans
La Chasse au Moyen Age: Société, traités, symboles, éd. Michel Pastoureau, Paravicini Bagliani, Agostino
& den Abeele van Baudouin (Firenze: SISMEL-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2000), 9. And also: J. Aymard,
Essai sur les chasses romaines des origines à la fin des Antonins (Paris: De Broccard, 1951), 324.
399
In Europe until the end of the Middle Ages, the boar and the bear competed to be the King of the
animals, see: εichel Pastoureau, “Quel est le roi des animauxς” dans Le Monde animal et ses
représentations au Moyen-âge (XIe-XVe siècles): actes du XVe congrès de la Société des historiens
médiévistes de l'enseignement supérieur public, Toulouse, 25-26 mai 1984 (Toulouse: Université de
Toulouse-Le Mirail, Service des publications, 1985), 133-142.
396
144
Boar hunting was second in importance after lion hunting, but due to a lack of lions it
was the most practiced. 400 The killing of the boar in a face-to-face battle expresses “the
ability of the hunter and his courage, in one word, his Virtusέ”401 The bravery of the boar
- his anger - was what the warrior had to imitate on the battle-field.402 Vegetius (4 t h
century) noted that “boar-hunters may usefully be joined to the military. This is a matter
on which the safety of the entire State depends, that recruits be levied who are
outstanding both in physique and moral qualityέ” 403 Boar images were on Greek a nd
Roman helmets and shields, as well as on the emblems of several Roman Legions.
The hunting of the wild boar expresses the victory of man over animal, the
courage of the hunter over the savagery of the animal. However, during the hunt, the
boundary between the hunted and the hunter, between the biped human animal and the
four footed animal, becomes blurred. The hunter must sharpen his animal sensation to
track the animal, to catch up with it, and to confront it in a face to face battle. This
proximity with the beast is dangerous, not just because of the risk of deadly injury, but
also because of the risk of savage animalization, that the hunter will become confused
with the hunted. The hunter might become a wild animal, a predator, a wild boar. Killing
the boar is the moment when the hunter proves his superiority over the animal. The
Aymard. Essai, 32κέ As εichel Pastoureau notes: “δes Romains aiment chasser le sanglierέ Il s’agit
d’un gibier noble, d’une bête redoutable dont on admire la force et le courageέ Pour les chasseurs c’est un
adversaire extrêmement dangereux qui se bat jusqu’au bout et meurt sans fuir ni renoncerέ Par là même,
c’est un adversaire respecté er recherchéέ D’autant que la chasse au sanglier, qui se pratique le plus souvent
à pied, se termine en général par un combat au corps à corps, face contre face, souffle contre souffle. Le
travail de rabattage se fait avec des chiens et des filets, mais c’est un homme seul qui supporte le dernier
assaut de la bête furieuse : ne craignant ni ses coups, ni ses cris, ni son odeur épouvantable, il tente de
l’achever à l’épieu ou au couteau, en frappant à la gorge ou bien entre les yeuxέ Etre vainqueur d’un
sanglier est toujours un exploit. Rares sont ceux qui y parviennent sans être blessé par les défenses ou par
les soies hérissées de l’animalέ” Pastoureau, “δa chasse,” κέ
401
“l’habilité de veneur et son courage, en un mot sa Virtus [sert] à caractériser la performance
sportive constituée par la mise à mort du sanglierέ” Aymard, Essai, 319.
402
Plutarch, Gryllos 388.
403
Vegetius, Epitome of Military Science 1. Translation by N. P. Milner, Vegetius, Epitome of Military
Science (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1993), 7-8.
400
145
victory of man over the wild animal is the victory of rationality over irrationality. In the
words of Ovid, the feral, uncontrolled instinct, the irrational power of the boar, is what
brings him to his death; encircled by dogs and man, the boar charges the hunter, running
directly into his spear:
The hunted boar displays his anger with his hairy bristles.
He rushes vigorously unto fixed, wounding steel.
Checked by a spear thrust through his guts, he dies. 404
The animal´s power, contrary to that of the hero, is uncontrollable, arbitrary, and
irrational. The man who kills the wild boar appropriates the force of the animal, while at
the same time proving his superiority over it. 405 Only those who have enough power can
rule and protect society from the uncontrolled violence of the wild animal. This is the
logic of the plus forte. Killing the wild animal not only meant the promise of superiority
of man above animal, that of culture over nature, but also of the elite over the plebeians.
Controlling the animal is controlling society. Killing the animal is the manifestation of
the ruler´s power over human life, his capacity and duty to protect the citizens from
outside danger.
The image of the ruler as hunter was common in the Ancient Near East, in Persia,
and in Hellenistic Greece,406 and from the first century CE on was adopted by the Roma n
404
[Pseudo] Ovid, Halieutica, vv. 60-62. Latin text: The Halieutica ascribed to Ovid, ed. J. A.
Richmond (London: Athlone Press, 1962), 18. Translation by Peter Toohey, Melancholy, Love, and Time:
Boundaries of the Self in Ancient Literature (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004), 236.
405
“In Greek thought, with its emphasis on reason (logos) as the distinguishing characteristic of the
Greek-speaking adult male citizen, force (bia) was thought to be a necessary component of the relationship
between rational beings and those with whom one could not reason, including slaves, barbarians and
children as well as animals (…)” Thomas Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators (London: Routledge,
1992), 62.
406
J. K. Anderson, Hunting in the Ancient World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), 5782.
146
emperors. 407 A relief from the period of Hadrian’s rule, later placed on the Arch of
Constantine in Rome (dedicated in 315 CE), is a visual manifestation of the imperial
propaganda of hunting. The emperor Hadrian is portrayed on his horse, followed by two
other riders, chasing a wild boar. He is in a position of spearing the boar with a javelin
(now destroyed)έ As Steven Tuck noted, “This is predator-control hunting showing
Hadrian bringing the benefits of his rule to the Roman world by removing dangerous
animals and thus ensuring peace and stabilityέ”
408
By this discourse the Emperor
identified itself with Alexander the Great, Conqueror of the World.
409
Fig. 20: Hadrianic Boar Hunt Relief, Arch of Constantine, Rome. 410
Steven δέ Tuck, “The τrigins of Roman Imperial Hunting Imagery: Domitian and the Redefinition
of Virtus under the Principate,” Greece and Rome 52, no. 2 (2005): 221-245. The description of Herod by
Josephus in The Jewish Wars (c. 80-100 CE) might serve as an example of this conception of the ruler as
hunter and warrior bound together: “Herod’s genius was matched by his physical constitutionέ Always
foremost in the chase, in which he distinguished himself above all by his skill in horsemanship, he on one
occasion brought down forty wild beasts in a single day; for the country breeds boars and, in greater
abundance, stags and wild asses. As a fighter, he was irresistible; at practice spectators were often struck
with astonishment at the precision with which he threw the javelin, the unerring aim with which he bent the
bow. But besides these pre-eminent gifts of soul and body, he was blessed by good fortune; he rarely met
with a reverse in war, and, when he did, this was due not to his own fault, but either to treachery or the
recklessness of his troopsέ” Josephus, The Jewish War 1.13.429-430.
408
Tuck, “The τrigins,” 23κέ
409
Ibidέ, 243έ τn the “Roman Alexander complex,” see: Diana Spencer, The Roman Alexander:
Reading a Cultural Myth (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2002), Ch. 5.
410
Jones εark Wilson, “Genesis and εimesis: The Design of the Arch of Constantine in Rome,” The
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 59, no. 1 (2000): 54, fig. 64.
407
147
Fig. 21: Alexander the Great Hunting a Wild Boar. 1st century CE. Sardonyx; cameo
The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
The political discourse of the hunter was also an important aspect of the Roman
games since the first century CE. The celebration began in the morning with the
venationes: hunting and killing of dozens if not hundreds of savage animals, including
boars.411 The “noon break” was dedicated to the execution of criminals or war prisoners,
and the afternoon to munera: gladiators combating each other or savage animals,
including boars. The games reaffirmed the social order: in the arena, the struggle between
the uncontrolled forces (criminals, enemies, savage animals) was presented. The
ritualized killing of these beings brought back the rule of order, demonstrating the might
of imperial rule.
411
Boars took part in these festivites in large numbers: the Historia Augusta says that during the games
of Septimus, one hundred and fifty boars were killed, and that during the games of the emperor Probus in
the Circus Maximus in 281 CE, one hundred boars were killed. Historia Augusta, Gordiani Tres 3, 6.7;
Probus 19. See: Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators, 61.
148
The story of Diocletian in the Historia Augustae demonstrates this boarish
metaphor of power.412 Diocletian is not just portrayed as a bold hunter; his hunting skills
demonstrate his qualities as emperor. At the same time, the story demonstrates the
tension between the boar-hunter metaphor and the transformation of the hunted boar into
a man. This is not, however, a critique of the ideal of the hunter; rather, the narrative
conforms to this ideal in a grotesque way.
The Rabbinic legend express a totally different conception of power than that of
the imperial legend of the Historia Augusta; the people of Israel must subjugate
themselves to Roman rule, and not profit from even a temporary, isolated moment of
superiority, even if it is to a lower-ranking Roman. At the same time, the legend subverts
the foreign rule: the emperor was originally just a swineherd, 413 but if Rome is identified
with the pig, is he not a swineherd also in the present? As the later Midrash on Psalms
stated:
“The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, and that which moveth in the field feedeth on it”
(Psέ κί:14): “The boar out of the wood” - refers to the emperor ]of Rome[, while “that
which moveth in the field” - refers to his generals in the field. 414
The Midrashic Context of the Rabbinic Legend
To better understand how the midrashic legend relates to the imperial discourse,
we must analyze its broader midrashic context. The story in Genesis Rabbah is part of a
412
As François Pachoud notes, boar hunting is related to several emperors and those who have been
destined to be emperors: Histoire auguste. Tome V, 1ère partie, Vies d'Aurélien, Tacite, texte établi, traduit
et commenté par François Paschoud (Paris: Les belles lettres, 1996), 378.
413
Likewise, in Coptic hagiography, Diocletian was a goatherder in Egypt: Leary O. De Lacy. The
Saints of Egypt (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1937), 17-18; The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church, vol. εas aram
mt h d r
(September 8-December 6), trans. E.A. Wallis Budge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), 39,
chapter XIέ “εaskaramέ”
414
The Midrash on Psalms 80:14.6. Translation by Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, 51.
149
midrash on the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob. According to the biblical story, Jacob,
the younger son, stole by cunning the right of primogeniture from his elder brother, Esau.
This myth tells the origin of two neighboring nations: Esau is the father of the people of
Edom, and Jacob is the father of Israel. The book of Genesis tells us how in the womb of
their mother, Rebecca, the two brothers (the two nations) “struggled together within her”
(Gn 2η:22)έ Their destiny was proclaimed by God himself before their birth: “And the
Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and two nations shall be separated from
thy bowels; and the one nation shall be stronger than the other nation; and the elder shall
serve the youngerέ” (Gn 2η:23)έ Esau was the first of the twins to be born, but was
immediately followed by his usurper brother, who, in the process of emerging from his
mother’s womb, latched onto his brother’s heelέ Was this a first attempt to take his older
brother’s birthrightς Indeed, this act gave him his name: Jacob (
that is holding the heel” (Aqev=
=יa’aqo ): “the one
). The second time that Jacob attempted to take his
brother’s birthright was when Esau returned from huntingέ Exhausted, Esau asks to eat
from a lentil stew that Jacob has cooked. Jacob asks him to sell him his birthright in
exchange for the stew: “And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit
shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto
him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob” (Gn 2η: 31-33). The third and final episode of
the “fight” for the birthright is the blessing from the father. When the blind father, Isaac,
asks to bless Esau, he sends Esau to hunt for him. Encouraged by his mother to profit
from the absence of Esau, Jacob represents himself to his father disguised as his brother.
Five times the father suspects that this is not Esau, but finally he gives his blessing to
Jacob believing that he is Esau. The elder brother returning from the hunt discovers the
150
plot, but the benediction cannot be taken back. Robbed of his birthright, Esau desires to
murder Jacob (Gn 27).
In Genesis Rabbah, the legend of Diocletian comes after an interpretation of the
first part of Genesis 2η:2η telling of Esau´s birth: “And the first came forth ruddy”:
“Ruddyέ” Rέ Abba bέ Kahana said: Altogether a shedder of bloodέ And when Samuel saw
that David was ruddy, as it is written, “And he sent, and brought him inέ σow he was
ruddy” (1 Samέ 1θ:12), he was smitten with fear, thinking he too might be a murdererέ
But the Holy τne, blessed be He, reassured him that he was “Withal of beautiful eyes”
(ib.) [which meant] Esau slew by his own judgment, whereas he [David] would slay only
on the sentence of the Sanhedrin . 415
The midrash contrasts not Esau and Jacob, but Esau and David. The interpretive
question is the resemblance between the redness of Esau and David; if having red hair
(
) is a sign of being a blood shedder (
), how does one explain that David
was red haired? At a more profound level, the question is: if sovereignty is negative
because it involves shedding blood, what is the difference between the ideal Jewish
kingship and the Roman kingship, between legitimate and illegitimate blood
shedding ?416 The answer is that the bad regime (the Roman) sheds blood according to its
own judgment, and not according to the law, while the good regime (King David) killed
according to the judgment of the court of seventy sages, the Sanhedrin, the only one that
can judge to death. 417 Here, the midrash tells the story that “the emperor Diocletian was
]originally[ a swineherd…” But whyς How does the story illustrate the midrashic ideaς
This would be evident if the midrash told us how Diocletian killed Aper not according to
the judgment of a court (the Roman Senate) but on his own judgment, where he was the
415
,
,
GenR Toledoth 63.8. Translation by Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, vol. II, Genesis , 563-564.
:
-( ,
)"
" [...] ( ,
)"
": "
-( ,
)"
":
έ
,
,( ,
)"
": "
416
Irit Aminoff proposes that the Midrash originly was about Herod, see: Aminoff, The Figure, 226.
417
For the rabbinical anology of “eyes = Sanhedrin,” see: Aminoff, The Figure, 231.
151
prosecutor, the judge, and the executioner at the same time. Instead, the midrash tells a
strange story about Diocletian the swineherd, a story which apparently has no relation to
killingέ We can presume that the story of Diocletian’s rise to power (as told by the
Historia Augusta) is implicit in the midrash. It is thus enough to mention Diocletian, in
this midrashic context, who is clearly an example of a king who kills without justice.
Nevertheless, the image of the Emperor in the story as the one who is right demonstrates
another voice in the midrash that holds a milder vision of Roman rule. If, in the midrash,
Esau (Rome) is a “blood shedder” by nature (red haired), in the Diocletian legend the
hostility of the Emperor to the Jews does not result from his nature, but from the Jew’s
own deeds - their poor treatment of Diocletian in his youth. Roman violence is
conditioned by the deeds of the Jews.418
After the story on Diocletian, Genesis Rabbah interprets the second part of the
sentence of Genesis 25:25:
“]And the first came forth ruddy,[ all over (kullo
) like a hairy mantle [aderet
[”
(Gn. 25:25). Hanina b. Isaac said: Every one (kullo
) [of his descendants] is eligible
for a toga.419
The midrash interprets the word aderet [mantle] as the Roman toga: any one of
Esau´s offspring (the Romans) may become an emperor. If the legend ended with
Diocletian saying to the sages, “Even so, you will not disdain the humblest Roman or the
meanest servant [Guliar[,” the midrash reverses the sense of the phrase, or at least
confirms it ironically, that indeed any one of the Romans might become emperor, perhaps
alluding to the lower origin of Diocletian himself.
418
419
An idea that we observe in ARN A 34.19.
GenR 63.25.
.
:
152
-(
,
)"
"
The midrash not only rejects Rome and its political system, but also comforts the
Jews that Rome will fall:
The Rabbis of the South in Tέ Alexandri’s name, and Rahabah in the name of Rέ Abba bέ
Kahana, said: He came out destined to be altogether scattered like the chaff in the
threshing-floor, as it is written, “Then was the iron…broken in pieces together, and
became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors” (Daniel 2:35). R. Hanina b. Isaac
said: Why will they become like chaff (idre) of the summer threshing floors? Because
they attacked the noble ones (addirim).420
Roman power, represented by the mantle (aderet
(idre
), is associated with chaff
). Its destiny is to be burned in the threshing floor, a punishment for its action
), the Jews.421 In other words, the success of the
against the noble ones (addirim
Roman Empire will also be the reason for its fall, when it will be punished for its
treatment of the Jews. The midrash continues:
“And they called his name Esau” (Gn 2η:2η)έ It is for naught (shav
) that I created him
in εy universeέ Rέ Isaac said: ]God declared[: ‘Ye have given a name to your sow; then I
too will name εy firstborn,’ as it says, “Thus saith the δord: Israel is εy son, εy
firstborn” (Ex 4:22)έ 422
According to the common reading, the midrash is playing with the proximity in
sound between the name Esau (
) and the word naught (shav
). The porcine vanity
of Esau’s (Rome’s) claim of being the primogeniture is contrasted with Exodus 4:22:
“Thus saith the δord: Israel is εy son, εy firstbornέ” 423 Two principal problems are
raised by this midrash: 1) The idea that the creation of Esau was for naught contradicts
the rabbinic idea that nothing is in vain in God’s creationέ 2) If Rέ Isaac’s saying refers to
420
,
GenR 63.25.
:
421
422
":
έ(
)"
See Aminoff, The Figure, 187-188.
GenR 63.25.
,
:
,
"(
έ
:
έ
) "'
'
ς"
"
": "
- "
"
έ( ,
)"
'
423
For the problem with this reading, see: Ronald N. Brown, “Midrashim as oral traditions,” HUCA
47 (1976): 188, note 32.
153
'
'
Esau, the text should not refer to a sow (
) but to the masculine form (
). 424
Samuel Krauss proposed that the use of the word sow stems from Rome’s generally being
described in the feminine (Roma
),425 while Moshe David Herr, proposed that it is
hinting at Aeneas’ sow, one of the symbols of Rome. 426 However, as Ronald N. Brown
proposed, it seems that we have here a midrash about a name that used the Greek
language - that the sages read in the name of Esau (Η αύ) the Greek word for a sow
( υό sus),427 hence: “and they called his name Esau” (Gn 2η:2η) - the sow which I
created in my worldέ Rabbi Isaac said, “Ye have given a name to your sow, etcέ” 428
The Esau-Jacob conflict in the Bible is the conflict between the hunter and the
shepherd.429 From the Rabbinical point of view, Esau the hunter is cruel, a shedder of
blood, while Jacob/Israel the shepherd is merciful. The first is identified with a
devastating, savage, impure animal, the pig/boar; the second with a domestic, pure animal,
the lamb. In the Midrashic legend, Esau=Diocletian became a swineherd and not a boar
424
The masculine form (
) is found in the manuscripts Vatican 30 and Oxford 2335, but this
form appears to be a later correction.
425
Krauss, Paras VeRomi, 103-105.
426
Herr, Roman Rule, 128.
427
For midrashim on a name which uses Greek ) see: Fraenkel, Darkhei ha-Agadah ve-ha-Midrash,
vol. I, 115-118.
428
See Ronald N. Brown’s article (“Midrashim,” 188-189) and his PhD dissertation: The Enjoyment of
Midrash: The Use of the Pun in Genesis Rabba (Ph.D. Thesis, Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College,
1980), 441-446. See also the discussion in Aminoff, The Figure, 12-15. A less likely possibility is that here
the feminine form of the word pig replaces the masculine form. If this is the case, one may wonder if this is
a hint to Diocletian´s statement when he executed Aper, “At last I have killed my fated Boarέ” What seems
even more probable is an illusion to the Midrash that explains the nomination of Rome = pig, in Leviticus
Rabbah: “And why it ]Rome[ is called ‘ a ir’ [swine or boar]? Ḳ Because it will yet restore (hazar) the
crown to its ]rightful[ ownerέ This is indicated by what is written, “And saviors shall co me up on Mount
Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the δord’s” (τbadiah 21)έ” LevR 13.5.
Translation by Israelstam and Slotki, Midrash Rabbah, vol. 4. Leviticus, 176.
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If this assumption is true, the Midrash played twice with the idea that the Roman claim of superiority over
Israel is vain: first in the Midrash of the name of Esau = shaw (naught), and second with the Midrash: a ir
(pig) = hazar (return).
429
Jesse Rainbow, “Sarah Saw a Hunter: The Venatic εotif in "Genesis Rabbah" η3:11,” in Midrash
and the Exegetical Mind: Proceedings of the 2008 and 2009 SBL Midrash Sessions, ed. Lieve M. Teugels
and Rivka Ulmer (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010), 155-179.
154
hunter. Perhaps the midrash tries to reduce the Emperor´s honor by mentioning his
simple origin. However, it seems significant that the rabbinic legend does not create the
opposition hunter-shepherd. Diocletian is not depicted here in a negative light; he is not a
“blood shedderέ” He is not a hunter but a herder, not an arbitrary ruler but a logical one.
This is a more softened, compromising depiction of Roman power. However, Diocletian
is not depicted as a perfect or ideal shepherd, he is ultimately a swineherd. As the pig is
half pure, half impure, Roman rule pretends to be a shepherd while being a swineherd, a
dichotomy that we find in midrash Exodus Rabbah (20) where another enemy of Israel is
a swineherd:
Concerning, “When Pharaoh had let the people go,” (Exέ 13:17) scripture says: “A whip
for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, ]and a rod for the back of fools[έ” (Provέ 2θ:3) ]…[
“A bridle for the donkey,” (Ibidέ) is a parable of Pharaohέ This may be compared to a
swineherd who found a ewe-lamb and kept it among his swine. When its owner
demanded its return, he replied: ‘I have no ewe-lambέ’ The owner then made inquiries as
to where he watered his flocks. When he was told, he stopped the waters up, and again
sent word to the shepherd: ‘Restore my ewe-lambέ’ Again the reply was: ‘I have no ewelambέ’ The owner then inquired ]of his friends[: ’Tell me where he stalls his beastsέ’
When they told him, he destroyed the swineherd’s folds and then sent word again:
‘Restore my ewe-lambέ’ τnce more the reply was: ‘I have no ewe-lambέ’ The owner then
said: Tell me where his beasts actually feedέ’ When they told him, he burnt all the grass
there, and again sent word: ‘Restore my ewe-lambέ’ The replay again was: ‘I have no
ewe-lambέ’ He then asked: ‘δet me know which school his son attendsέ’ He then went
and seized the child, and once again sent word: ‘Restore my ewe-lambέ’ The replay now
was: ‘Here is your ewe-lambέ’ He took it away and then seized the swineherd also, as he
had done to his sonέ The swineherd protested: ‘Since the lamb is no longer in my
possession, why do you seize meς What have I of yours stillς’ the reply was: ‘I claim
from you all that she had given birth to, and also the value of the fleece which you have
sheared all the time she was in your handsέ’ He then began to cry: ‘Would that I had not
given her back at all; for then people would say: “The very fact that he refuses to give it
up, [in spite of intimidation], proves that the man is only seeking an opportunity to slay
himέ” ‘This king, ]the owner[, is the kings of kings, The Holy One, blessed be he Ḳ the
ewe-lamb is Israel; the swineherd is Pharaoh. 430
430
ExodR 20.1. My translation.
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Israel is the ewe-lamb, the Egyptians pigs; against Pharaoh (the swineherd) stands
God, the ultimate shepherdέ δikewise, in the rabbinic equation: ‘Esau=Edom=Rome=Pig’
the association: ‘Jacob=Israel=δamb’ is implicitέ As in the midrash about Egypt, in the
midrashic legend about Diocletian, the non-Jewish ruler is a swineherd, while the ruler of
Israel is a shepherd. In this context of Exodus, one recalls Moses, a shepherd who became
a prophet. In his Life of Moses, Philo of Alexandria provides an idealistic explanation:
After the marriage, Moses took charge of the sheep and tended them, thus receiving his
first lesson in command of others; for the shepherd’s business is a training-ground and a
preliminary exercise in kingship for one who is destined to command the herd of
mankind, the most civilized of herds, just as also hunting is for warlike natures, since
those who are trained to generalship practice themselves first in the chase. And thus
unreasoning animals are made to subserve as material wherewith to gain practice in
government in the emergencies of both peace and war; for the chase of wild animals is a
drilling-ground for the general in fighting the enemy, and the care and supervision of
tame animals is a schooling for the king in dealing with his subjects, and therefore kings
are called “shepherds of their people,” not as a term of reproach but as the highest honourέ
And my opinion, based not on the opinions of the multitude but on my own inquiry into
the truth of the matter, is that the only perfect king (let him laugh who will) is one who is
skilled in the knowledge of shepherding, one who has been trained by management of the
inferior creatures to manage the superior. For initiation in the lesser mysteries must
precede initiation in the greater. 431
Philo follows a philosophical tradition which goes back to Plato, Xenophon, and
Aristotle and describes the good king as one who takes care of his people, like the
shepherd cares for his herd. 432 The same is found in the biblical ideal manifested in the
figure of Moses and King David.433 The sages thus follow a general idea of the Greco -
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Philo of Alexandria, Moses I (De Vita Mosis), lines 60-62.
432
Philo of Alexandria, Writings, vol. I. The historical Writings, the Apological Writings, tr. and ed.
Suzanne Daniel-Nataf (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1986), 224, note 69 (Hebrew).
433
On the image of King David as a shepherd, see: Yair Zakovitech, David: From Shepherd to
Messiah (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben Zvi, 1995), 167 (Hebrew).
431
156
Roman world, which contrasts the hunter (boarish) political imperial ideal of power with
that of the shepherd.434
The direct connection between the Historia Augustae legend of Diocletian and the
rabbinical one proposed by Gdaliah ibn Yahia in the sixteenth century remains
speculative. However, comparing one with the other, a more profound connection arises the confrontation of two contradictory political discourses. The sages, rejecting the
politics of raw power, reject the boarish/boar hunter metaphor of the ruler. Rather, they
inverse the Roman identification with the boar from a sign of legitimacy to a sign of
illegitimacyέ The sages did not resist in the enemy’s (boarish) terms of hunting but by
longing for a future where the boar ( a ir) will return the rule to Israel. This messianic
projection avoids the politics of force - which lead to a direct violent confrontation with
the Roman Empire, and advocates the politics of subjection to non-Jewish rule. However,
the rabbinic resistance to the Empire does not just represent a passive messianic solution;
by equating the impure, non-kosher animal par excellence with the Empire, the avoidance
of pork became an act of a total resistance, here and now. Even a daily act of eating
became an act of resistance to the omnivore-homogenized politics of Imperial
universalism. Not partaking of pork meant not partaking of the Empire.
For Judaism´s hostility to hunting, see: Paul Aέ Kay and Bob Chodos, “εan the Hunterς Hunting,
Ecology, and Gender in Judaism,” Ecotheology 11 (2006): 494-509. Rainbow, “Sarah Saw a Hunterέ”
434
157
Chapter 7
Leviticus Rabbah 13
Chapter thirteen of midrash Leviticus Rabbah,435 edited in Palestine/Eretz Israel in
the 4th-6th century, includes a compilation of diverse midrashim concerning the pig.
Because most of the chapter (13.2-5) is dedicated to the interpretation of the purity laws
concerning four legged animals in Leviticus 11:1-8,436 we will discuss all its parts and not
just its statements regarding the pig. 437
Leviticus Rabbah 13.2
The first section (13.2) opens with the question of election (of Israel, generation
of the wilderness, Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount), Jerusalem, Mount Sinai, and the
Land of Israel), referring to Habakkuk 3:θ: “He stood and measured the earth; he looked
and shook [yatar=released] the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered as the
everlasting hills sank low. His ways were as of old:”438
R. Simeon b. Yohai began: “He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook
[yatar
=released[ the nations; (Habέ 3:θ)έ “The Holy τne, blessed be he, took the
The text use here follows Mordechai εargaliot’s edition (1956Ḳ8; Reprint. New York: Jewish
Theological Seminary, 1993). See also the Bar Ilan University’s online edition of δeviticus Rabbah:
<http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/midrash/VR/outfiles/OUT13-02.htm>. Consulted May 16, 2012.
436
Leviticus 11:1-κ: “1: The δord spoke to εoses and Aaron, saying to them: 2 Speak to the people of
Israel, saying: From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat. 3 Any animal that
has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud--such you may eat. 4 But among those that chew
the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud,
it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 5 The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it
does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 6 The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not
have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. 7 The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed,
it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you
shall not touch; they are unclean for youέ”
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The first part of the chapter (13.1) deals with the death of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10.
438
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158
measure of all the nations and found no nation but Israel that was truly worthy to receive
the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be he, further took the measure of all generations and
found no generation but the generation of the wilderness that was truly worthy to receive
the Torah. The Holy One, blessed be he, further took the measure of all mountains and
found no mountain but Mount Moriah that was truly worthy for the Presence of God to
come to rest upon it. The Holy One, blessed be he, further took the measure of all cities
and found no city but Jerusalem that was truly worthy in which to have the house of the
sanctuary built. The Holy One, blessed be he, further took the measure of all mountains
and found no mountain but Sinai that was truly worthy for the Torah to be given upon it.
The Holy One, blessed be he, further took the measure of all lands and found no land but
the Land of Israel that was truly worthy for Israel. That is in line with the following
verse of Scripture: ‘He stood and took the measure of the earthέ” 439
After emphasizing that the election was done vis-à-vis all other options (Israel
was elected from all the nations, mount Sinai from all the mountains, etc.), the midrash
moves to the second part of the first phrase of Habakkuk 3:6 which concerns the conquest
of the land of Canaan by the Israelites, described in terms of eating:
]“He rose and measured the earth[ and He released (
yatar) nations” (Habέ 3:θ) Ḳ Rab
said: He declared [the shedding of] the blood of heathens permitted, and He declared the
[appropriation of the] property of heathens permitted. He declared [the shedding of] their
blood permitted, as it is said, “Thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth”(Deutέ 2ί:17)έ
He declared ]the appropriation of[ their property permitted, as it is said, “Thou shalt eat
spoil of thine enemies,” (Deutέ 2ί:14)έ R. Yohanan says: He jumps them to Hell as it is
written “to leap [lenater
] with them on the ground.” (δevέ 11:21)έ R. Huna of
Tzippori said: He permitted their harlotry (zonim ) י, as it is written, “He looses the
bond [musar
] of kings and binds their loins with a girdle” (Job 12:1κ)έ 440
439
LevR 13.2. Translation by Jacob Neusner, A Theological Commentary to the Midrash, vol. 4,
Leviticus Rabbah (Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 2001), 47.
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159
Habakkuk 3:6 is part of a psalm which describes how, after coming from Teman
and Para (in the vicinity of Mount Sinai), God takes revenge on the evil nations . 441
Therefore, by choosing this verse, Leviticus Rabbah refers to both the election in Sinai in
the past and the future redemption. In Habakkuk 3:6, “yatar
” means “drove asunder,”
but can also mean “to make permissible,” but it may also, as the midrash proposes, mean
“to release ή be releasedέ” The idea is that while the Canaanites were released from the
commandments, it was permissible for the Israelites to take their lives and land. In
another words, while the Canaanites were authorized to eat, Israel was authorized to “eat”
them and their land. Hence, the midrash links Israel’s election in Sinai with the messianic
judgment of the evil nations, which will be “eaten” as were the seven nations of Canaan
in the past. 442
441
Robert D. Haak, Habakkuk (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 82-83. Neusner, A Theological Commentary
2001), 169-206. Habakkuk 3:6 is part of the prophetic lesson (haftarah) on the second day of Pentecost,
which the Sages identified with the anniversary of the recieving of the Torah in Mount Sinai.
442
This idea is emphsized in other versions of the midrash. See: Midr Tann 33.2
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In the following paragraph Leviticus Rabbah tells two parables which explain
why the commandments were given to the Jews and not to all nations of the world:
Ulla Biraah in the name of Rέ Simeon bέ Yohai: “The matter ]of the reference to
‘releasing the nations’[ is to be compared to the case of one who went out to the threshing
floor [for harvesting his crop], taking his dog and ass with him. He loaded his ass with
five seahs of grain, and his dog with two. The dog went along panting. He took one seah
off the dog, but it continued to pant. He took off the second, but it continued to pant. He
said to it, ‘σow you’re carrying nothing, yet you’re continuing to pant!’ So as to even the
seven religious duties that the children of Noah accepted: since they could not endure
under their burden, the [nations] went and loaded them onto Israel. 443
The message is that if the commandments are a burden, the Jews by obeying them
demonstrate their superiority to other nations. We may refer to this idea as the Burdening
Principle:444 to the extent that an individual or a group burdens itself, it demonstrates or
claims superiority over other individuals or groups. 445 This line of thinking is inter alia a
counter argument to the Christian view of the yoke of the law as a punishment to Israel,
from which Jesus liberates humanity. If Christians argue that “the letter of the Law kills”
(cf. 2 Cor. 3:6), the midrash to the contrary argues that freedom from the Law kills, as is
emphasized in the second parable of the midrash which uses medical imagery:
Said Rέ Tanhum bέ Rέ Hanilai, “The matter ]of releasing the nations[ may be compared to
a physician who went to pay a call on two sick persons. One of them [he judged] to have
the strength to live, and the other of them [he judged] not to have the strength to live. To
the one who he judged to be able to survive, he said, “Such and so you must eatέ” But to
the one who he judged to be unable to survive, he said, “Whatever he wants ]to eat[, give
himέ” So the nation of the world, who are not going to enjoy the world to come: “]Every
443
LevR 13.2. Translation by Neusner, Leviticus Rabbah, 48
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444
Amots Zehavi and Avishag Zahavi. The Handicap Principle: A Missing Piece of Darwin's Puzzle
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
445
We can find the handicap principle also in the distinction the sages make between themselves and
the Jewish mob (am ha-aretz)έ See for example bavli Pesahim 4λb: “Rabbi said, it is forbidden for an am
ha-aretz to eat meat - as it is written, 'This is the torah of beast and fowl' (Lev 11:46) - for all who engage
in Torah - it is permitted to eat the flesh of beast and fowl. But for all who do not engage in Torah, it is not
permitted to eat beast and fowlέ” Jonahan Brumberg-Kraus, “εeat-eating and Jewish Identity: Ritualization
of the Priestly 'Torah of Beast and Fowl' ]δevέ 11:4θ[ in Rabbinic Judaism and in εedieval Kabbalah,”
Association for Jewish Studies Review 24, no. 2 (1999): 227-262.
161
moving thing that lives will be food for you], as the green herb have I given you
everything” (Genέ λ:3)έ But to Israel, who will enjoy the world to come: “]And the δord
said to Moses and Aaron, Say to the people of Israel,] these are the living things which
you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth” (δevέ 11:1-2) 446
If in the first parable the burden of the commandments was placed on Israel
because of its healthy capacity to carry it, in the second parable the commandments were
given to Israel to improve its health. The pure diet is metaphorically the healthy one,
while omnivorous regimen is equal to death. Life and death however, are not in this
world but in the world to come. Interestingly enough, we find a si milar argument in the
neoplatonist Porphyry (c. 234-c.304), Against the Christians, where Porphyry notes that
Paul “mutters like a man on his deathbed,” when he said: “Eat whatever’s sold in the
meat market without raising questions on the basis of conscience, for the earth is the
δord’s and everything in it (1 Corέ 1ί:2η-26).”447
The midrash´s citation of Genesis λ:3, “Every moving thing that lives will be food
for you, as the green herb have I give you everything,” as being what permits the
idolaters to eat everything, likely refers to the Christian reading of this verse. According
the Christian exegesis, beginning with Justin Martyr in the middle of the second century,
446
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Porphyry, Porphyry's Against the Christians: The Literary Remains, ed. and trans. R. Joseph
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this verse as proofs that all kind of food are pure and therefore permitted. 448 Interestingl y
enough, more or less in the period of the writing of Leviticus Rabbah, the emperor Julian
“the Apostate” or “the Philosopher,” in his anti-Christian treaty Against the Galileans (wr.
June 362-March 363, cf. Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian), criticizes the Christians’
“omnivorousness:”
Why in your diet are you not as pure as the Jews, and why do you say that we ought to
eat everything “even as the green herb (Gen λ:3),” putting your faith in Peter, because, as
the Galilaeans say, he declared, “What God hath cleansed, that make not thou common
(Acts 1ί:1η)”ς 449
This “omnivorousness” for Julian was scandalousέ In his discourse, To the
Uneducated Cynics, he criticizes his interlocutor for despising Diogenes of Sinope’s
diet:450 “For you are an Egyptian, though not of the priestly caste, but of the omnivorous
type whose habit it is to eat everything “even as the green herb” (Gnέ λ:3)έ You recognize,
I suppose, the words of the Galilaeans.” 451 Thus the Christians (the Galilaeans) are
associated with the omnivorousness of the Egyptian mob, and hence indirectly with the
omnivorous animal par excellence Ḳ the pig - from which Egyptian priests abstained.
While Peter’s vision in Jaffa (Acts 1ί: λ-22) plays an important role in the Christian
argument that all foods are permitted, the later Christian interpretation of Genesis 9:3
448
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 20.2. See: David Rokeah, Justin Martyr and the Jews (Leiden:
Brill, 2002), 112. The anti-Christian message of the midrash is also found in its paralell in Exodus Rabbah
30.22 which cites Ezekiel 22:25, which is used to support the Christian argument that the Jewish law is
negative. See: Jean-δouis Déclais, “Du combat de Jacob avec l’ange à la licéité de la viande de chameau: le
devenir d’un récit,” Islamochristiana 25 (1999): 47.
449
Julian, Against the Galilaeans 306B-314E (Apud Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian).
450
On Julian and the cynics, see Rowland Smith, Julian's Gods: Religion and Philosophy in the
Thought and Action of Julian the Apostate (London: Routledge, 1995), 49-90.
451
Julian, To the Uneducated Cynics 1λ3Aέ See: Derek Krueger, “The Bawdy and Society: The
Shamelessness of Diogenes in Roman Imperial Culture,” in The Cynics: The Cynic Movement in Antiquity
and Its Legacy, edέ Robert Bracht Branham and εarie-τdile Goulet-Cazé. Hellenistic culture and society,
23 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 232. Pseudo Aristeas makes a similar connection
between Egypt’s mob and omnivorousness: “The priests who are the guides of Egyptians have looked
closely into many things and are conversant with affairs, and have named us ‘men of God,’ a title
applicable to no others but only to him who reveres the true God. The rest are men of food and drink and
raiment, 141: for their whole disposition has recourse to these thingsέ” Letter of Aristeas 139-140.
163
goes further by arguing that Peter’s vision merely returned the status of animals to their
primordial state at the time of Noah. Jewish food avoidances were thus limited in time, a
temporal exigency placed upon the Jews to correct their ways. The avoidance of pork
thus does not concern the nature of the pig but rather the sinful nature of the Jews. Since
for Julian the different religious manifestations go back to early times and are
unchangeable (as is the Torah for the sages), he cannot accept this dynamic explanation
of the δawέ Thus, he ironically asks if the nature of the pig changed after Peter’s vision:
What proof is there of this, that of old God held certain things abominable, but now has
made them pure? For Moses, when he is laying down the law concerning four-footed
things, says that whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven-footed and cheweth the cud is
pure, but that which is not of this sort is impure [cf. Leviticus 11:3]. Now if, after the
vision of Peter, the pig has now taken to chewing the cud, then let us obey Peter; for it is
in very truth a miracle if, after the vision of Peter, it has taken to that habit. But if he
spoke falsely when he said that he saw this revelation, - to use your own way of speaking,
- in the house of the tanner, why are we so ready to believe him in such important matters?
Julian hints that the Christian abandonment of food avoidance is a practical
accommodation motivated by the desire to render life easier:
Was it so hard a thing that Moses enjoined on you when, besides the flesh of swine, he
forbade you to eat winged things and things that dwell in the sea, and declared to you that
besides the flesh of swine these also had been cast out by God and sh own to be
impure? 452
Julian reverses the Christian claim that originally Moses was forced to yoke the
Jews with food avoidances in order to end their enslavement to their bellies; that the Jews’
literal understanding of pork avoidance demonstrates that they are carnal and earthly, or
in other words: hoggish. 453 Julian hints that it is the Christians who resemble the pi g,
which consumes everything with no limits. He also suggests that their porcine diet is
452
Julian, Against the Galilaeans 306B-314E (Apud Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian).
See: Peter Jέ Tomson,”Jewish Food δaws in Early Christian Community Discourse,” Semeia 86
(1999): 193-211έ Sέ Stein, “The Dietary δaws in Rabbinic and Patristic δiterature,” Studia Patristica 2
(1957): 141-54.
453
164
motivated by their weakness of the flesh. 454 This is similar to the argument in Leviticus
Rabbah that the non-Jews were released from the Law because of their weak nature. Like
Julian, Leviticus Rabbah turns the Christian argument on its head: the law was not given
to Israel as a corrective-preventive punishment because of the Jews’ sinful-earthly nature
but rather because of their healthy nature; freedom from the commandments does not
bring life but rather death, while the burden of the Commandments brings life.
Leviticus Rabbah 13.3
This section of the midrash begins with another interpretation of Leviticus 11:2:
“These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth,”
proposing that the commandments came to purify (letzaref
) the peoples (briot
):
“Every word of God is pure ]tzrufa [ (Prov. 30:5) - Rab said: This means the precepts
were given for the express purpose of purifying [letzaref
] peoples [briot
]. Why
]must one assume[ so muchς Because it is said, “He is a shield to them that seek refuge in
Him” (Provέ 3ί:η)έ 455
Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376-444 CE) in his Against Julian refutes Julian’s criticism, noting that the
avoidance of pork from the beginning was spiritual and not physical: “The law is spiritual and does not
provide an explanation that stops at physical meaningsέ (…) So the voice of the δord came down, not only
because God was rebuking him but also he was saying clearly, “What God has cleansed, you must not call
commonέ”(Acts 1ί:1η) Then ]Peter[ immediately understood that the time had come when the shadows had
to be transformed into truth. And so the passage of the figures into truth fulfilled them and should not show,
as some people think, that they were placed there without a reason. Doubtless, the lawgiver does no t
consider a pig, or the other animals, now clean, now unclean. No, for he knows that they are well made, for
it is written, ‘And God saw all that he had made, and behold all was very good, and he blessed itέ’(Genέ
1:31) For to the extent that each thing of creation has come to be and to the extent that it has been made, it
will only have, so I suppose, in itself what is good. So even though the pig cannot chew the cud, it is not
unclean, but rather is perfectly edible, and what is proper to something’s nature does not pollute it. As I
have said, the law was figures and shadows that remained ‘until the time of correctionέ’(Hebέ λ:1ί)” Cyril
of Alexandria, Against Julian 9.318-19 [PG 76: 989-92]. Translation by Ancient Christian Commentary on
Scripture, New Testament, vol .V. Acts, ed. Francis Martin and Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove, IL: Inter
Varsity Press, 2006), 128. τn Cyril’s interpretation of Acts 1ί see: François Bovon, De Vocatione Gentium:
istoire de ’interpr tation d’Act. 10,1-11, 18 dans les six premiers siècles (Tübingen: Mohr, 1967), 123.
455
LevR 13.3. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 166-167, with slight
alteration.
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165
The idea that the one who fulfills God´s Commandments will be rewarded is
followed by the description of the banquet that God will arrange for the righteous in the
messianic era:
R. Judan b. R. Simeon said: Behemoth and the Leviathan are to engage in a wild-beast
contest [kinigin
] before the righteous in the Time to Come, and whoever has not
been a spectator at the wild-beast contests [kinigin
] of the nations of the world in
this world will be accorded the boon of seeing them in the World to Come. How will they
be slaughtered? Behemoth will, with its horns, pull Leviathan down and rend it, and
Leviathan will, with its fins, pull Behemoth down and pierce it through. The Sages said:
And is this a valid method of slaughter? Have we not learnt the following in a Mishnah:
“All may slaughter, and one may slaughter at all times ]of the day[, and with any
instrument except with a scythe, or with a saw, or with teeth [in a jaw cut out of a dead
animal[, because they chok”ς R. Abin b. Kahana said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said:
“Instruction ]of the Torah[ shall go forth from εe” (Isέ η1:4), iέeέ a new interpretation of
the Torah will go forth from Me. 456
The kinigin, from Greek (kynegion υ ήγ ο ) ‘chase’ or ‘hunt’ (kynegia) 457 refers
to the show of animal combat, as well as the place where this show took place. 458 The
symmetry of reward will make the ones who do not watch the non-Jewish games in this
456
LevR 13.3. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 166-167, with slight
alteration.
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457
William Kέ Jrέ Whitney, “The Place of the Wild Beast Hunt’ of Sibέ τrέ 3,κίθ in Biblical and
Rabbinic Tradition,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 25, no. 1 (1994): 68-κ1έ Kimberly Bέ Stratton, ”The
Eschatological Arena: Reinscribing Roman Violence in Fantasies of the End Times,” Biblical
Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 17, no 1-2 (2009): 45-76.
458
In Constantinople, the amphitheatre of Septimus Severus was known as the Kynegion. Joseph
Patrich proposed that this could also be the name of the amphitheatre in Caesarea in the time of the Rabbis
(see: Joseph Patrich, “Herod’s HippodromeήStadium at Caesarea in the Context of Greek and Roman
Contests and Spectacles,” in Studies in the History of Eretz Israel, presented to Yehuda Ben Porat, ed.
Yehoshua Ben-Arieh and Elchanan Reiner (Jerusaelm: Yad Ben-Zvi Press, 2003), 163 (Hebrew). Ze'ev
Weiss, “The Jews and the Games in Roman Caesarea,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective After Two
Millennia, ed. Avner Raban, Kenneth G Holum, and Jodi Magnes, Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research. no. 308: 108 (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 443-4η3έ Ibidέ, “Roman δeisure Culture and Its
Influence upon the Jewish Population in the δand of Israel,” Qadmoniot 109 (1995): 2-19 (Hebrew). Ibid.
“The Jews of Ancient Palestine and the Roman Games: Rabbinic Dicta vsέ Communal Practice,” Zion 66
(2001), 427-4ηλ (Hebrew)έ Ibidέ, “Adopting a Novelty: The Jews and the Roman Games in Palestine,” The
Roman and Byzantine Near East: Recent Archaeological Research, II, ed. J. H. Humphrey, Journal of
Roman Archaeology, Supp. 31 (Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1999), 23 -49. R. Aha, a
third-centruy Amora who lived in Caesarea: “When the day of the Judgment arrives… you will be among
those who behold the punishement of the sinners rather than among those who are beheld receiving
punishment. You will be among the spectators rather than among the gladiatorsέ” PRK. 28:3. see: Weiss,
“The Jews,”451.
166
world instead watch the messianic play. The question of the edibility of the slaughtering
of Behemoth and Leviathan contrasts implicitly the non-edible way of killing of animals
in the kinigin, but it is also a criticism of the idea that in the messianic era God will
change the Law.
This is a marginal idea in early rabbinical Judaism, but central in Christianity,
which argues that Jesus replaced the old Torah with a new one. 459 The midrash 460 reads
the “new Torah (
)” of Isaiah as a new interpretation of Torah (
) which
will resolve the rabbinic question of the legality of Behemoth and Leviathan’s butcheryέ
To reinforce the idea of a reward for keeping the purity laws, another midrash is told
concerning the messianic banquet which this time is described as a reward for keeping
the food purity laws:
R. Berekiah said in the name of R. Isaac: In the Time to Come, the Holy One, blessed be
He, will make ariston [
meal, banquet] 461 for his righteous servants, and whoever
has not eaten nebelah and tr efa in this world will be merited to eat in the World to Come.
This is indicated by what is written, “And the fat that which dieth of itself (nebelah) and
the fat of that which is torn of beasts (terefah), may be used for any other service, but eat
it ]ye shall[ not,” in order that you may eat it in the Time to Come. For this reason did
εoses admonish Israel, saying to them: “This is the animal which ye shall eatέ” Rabbi
Chiya says Moses was holding each animal and demonstrated it to Israel, and saying: this
is the animal you will eat and this is the one you will not eatέ “These you may eat, of all
that are in the waters.” (δevέ 11:2) This is the animal you will eat and this is the one you
will not eatέ “These you shall regard as detestable among the birds” (Ibid. 11:13). - This
is the animal you will detest and this is the one you will not detestέ “These are unclean for
you” (Ibid. 11:29) - This is the unclean and this is uncleanέ “These are the creatures that
you may eat (Ibid. 11:2).”462
459
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Heavenly Torah: As Refracted Through the Generations, trans. Gordon
Tucker and Leonard Levin (New York: Continuum, 2005), 680-700.
460
According to Hananel Mack, the message of the midrash is that in the messianic era some
commandments include the laws of butchering. This possible reading does not seem to me the original
message of the midrash in the light of its contextέ εack, “The Source,” 69.
461
Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (RamatGan, Israel: Bar Ilan University Press, 1990), 75.
462
LevR 13.3. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 166-167, with slight
alteration.
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167
Again we find here the idea that one that avoids the forbidden foods in this world
will be recompensed by eating in the world to come. This is evident in reading Leviticus
7:24, “eat it ]ye shall[ not” and δeviticus 11:2, “these are the creatures that you may eat,”
as referring not just to the present but also to the future.
Leviticus Rabbah 13.4
After noting the meticulous nature of the food laws, the midrash turns from the
reward for keeping the commandments to the punishment in the opposite case:
]Returning to[ the body ]of the matter[, said Rέ Abbahu, “It was a kind of fiery skull that
the Holy τne, blessed be he, showed to εosesέ He said to him, “If ]during a slaughter[
the membrane of the brain is perforated, in any measure at all, [the beast is] invalid[ly
slaughtered and may not be eatenέ[” Said Rέ Simeon bέ δaqish, “If you have merit, you
shall eat. If you do not have merit, you shall be eaten Ḳ by the kingdomsέ” Said R. A a,
“It is written, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if
you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword ( erev
); [for the mouth of
the δord has spoken[” (Isέ 1:1λ-2ί)έ “You shall eat carobs ( aruvin
)έ”For Rέ A a
said, “When a Jew has ]to resort to eating[ carobs, he carries out repentanceέ And as
becoming is poverty for the Jews as a red ribbon on the chest of a white horseέ” 463
The message is that Israel’s political condition is the consequence of the success
or failure of the Jews to keep the commandments. When Israel goes astray, it is eaten by
the nations, but its diet of misery (eating carob) serves as repentance.
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Leviticus Rabbah 13.5
The fourth section (13.5) relates a series of ten different readings of verses, where
the sages see a structure of “three-four,” in which they read the schemes of the four
kingdoms (Table 2). This pattern, which is the most common in the Hebrew Bible (98
places),464 is composed of four elements: three which repeat each other or are analogous
and a fourth which creates a radical change which is the climax of the pattern. The
contradiction between the situation common to the first three elements and the fourth
creates tension and surprise and provides a general logic to the pattern. This is also the
overall pattern of section 13.5, which is divided into four parts (I-IV): Part I (“Adam saw
the four kingdoms…”) reads Genesis 2:11-14, which describes the four rivers that go out
from the garden of Eden as the four kingdoms. Part II (“Abraham saw the four
kingdoms…”) reads Genesis 15:12 which describes the falling of the night during God´s
blessing to Abraham in the Brit bein HaBetarim, the “Covenant Between the Parts,”
linking it to the animals mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:15. 465 Part III (“Daniel saw the
four kingdoms…”) refers to the four animals mentioned in Daniel 6:4, which is linked to
the animals mentioned in Jeremiah 5:6. Part IV (“εoses saw the four kingdoms…”)
refers to the four animals mentioned in Leviticus 11:6: the camel, the hare, the rock
badger, and the pig. In other words, the section moves from Paradise, and hence from
Creation to the Abramaic covenant (the Covenant Between the Parts), to Exodus (Deut.
Yair Zakovitch, ‘ or Three…and for our’μ The Pattern of the σumerica Sequence Three-Four in
the Bible (Jerusalem: Makor, 1979), 496 (Hebrew).
465
As Irit Aminoff notes, midrashim concerning the four kingdoms refers to different subjects, as
“creation in all its stages; the rivers flowing out of Eden, the convenant with Abraham, the four kings’ war,
the binding of Isaac, relations between Isaac and Esau, Jacob’s dream of the ladder, pairing of heroes
among Jacob’s sons with each of the four kingdoms, the halacha of leprosy, the red heifer, prohibition of
impure animals, the prophet’s visions, particularly Daniel’s of the four beasts, selection of Biblical verses
opposite the four kingdoms, Israel’s honourέ” Aminoff, The Figure, 308.
464
169
8:15), then to the eschatological fourth beasts of the book of Daniel, to the animals
mentioned in Jeremiah 5:6 as the punishment God sent on Judah for it sins, and finally to
the purity of animal kinds in Leviticus (table 2).
Part
I
Adam
II
Abraham
III
Daniel
IV
Moses
Read
ing
1
Phrase/
Empire
Gn 2:11-14
Babylonia
Media
Greece
Rome (Edom)
Pishon
Gihon
Tigris
Euphrates
2
Gn 15:12
Dread
Great
Fell on him
3
4
Deut. 8:15
Gn. 15:12
Scorpion
Darkness
Fell on him
Horror
5
Daniel 6:4
Snake
Fell on
him
Lion
Darkne
ss
Serpent
Great
Bear
Wolf
6
Jeremiah
5:6
Lion
Wolf
Leopard
7
Lev. 11:6
Camel
Hare
8
Lev. 11:6
Camel
hare
9
Lev. 11:6
Camel
hare
10
Lev. 11:6
Camel
hare
Rock
badger
rock
badger
rock
badger
rock
badger
The fourth beast
(Dan. 7:6)
“Whoever goes
out from them
will be savaged”
Pig
pig
pig
pig
Table 2: The Four Kingdoms in Leviticus Rabbah 13.5.
We will now observe the texts referring to the pig. In part III, the fourth beast of
the book of Daniel is linked to the boar of Psalm 80:14:
Daniel beheld the empires engaged in their ]subsequent[ activitiesέ “I saw in my vision by
night, and, behold, the four winds of the heavens broke forth upon the great sea. And four
great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from the other (Danέ 7:2)έ” If you will so
merit, it [the animal] will come up out of the sea, but if not, from the forest. An animal
coming up from the sea is timid, whereas if it comes from the forest, it is not tim id.
Similar is ]the interpretation of[ “The boar out the wood ]ya’ar] doth ravage it (Ps.
κί:14)έ” 466
466
LevR 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 171.
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The pig out of the river (ye’or) refers probably to a certain kind of fish which is
called pig and which is not harmful to man. 467 The message of the midrash, that we have
seen above (in section 13.4), is clear: the political condition of Israel (subjection/ liberty)
does not depend so much on its relations with non-Jews but more on its relations with
God. When the Jews respect the commandments they are free, but when they do not they
are subjected to the nations. 468 This is an idea which the Mishnah formulated in the
saying: “Whoever accepts the yoke of Torah is relieved of the yoke of the empire, but
whoever shrugs off the yoke of Torah is subjected to the yoke of the empireέ”469
In some manuscripts it is added, “The letter ‘ayin [in the word ya’ar] is suspended, [indicating that it might
be read as if ye’or (river), meaning]: If you will prove worthy it [i.e the boar] will come from the river, if
you will not prove worthy, from the wood; an animal coming from a river is timid, one coming from a
forest is not timid.”
The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, version A seems to link Psalms 80:14 with Rome: “Scripture
reads, The boar out of the wood (ya’ar) doth ravage it (Ps 80:14), but it is written, The boar our out of the
river (ye’or) doth ravage it. The boar out of the wood doth ravage it ]according to one manuscript: ‘refers
to the Roman Empire’[έ For when Israel does not do the will of God, the nations appear to them [Israel] like
the boar out out of the wood: even as the boar of the forests kills people and injures folk and smites men, so
too, so long as Israel does not do the will of God, the nations kill them [Israel] and injure them and smite
them. But so long as Israel does the will of God the nations do not rule over them. (Then the nations are)
like the boar out of the river : even as the boar of the rivers kills no people and harms no folk, so too, so
long as Israel does His will, no nation or people kills them or harms them or smites them. That is why it is
written, The boar out of the river.” The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan A 34. Translation by Goldin,
The Fathers, 138.
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This is probably a fish; several fish in Greek and Latin are called pig or boar, see: Alfred C.
Andrews, “Greek and δatin εouse-Fishes and Pig-Fishes,” Transactions and Proceedings of the American
Philological Association 79 (1948): 232-253. Jacques André, “δa part des suidés dans le vocabulaire grec
et latin,” Anthropozoologica 15 (1991): 8-11. Isidore of Seville (7th century) writes: “Shetfish (porcus
marinusέ litέ “sea pigs”), commonly called suilli (litέ “small swine), are so named because when they seek
food they root up the earth underwater like swineέ” Isidore of Seville, Etymology 12.6.12. Translation by
Stephen A. Barney, The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006),
260. In Arabic, the term khinzir (pig) is also used to designate several animals with a long muzzle : the
potamocherus of Africa is called khinzir al-nahr/al-mā (“Pigήboar of the riverήwater)έ See: Fέ Viré,
“Khinzir,” The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, vol. V (Leiden: Brill, 1979), 9.
468
On this idea in the rabbinic midrashim concerning Esau (Rome), see: Aminoff, The Figure, 208-212.
469
M. Avoth 3.5.
,
;
,
:
.
171
Most references to the pig are found in part IV of the midrash, in which the
pattern “three-four” is found in each of the four readings which make up this part as well
in the relations between the first three readings (7-9) and the last one (10). The first of the
four reads as follows (no. 7):
Moses foresaw the empires engaged in their [subsequent] activities. “The camel, the hare,
The Rockbadger,” (Deutέ 14:7) “The camel ]ga mal[” - alludes to Babylon, of whom is
said, “[O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed]; happy be he that repayeth thee
thy retributions [gemul] as thou hast dealt [ga mal] with us” (Psέ 137:κ)έ “The Rockbadger
alludes to Media. The Rabbis and R. Judah b. Simon gave different explanations. The
Rabbis said: just as the rock-badger possesses marks of uncleanness and marks of
cleanness, so too did Media produce a righteous man as well as a wicked man. R. Judah b.
Rέ Simon said: The last Darius was the son of Esther, clean from his mother]‘s side[ and
unclean from his father]‘s side[έ The hare alludes to Greece; the name of the mother of
Ptolemy was [Lagos, the Greek equivalent of] hare. The swine alludes to Edom [i.e.
Rome]. 470
The end of the reading emphasizes the particularity of the fourth beast (Rome):
Moses mentioned [the first] three of them in one verse, but the last [by itself] in another
verse. R. Johanan and R. Simeon b. Lakish gave explanations. R. Johanan said: Because
it [i.e. the swine] is on a par with the three others put together. R. Simeon b. Lakish said:
It is even more than that. R. Johanan raised an objection to the view of R. Simeon b.
δakish ]on the strength of the passage[, “Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and
smite hand to hand [and let the threefold sword [doubled[” (Ezekiel 21:19). What does
Resh δakish do with thisς ]Resh δakish replied: It is said[: “The threefold swords
doubled” (Ibid.). 471
In the next paragraph the midrash links the boar of psalm 80:14 with the pig of Leviticus
11:7:
For the metaphor of the ‘yoke’
see: Marijn Zwart, Reverence & Resistanceμ The Term ‘ o e’ in
Matthew 11, 28-30 as Elucidated by the Theories of Bildfeld & Hidden Transcripts (M.A. Thesis, Utrecht:
Utrecht University, 2011).
470
LevR. 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 173-174.
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In some manuscripts the fourth beast (the pig) is not Rome but Persia. The exceptional identification of the
pig with Persia plays with the sonority of the Hebrew word for hoof: parsa
and the Hebrew word for
Persia: paras
.
471
LevR 13.5.
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R. Phinehas and R. Hilkiah, in the name of R. Simeon, said: Out of all the prophets, only
two, namely Asaph and Moses, named it [i.e. Rome[έ Asaph said: “The boar ( a ir) out
of the wood doth ravage it” (Ps κί:14[, εoses said: “And the pig ( a ir) [because it
parteth the hoof, and is cloven footed, but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean to you]”
(δevέ 11:7)έ” Why is it ]iέeέ Rome[ compared to a a ir [pig or boar]? Ḳ To tell you this:
Just as the pig when reclining puts forth its hooves as if to say: See that I am clean, so too
does the evil kingdom [Rome] boast as it commits violence and robbery, under the guise
of establishing a judicial tribunal. Once a governor in Caesarea who put to death the
thieves, adulterers, and sorcerers, said to his counselor: “I myself did these three things in
one nightέ”472
We find the same midrash in Genesis Rabbah 65.1 concerning Esau´s marriage at
the age of forty with Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter
of Elon (Gnέ 2θ:34), which is presented as a hypocritical behavior given that “until the
age of forty, Esau used to ensnare married women and violate them, yet when he attained
forty years he compared himself to his father, saying, ‘As my father was forty years old
when he married, so I will marry at the age of fortyέ’” (Gn. 26:34). 473 The midrash
creates unity between the Torah and Psalms, proposing that the criminal nature of the pig
(Rome) in Psalm 80:14 is explained in Leviticus 11:7. 474 Caesarea was the capital of the
province of Judea and hence the governor’s centerέ The governor in the midrash is hence
the highest Roman authority in the city which the sages saw as “small Rome,” and hence
represents the typological wicked Esau who is marked by his hoggish nature.
The second reading (no. 8) of the four animals of Leviticus 11:4-6 provides the
first explanation (out of three) for why Rome (the pig) is different from the three
preceding empires (beasts):
472
LevR. 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 174.
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GenR Toledoth 64.1. Translation by Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, vol. II, 580. See:
Fraenkel, Darchei Aggadah VeHamidrash, vol. I, 220.
474
The image of the pig as pretending to be pure may recall the Greco-Roman proverb concerning the
pig as being emblematic of stupidity: “A pig teaching εinerva” (Sus docet Minervam).
,
,
173
Another interpretation: The camel alludes to Babylon, “Because he extolleth with the
throat,” (Lev. 11:4) i.e. that it praised the Holy One, blessed be He. R. Berekiah and R.
Helbo said in the name of R. Samuel b. Nahman: All the expressions that David used
separately, that wicked man [viz. Nebuchadnezzar] included in one verse, as it is said,
“σow I, σebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of Heaven; for all His
works are truth, and His ways justice; and those that walk in pride He is able to abase”
(Danέ 4:34)έ ]Corresponding to σebuchadnezzar’s expression[ ‘praise, ]David had said[,
“Praise the Lord, O Jer usalem” (Psέ 147:12); ]corresponding to[ “extol,” ]David had
said[, “I will extol Thee, τ δord” (Psέ 3ί:2); ]corresponding to[ “honour,” ]David had
said[, “τ δord my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with glory and honour” (Psέ
1ί4:1); ]corresponding to[ “All His works are truth” ]David had said[, “For Thy mercy
and for Thy truth,” (Psέ 13κ:2); ]corresponding to[ ‘His way is justice,” ]David had said],
“He will judge the peoples with equity (Psέ λθ:1ί); ]corresponding to[ “Those that walk
in pride,” ]David had said[, “The δord reigneth, He is clothed in pride (Psέ λ3:1);
]corresponding to[ “He is able to abase,” ]David had said[, “All the horns of the wicked
also will I cut off” (Ps 7η:11)έ“And the rock-badger” alludes to εedia, “He exalteth with
the throat” in that it extolled the Holy τne, blessed be He, as it is said, “Thus saith Cyrus,
king of Persia [All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord, the God of the heavens, given
me, etc[έ” (Ezra 1:2)έ “And the Hare: alludes to Greece, She raiseth with the throat in that
it extolled the Holy One, blessed be He. Alexander of Macedon, when he saw Simeon the
Just, said: “Blessed be the δord, God of Simeon the Justέ” 475
While the first three empires exalt God, Rome blasphemes:
“The pig” (δevέ 11:7) - this refers to Edomέ “For it does not chew the cud”- for it does
not give praise to the Holy One, blessed be he. And it is not enough that it does not give
praise, but it blasphemes and swears violently, saying, “Whom do I have in heaven, and
with you I want nothing on earth. (Ps. 73:25). 476
The third reading of the four beasts of Leviticus 11:4-6 (no. 9) states that while
the first three empires exalt the righteous, Rome kills them:
Another interpretation: The camel” (δevέ 11:4) - this refers to Babyloniaέ “For it chews
the cud” -for it exalts righteous men: “And Daniel was in the gate of the king” (Danέ
2:4λ)έ “The rock badger” (δevέ 11:η) - this refers to εediaέ “For it brings up the stranger”
- for it exalts the righteous men: “εordecai sat at the gate of the king” (Estέ 2:1λ)έ “The
hare” (δevέ 11:θ) - this refers to Greeceέ “For it brings up the stranger” - for it exalts the
475
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LevR 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 175.
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LevR 13.5.
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174
righteous. When Alexander of Macedonia saw Simeon the Righteous, he would rise up
on his feetέ They said to him, “Can’t you see the Jew, that you stand up before this Jewς”
He said to them, “When I go forth to battle, I see something like this man’s visage, and I
conquerέ” “The pig” (δevέ 11:7) - this refers to Romeέ“ But it does not bring up the
stranger” - for it does not exalt the righteous. And it is not enough that it does not exalt
them, but it kills themέ That is in line with the following verse of Scripture: “I was angry
with my people, I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand, you showed them no
mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy” (Isέ 47:θ)έ This refers to Rέ
Akiba and his colleagues. 477
The last reading (no 10), which also closes the chapter, introduces the third
difference between the empires and Rome, which will not be followed by another empire:
Another interpretation ]now treating “bring up the cud” (gera) as “bring along in its
train”]: “The camel” (δevέ 11:4) - this refers to Babyloniaέ “Which brings along in its
train” - for it brought along another kingdom after itέ “The rock badger” (δevέ 11:η) - this
refers to εediaέ “Which brings along in its train” - for it brought along another kingdom
after itέ “The hare” (δevέ 11:θ) -this refers to Greeceέ “Which brings along in its train” for it brought along another kingdom after itέ “The pig” (δevέ 11:7) - this refers to Rome.
“Which does not bring along in its train” - for it did not bring along another kingdom
after itέ And why is it then called “pig” ( a ir)? For it restores (me azeret) the crown to
the one who truly should have it [namely, Israel, whose dominion will begin when the
rule of Rome ends[έ That is in line with the following verse of Scripture: “And saviors
will come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esau [Rome], and the kingdom
will then belong to the Lord (Ob. 1:21). 478
In sum, the three readings give a different sense to the blemished sign of the pig
in δeviticus, that it does not chew the cud: the first reads it as a sign that Rome “does not
exalt the righteous;” the second, that Rome “does not give praise to the Holy τne,
blessed be he. And it is not enough that it does not give praise, but it blasphemes and
swears violently;” and finally that “it did not bring along another kingdom after itέ” The
477
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LevR 13.12. Translation by Neusner, Judaism and Christianity, 222.
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LevR 13.13. Translation by Neusner, Judaism and Christianity, 222-223.
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last reading is reinforced by the midrash name for the word pig ( a ir): “And why is it
then called “pig” ( a ir)? For it restores (me azeret) the crown to the one who truly
should have it [namely, Israel, whose dominion will begin when the rule of Rome
ends].”479 Hence, the impure nature of the pig incarnates Rome’s crimes against God a nd
his nation, but also Rome’s future fall and punishment and Israel’s final triumphέ The
fourth kingdom, Rome, Edom, the pig, will fall and will raise the fifth and final kingdom,
Israel, after the future revenge prophesized in τbadiah 1:21: “And saviors will come up
on Mount Zion to judge the Mountain of Esau [Rome], and the kingdom will then belong
to the Lordέ” 480
Discussion
In all four sections of the midrash (13.2-5), the main message is: The fulfillment
of the commandments is a sign of Israel’s superiority over the nations (13έ2)έ If Israel
follows the law, it will be rewarded (13.3), if Israel does not follow the law, it will be
punished (13.3); Israel´s subjection to Rome is part of a divine plan. Rome is the worst of
the four kingdoms, but also the final kindom (13.5) (table 3). Through the midrash, we
can see the dialectics of eating which function with several contradictions: to eat - to be
eaten; to avoid eating Ḳ to be rewarded by eating; and not to eat now (in this world) Ḳ to
eat in the future (in the world to come). Israel should avoid eating impure food in this
world but will eat the messianic meal; Israel in this world is eaten by the nations of the
world but will eat them in the world to come. Hence, passivity, which is the outcome of
powerlessness, which is symbolized by the simile of being eaten, is transformed into an
479
480
LevR 13.13.
LevR 13.13. Translation by Neusner, Judaism and Christianity, 222-223.
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active powerέ This is achieved by portraying avoidance of impure food as the “real” field
of battle and by projecting it to the messianic future where Israel will receive its
recompense, and actively eat.
Section
13.2
13.3
13.4.
13.5
Content
God elects the generation of the desert, Mount
Moriah, Jerusalem, Mount Sinai, the land of Israel.
Main Ideas
Israel’s Election is the dis-election of the
nations.
The release of the nations from the
commandments demonstrates their inferiority.
God permits Israel “to eat”
the nations of Canaan
(their lives, land, and
goods).
- The parable of the donkey
and the dog
- The parable of the doctor
and the two patients
The aim of the
Commandments
The release of the nations from the law is not a
sign of liberty but of subjection.
The burdening of the commandments
demonstrates the superiority of the Jews.
In the world to come, the Jews will be
recompensed for their keeping of the Law.
The banquet of Behemot - The Torah is eternal (there will not be a new
and Leviathan in the
Torah in the messianic era).
World to Come
- God will recompense those that will keep his
The ariston [banquet] for Law.
the righteous in the World
to Come
- The eternity of the Law
- God will recompense those who keep the food
laws.
God showed Moses a fiery Israel´s
political
condition
(freedom/
skull.
subjection) is conditioned by its observance of
the Law.
The four kingdoms
Israel’s subjection to the four kingdoms is part
of the divine plan announced by all the
prophets.
The
fourth
kingdom
(Rome=Pig)
is
distinguished from the three empires preceding
it. It is the worst but the last. After its fall,
Israel will be redeemed.
Table 3: The Structure and message of Leviticus Rabbah 13.2-5.
177
We can see a strong symmetry in the construction of the midrash which follows
the pattern “three-four,” in which the fourth element is different from the three
preceeding and consists of a climax of all the elements. The chapter concerning Leviticus
11:1-7 is divided into four sections (13.2-5); the fourth section (13.5) is divided into four,
while each of the ten readings include a variety of verses according to the pattern of
“three-four”(fig. 22).
1
2
3
4
Readings
a
b
c
d
Fig. 22: The three-four model in Leviticus Rabbah 13.
We find here the two types of symmetry which Chaim Milikowsky observes in
midrash Seder Olam: moral and estheticέ The moral symmetry is one of the faces of “a
measure for a measure” (
), or as the Mishanah says: “According to the
measure that a person measures, with it do we measure him” (m. Sota 1.7), while the
esthetic symmetry provides a sense of order in the divine historic plan. 481 As Gerson D.
Cohen notes, “It was not out of love for the art of history that the rabbis sought symmetry,
but out of a passionate longing for the messianic redemption. Schematology always
Chaim εilikowsky, “The Symmetry of History in Rabbinic δiterature: The Special σumbers of
Seder Olam, Chapter Two,” Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought 11 (1993): 45 (Hebrew).
481
178
betrays a very superficial interest in the events themselves, but a deep desire to unravel
their meaning and their place in the plan of history as a wholeέ” 482 History is a repetitive
pattern. The sages read the diverse texts following the idea of the unity of Torah (
): all the texts are understood as decoding the same basic idea, that of the four
kingdoms. This unity of scriptures is imagined as unity of time (Adam, Abraham, Daniel,
Moses) and as unity between prophecy and Law, practice and history. This structure
placed special importance on the pig (=Rome) and resolved in a sense the problem posed
by the actual importance of the avoidance of pork due to the tensions between Jews and
eaters of pork in the Greco-Roman world.
As proposed above, a few ideas in the midrash can be understood as constituting a
polemic with Christianity, mainly the rejection of the idea that the commandments are but
a yoke and a burden. As Joseph Heinemann notes (1971):
All sections of this homily refer, in one way or another, to animals and the eating of their
meat; yet, instead of dealing with details of the precepts, they put the entire chapter into
an utterly new perspective. Far from being a burden, the dietary laws are a token of
distinction for Israel, a means by which they are set apart from other nations and will,
eventually, inherit life in the World-to-Come. If they refrain from participating in the
wild-beast contests and from eating forbidden meat in this world, incomparably greater
pleasures are in store for them in the future. And this very chapter, apparently but
enumerating the list of forbidden animals, is in truth foretelling the messianic redemption.
In this as in other homilies the author deals by implication with acute problems of his
time. Not only does he hold up the hope of redemption and demonstrate that Israel's
subjugation to Roman rule is but temporary, he also summarily rejects the idea that the
commandments are but a yoke and a burden ḳ as was claimed by Christianity in its
polemics against Judaism. 483
Jacob Neusner, in Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine: History,
Messiah, Israel, and the Initial Confrontation (1λκ7), linked the sages’ identification of
Gerson Dέ Cohen, “The Symmetry of History,” in Abraham Ibn Daud, The Book of Tradition (Sefer
Ha-Qabalah), ed. Gerson, D. Cohen (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967), 213.
483
Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a εidrash: The Art of Composition in δeviticus Rabbaέ” Journal of
the American Academy of Religion 39, no. 2. (1971): 147-148.
482
179
Rome with the pig to Jerome’s allegorical exegesis of the two signs of purity of four
footed animals (the parted hoof and the chewing of the cud):
The Jew is single-hoofed and therefore he is unclean. The Manichean is single hoofed
and therefore he is unclean. And since he is single-hoofed he does not chew what he eats,
and what has once gone into his stomach he does not bring up again and chew and make
fine, so that what had been coarse would return to the stomach fine. This is indeed a
matter of divine mystery. The Jew is single-hoofed, for he believes in only one Testament
and does not ruminate; he only reads the letter and thinks over nothing, nor does he seek
anything deeper. The Christian, however, is cloven-hoofed and ruminates. That is, he
believes in both Testaments and he often ponders each Testament, and whatever lies
hidden in the letter he brings forth in the spirit. 484
As Neusner (1987) notes, Rome in Leviticus Rabbah “bore some traits that
validate, but lacked others that validate Ḳ just as Jerome said of Israel. It would be
difficult to find a more direct confrontation between two parties to an argument. Now the
issue is the same Ḳ who is the true Israel? Ḳ and the proof-texts are the same; moreover,
the proof-texts are read in precisely the same wayέ τnly the conclusions differέ” 485 For
Neusner, the image of the pig w hich pretends to be pure summerizes the main antiChristian polemical message of the chapter:
The polemic represented in Leviticus Rabbah by the symbolization of Christian
Rome makes the simple point that, first, Christians are no different from, and no better
than, pagans; they are essentially the sameέ The Christians’ claim to form part of Israel,
then, requires no serious attention. Since Christians came to Jews with precisely that
claim, the sages’ response -they are another Babylonia - bears a powerful polemic charge.
But that is not the whole story, as we see. Second, just as Israel had survived Babylonia,
Media, and Greece, so would it endure to see the end of Rome (whether pagan, whether
Christian). But there is a third point. Rome really does differ from the earlier, pagan
empires, and that polemic shifts the entire discourse, once we hear its symbolic
vocabulary properly. Christianity was not merely part of a succession of undifferentiated
modes of paganism. The symbols assigned to Rome attributed worse, more dangerous
traits than those assigned to the earlier empires. The pig pretends to be clean, just as the
Christians give the signs of adherence to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That
484
Jerome, Tractates on Psalms 95.2. Translation by Boniface Ramsey, Beginning to Read the Church
Fathers (New York: Paulist, 1985), 25-26. Allegorical interpretation of these signs is found as early as
Pseudo-Aristeas, Letter of Aristeas 150-154 in the second century BCE and in Philo of Alexandria The
Special Laws 4.18-19.106-109; On Husbandry 33. 143-145 in the first century CE.
485
Neusner, Judaism and Christianity, 102.
180
much the passage concedes. For the pig is not clean, exhibiting some, but not all, of the
required indications, and Rome is not Israel, even though it shares Israel’s Scriptureέ 486
σeusner’s reading makes the polemic with Christianity the leitmotiv of the
Leviticus Rabbah and Genesis Rabbah, but what are the proof texts for this reading? The
midrashic presentation of the Empire as pretending to be pure can be understood as
targeting the Empire’s discourse, which presents its action as just and beneficial to
humanity, and not just against the Christian claim to be true Israel. Neusner argues that
the fourth century, or the age of Constantine, was a dramatic turning point in JewishChristians relations:
The age of Constantine, the fourth century (roughly, from 312, when Constantine
extended toleration to Christianity, to 429, when the Jewish government of the Land of
Israel ceased to enjoy the recognition of the state), marks the period in which Christianity
joined the political world of the Roman Empire. In that century Christianity gained power,
briefly lost it, and, finally, regained the power that assured its permanent domination of
the stateέ Christians saw Israel as God’s people, rejected by God for rejecting the Christέ
Israel saw Christians, now embodied in Rome, as Ishmael, Esau, Edom: the brother and
the enemyέ The political revolution marked by Constantine’s conversion forced the two
parties to discuss a single agendum and defined the terms in which each would take up
that agendum. 487
However as Adiel Schremer noted recently, “contrary to prevalent scholarly
opinion, Constantine’s conversion and the resulting Christianization of the Roman
Empire were, from the rabbinic point of view, of relatively little significance. Palestinian
rabbis of late antiquity continued to view Rome as a powerful oppressor, without paying
much attention to its new religious characterέ” 488 The historical reality was probably
somewhere between these two scholarly opinions. However, what is important for my
discussion here is the lack of any direct reference to Christianity in the midrash itself. If
the midrash represents the subtext of the dominated and it indeed targets Christianized
486
Ibid. Italics mine.
Ibid, 1.
488
Adiel Schremer, Brothers Estranged: Heresy, Christianity, and Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 22.
487
181
Rome, why does it not directly point to it? One possible explanation is the refusal of the
sages to follow the Christian reading of the Christianization of the Empire as a turning
point. If for Christianity the Empire changed its nature by embracing the true faith, the
sages insist on the continuity by repeatedly describing the empire as being as unj ust as
beforeέ Thus: while for Christians “all changes,” for the sages “nothing changesέ” There
was no need to Christianize Rome. The need was rather to refuse to recognize the
supposed change in the empire’s natureέ
182
Chapter 8
The Boar out of the Wood
As we have seen, in Genesis Rabbah and Leviticus Rabbah, Esau, Rome, and the
fourth empire are identified with the “boar out of the wood” of Psalm κί:14έ We will now
discuss the interpretation of this verse in other rabbinical texts (mainly Sifre 316-317 and
b. Pesa im 118b) and in Christian exegesis (Augustine, Eucherius of Lyons, and
Cassiodorus). However, first we will observe in some detail the scriptural context of
Psalm 80:14. 489 A prayer for the restoration of the ravaged vineyard [Israel] of the
Shepherd of Israel [God], the psalm starts with an invocation and petition (vv 2-4),
followed by a lamentation (vv. 5-8) which serves as a prologue to the main section of the
psalm, the parable of the vine (vv. 9-20),which itself may be divided into three parts: 1)
A recitation of God’s saving acts (vv. 9-12), 2) a description of the vine’s present
condition (vv 13-17a), and 3) petitions and a vow (vv. 17b-20). As Marvin E. Tate
explains, the parable of the vine is an “extended metaphor of Yahweh’s great vine which
he took from Egypt and planted in his land. In the vineyard that was Israel, the vine once
spread its branches and tendrils until it transformed a large territory into a vineyard and
covered mountains and mighty cedars with its shade. But now the great vine is ravaged,
uprooted by wild hogs and trampled by vagrants who pluck its fruit as they willέ” 490 The
historical pattern of the psalm is that of salvation-enslavement-redemption, going from
God´s salvation of Israel from Egypt, to the giving of the Promised Land, to the
Ps. 80 is dated by some to the eighth century BCE. As Craig Cέ Broyles notes, “Psέ κί has been
variously considered to reflect every national crisis from the tenth century division of the kingdom to the
time of Maccabees. The most plausible conjectures locates the psalm either in 732 -722 BC when the
northern tribes were under threat (…) or in the time of Josiah and his reformέ” Craig Cέ Broyles, The
Conflict of Faith and Experience in the Psalms: A Form-Critical and Theological Study (Sheffield,
England: JSOT Press, 1989), 161.
490
Marvin E. Tate, Psalms. 51-100 (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990), 316.
489
183
punishment of Israel for its sins by a foreign force, and finally to the future redemption
(table 4).
Structure
I. Invocation and
petition (vv 2-4)
II. Lamentation
(vv 5-8)
Text
1: To the Conductorέ According to ‘δilies’έ A
testimony. To Asaph. A Psalm.
2: Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who
hast led Joseph like a flock! Thou who art
enthroned upon the cherubim, appear!
3: Before Ephraim and Benjamin and
Manasseh stir up thy might and come to save
us!
4: Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that
we may be saved!
η: τ δord’ ‘Sabaoth, how long wilt thou be
angry with thy people’s prayerς
6: Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
7: Thou didst make us a strife to our
neighbours, and our enemies mock at us.
8: Restore us, O God Sabaoth; let thy face
shine, that we may be saved!
III. Parable of the vine
. Recitation of God’s
9: Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt; Thou
saving acts (vv 9-12) didst drive out the nations and plant it.
10: Thou didst clear the ground for it; it took
deep root and filled the land.
11: The mountains were covered with its
shade, the cedars of God with its braches;
12: It sent out its tendrils to the sea, and its
branches to the river.
. Description of the
13: Why hast thou broken down its walls,
vine’s present
so that all who pass along the way pluck its
condition (vv13-17a) fruit?
14: The boar from the forest ravages it, and
the beasts of the field feed on it.
15: Return to us, O God Sabbaoth! Look
down from heaven, and see, and visit this
vine,
16: the sapling which thy right hand planted,
and the son whom thou hast reared for
thyself!
17: It is burned with fire and hacked to pieces;
184
Event
Hope for future
redemption
Israel’s present
suffering
The Exodus from
Egypt.
The conquest of the
Promised Land
Israel’s present
destruction
. Petitions and vow
(vv 17b-20)
they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
18: Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right
hand, the son of man whom thou hast reared
for yourself!
19: We will not part from thee; thou givest us
life that we may call on thy name;
2ί: Restore us, τ δord’ ‘Sabaoth! δet thy
face shine, that we may be saved. 491
The future redemption
Table 4: Structure and content of Psalm 80
If verse κί:14 is a metaphor for Israel’s enemy who destroyed the vineyard
(Israel/ Temple),492 it is inscribed in a divine historical plan and hence carries both the
idea of destruction and the hope for redemption. This scriptural context made Psalm
80:14 particularly apt for transferring an eschatological interpretation of Israel´s
subjection by Rome in the Rabbinic literature.
Sifri Numbers 316-317
One of the earlier (end of the 3 rd cent.?)493 references to Psalm 80:14 is found i n
Sifri on σumbers’ interpretation of verses thirteen and fourteen of Deuteronomy thirty
two. These verses are part of the blessing and warning God gave to the Israelites before
Moses´ death and their crossing of the Jordan into the Holy Land (known as “the song of
Moses
”).494 The midrash offers four different readings following the patter n
“three-four” [see table 5]. The first reading evokes the time of the Israelites’ conquest of
491
Weiser, The Psalms, 546.
In the Masoretic text, the letter ayin of the word ya’ar (forest) is suspended above the line [ ]. It
was proposed that it is a clue to a change of the original text which read a ir meyeor (
) “boar of
the σile,” referring to Egypt, while a ir meya’ar (
) refers to Rome. But, as Marvin E. Tate notes,
“the suspension is more likely due to the fact that this was assumed to be the middle consonant of entire
Plasterέ” Tate, Psalms, 307.
493
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, 297.
494
Deuteronomy 32:13-14: “13: He made him ride on the high places of the earth and he did eat the
fruitage of the field and He made him to suck honey out of the crag, and oil out of the flinty rock. 14: Curd
of kine and milk of sheep with fat of lambs and rams of the breed of Bashan and hegoats with the kidneyfat of wheat and the blood of the grape thou drankest foaming wineέ”
492
185
the Promised Land, and the bounty of the Holy Land in the past; the second speaks of the
Temple cult; the third of Torah learning; and the fourth, which will be discussed here, of
the bondage to Rome:
Another interpretation: “He made him ride on the high places of the earth” (Deutέ
32:13) Ḳ this refers to the world, as it is said, “The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,”
[that which moveth in the field feedeth on it] (Ps. 80:14) Ḳ “and he did eat the fruitage of
the field” (Deutέ 32:13) Ḳ this refers to the four kingdoms Ḳ “and He made him to suck
honey out of the crag, and oil out of the flinty rock” (32:13) Ḳ this refers to the oppressors
[metzikim]495 who have taken possession of the Land of Israel, and from which it is as
difficult to extract a pĕrutah ]a penny[ as from rock; but in the near future Israel will
inherit all of their possessions and will derive pleasure from them as from oil and honey.
“Curd of kine” (Deutέ 32:14) Ḳ this refers to their consuls [pitkim] and their generals
[hagmonim] Ḳ “and milk of sheep” (Deutέ 32:14) Ḳ this refers to their colonels
[klirikim] Ḳ “and rams” (Deutέ 32:14) Ḳ this refers to their centurions [kintornim] Ḳ “of the
breed of Bashan” (Deut. 32:14) Ḳ this refers to the privileged soldiers [benifikarim = lat.
beneficarius], who extract (food) from between the teeth Ḳ “and hegoats” (Deutέ 32:14) Ḳ
this refers to their senators [snokolitim] Ḳ “with the kidney-fat of wheat” Ḳ this refers to
their noble ladies [metroniot = lat. matrona] Ḳ “and the blood of the grape thou drankest
foaming wine” (Deutέ 32:14) Ḳ in the near future Israel will inherit their possessions and
will derive pleasure from them as from oil and honey. 496
The paragraph opens with the reading of Deuteronomy 23:13 in the light of Psalm
80:14. The textual connection between the two verses was probably that both have the
word “field Ḳ
” in them:
Deut.
32:13
He made him ride on the high places of the
earth
and he did eat the fruitage
of the field.
Ps.
80:14
The boar out of the wood doth ravage it
[that which moveth in the
field feedeth on it].
With this link, the fourth and final reading of the midrash of Deuteronomy 32:13
creates a surprise: while the first three readings create an idyllic climate, interpreting the
For the term “metzikim” see: Herr, Roman Rule, 52-53.
Sifre 317. Translation by Reuven Hammer, Sifre: A Tannaitic Commentary on the Book of
Deuteronomy (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986), 324, with slight alteration.
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496
186
verses as standing for the blessing of the Israelites (the Land of Israel, the Temple, and
Torah), the fourth addresses Rome. However, we can see here how the four readings
together create an order: the first reading reminds us of the blessing which the people of
Israel enjoyed in their land in the past; the second reminds us of the Temple cult; the third
speaks of the Torah learning, which is the sages’ occupation, while the fourth describes
the future redemption from Roman subjection. The midrash proposed that the blessing of
Deuteronomy 32:13-14 will comfort the destruction caused by the boar in Psalm 80:14.
Hence a symmetry is created between the blessing and the curse; the past and future;
subjection and redemption, between “being eaten” right now (by the boar = Rome) and
the future eating of the oppressors of Israel (= the Romans). A shift is created in time
from the world of the Temple to the world of the sages, from sacrifices to Torah learning,
making the study and fulfillment of the Torah the key to redemption, a condition for the
messianic “eating” of Rome.
187
Deuteronomy
32:1-14
He made him
ride on the
high places of
the earth
and he did eat
the fruitage of
the field
and He made
him to suck
honey out of
the crag,
and oil out of
the flinty rock.
Curd of kine
and milk of
sheep
with fat of
lambs
and rams
of the breed of
Bashan
and hegoats
with the
kidney-fat of
wheat
and the blood
of the grape
thou drinkest
foaming wine.
1
Past’s
blessing
Land of
Israel
Fruits of the
land of
Israel
Figs of
Siknin; olive
of Gush
Halab
Readings
2
3
Temple’s cult
To rah’s
learning
Temple
Torah
Offering baskets
of first fruits
(Bikurim)
Libations of oil
Scripture
Fourth kingdom
Mishnah
Oppressors who
have taken
possession of the
Land of Israel,
which in the near
future Israel will
inherit
Consuls and their
generals
Colonels
Talmud
Solomon’s
times
Sin offering
Ten tribes’
times
Solomon’s
time
Offering of flour
Ten-tribes’s
time
Libations of
wine
4
Subjection and
Redemption
World (=Rome)
= the boar of Ps.
80:14
Inferences
form the minor
to the major,
analogies,
rules, and
answers (to
arguments)
Laws that are
the essence of
Torah
Homiletic
lessons that
attract man’s
heart like wine
Centurions
Privileged
soldiers
Senators
Noble ladies
Israel will derive
pleasure from
them as from oil
and honey
Table 5: The reading of Deuteronomy 32: 13-14 in Sifre 316-317.
Bavli Pesaḥim 118b
In Bavli Pesa im 118b, the boar of psalm 80:14 is found in a midrash which links
psalm 117:1 497, which describes the praising of the Lord by the nations in the messianic
Psέ 117:1έ “Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! 2 For great is his steadfast
love toward us, and the faithfulness of the δord endures foreverέ Praise the δord!”
.ּ ּ ְ - ֹ ְ
ְ
, ֹּ ְד
έ . ֻמ
ּ ּ ש ְב, ֹּ
ְ
ּ ְ
497
188
era, to psalm 68:30-32, which describes the future punishment of Israel’s enemies by God
and how the nations of the world in the messianic era will praise the Lord and bring gifts
to the Temple.498 The first part of the midrash argues that Israel has more reasons tha n
other nations to praise the Lord:
Said R. Kahana, 499 “When Rέ Ishmael b. R. Yosé fell ill, 500 Rabbi sent word to him:501
‘Tell us two or three of the things that you said to us in the name of your fatherέ’ “He sent
word to him, ‘This is what father said: “What is the meaning of the verse of Scripture,
‘Praise the δord all your nations (Ps. 117:1)? What are the nations of the world doing in
this settingς This is the sense of the statement, ‘Praise the δord all you nations (Psέ 117:1)
for the acts of might and wonder that he has done with them; all the more so us, since ‘his
mercy is great toward usέ’” 502
The second part of the midrash describes how God will accept gifts from Egypt
and Ethiopia:
“And further: “Egypt is destined to bring a gift to the εessiahέ He will think that he
should not accept it from them. The Holy One, blessed be He, will say to the Messiah,
‘Accept it from them, they provided shelter for my children in Egyptέ’ Forthwith: ‘σobles
shall come out of Egypt bringing gifts’ (Psέ θκ:32)έ The Ethiopians will propose an
argument a fortiori concerning themselves, namely: ‘If these, who subjugated them, do
this, we, who never subjugated them, all the more so!’ The Holy τne, blessed be He, will
say to the εessiah, ‘Accept it from themέ’ Forthwith: ‘Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out
her hands to God’ (Psέ θκ:32)έ 503
Ps 68: 30-33έ “Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves
of the peoples. Trample under foot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war. Let
bronze be brought from Egypt; let Ethiopia hasten to stretch out its hands to God. Sing to God, O kingdoms
of the earth; sing praises to the δord, Selahέ”
. ּ בז מ ְ ֹ ְפ
ְ פ ְב
ְב ְ מ
ב
ְּ έ . ש
ְ ּ ֹ ְָ
ְ ּש
ָ
.
ּ ְמ
ֹ ּ ש
ֹ ְ ְ έ . ֹ
ּש ת
ְ
ְּ ש
έ
See: Samuel L. Terrien, The Psalms: Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids,
Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2003), 485-496.
499
Rabi Kahana was a Babylonian Amora of the first generation (3rd cent.).
500
Rabbi Ishmael b. R. Yosé was a Tana of the fifth generation (2 nd cent. - beginning of 3 rd cent. CE).
501
Rabbi Judah I the Patriarch was a Tana of the fifth generation (2nd cent. - beginning of 3rd cent. CE)
502
B. Pesa im 118b. Translation by Jacob Neusner, The almud: Law, Theology, Narrative: a
Sourcebook (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2005), 85-86.
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B. Pesa im 118b.
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189
The third part of the midrash speaks of Rome which is identified with the rebuked
“wild beast of the reeds” in Psalm θκ:3ί which includes three interpretations of the word
“reeds” (kaneh
). The first interpretation is as keneh (to take possession):
Wicked Rome will then propose ]the same[ argument a fortiori in her own regard: ‘If
these, who are not their brethren, are such, then we, who are their brethren, all the more
so!’ The Holy τne, blessed be He, will say to Gabriel, “Rebuke the wild beast of the
reeds [kaneh[έ” (Psέ θκ:32) Ḳ ‘rebuke the wild beast and take possession ]keneh] of the
congregation ]‘edah[έ’ 504
This reading divides Psalm 68:32 - “Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds” - into
two parts: the first refers to Rome’s punishment, while the second to the restoration of
Israel - God’s congregationέ The second reading makes an illusion to the midrashic
tradition according to which Rome was founded on reeds, as for example in Songs of
Songs Rabbah: “’εy own vineyard I did not keep (Song 1:θ)’ Ḳ R. Levi said: On the day
that Salomon married the daughter of Pharaoh Necho, Michael the great prince came
down from heaven and stuck a great pole in the sea, and mud came up on each side so
that the place became like a thicket of reeds, and that was the site of Romeέ” 505 Hence
Leviticus Rabbah reads “the reeds” in Psalm θκ:32 as the “forest” mentioned in Psalm
80:14:
Another interpretation: ‘Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds’ - who dwells among the
reeds, ‘the boar out of the wood ravages it, that which moves in the field feeds on itέ’ (Ps
80:14). 506
504
B. Pesa im 118b.
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SongR 1:41. Translation by Rivka Ulmer, Egyptian Cultural Icons in Midrash (Berlin: Walter De
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506
B. Pesa im 118b.
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If indeed this reading refers to the tradition of Rome’s foundation on reeds, it
links it to the destruction of Israel/ the Temple by the Romans. Rome is the home of the
boar, the animal of the reeds, which recalls the Roman myth of Aeneas’s sow, but
contrary to that in the midrash, the boar is not a sign of Rome’s fortune, but rather of its
criminal nature; it is not a sign of eternal Rome, but rather of its falling. The third reading
interprets the word “reeds” (kaneh
) as pen (using the Greek word kolmus, which in
rabbinic literature means “reed” or “reed pen”):507
Said R. Hiyya bar Abba: said Rέ Yohanan, “Rebuke the wild beast, all of the actions of
which may be recorded with the same penέ” “The multitude of the bulls ]abirim] with the
calves of the people” (Psέ θκ:31): they slaughtered the valiant ]adirim] like calves that
have no ownersέ “Everyone opens his hand with the desire of moneyέ” (Psέ θκ:31): they
open their hand to take the money but do not do what the owner wantsέ “‘He has scattered
the people that delight in approaches” (Psέ θκ:31): what brought about that Israel should
be scattered among the nations? It [is] the approach [to the nations] which they wanted. 508
Rome, the animal of the reeds - the boar, is described as murderous and a
despoiler. Like the midrashic tradition concerning the foundation of Rome as a res ult of
King Solomon’s marriage with a non-Jewish woman, the conclusion of the midrash
explains Israel’s subjection to Rome as the result of “the approaches to the nations that
they ]Israel[ wantedέ” 509 The seeking of proximity with the other is however also the
For the word Kolmus in rabbinic literature, see: Brown, “εidrashim,” 185.
B. Pesa im 118b. My translation.
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Parallels: YalkShim Psalms 800.
509
In Exodus Rabbah, the midrash concerning Psalms 68 appears in a slightly different version,
preceded by a midrash on the three materials that one should donate to the construction of the Tabernacle
[miskan[ and the Temple according to Exodus 2η:3: “And this is the offering which ye shall take of them:
gold, and silver and brass,” and the three materials mentioned in Daniel 2:32: “As for that image, its head
was of fine gold, its breast and its arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of brassέ” From the fact that
iron, which symbolizes Rome, is not mentioned in either of the verses, the midrash teaches that while the
three first kingdoms will be rewarded in messianic times, Rome will not: “Another explanation of “And
thou shalt make the boardsέ”ς Preceding this verse, we read: “And this is the offering which ye shall take of
them: gold, and silver and brass” (Exέ 2η:3)έ Gold refers to Babylon, for it says, “As for that image, its head
was of fine gold” (Danέ 2:32); silver refers to εedia, for it says, “Its breast and its arms were of silver” (ibέ);
brass refers to Greece, for it says, “Its belly and thighs were of brass” (ibid). But no mention is made of
507
508
191
reason for Rome’s fall in the futureέ They will believe that because of their family ties
with Israel as the descendants of Esau, they will want to bring gifts to the messiah.
However, they will be rebuked as is the animal of the reeds, the pig, the emblematic
animal of negative hybridism, which is pure and impure at the same time.
iron in the construction either of the tabernacle or the Temple. Why? Because Rome, that destroyed the
Temple, was likened to iron, and the verse teaches that God will accept gifts from all kingdoms in the time
to come, save from Edom [Rome]. But, surely, Babylon likewise destroyed the Temple? Yes, but it did not
raze it to the ground, whereas of Edom it is written, “Who said: Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation
thereof” (Psέ 137:7)έ Ḳ ]saying to each other[, ‘It still has a foundation! It is on this account, because Edom
is compared to it [Iron], that no mention is made of iron in the construction of the tabernacle. Similarly, in
the millennium you will find that all nations will bring presents to the king Messiah, Egypt being the first to
do soέ When the εessiah will hesitate to accept these gifts from them, God will say to him: ‘εy children
found hospitality in Egypt,’ for it says, “σobles shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out
her hands unto God” (Psέ θκ: 32). Whereupon he will immediately accept their gifts. Ethiopia will then
draw an inference for himself, thus: ‘If the εessiah receives gifts from Egypt which enslaved them, then
how much more will he receive gifts from us who have never subjected them to slavery? Hence it says,
“Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands unto Godέ” When the other kingdoms will hear this, they will
also bring presents, as it says, “Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth” (Psέ θκ:33)έ The kingdom of
Edom will then draw an inference for herself, thus: ’If presents were received from those who are not their
brothers, then how much more will they be received from us ]who are their brothers[ς’ But when she will
be about to bring her present to the Messianic King, God will say to him: “Rebuke the wild beast of the
reeds, etcέ” (Psέ θκ: 31), for the whole of that nation is like a wild beast of the reedsέ’ Another explanation
“Rebuke the wild beast that sojourns among the reeds,” as it says, “The boar out of the wood doth ravage it”
(Psέ κί:14)έ “The multitude of the bulls, with the claves of the peoples” (Ps θκ:31) Ḳ namely, that kingdom
that consumes the wealth of peoples, and derives support from Abraham, saying: ‘I descend from them,
since Esau was the son of Isaac who was the son of Abrahamέ “Every one submitting himself (mithrappes)
with pieces of (razze) silver” (Psέ θκ:31); for even when one has sinned against her ]Edom[ and she is
worth with him, yet she opens her palm (mattereth pas) to accept the proffered bribe and becomes
reconciled (mith-razzeh) to himέ What is the meaning of “He hath scattered the peoples that delight in war”
(Ps. 68:31)? Ḳ That she [Rome] disperses Israel when assembled for the study of the Torah, and gathers
them in such places in which the Evil Inclination takes delightέ Another explanation of “He hath scattered
the peoples that delight in war”: They scattered Israel across the face of the globeέ Another explanation of
this verse: ‘Bizzar ‘ammim’ (He hath scattered the peoples) Ḳ they made Israel zarim (strangers) unto Me.
Yet they ]have the effrontery[ now to bring gifts!” ExRέ 3ηέηέ Translation by Sέ εέ δehrman, εidrash
Rabbah. Vol. III, Exodus (London: Soncino, 1939), 433-435, with slight alteration.
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192
Bereshit Rabbati of Moses ha-Darshan
To the well known midrashim mentioned above we may add a midrash from the
lost Bereshit Rabbati of Moses ha-Darshan, an eleventh-century commentator from
Narbonne. In a midrash which is cited in the polemical work of Raymond Martini (1278
CE), Pugio fidei adversus Mauros et Iudaeos (Dagger of the Faith against the Muslims
and the Jew),510 Genesis 30:16511 is linked to Psalm 104:20-22:512
“When Jacob came from the field in the evening, δeah went out to meet him,” (Gn 3ί:1θ)
Ḳ thus it is written: “You make darkness, and it is night,” (Ps 1ί4:2ί)έ “You make
darkness,” (Ibidέ) - this is Israel’s Exile, for Israel darkens their deeds, as it is written:
“whose deeds are in the dark,” (Isέ 2λ:1η) Ḳ [for this reason] the Holy one blessed be He,
darkens their world as it was said: “The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars
withdraw their shining” (Joel 2:1ί; 4:1η)έ “And it is night,” (Psέ 1ί4:2ί) Ḳ Those are the
days of Exile which are as nights for Israelέ “When all the animals of the forest come
creeping outέ” (Ibidέ) Ḳ those are the nations of the world which are called “animals of the
forest” and trample Israel, as it is written: “The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, that
which moveth in the field feedeth on it” (Ps κί:14)έ “The young lions roar for their prey,”
(Ps. 104:21) Ḳ “The young lions” those are the nations of the world which deny the Holy
one blessed be He, and roar for prey. Said R. Hanina bar Papa: [not just they] deny the
Holy one blessed be He and roar for prey but moreover ask the Holy one blessed be He
for a reward in the future, as it is written: “seeking their food from God” (Ibidέ) And what
is their reward from the Holy one blessed be Heς “When the sun rises, they will withdraw
(
)” (Psέ 1ί4:22) Ḳ as “δet Aaron withdraw (
) to his people” (σumέ 2ί:24)έ The
sun of the King-εessiah will rise, as it was written: “like the light of morning rises the
sun” (2 Samuel 23:4)έ In this hour will sink the sun of the worshipers of idolatory, as it is
says: “they will withdraw (
)” (Psέ 1ί4:22)έ 513
Syds Wiersma, “The Dynamic of Religious Polemics: The Case of Raymond εartin (caέ 122ίcaέ12κη),” Interaction between Judaism and Christianity in History, Religion, Art and Literature , ed.
Marcel Poorthuis, Joshua Schwartz, and Joseph Turner (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 197-218. Ursula Ragacs,
“Raimundo Martí, τέPέ Biografía”, Valle Rodríguez, Carlos del, Andrés Barcala εu oz, and Domingo
εu oz δe n. δa contro ersia udeocristiana en spa aμ (desde os or genes hasta e sig o III μ homena e
a Domingo εu o δe n (εadrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Filología,
1998), 301-308.
511
Genesis 3ί:1θ: “When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and
said, "You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that
nightέ”
512
Psalms 104:20-22: “You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come
creeping out. 21: The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. 22: When the sun rises,
they withdraw and lie down in their dens:”512
513
Moshe Hadarshan, BereshitRabbati, Genesis 30:16, cf. Raymond Martin, Pugio fidei adversus
Mauros et Iudaeos, 2.11.10 (fol. 344). Raymundus Martinus, Pugio Fidei adversus Mauros et Judaeos
(Leipzig, 1687. Reprint. Farnborough, Eng. 1967), 430. My translation.
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193
Although some argue that the midrashim cited by Raymond Martini are pure
forgeries, it seems that most of them are authentic. 514 In fact, the heart of the midrash
discussed here follows Bavli Baba Metzia 83b:
R. Zera lectured ḳ others say. R. Joseph learnt: What is meant by, Thou makest darkness,
and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth? Thou makest darkness,
and it is night ḳ this refers to this world, which is comparable to night; wherein all the
beasts of the forest do creep forth ḳ to the wicked therein, who are like the beasts of the
forest. The sun ariseth ḳ for the righteous; the wicked are gathered in ḳ for Gehenna;
and lay them down in their habitations ḳ not a single righteous man lacks a habitation as
befits his honour. Man goeth forth unto his work ḳ i.e., the righteous go forth to receive
their reward; and to his labour until the evening ḳ as one who has worked fully until the
very evening. 515
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See: Hananel Mack, Mi-Sodo shel Mosheh ha-darshan (The Mystery of Rabbi Moshe Haddarshan)
(Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2010), 269-270 (Hebrew). On the authencity of the midrashim cited by Martini
see also: Hananel εack, “The Source and Development of the Shawaten Exposition on the Rescission of
the εitzvot,” Sidra 11 (1995): 65-67 (Hebrew).
514
Y. Baer, “The forged εidrashim of Raymond Martini and their Place in the Religious Controversies
in the εiddle Ages,” Studies in Memory of Asher Gulak and Samuel Klein (Jerusalem, Palestine: Center for
Judaic Studies Hebrew University, 1942), 29-49. For contrary opinions, see: Saul Lieberman, “Raymond
Martini and his alleged forgeriesέ” Historia Judaica 5 (1943): 87-102. Ursula Ragacs, “The Forged
Midrashim of Raymond Martini Ḳ Reconsidered” Henoch 19 (1997): 59-68.
515
B. Baba Metzia 83b.
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While Bavli Baba Mezia 83b speaks of the wicked and righteous in general, the
midrash of Joseph ha Darashan applies it to the distinction between Israel and the nations
of the world. The link of the boar of Psalms 80:14 to the wild animals of psalm 104:20 is
extremely efficient, for it locates the boar in a temporal scene of night and day, darkness
and light, Exile and Redemption (table 6).
Psalm 104: 20-22
You make darkness,
and it is night,
When all the animals of the forest come
creeping out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God
When the sun rises, they will withdraw
(
)”
Meaning
Israel’s sinsέ
Exile.
The nations of the world that oppressed
Israel.
The nations that deny God.
The nations will ask for a reward in the
world to come.
The nations’ fallέ
Table 6: The interpretation of Psalm 104: 20-22 in Bereshit Rabbati.
Discussion
The diverse interpretations of Psalm 80:14 link the Boar, the emblematic animal
of Rome, to criminal acts such as robbery, stealing, and murder (Sifre Numbers, 316-317;
LevR 13.5; GenR 65.1; B. Pesa im 118b; Bereshit Rabbati), or to the Empireή Esau’s
hypocrisy; the pig pretends to be pure by showing its hoofs, as Jacob’s brother and the
Empire pretend to be just while acting unjustly (LevR 13.5, GenR 65.1). By identifying
the boar/ pig alternatively with Esau (GenR. 65.1; MidrPss 120), with the Empire, with
“The evil kingdom” or the nations of the world, with the Emperor (MidrPss 80), or with
the fourth kingdom of the book of Daniel (Sifre Num 316-317; LevR 13.5), most of the
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midrashim inscribe the boar/ pig as the means of the historical divine plan of destruction
and redemption. In other words, the pig (Rome) is the blow and the remedyέ The “boar
out of the wood” is part of a divine symmetrical planέ Hence, the Bavli Kidusin 30a
remarks that:
“The boar out of the wood ]ya’ar [ devours it” (Psέ κί:14)έ The letter ‘ayin ] ] [of the
word] ya’ar [ ] is the half-way ]point of the book of[ Psalmsέ “And he is merciful and
he forgives sin” (Psέ 7κ:3κ) is the half-way point of the verses [of the book of Psalms]. 516
The symmetry of the text hints at the symmetry between the destruction (hurban)
and redemption (gehula). In the same way that God destroyed the Temple in His rage,
He will rebuild it in His mercy, as in the famous midrash about Rabbi Akiba who sees a
fox in the ruins of the Temple:
“For εount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it” (δamέ η:1κ): Rabban
Gamaliel, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar b. Azariah, and R. Akiba went to Rome. They heard the
din of the city of Rome from a distance of a hundred and twenty miles. They all begin to
cry, but R. Akiba began to laughέ They said to him, “Akiba, we are crying and you laughς”
He said to them, “Why are you cryingς” They said to him, “Should we not cry, that
idolaters and those who sacrifice to idols and bow down to images live securely and
prosperously, while a footstool of our God has been burned down by fire and become a
dwelling place for the beasts of the fieldς So shouldn’t we cryς” He said to them, “That is
precisely the reason that I was laughing. For if those who outrage him he treats in such a
way, those who do his will all the more so!” There was the further case of when they
were going up to Jerusalem. When they came to the Mount Scopus they tore their
clothing. When they came to the Temple mount and a fox came out of the house of the
Holy of Holies, they began to cryέ But Rέ Aqiba began to laughέ “ Akiba,” you are always
surprising usέ σow we are crying and you laughς” He said to them, “Why are you cryingς”
They said to him, “Should we not cry, that from the place of which it is written, “And the
ordinary person that comes near shall be put to death” (σumέ 1:η1) a fox come out? So
the verse of Scripture is carried out: “for εount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl
over itέ” He said to them, “That is precisely the reason that I was laughingέ For Scripture
says, “And I will take for myself faithful witness to record, Uriah the priest and
Zechariah the son of Jeberchiah” (ISέ κ:2)έ “σow what is the relationship between Uriah
and Zechariah? Uriah lived in the time of the first temple, Zechariah in the time of the
second! But Uriah said, “Thus says the δord of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and
Jerusalem shall become heaps” (Jer 2θ:1κ)έ And Zechariah said, “There shall yet be old
men and old women sitting in the piazzas of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his
hand for old age” (Zech κ:4)έ And further: “And the piazzas of the city shall be full of
516
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B. Kidusin 30a. My translation.
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boys and girls playing in the piazzas thereof” (Zech κ:η)έ Said the Holy τne, blessed be
He, “σow lo, I have these two witnessesέ So if the words of Uriah are carried out, the
words of Zechariah will be carried out, while if the words of Uriah prove false, then the
words of Zechariah will not be true eitherέ” I was laughing with pleasure because the
words of Uriah have been carried out, and that means that the words of Zechariah in the
future will be carried outέ They said to him, “Akiba, you have given us consolation. May
you be comforted among those who are comfortedέ” 517
A reverse symmetry exists between Rome and Jerusalem, between the flourishing
of the first and the destruction of the second and vice versa. The fox and the boar in the
holy of holies function in the same way: they are the sign of destruction, but at the same
time they inscribe this chaotic catastrophe in the divine plan, pronouncing the future
redemption. 518 The animal that marked the destruction of the Temple holds paradoxical
meaning: it is the negative sign but also positive. If Rome is the detractor beast, in the
end it will be destroyed, as notes the later Midrash on Psalms:
“My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” (Ps. 120:6). Is there any man who
hates peaceς Esau hates peaceέ Scriptures says, “I will give you peace in the land” (δevέ
2θ: θ)έ When will there be peaceς The verse goes on to answer, “After I will cause evil
beasts to cease out of the land” (ibidέ)έ “Evil beasts” can refer only to the boar, for it is
517
LamR B 5.18. Translation by Jacob Neusner, Neusner on Judaism, vol. 2, Literature (Aldershot:
Ashgate, 2005), 441, with slight alteration (Parallels: Sifri Deuteronomy 43.16; ε. Tan’aim Deuteronomy
11.16 ; B. Makot 24b; YalkS Torah Pinhas 782; Aqeb 865; Isaiah 41ί)έ See: Shaye Jέ Dέ Cohen, “The
Destruction: From Scripture to εidrash,” Prooftexts 2, no 1 (1λκ2): 3ηέ Shahar, “Rabbi Akiba,” 147
(Hebrew).
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518
I follow here Inbar Raveh’s analysis of the legend of Rabbi Akiba in Bavli Makot 24b, See: Inbar
Raveh, Fragments of Being: Stories of the Sages: Literary Structures and World-View (Or Yehuda, Israel:
Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir; Beer Sheva: Heksherim Istitute, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2008),
140-143.
197
said, “The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field
devour it” (Psέ κί:14), and the boar is none other than wicked Esauέ 519
The following idea is found in the midrash “pig of the sea, pig of the forest,” in
Leviticus Rabbah 13έη: “Daniel beheld the empires engaged in their [subsequent]
activitiesέ “I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven broke
forth upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from
the other (Danέ 7:2)έ” If you will so merit, it ]the animal[ will come up out of the sea, but
if not, from the forest. An animal coming up from the sea is timid, whereas if it comes
from the forest, it is not timidέ”520 The following midrash is found in a more elaborate
form also in The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, version A:
“Scripture reads, “The boar out of the wood (ya’ar)” doth ravage it (Ps 80:14), but it is
written, The boar our out of the river (ye’or) doth ravage it. “The boar out of the wood
doth ravage it” ]according one manuscript: ‘refers to the Roman Empire’[έ For when
Israel does not do the will of God, the nations appear to them like “the boar out out of the
wood”: even as the boar of the forests kills people and injures folk and smites men, so
too, so long as Israel does not do the will of God, the nations kill them and injure them
and smite them. But so long as Israel does the will of God the nations do not rule over
them. (Then the nations are) like “the boar out of the river”: even as the boar of the rivers
kills no people and harms no folk, so too, so long as Israel does His will, no nation or
people kills them or harms them or smites them. That is why it is written, “The boar out
of the river.” 521
519
MidrPss 120. Translation by Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, 293.
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LevR 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 171.
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ARN A 34. Translation by Goldin, The Fathers, 138.
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This midrash makes Israel subject to Rome, and Israel´s liberation is conditioned
by its deeds. In some manuscripts of Leviticus Rabbah, the scriptural basis of the midrash
is added:
“Similar is ]the interpretation of[ “The boar out the wood ]ya’ar] doth ravage it (Ps.
κί:14)έ”The letter ‘ayin [in the word ‘ya’ar’] is suspended [
], [indicating that it might
be read as if ye’or (river), meaning]: If you will prove worthy it [i.e the boar] will come
from the river, if you will not prove worthy, from the wood; an animal coming from a
river is timid, one coming from a forest is not timid.” 522
The uncontrolled, savage force of the boar (Rome) is in some sense domesticated:
it’s destructive force is not arbitrary, but rather a direct consequence of Israel’s sinsέ
Christian Reading of Psalm 80 (79):14
Christian authors had a somewhat different version of Psalm 80 (79):14 according
to the Christian Bible: The Septuaginta Greek’s text reads: “ἐ υ ή α ο αὐ ὴ
υ οῦ
αὶ
ο ὸ ἄγ ο
α
ῦ ἐ
ή α ο αὐ ή ,” 523 while the Latin Vulgate reads:
“extermnavit eam aper de silva et singularis ferus depastus est eam:” “The wild boar of
the wood has destroyed it, and the solitary wild beast has devoured itέ”524 The Churc h
Fathers provided diverse interpretations of Psalms κί (7λ):14, mainly seeing the “boar
out of the wood” as Satan, 525 or a furious enemy of Christianity which attacked the Soul
or the Church. 526 However, after the fourth century, we find a Christian reading tha t
refers to the defeat of the Jews by the Romans. As we have seen, Jerome (d. 408) in his
522
LevR 13.5. Translation by Israelstam, Midrash Rabba, vol. 5, Leviticus, 171.
Septuaginta, ed. A. Rahlfs, 2 vols in one (Stuttgart: Württembergische Bibelanstalt, 1979), ii 88
(Psalm 79).
524
Biblia sacra iuxta vulgatam versionem, ed. R. Weber and R. Gryson (Stutgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1994), 873.
525
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians 6. The Physiologus as well identified the boar with
Satan and the World, the vineyard with the Soul and the Lord. Physiologos 61. French Translation:
Physiologos: Le bestiaire des bestiaires, trans. Arnand Zucker, Physiologos: le bestiaire des bestiaires
(Grenoble: Millon, 2004), 302-303. For the diabolic image of the boar in Christianty, see: Michel
Pastoureau, “Chasser le sanglierέ Du gibier royal à la bête impure: histoire d’une dévalorisation,” Une
histoire symbolique du moyen age occidental, 65-77 (Paris: Seuil, 2004), 72-74.
526
Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History 2.10.
523
199
Commentary on Daniel 7:7 notes, “The Hebrews believe that the beast which is here not
named is the one spoken of in Psalms: “A boar from the forest laid her waste, and a
strange wild animal consumed her” (Psέ κί (7λ):14):”527 It is however Augustine (d. 430)
in his Expositions of the Psalms who seems to be the first Christian author to see the
Romans in the boar of Psalm 80 (79):14:
“The boar from the forest has ravaged it” (Psέ κί (7λ):14)έ What are we to understand by
the boar? To the Jews pigs are abhorrent, and typical of the uncleanness of the Gentiles.
The Jewish nation was defeated by Gentiles, and the king who defeated it was not merely
an unclean pig, but a boar; for what is a boar but a savage pig, a proud pigς “The boar
from the forest has ravaged it” (Psέ κί:14)έ “From the forest” means from the Gentilesέ
The Jews were a vineyard, the Gentiles a forest. But when the Gentiles came to believe,
what does scripture say about thatς “All the trees of the forest will shout for joy” [Ps
λη(λθ): 12[έ So “the boar from the forest has ravaged” the vineyard, and “the solitary
beast has fed on itέ” (Psέ κί (7λ):14) The boar who wrecked it is a solitary beast, solitary
in the sense of proud, for every proud person talks like this: “εe, meέ σo one else
mattersέ” 528
Where the sages identify the subjection of Israel by Rome and Israel’s future
redemption, Augustine identifies the passage of election from old Israel to the new Israel,
from the Jews to Christians. Augustine recognizes the way Jews associated the pig with
the impurity of gentiles, but he introduces a hermeneutic twist that transforms the
impurity of the gentiles (forest) into purity, while shifting the impurity to the Roman
emperor whom he identified with the boar. While Augustine does not name the Roman
emperor, Eucherius of Lyons (d. 449 CE) identified the boar with Vespasian and the
527
Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 7:7. PL 25. Translation by Gleason L. Jr., Jerome's Commentary on
Daniel Archer (Michigan, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1958), 71-82. See: Van Kooten, George H.
“The Desecration of the ‘The εost Holy Temple of all the World’ in the ‘Holy δand’: Early Jewish and
Early Christian Recollections of Antiochus ‘Abomination of Desolation,” in The Land of Israel in Bible,
History and Theology: Studies in Honour of Ed Noort, ed. Jacques van Ruiten and J. Cornelis de Vos, 291316 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2009).
528
Translation by Maria Boulding, Saint Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms, 73-98 (Hyde Park, NY:
New City Press, 2002), 147 . Augustinus, Enarration in Psalmum 79, PL 36, 1025; Augustinus, Exposition
in Psalmum 79:11. CCSL 39, pars X, 2. P. 1116.
200
“singular beast” with his son Titus.529 The same reading is developed by Cassiodorus (d. c.
583 CE), who merges it with Augustine’s exegesis:
“The boar out of the wood has exterminated it, and a singular wild beast has devoured itέ”
(Ps. 80 (79):14). Exterminated, that is, scattered it everywhere beyond the boundaries of
its native land, as happened to the Jews; the sense is identical to the earlier phrase, they
strip it. Perhaps we should interpret the boar as Vespasian, who showed himself tough
and savage to the Jews. This label of boar shows him as foe of the Jews, for they were
known to consider this beast as unclean among the rest. Out of the wood means from the
Gentiles, who are rightly compared to rough woodland, for as yet they were not
implanted with fruitful seed. The boar (aper) is so called because it dwells in rough
(asper) regions. The singular wild beast denotes Titus, son of Vespasian, who conducted
the closing stages of the war with such grinding ravaging that he destroyed nation and
city; he devoured them in fearful fashion like hay Ḳ an inevitable end to the vineyard once
the wall was seen to be down. 530
If Cassiodorus omits Augustine’s idea of the transformation of the nations (the
forest) from impurity to purity, he introduces the idea that “The boar out of the wood has
exterminated it,” referring to Israel’s exile, reading the verb “exterminare” as to exile (exterminus). The three readings discussed here repeat Christian medieval exegesis in
different variants. 531 Interestingly enough, the Christian reading recalls Midrash on
“Quem significat dicens Exterminauit eam aper de silua et singularis ferus depastus est eam ? Ḳ
Aprum hic Vespasianum, ut quidam dicunt, uult intellegi qui Iudaeos bello uastauit; singularem ferum
Titum Vespasiani filium qui Hierusalem oppugnatione consumpsitέ” Instrructiones I, xxxvi. Eucherius.
Eucherii Lugdunensis Formulae spiritalis intelligentiae; Instructionum libri duo . Eucherius, ed. C.
Mandolfo. CCSL 6 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2004), 124. See: Rolf Baumgarten, “The 'pig and vine gloss' and
the Lives of St. Brigitέ” Peritia 19 (2005): 232.
530
Translation by P. G. Walsh, Cassiodurus, Explanation of the Psalms, Vol II. Psalms 51-100 (New
York: Paulist Press, 1λλ1), 2κλέ Cassiodurus also provides an allegorical explanation: “The boar because of
its aggression and excessive strength can be interpreted in a spiritual sense as the devil; out of the wood
implies that the devil’s intentions are always rough and deviousέ” Cassiodorus, Expositio in Psalmum
79:14; CCSL 98, II, 2, p. 745.
531
For the history of the Christian interpretation of Ps. 80 (79):14 in the Middle Ages see: Wilfried
Schouwink, Der wilde Eber in Gottes Weinberg: zur Darstellung des Schweins in Literatur und Kunst des
Mittelalters (Sigmaringen: J. Thorbecke, 1λκη)έ Ibidέ, “The Wild Pig in εedieval Historiography: How a
Pagan Devil Becomes a Christian Ruler,” in Atti del V Colloquio della International Beast Epic, Fable and
Fabliau Society, Torino–St-Vincent, 5-9 settembre 1983, ed. Alessandro Vitale-Brovarone and Gianni
Mombello (Alessandria: Edizioni dell'Orso, 1987), 301-311. The eighth century Glossa in Psalmos writes,
for example: “EXTERMINAUIT EAM, [id est] uiniam. APER, id est Nabocodonossor [Nebuchadrezzar],
uel Sencaribh ]Senncherib[έ ET SIσGUδARIS FERUS, id est Titus uel Vespassianusέ” Glossa in Psalmos,
Codex Palatinus Latinus 68, 79.14 (fol. 16V). Martin McNamara, Glossa in Psalmos: The Hiberno-Latin
Gloss on the Psalms of Codex Palatinus Latinus 68 (Psalms 39:11-151:7) (Città del vaticano: Biblioteca
apostolica vaticana, 1986), 173. For the manuscript’s date, see εartin εcσamara, The Psalms in the Early
Irish Church (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 165-23κέ The Pseudo εeliton’s Clavis (ninth
529
201
Psalm 80: “the boar out of the wood” refers to the emperor ]in some manuscripts
“commander of the host”[, while “that which moveth in the field” refers to his generals
[
[έ ]Another interpretation[: “that which moveth in the field” refers to
bothέ”532 However, contrary to the Christian authors, the sages do not identify the boar
with a particular Roman emperor, but rather with the empire in general. While the
Christians identified the hoggishness with Vespasian and Titus, whom they see as
executers of punishment of the Jews for their rejection of Christ, the sages emphasize the
hoggish nature of the empire, which - whether pagan or Christian - does not change its
nature.
Conclusion
Based on Leviticus Rabbah and Jerome, we may conclude that the identification
of Rome with the boar of Psalm 80:14 and the fourth beast of the book of Daniel
originated at least in the fourth century. However, we do not have any reason to believe,
as Mireille Hadas-Lebel proposes, that the identification of Rome with the pig originated
in the reading of Psalm 80:14, 533 for the identification has in the rabbinic literature
centέ,) writes “Aper, diabolous: “Exterminavit eam aper de silva, et singularis ferusέ Titus et Vespasianusέ
Clavis 35. De bestis, S. Melitions clavis, 47. Bruno the Carthusian (1030-11ί1 CE) “‘aper de silva’
procedens, Vespasianus scilicet, qui ferus erat et immundus sordibus vitiorum, sicut aper ferum animal est
et sordidum” (PL 152: 1066D). Rupert of Deutz (c. 1075Ḳ1129) writes: “Ut dictum, ita et factum estέ
Venerunt enim animalia de silva qua primi ex omnibus gentibus ausi fuerunt ad se missos prophetas et
sapientes et Scribas occidere et crucifigere, flagellare in synagogis suis, et de civitate in civitatem persequi
ubi erat multiplicitas errorum, et feri homines habitabant, sicut ferae in silva” (PL 168: 623B-C). For the
history of the exegesis of Psalm κί (7λ): 14 see: Ute Schwab “Runentituli, narrative Bildzeichen und
biblisch-änigmatische Gelehrsamkeit auf der Bargello-Seite des Franks Casketέ” In Runica—Germanica—
Mediaevalia [Festschrift for Klaus Düwel]. Eds. Wilhelm Heizmann and Astrid von Nahl.
Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 37. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003), 759Ḳ
κί3έ Klaus Speckenbach, “Der Eber in der deutschen δiteratur des εittelalters,” in Verbum et Signum.
Beiträge zur mediävistischen Bedeutungsforschung, Festschrift Friedrich Ohly, vol. 1., ed. Hans Fromm,
Wolfgang Harms and Uwe Ruberg (Munich: Fink, 1975), 425-476.
532
MidrPss. 80 (ed. Buber).
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533
Hadas-Lebel. Jerusalem Against Rome, η17έ Ibidέ “Rome,” 3ί7έ See Fraenkel, Darchei Aggadah
VeHamidrash, vol. II, 618, note 128.
202
diverse exegetic proof texts. Most of the midrashim which mention Psalm 80:14 inscribe
it in a historical divine plan of subjection -redemption as in its original scriptural context.
The historical sense the sages give to Ps. 80:14 is opposite to that which some Christian
authors give it. For the sages the boar devouring the vine stands for the fourth kingdom
(Rome), which is the last empire but also marks a continuity with the empires before it.
The Christian reading sees in it a mark of a historical turning point in the passage from
Judaism to Christianity.
203
Source
Bereshit
Rabbati of
Moses haDarshan
Date
11th
cent.
Midrash on
Psalm
(Buber) 120
Midrash on
Psalm 80
Bavli,
Pesaḥim
118b
Associated with
Esau
6th-7th
cent.
R. Kahana in the name
of R. Ishmael, son of R.
Jose (3rd cent.)
Main idea
The nations of the world are called
“animals of the forest” (Psέ 1ί4:2ίέ) and
trample Israel, as it is written: “The boar
out of the wood doth ravage it, that which
moveth in the field feedeth on it” (Ps
80:14).
Evil beasts can refer only to the boar, for
it is said, “The wild boar out of the wood
doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the
field devour it” (Psέ κί:14), and the boar
is none other than wicked Esau
“the boar out of the wood” refers to the
emperor.
Another interpretation: ‘Rebuke the wild
beast of the reeds’ - who dwells among
the reeds, ‘the boar out of the wood
ravages it, that which moves in the field
feeds on itέ’ (Ps κί:14)έ
The letter ‘Ain ] ] [of the word] ya’ar
[ ] is the half-way [point of the book of]
Psalmsέ ‘And he is compassionate,
forgave the sin” (Psέ 7κ:3κ) is the halfway point of the verses [of the book of
Psalms].
The boar out of the wood or the boar out
of the river.
Bavli Kidusin
30a
6th-7th
cent.
Leviticus
Rabbah,13.5
and Avot
deRabbi
Nathan A
34.19
Leviticus
Rabbah,13.5
Genesis
Rabbah, 65.1
4th-5th
cent.
R. Phinehas and R.
Hilkiah, in the name of
R. Simon (2nd cent.)
4th-5th
cent.
Esau, Fourth kingdom,
Lev. 11:7
Esau, Lev. 11:7.
R. Simon b. Pazzi; R.
Simon (3rd cent.)
Fourth kingdom
The pig pretends to be pure.
Fourth kingdom
“He made him ride on the high places of
the earth” (Deutέ 32:13)έ This refers to
the world, as it is said, “The boar out of
the wood doth ravage it,” ]that which
moveth in the field feedeth on it] (Ps.
80:14)
Jerome,
Commentary
on Daniel 7:7
Sifre on
Numbers,
316-317
d.
408
3rd
cent.
Daniel 7:7
Table 7 : Psalm 80:14 and the Association of the Pig with Rome
204
Chapter 9
Why is it called ḥazir?
In the midrash “why is it called azirς” the sages placed great importance on the
pig’s name, seeing it as embodying a deep meaning of the quality and fate of what is
named. 534 As we have seen in chapter thirteen of Leviticus Rabbah, this midrash explains
the name of the pig ( a ir) as embodying the promise of redemption:
“The pig” (δevέ 11:7) - this refers to Edom ]Rome[έ “Which does not bring along in its
train” - for it did not bring along another kingdom after itέ And why is it then called “pig”
( a ir)? For it restores (me a zeret) the crown to the one who truly should have it. That is
in line with the following verse of Scripture: “And saviors will come up on εount Zion
to judge the Mountain of Esau [Rome], and the kingdom will then belong to the Lord (Ob.
1:21). 535
According to this midrash, in messianic times Israel will “judge” Rome, a term
that may be understood as meaning to rule, but more plausibly as taking vengeance. The
midrashic explanation of the nature of the pig (by his name), that it is called ‘ a ir’
“because it is destined to restore (lehahzir) sovereignty to its owners,” seems to play with
the common Greco-Roman notion that the pig pays for its crime. 536 Rome, the boar, is the
destroyer of Israel but also the kingdom that will restore the kingdom to Israel, for as the
Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael notes, God “in what He strokes - He curesέ”537 In this chapter
we will observe later versions of the midrash “why is it called a irς,” namely from
Ecclesiastes Rabbah and Hamidrash HaGadol, where we find a tension between different
conceptions of the messianic era.
τn midrashim on animals’ names in the τld Testament, see: εoshe Garsiel, Midrashic Name
Derivations in the Bible (Ramat-Gan: Revivim, 1987), 51-53 (Hebrew).
535
LevR 13.13. Translation by Neusner, Judaism and Christianity, 222-223.
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"έ
,( ,
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536
As the Greek expression goes: ”Pig, you will give back grape-pips;” as the Suda explains: “that is,
you will give back more than you ate upέ ]This is applied[ to those paying a penalty greater than their sinsέ”
Suda, Adler, alpha, 3600: Suda On Line: Byzantine Lexicography, <www.stoa.org/sol/< consulted
September 10, 2009.
537
Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, beshalach 5. My translation. "έ
]έέέ[ " "
534
205
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah (7th-9th centuries) relates the midrash “why is it called a irς”
in its interpretation of Ecclesiastes 1:9.538 The midrash opens by declaring that in the
eschatological times only Israel will be rewarded:
“That which hath been is that which shall be” ]and that which has been done is that which
will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.] (Ecc. 1:9). The Rabbis say: In the
Hereafter the generations will assemble in the presence of the Holy one, blessed be He,
and say before Him, ‘δord of the Universe, who shall utter a song before Thee firstς’ He
will answer them, ‘In the past none but the generation of εoses uttered a song before εe,
and now none but that generation shall utter a song before εeέ’ What is the proofς As it
is said, “Sing unto the δord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth; ye that
go down to the sea” (Is. 42:10). 539
From a point of view which holds that a radical change will occur in the
messianic era, the idea of Ecclesiastes 1:λ “that which hath been is that which shall be” is
problematic. The midrash resolved this problem by stating that in the messianic era the
“new song” will be that of εoses’ generation, portraying the messianic era as a return or
restoration rather than a radical change. This is an idea developed further on in the
following episode the midrash relates concerning Rabbi Meir and the Romans:
τnce ]the Roman[ government dispatched a message to our Rabbis, saying, ‘Send us one
of your torchesέ’ They said, ‘They possess ever so many torches and they want one torch
from us! What multitudes of torches they have; what abundance of precious stones and
pearls! It seems to us that they want of us nothing else than somebody who enlightens
(meir) faces with legal decisions [halaha [έ’ They sent Rέ εeir to them, and they asked
him many questions, all of which he answered. Finally they asked him why he [the pig] is
called ‘ a ir’, and he replied, ‘Because it is destined to restore (lehahzir) the sovereignty
to its ownersέ’ Rέ εeir continued to sit and expound: A time will come when the wolf
For the date of this midrash, see: Reuven Kiperwasser, “Sturcture and Form in Kohelet Rabbah as
Evidence of Its Redaction,” The Journal of Jewish Studies 58, no. 2 (2007): 283-302.
539
EcclR 1.9. Translation by A. Cohen, Midrash Rabbah, vol. VIII, Ruth and Ecclesiastes (London:
Soncino Press, 1939), 31-32.
,
:
", ]
, ;
,
- [
"
:
ς
"
:
"
έ(
)" '
'
":
ς
,
538
206
will have a fleece of fine wool and the dog a coat of ermineέ They said to him, ‘Enough,
Rέ εeir! ‘There is nothing new under the sun’ (Ecc. 1:9). 540
The midrash explains two names: Meir and a ir (“pig”)έ Rabbi εeir (
named so because he “illuminates,” (
) is
), as he brings his followers to know the light of
God. He is both illuminated and illuminates, for his inner source of light, of wisdom,
“makes his face to shine” (Ecclesiastes κ:1)έ541 The pig is named a ir (
returns (mahzir
) because he
). The juxtaposition of the two names, Meir and a ir, creates an
esthetic enjoyment for the names rhyme with each other, but this also creates
contradiction (the sage Ḳ the abominable animal). 542 It is probably not accidental that
Rabbi Meir is the hero of the midrash. Was it because according to another midrash Rabi
Meir pretended to eat pork in Rome? 543 Was it because Rabbi Meir was allegedly
descended from Caesar Nero who converted to Judaism? 544 What is clear is that, in both
540
EcclR 1.9.
,
,
ς
έ
:
:
'
,
207
έ
'
ς
έ
:
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)"
",
'
:
Another version appeared in Moses Gaster, The Exempla of the Rabbis (based on a manuscript from Persia,
16th century): “The Emperor asked for a luminary among the sages to be sentέ Rέ εeir was sent to the
Emperor as being one who lit up the world with his wisdom. He was asked various questions about swine
and why they are called “ azirim”έ He explained that the name “ a ir” means “returning” iέeέ profit to the
owner but that the profit of them who keep aloof from any creeping and unclean thing was far greaterέ”
Moses Gaster, The Exempla of the Rabbis; Being a Collection of Exempla, Apologues and Tales Culled
from Hebrew Manuscripts and Rare Hebrew Books (New York: Ktav, 1968), 99.
541
B. Eruvin 13b.
έ'
ς
'
έ
'
,
'
: "
See: Galit Hasan-Rokemέ “Rabbi εeir, the Illuminated and the Illuminating: Interpreting Experience,”
Current Trends in the Study of Midrash, ed. Carol Bakhos (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 227-243. Also: Avigdor
Shinan, “δight and Blindness in the Stories of the Rabbis,” Migvan 2 (2003): 75-92 (Hebrew).
542
If the Romans ask, “why he ]the pig[ is called ‘ a ir,’” it is probably because the question refers to
Esau, the father of Edom = Rome according to the Sages, which is mentioned in δevitcus Rabbah’s
version’s citation of τbadiah 1:21έ
543
B. Avoda Zara 18b; EcclR 7.12.1.
544
B. Gittin ηθaέ “He sent against them σero the Caesarέ As he was coming he shot an arrow towards
the east, and it fell in Jerusalem. He shot one towards all four points of the compass, and each time it fell in
Jerusalem. He said to a certain boy: Repeat to me [the last] verse of Scripture you have learnt. He said: And
I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel (Ezek. 15:14). He said: The Holy One,
blessed be He, desires to lay waste his House and to lay the blame on me. So he ran away and became a
,
:
:
stories, Rabbi Meir in Rome is by his acts or his statements, a trickster. As such, he is
glorified and mocked at the same time. Hence, following his witty midrash about the pig,
Rabbi εeir is presented as going too far with his exegetical imaginary when he says,” A
time will come when the wolf [a pig Ḳ according to Hamidrash Ha Gadol] will have a
fleece of fine wool and the dog a coat of ermineέ” 545 This saying recalls the Latin proverb:
“Ab asino lanam quaeris - you're looking to get wool from a donkey,” referring to a vain,
impossible action.546 Hence the Romans were made to express the rebuke of the sages, 547
“Enough, Rέ εeir! ‘There is nothing new under the sun’” (Eccέ 1:λ)έ” Indeed Rabbi εeir
is portrayed in the Bavli as one whose reasoning is so sharp that even his fellow sages did
not understand it:
Rabbi Acha bar Chanina said, “It is revealed and known before the Creator of the
Universe that there was no one in Rabbi Meir's generation who was Rabbi Meir's peer.
And why doesn’t the law follow him? Because his peers could not follow his logic, when
he declares impure Ḳ pure, and brings reasons to it and declares pure Ḳ impure and brings
reasons to itέ”548
proselyte, and Rέ εeir was descended from himέ” According σaomi Gέ Cohen, Rabbi Meir is the only
Talmudic figure named “εeirέ” The name dos not appear in the Bible or in any Jewish texts before the
Ga’aonic periodέ She believes the name is a transliteration of a name from Asia minorέ While the legend on
the conversion of his father Nero is linked to his origin from Asia Minor, according to the Roman and
Christian legend, σero hides after he commits “suicideέ” The rabbinic legend of σero´s conversion is
according to Cohen part of the Jewish polemic with the Christian legend concerning Nero as anti-Christian.
σaomi Gέ Cohen, “Rabbi εeir: A Descendant of Anatolian Proselytes,” JJS 23 (1972): 51-59.
545
Midrash HaGAdol, Shemini 11.7. My translation. Italics mine. Midrash Hagadol to Leviticus, ed.
A. Steinsaltz (Jerusalem: Mosad Harav Kook, 1975), 249 (Hebrew).
έ
'
The fact that the pig is not sheered is mentioned in Midrash Zuta, Song of Songs (ed. Buber) 1.15.
546
The proverb originated from Aristophanes, The Frogs (186) where Charon, the boatman to the
underworld, asks:
ἰ οῦ
π ον,
ἰ ὄνου πό α ; "who's for the plain of δetheς Who's for the
donkey's wool?" The use of Ecclesiastes 1:9 to criticize messianic sayings is found also in Bavli Sabbath
30b.
547
Shraga Abramson thinks that it is the Sages who are speaking and not the Romans, see: Shraga
Abramson, “Ma'amar Chazal U-Perusho (A Rabbinic Saying and Its Interpretation),” Molad 27, new series
4 (1971): 421-429 (Hebrew).
548
B. Eruvin 13b. My translation.
"
.
208
The joke’s sting in Ecclesiastes Rabbah is that Rabbi Meir seems to go too far not
just for his fellows sages but even for the Romans. However, while the Romans seemed
to refuse Rabbi εeir’s messianic optimism, they implicitly admit that their ferocious
animal nature will not change in the future. This turns against the Romans in the next part
of the midrash, which argues that only Israel, not the pork eaters, will be rewarded in the
future:
The Rabbis say: In the Hereafter the Holy One, blessed be He, will send forth a herald to
announce, ‘Whoever has not partaken of swine’s flesh in his lifetime, let him come and
take his reward’; and many who belonged to the Gentile peoples who never partook of
swine’s flesh will come to receive their rewardέ At that time the Holy τne, blessed be He,
will declare, ‘These wish to be rewarded in both worldsέ σot enough for them that they
enjoyed their world [upon earth], but they also seek to enjoy the world of my children! At
that time the Holy One, blessed be He, will send forth a herald a second time to announce,
‘Whoever has not partaken of the flesh of animals which had not been ritually
slaughtered or of animals disqualified for food or of the animals and reptiles prohibited
by the Torah, ]let him come and receive his rewardέ’ But there were none, apart from
Israel, because,] if [a Gentile] had not partaken of the flesh of such animals which
belonged to himself he did so of animals which belonged to another. Hence, why is the
pig called ‘ a ir,’ς Because it is destined to restore greatness and sovereignty to those to
whom they are dueέ” 549
The midrash seems to be distorted. If it refers to the Romans, the pork eaters, why
does it speak about “Gentile peoples who never partook of swine’s flesh”? And if it is not
pork which is the focus of the midrash, why does the midrash finish with “why it is
called “ a ir”? The answer may perhaps be found in the Midrash HaGadol’s version of
the midrash (Yemen, 14th cent.).
549
EcclR 1.9.
,
:
:
:
-
"
έ
:
,
"
"
:
έ
,
έ
209
Hamidrash HaGAdol
“And the Pig” (δevέ 11:7) The Rabbis say: τnce ]the Roman[ government
dispatched a message to our Rabbis, saying, ‘Send us one of your torchesέ’ The
Sanhedrin assembled and said: ‘They possess ever so many lighted candles and torches,
abundance of precious stones and pearls and they ask from us torches!? It seems that they
want of us nothing else than somebody who enlightens (meir) faces with legal decisions
[ha a a[έ’ What did they doς They sent Rέ εeir to themέ And why he is called εeirς For
he illuminates (meir) faces in legal decision [ha a a]. And when he entered to Rome the
sons of Rome asked him: why the pig’s name is ‘ a ir’? He replied: ‘Because it is
destined to return ( a zor
)έ’ They said to him: “Enough, Rέ εeir! ‘There is nothing
new under the sun’” (Ecc. 1:9).
And furthermore they ]the Romans[ asked him why his name is called ‘ a ir,’ς
He said to them: ‘It will restore (leha zir) the reward to its ownersέ’ In the Hereafter the
Holy τne, blessed be He, will send forth a herald to announce, ‘Whoever has not
partaken of swine’s flesh, let him come and take his reward’; and many of the nations of
the world who did not partake of swine’s flesh since this day will come to receive their
rewardέ At that time the Holy τne, blessed be He, says: ‘These wish to be rewarded in
both worlds. Not enough for them that they enjoyed [lit. eat] their world [upon earth], but
they also seek to enjoy [lit. to eat] the world of my children!? At that time the Holy One,
blessed be He, will send forth a herald to announce a second time: ‘Whoever has not
partaken of the flesh of animals which had not been ritually slaughtered [nebelot],
animals disqualified for food [trefot] or of reptiles and vermin [skatzim] and insects
[remasim[ let him come and receive his rewardέ’ But there is none of the nations of the
world which did not eat nebelot, trefot, skatzim and remasim. And if he did not eat [it
all/pork] he dipped [in its] sauce and if he did not dip in [its] sauce he cooked it in a pot.
Hence, it is found to return [ma zir[ good reward to its ownerέ’ Concerning it scripture
says “A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the wheel over them” (P roverbs
20:26). And R. Meir said furthermore: A time will come when the pig will have a fleece
of fine wool and the dog a coat of ermine. 550
This midrash refers to the punishment of pork eaters; although they were to stop
eating pork “since that day” Ḳ since the day God proclaimed, “Whoever has not partaken
of swine’s flesh, let him come and take his reward,” they will be punishedέ Hence, the
550
έ
"
:
:
έ
Midrash Hagadol (ed. A. Steinsaltz), Shemini 11.7, 248-249. My Translation. Italics mine.
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conclusion that the pig “will restore (leha zir) the reward to its ownersέ” The overall
message of the midrash is that in the messianic era nature will not change; “that which
hath been is that which shall be and that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccέ 1:λ)έ The messianic era is described as an
era of restoration: the pig [Rome] will return the kingdom to Israel, God will punish the
pork eaters but not will not change the pig´s nature (make it pure/eatable), for as the
sages state elsewhere: “The only difference between the present and the Messianic era is
that political oppression will then cease” (B. Sanhedrin 91b).551 In this line, the midrash
limits the messianic expectations, and probably polemicizes with the radical conception
of the messianic era in Judaism and especially in Christianity.
Discussion
Famously, in the Dispute of Tortosa (1413-1414), the convert from Judaism
Geronimo de Santa Fé (Joshua Halorki), brought against the Jews another version of the
midrash, “why is it called azirς that it will be restored to Israelέ”552 Santa Fé / Halorki
551
B. Sanhedrin 91b.
.
“
"
ς
” see: Géronimo de Santa Fe, Sefer ha-Pikkurim, 9.A
“Propter quid porcus vocatur hazir, quod idem est quod redibile? Quoniam Deus restituet ipsum ad Israel.”
Lopez Antoni Pacios, La Disputa de Tortosa , II, Actas, (Madrid: Iselan, 1957), 262. Isaac Abarbanel (d.
1509) in his Rosh Amanah and Yeshu'ot Meshiho. See: Don Yitzhak Abravanel, Rosh Amanah. The
Priniciples of Faith, ed. Menachem Kellner (Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1993), 102 (Hebrew).
And Yeshu'ot Meshiho, 258. Yitzhak Abravanel, Yeshu'ot meshiho (Konigsberg, 1861), 70. Baer argues that
the Jews did not answer honestly when they argued that they do not know the midrash ‘why is it called
azirς” Baer, “The forged εidraschim of Raymond Martini,” 40, note 1. H. Albek, argues that the Jews
only ask to see the book mentioned by Joshua Halorki before they debate the midrash. Hέ Albekέ “Addition
to Y. Baer, ‘The forged εidraschim of Raymond Martini and their Place in the Religious Controversies in
the εiddle Ages,’” in Studies in Memory of Asher Gulak and Samuel Klein (Jerusalem: Center for Judaic
Studies Hebrew University, 1942), 49.
552
211
argued that in the messianic era the Jews will be authorized to eat pork. The midrash
appeared much earlier in Peter Alfonsi´s Dialogue against the Jews (wr. 1109):553
“Even your sages attest to this, who said that after the advent of Christ all meats ought to
be permitted and eaten. But also on account of this they said that the meat of a pig is
called “ azir” (
), that is, “changeable,” since after the advent of Christ it had to be
changed from inedible to edibleέ” 554
Approximately one century later, the same midrash appears in An Anonymous
Treaty against the Jews (ca. 1200-1235): 555 “Why is it called
azir? For it will be
returned to be eatable to Israelέ”556 The Christian versions, especially that of the Dispute
of Tortosa, are similar to a common version in High and Late Medieval Jewish soruces:
“why is it called azir? for the Holy One, blessed be He, will return it ( eha zira
/ will return it ( eha ziro
)
) to Israelέ” 557 Hence, Adin Steinsaltz believes tha t
553
On the influence of this work, see: John Tolan, Petrus Alfonsi and his Medieval Readers (Gainsville,
FL: University Press of Florida, 1993), 95-131.
554
“Hoc etiam testantur doctores vestri, qui dixerunt post adventum Christi carnes omnes absolvendas
esse et comediέ Sed et propter hoc “ azir ]
[, id est “convertibilem”, appelatam esse dixerunt carnem
porci, quod post adventum Christi de incomestibili in comestibilem debebat convertiέ” Petrus Alfonsi,
Di ogo contra os ud os, ed and transέ John Victor Tolan, Klaus-Peter εieth, Esperanza Ducay, and εaría
Jes s δacarra (Huesca [Spain]: Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses, 1996), 189. Translation by Irven M.
Resnick, Petrus Alfonsi, Dialogue Against the Jews (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2006), 268. The text is cited also in Francisco Machado, Espelho de Christãnos novos
(Mirror of the New Christians) (Alcobaça, Portugal, 1541). Francisco Machado, The Mirror of the New
Christians, ed. trans. and introd. Evelyn Vieira Mildred and Ephraim Frank Talmage (Toronto: Pontifical
Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1977), 184. On Francisco εachado’s use of Petrus Alphonsi, see: John
Tolan, Petrus Alfonsi and his Medieval Readers (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993), 119-120.
555
On the date of the Tratado, see: José εέ εillás Vallicrosa, “Un tratado an nimo contra los judios,”
Sefarad 13 (1953): 8. The midrash is told after arguing that God permited all foods during creation, for He
declared all his Creation good (Gn. 1:1-25). It further argues that the reason for the food avoidance in the
Old Testament was to avoid idolatry among the Israleites, and that the real sense of the commandments is
allegorical. The author argues that with the coming of Christ, the new convenant abolishes the food
avoidanceέ The midrash “why is it call azirς” is told in order to reinforce this argument.
556
“δama nicra semo a ir ha ssum sseyah ir eheho isçrae έ” εillás Vallicrosa, “Un tratado,” 33έ
Josep Hernando, “Tractatus adversus Iudaeosέ Un tratado an nimo de polémica antijudía (sέXIII),” Acta
historica et archaeologica mediaevalia 7-8 (1986-1987): 74.
557
The answer “
"
/
” is found inter alia in: Ibn Shaprut, Even Bohan
11.15 (wr. 1385). Norman E. Frimer The Preparation of a Critical Edition of the Manuscript Eben Bohan
by Shem Tob bar Yitzhak Shaprut, Phd Dissertation (New York: Yeshiva University, 1953), 82. RITVA’s
(Yom Tov ben Abraham Asevilli, Spain, 1250-1330) interpretation to B. Kiddushin 59b. Ritva,
Commentary to the Talmud (Hiddushei ha -Ritva), Kiddushin, ed. R. Avraham Dinin (Jerusalem: Mossad
HaRav Kook, 1985), 526 (Hebrew). Rabbi Abba Mari of Lunel in his Min at kenaot 2. 20-30 (wr. c. 1310).
Rabbi Abba Mari of Lunel, Min at kenaot in Solomon ben Adret, Teshuvot ha-Rashba le-Rabenu
She omoh b.R. A raham ben Adretν ṿe-tsoraf la-hen Sefer εin at ena ot e-R. Aba Mari de-Lunil, vol. I.1
212
Hamidrash HaGadol’s version (“Because it is destined to return ( a zor
)”), which
comes from the Muslim world, is the original uncensured version, while Ecclesiastes
Rabbah’s version (“Because it is destined to restore (leha zir
) the sovereignty to
its owners”) was a result of Jews’ self-censorship in Christian Europe. 558 If so, how
should we explain that the most ancient version - in Leviticus Rabbah (“For it restores
(me azeret
) the crown to the one who truly should have itέ”) Ḳ offers a similar idea
to that of Ecclesiastes Rabbah? As Shraga Abramson notes, we find this idea in the sixth
century piyyut of Yannai, where it is stated that God in the messianic era “will break
down the pig ( a ir
) and kingship [to Israel] will return (ya zir
)έ”559 Rather tha n
trying to identify the original, uncensured version of the midrash, we can see in the
diverse answers to the question, “why is it called a irς” a reflection of diverse opinions
concerning the messianic era (table 8). In fact, if, as Steinsaltz proposes, the Hamidrash
HaGadol’s version is the oldest one, it contains a polemic between two messianic
interpretations of the name of the pig. The first is that the pig is called a ir for it will
“return,” in the sense that the pig will become pure (edible) to Israel, but this
interpretation is rejected for “there is nothing new under the sun’” (Ecc. 1:9). Hence
comes the second interpretation, which is the correct one: “It will restore (leha zir) the
reward to its owners,” in the sense that God will punish the pork eatersέ
(Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav u ; εakhon le-hotsa at rishonim ṿe-a aronim, 1λλί), 232 (Hebrew)έ Jacob
ben Sheshet of Gerona, Sefer meshiv devarim nekhohim 3, lines 82-92 (wr. c. 1240). Jacob ben Sheshet,
Sefer Meshiv Devarim Nekhohim, ed. Georges Vajda (Jerusalem: Israeli Academy of Science, 1968), 81-82
(Hebrew). Menahem Tzioni (14-15th Cent.). Sefer Tzioni (Jerusalem, 1964), 47 (Shemini) (Hebrew). And
Isaac Abarbanel (d. 1509) in his Rosh emuanah and Yeshu'ot Meshiho. Abravanel, Rosh Amanah, 102; Ibid.
Yeshu'ot meshiho, 70.
558
Adin Steinsaltz, “Atid ha-Kadosh Baruh Hu le- a a iro,” Tarbiz (1967): 297-298 (Hebrew).
559
Yannai, Keroba to Deutronomy 2:2. My translation. Menachem Zulay, Piyyute Yannai, (Liturgical
Poems of Yannai) (Berlin: Schocken 1938), 23ίέ Abramson, “Ma'amar Chazal U-Perusho,” 423 (Hebrew).
.
ή] [
213
Source
Midrash
HaGadol
Date
13th
cent.
Ecclesiastes
Rabbah
Leviticus
Rabbah
13.5
7th-9th
cent.
4th-5th
cent.
Answer
‘Because it is destined to return´ ( a zor)
‘It will restore (leha zir) the reward to its
ownersέ’
‘Because it is destined to restore
(leha zir) the sovereignty to its ownersέ’
¨For it restores (me azeret) the crown to
the one who truly should have it´.
Hebrew
έ
.
Table 8: The different answers to the question, “why is it called azir”ς
in midrashic literature
The Christians argue that the pig was pure since the creation of the world, and that
the coming of Jesus did not change the pig´s nature but rather changed the nature of the
Hebrew Bible law. The avoidance of pork traded its literal meaning for a spiritual one:
God does not ask man not to eat pork, but asks him not to behave like a pig. The
avoidance of pork was imposed temporarily on the Jews because of their sinful nature. In
a sense the Christians argued that, regarding animal purity, “That which hath been is that
which shall be” (Eccέ 1:λ), that the impurity of animals was an innovation of Sinaiέ Hence,
with the coming of Christ, the status of the pig returned to its original one. The sages, on
the other hand, made the pig stand for the future punishment of Rome for its sins against
Israel, for “that which hath been is that which shall be” (Eccέ 1:λ)έ Furthermore, not only
will the avoidance of pork not cease to be respected in the messianic era, but also God
will punish the eaters of pork. This idea is elaborated in the Midrash on Psalms (Buber)’s
interpretation of Ecclesiastes 1:9:
“The δord sets prisoners free,” (Psέ 14θ:7)έ What does “sets prisoners free” meanς Some
say: every animal that is unclean in this world will be purified by the Holy One, blessed
be he, in the World to Come, and so it is written: “What was is what will be, and what
was made is what will be made” (Ecclέ 1:λ); “what was made” - whatever [animals] were
made [created] before the time of Noachides were [considered] clean, and so it is written,
“I gave you everything as the green herb” (Gnέ λ:3)έ Just as I gave the green herb to
everyone, so [I gave] beasts and animals to everyone from the beginning. Why, then, did
he forbid it? In order to see who would obey his command and who would disobey; in the
World to come, he will permit everything that he forbade. But some say that he will not
permit them in the World to Come for, as it is written: “those who eat swine’s
214
flesh…]shall come to an end together[” (Isέ θθ:17)έ If he cuts down and destroys whoever
ate them, how much more so [God will consider impure] the unclean animal [itself]? 560
The midrash seems to interpret “the δord sets prisoners free (matir asurim)” (Ps.
14θ:7) as “the δord permits the prohibited (matir isurim)έ” The midrash provides two
additional interpretations, besides the abrogation of food avoidances: 1) the abrogation of
the prohibition of Niddah, of having intercourse during menstruation (because women
will have no more menstruation), and 2) The resurrection of the dead (
), when
God will liberate the dead from the prison of death. 561 The first interpretation regarding
impure foods opens with the argument that in the times of Noah it was declared that all
food was pure (based on Gn. 9:3), which the Christians used as proof that the food
avoidances of the Hebrew Bible were temporary. This idea is rejected by the argument
that God gave the commandments to Israel to test the willingness of Israel and the nations
of the world. The idea of the abrogation of the food avoidances in the messianic era is
rejected by the citation of Isaiah 66:17. This verse is understood not only as proof that the
nations of the world will be punished in the future, but also as an argument a priori that if
God will be so severe with those who eat impure animals, how much stricter will he be
concerning the impure status of those animals themselves. The midrash on Psalm 146
560
MidrPss 146. Translation by Rokeah, Justin Martyr, 112-113, with slight alteration. Rokeah
translates the final phrase of the midrash as, “how much more so [will he destroy] the unclean animal
]itself[”έ However, it seems to me that that this phrase refers to the question of the status of impurity of
animals in the messianic era, with which the midrash opens.
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561
MidrPss 146.
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215
perhaps originated from Bereshit Rabbati of Moses ha-Darshan (11th cent.) and was
integrated into Midrash on Psalms between the eleven and twelfth centuries. 562 The
midrash therefore seems to reflect a High Medieval polemic with Christianity.
A later midrash which plays with the idea that the pig will return asks, “Why is it
[Rome] compared to the pig ( azir)?” answering, “Because the Holy One is going to pay
it (leha zir) with strict judgment,” 563 as for example in εidrash Tan uma:
‘These, However, you may not eat (…): The camel (…); The rock badger (…); The hare
(…); And the pig’ (δevέ 11:4-7). The camel (gamal) represents the kingdom of Babylon,
since it is stated: ‘τ daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, ]blessed is the one
who repays you the recompense (gemuleh) with which you recompense (shegamalt) us’
(Ps. 137:8). The rock badger represents the kingdom of Media, since it is stated: So
humans sought to destroy ]all the Jews[…(Esthέ 3:θ)έ The hare alludes to Greece, because
it brought low the Torah from the mouth of the prophets. The pig represents the evil
kingdom of Edom, since it is stated: ‘The pig of the forest gnaws at it’ (Psέ κί:14)έ Why
is it compared to the pig ( azir)? Because the Holy One is going to pay it back ( azir)
with strict judgment. How? In the age to come the Holy One will issue a proclamation:
Whoever has been engaged in the Torah may come and receive his reward. Then the
gentiles also will say: Give us our reward, for we also have performed such and such a
commandment. The Holy One [however] has said: Whoever has not eaten abhorrent
creatures and creeping things may receive his reward. At that time they [will] receive
their judgment (
),564 as stated: ‘Those who eat the flesh of the pig, the abhorrent
creature, and the mouse shall be consumed together, says the δord’ (Isέ θθ:17)έ 565
On the date of the midrash, see: εack, “The Source,” θκ. The midrash cited in Raymond εartini’s
Pugio fidei tells a similar version:
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Raymond Martini, Pugio fidei adversus Mauros et Iudaeos 3.3.11. Raimundus Martini and Joseph de
Voisin. Raymundi Martini Pugio fidei adversus Mauros et Iudaeos.: Cum observationibus Iosephi de
Voisin (Lipsiae, 1687), 802-803.
563
Midrash Hagada (ed. Buber), Leveticus 11.5. Tan (ed. Buber), Shemini 14; YalkShim, Shemini 536.
564
On the word
see: Daniel Sperber, A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Legal Terms in Rabbinic
Literature (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1984), 52-54.
565
TanB Shemini 14. Translation by John T. Townsend, Midrash Tanhuma (S. Buber Recension), vol.
2. Exodus and Leviticus (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav, 1997), 235-236.
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In Yalkut Shimoni, Shemini 536 we find another configuration of the idea that the
in the messianic era God will punish the pork eaters on the basis of Isaiah 66:17:
“Every word of God is pure ]tzrufa [(Prov. 30:5) Ḳ and does God care if one gorged
[ritually] an animal and ate [it according to the law] or if one killed [the animal] and ate
it ? But the precepts were given for the purpose of purifying [ eṣaref
] peoples [briot
]. Come and see: in the beginning of the world it is written: “]Every moving thing
that lives will be food for you[, as the green herb have I given you everything” (Genέ λ:3)
and when Israel were on Mount Sinai [God] multiplied to them Torah and
commandments. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: A minor commandment I command
him [the nations of the world] and he transgresses it, all those commandments how can he
fulfill? In the Hereafter the Holy One, blessed be He, will send forth a herald to announce,
‘Whoever has dealt with the Torah will come to receive their reward. And the Kutim
[Samaritans, but here in the sense of non-Jews[ will come and say: “give us our reward
for we also followed the commandmentsέ” The Holy One, blessed be He, will say: “any
one that did not eat pig’s flesh, and abominations or creeping things will come and
receive his rewardέ” In this hour they ]the nations of the world[ will receive their verdict
[
[ as it is written: “the eaters of the flesh of pig, vermin, and mouse, shall come to
an end together, says the Lord” (Isέ θθ:17)έ 566
The first part of the midrash originates from Leviticus Rabbah 13.3-4. However,
while in Leviticus Rabbah the idea that the food avoidance is as a test to the Jews is
emphasized, later midrashim placed greater importance on the future punishment of
Israel’s enemies in the messianic era for not respecting the food avoidancesέ
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Compare to: Midrash Haggadah (ed. Buber), Shemini.
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Conclusion
The midrash “why is it called azirς,” dated from as early as the fourth or fifth
century, in the High and Late Middle Ages had diverse versions which have been
explained in diverse ways.567 As we have seen, the midrashic playing with the Hebrew
word for the pig, “ a ir” and the verb to return (lea zir) is also found in piyyut of Yannai
in the sixth century, where it is described how God in the messianic era “will break down
the pig ( a ir) and kingship [to Israel] will return (ya zir)έ”568 Similarly, it is wrriten in a
piyyut by Yehuda (Eretz Israel/Palestine, 6th-7th century?):
Until when shall the daily offering [tamid] be void from your multitudes,
and in the hands of those who eat pork [besha r a a ir] shall your residence be given?
Be zealous for our zeal to return [ ea ziro] it [Israel] to your dwelling.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you (Ps 141:2). 569
We find this construction later in several Medieval liturgical poems, as for
example in the line of Yehuda Halevi (1070-114ί CE): “And ]God[ will expel Shamah
]one of Esau’s descendents] the eater of Pork ( a ir) and we will bless there “Blest the
one that returns (ma zir)έ”570 The links between the pig and return is also found in the
later medieval Psikta Zutara’s explanation that the pig is so called because it “turns all its
567
Rabbeinu Behaye (d. 1340), Biur al ha-Torah,vol. II, Exodous, Leviticus, ed. R. Hayyim Dov
Chavel (Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav u , 1λθ7), 4ηκ-4ηλέ For further sources, see: Karlinski Hέ, “He- a ir
ve-‘ etero e-Atid Lavo,” Shanah be-Shanah (1972): 243-254.
568
Yannai, Keroba to Deutronomy 2:2. My translation. Zulay, Piyyute Yannai, 230. For the link
between this piyyut and the midrash “why is it called azirς” see Shraga Abramson, “εa amar a a Pirusho.”
ή] [
569
Yehuda, Quedusa for Vayishlach. Translation by Wout Jac van Bekkum, Hebrew Poetry from Late
Antiquity: Liturgical Poems of Yehudah (Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, 1998), xv.
/
/ ] [
]
[ /
] [
]
[
. [ [ ] [
570
Israel Levin and Angel Saenz-Badillos, Si me o ido de ti, erusa em… Cantos de las sinagogas de
al-Andalus (Cordoba: Ediciones el Almendro, 1992), 68. The poem probably originates from after the first
crusades since the pig eaters are in the Temple.
έ
/
218
body, and does not turn its neckέ” 571 Likewise, it is found in the Greco-Roman image of
the pig returning to the mud after the bath. This saying, attributed to Heraclitus, 572 is
found in 2 Peter 2:22: “’The dog returns to its vomit’ and ‘The pig, once washed,
wallows in mudέ’”573 Hence, a biological, behavioral conception of the pig as an animal
that turnsήreturns converged with the Hebrew etymology of the pig’s name as containing
the root .z.r, which is also that of the verb to return, and this made the pig particularly
apt to be manipulated in the idea of messianic return.
Judah Rozental collected several midrashim which transmit the idea of the
abrogation of the commandments in the messianic era.574 While not all the examples he
cites are convincing, it is clear that the idea of the abrogation of the commandments
existed in early rabbinic literature and probably even earlier. This idea is central in
Christianity, as the coming of Jesus is understood as abrogating the old Law. Therefore,
the tension between the idea of the eternity of the Law and its messianic abrogation
which is inherent to Judaism itself became one of the most important differences between
Judaism and Christianity. In the fourth century, Julian the Apostate ironically asks
whether the nature of the pig changed after Peter’s vision in Jaffa (Acts 1ί: λ-22),
arguing that “if, after the vision of Peter, the pig has now taken to chewing the cud, then
let us obey Peter; for it is in very truth a miracle if, after the vision of Peter, it has taken
to that habitέ” 575 It seems that similarly, the midrash “why is it called a irς” seems to
reject the same idea that the pig will change its nature in the messianic era, at least in
Psikta Zutra, Leviticus Shemini 29b. έ
έ
Courcelle, “δe thème littéraire, 2κ1έ Jungkurtz “Fathers, Heretics, and Epicureansέ”
573
Brown, An Introduction, 767.
574
Judah Rosenthal, “Abrogation of the Commandments in Jewish Eschatology,” in Meyer Waxman
Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his Seventy-Fifth Birthday, ed. Judah Rosenthal, Leonard C. Mishkin,
and David S. Shapiro (Chicago: College of Jewish Press; Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem: Mordecai Newman,
1966), 217-233 (Hebrew).
575
Julian, Against the Galilaeans 306B-314E (Apud Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian).
571
572
219
Hamidrash haHagado ’s version. While this version mentioned an interpretation of the
name of the pig which seems to propose that it will became pure in the messianic era, this
interpretation is mentioned solely with the aim of being rejected.
As Jonathan Boyarin notes, Christianity made the pig, or more exactly eating pork,
a passage, a poros from Judaism to Christianity, from the past to the future. 576 The
midrash “why is it called “ a irς” makes a similar move, but in the opposite direction:
the pig is a poros, a passage from Rome (Christianity) to Israel, in the sense that in the
messianic era Israel’s power will be restoredέ To this idea was added the punishment of
the pork eaters in the messianic era, which later midrashim based on Isaiah 66:17: “Those
who eat the flesh of the pig, the abhorrent creature, and the mouse shall be consumed
together, says the δordέ”
576
Boyarin, “δe porc en dieu Pôrosέ”
220
Chapter 10
The End of the Pig
The tension between binary oppositions can be managed in different ways: It
might be maintained, elaborated, or limited. However, it might come to its end by a
synthesis of both oppositions or by the destruction of both or one of the opposites.
Messianic thinking tends to imagine - after the messianic overcoming - a neutral, pacific
world, a world free of tensions. If the pig incarnated for the sages the antithesis of Israel,
did they believe that the tension between the two binary oppositions would come to end
in the messianic era? And if so, did they imagine the end of the pig? As we have seen, the
midrash “why it is called ‘ a ir’ς” imagines that the pig in the messianic era will restore
the kingdom to Israel, but the midrash does not speak of the end of the pig´s existence or
its impurity. A more radical version of this midrash hints that at the end of time, the pig
will become pure, and hence the tension which it embodied will end. However, while
some Kabalists understood this midrash as proposing that in the messianic era the pig
will become pure (as a Shabatian author of the seventh century also believed), this
opinion is marginal.577 Another midrash states that the eaters of pork will be punished a t
the end of time, but it does not imagine the end of the pig, its killing, or its extinction. In
fact, only one midrash, in Esther Rabbah, mentions the killing of the pig.
Esther Rabbah
Midrash Esther Rabbah twice mentions the pig: in chapters four and seven. In
chapter four, Vashti (the former wife of King Ahasuerus) is compared to a sow:
“What shall we do ]unto the queen Vashti[ according to law” (Esther 1:1η)έ- R. Isaac said:
[To think that] that sow is treated according to law, and a holy nation not according to
577
εack, “The Source,” ηλέ
221
law, but with barbarity!ς “unto the queen Vashti” (Ibid) - And how much more with a
queen who is not Vashti!” 578
The simile of the better treatment of the sow as a symbol of Israel’s enemy´s
current superiority is found also in Genesis Rabbah 44.23. In this midrash, the
paradoxical existence of the elected people under the subjection of the Roman Empire is
addressed in a paragraph which interprets God’s blessing to Abraham in Genesis 1η in
what is known as the Abrahamic covenant (Brit bein HaBetarim, the "Covenant Between
the Parts”)έ The midrash must overcome the contradiction between the blessing that
promises Abraham´s offspring that they will inherit the land of the ten nations of
Canaan, 579 with the reality of the Roman occupation during its time of composition. The
midrash resolves this problem with the idea that in the past God gave the Jews the seven
nations of Canaan but not the remaining three nations that Israel will inherit in the
future. 580 Later on, the midrash compares this injustice to that of the fecundity of the
impure sow and the barenness of the pure sheep:
578
EstherR 4.5. Translation by Maurice Simon, Midrash Rabbah, Esther (London: Soncino Press,
1939), 60.
,
,
έ
579
Genesis 15:1λ: “The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, and the Hittite, and the
Perizzite, and the Rephaim, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusiteέ”
580
“Rέ Dostai said in the name of Rέ Samuel bέ σahman: Because the Hitite is not mentioned here ]Vέ
Deutέ 7:1[ the Rephaim are substituted in their steadέ Rέ Helbo said in Rέ Abba’a name in Rέ Johanan’s
name: The Holy One, blessed be He, did at first contemplate giving Israel possession of ten peoples, but He
gave them only seven, the other three being the Kenite, and the Kenissite, and the Kadmonite. Rabbi said:
They are Arabia, the Shalamite and the Nabatean. R. Simeon b. Yohai said: They are the Damascus region,
Asia Minor, and Apamea. R. Liezer b. Jacob said: Asia Minor, Thrace, and Carthage. The Rabbis said:
Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon are the three nations that were not given to them [to
Israel] in this world, as it is said, “For I will not give you of their land, ]not so much as for the sole of the
foot to tread upon[; because I have given εount Seir to Esau for a possession” (Deutέ 2:η)έ But in the days
of the Messiah they shall once again belong to Israel, in order to fulfill God’s promiseέ σow, however, He
has given them but seven, as it says, “Seven nations greater and mightier than thou” (Deutέ 7:1)έ” GenR,
Lech Lecha 44. 23. Translation by Freedman, Midrash Rabbah, Genesis, vol. I, 563-565.
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R. Isaac said: The sow grazes with ten of its young whereas the sheep does not graze
even with one. Thus, all these, viz. “The Kenite, the kenizzite, etcέ” (Gn. 15:19). [i.e. the
Romans who were promised to Abraham’s seed[, yet so far, “Sarai Abraham’s wife bore
him no children” (Gnέ 1θ:1)!” 581
The Sages learn from Genesis 16:1 that as Sarah finally became pregnant with
Isaac, hence Israel´s redemption finally will comeέ If now “the sow ]Rome[ grazes with
ten of its young [allusion to the ten nations] whereas the sheep [Israel] does not graze
even with one,” in the future Israel will inherit Romeέ 582
The problem of the unjust asymmetry between the pigήsow (Israel’s enemy) and
the pure animal (Israel) is resolved in the “porcine” midrash in Esther Rabbah’s chapter
seven:583
After those things, Ahasuerus, the king, promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the
Agagite, etc” (Esther 3: 1)έ As the writing said: “But the wicked shall perish, and the
enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs” (Psalms 37: 20). For they are not
fattened for their own sake but for slaughtering; similarly, Haman was promoted just for
his downfall. As in the parable of a man that had a filly, a sheḲass and a sow, who gave to
the sow without measure and to the she-ass and the filly only their due. The filly said to
the she-ass: “what is this fool doing ? To us, that are working for the master of the house,
he gives only our due and to the sow, who is idle, he give without measureς” She
answered her: “the time will come and you will see her downfall, for she is not fed more
for her glory but rather for her damnation”έ And as Kalandes arrived, they took
immediately the sow and slaughtered her. They started to give barley to the daughter of
the she-ass and she blew on it and didn’t eatέ Her mother told her: “my daughter, it is not
the food that is the cause, but the idleness, as it was written: “and he set his seat above all
the princes that were with him” (Esther 3:1), therefore, “so they hanged Haman” (Esther
7:10). 584
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In the late Midrash Shir-ha-Sirim Zuta (1.15) Israel is compared to a ewe that is sheared and grows
wool each year, and is contrasted to the pig that is not sheared and does not grow anything. See: Midrash
Zuta on Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations and Ecclesiastes, ed. S. Buber (Berlin, 1894) (Hebrew).
583
According to Arnon Atzmon, this midrash is from the earlier stratum of Esther Rabbah. Arnon
Atzmon, Esther Rabbah II – Towards a Critical Edition, PhD Dissertation (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan
University, 2005), 58-64. (Hebrew)
584
EstherR 7.10.
223
The story seems to be a version of Aesop’s fable 414: The Pig, the Donkey, and
the Barley: 585
There was a man who had vowed that he would sacrifice a pig in honour of Hercules if
the god agreed to rescue him from danger. When the man fulfilled his vow and sacrificed
the pig, he then ordered that the pig’s leftover barley be given to the donkeyέ The donkey,
however, refused to touch itέ ‘This is the kind of food that would normally arouse
appetite,’ said the donkey, ‘but not when it is the result of the previous diner having had
his throat cut!’
[Moral] This fable taught me caution und I have avoided risky ventures ever since Ḳ but
you say ‘those who grab wealth get to keep it’έ Just remember how many of them are
eventually caught and killed! Clearly, the ones who have been punished constitute the
larger crowd. A few people may profit from reckless behavior, but more are ruined by
it. 586
Esther Rabbah’s version has the moral that, “it is not the food that is the cause,
but the idleness,” but the general message does not change much from the Aesopian
origin. The use of the Aesopian fable in Esther Rabbah could be clarified by an episode
from the Byzantine Life of Saint Symeon (wr. 764/5-844/5), where the saint prophesies
the death of Emperor Leo V on Christmas day of the year 820:
For once when God-loving men were sitting with the holy man at the column and
conversing, they spoke ]as follows[ about this impious man ]emperor δeo V[: “Have you
seen, father, what a lawless emperor God has made to live long because of our sins? He
subjects the orthodox to continuous banishments (…)έ So what do you say, holy one,
whatς Encourage us your childrenέ” And opening his mouth our divine father Symeon
said nothing scriptural but a country saying known by all: “Endure patiently, brothers, for
squeals of swine [come] around the Kalendsέ” Which in fact happened; for during
Christmastide in the church of Stephen the first martyr, the one within the palace, in the
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For a different suggestion as to which of Aesop’s fable the midrash transforms, see: Yassif, The
Hebrew Folktale, 199-200.
586
Aesop, Fable ηλλ: ”The farmer and the Pigέ” Translation by δaura Gibbs, Aesop’s ab es (Oxford
and σew York: τxford University Press, 2ίί2), 1λ4έ The same is found in δatin in Phaedrus ηέ4 (‘The Ass
and the Pig’s Barley’)έ
224
place named Daphne, during the night he [Emperor Leo V] was cut to pieces limb from
limb and departed to gloomy darkness. 587
Being an iconoclast, Emperor Leo V is portrayed as the enemy of the Church, and
therefore as a boar.588 In Kalends (kalendae), the first day of the Roman month, it was the
custom to sacrifice to Juno a porca (sow) and agna (sheep) near the regina sacrorum in
Regia. 589 However, it seems that the Kalends which is mentioned in the Life of Saint
Symeon and in Esther Rabbah is that of January, the New Years Eve of the Julian year. 590
“Squeals of swine come around the Kalends,” seems to be proverbial expression
equivalent to the French-Spanish proverb: “À chaque porc vient la Saint-Martin”ή“A todo
cerdo le llega su San Martín” – “To each pig comes [it’s] Saint εartin´s Dayέ” Since pigs
are traditionally slaughtered on this day, November eleventh, 591 the proverb´s message is
that each criminal will one day pay for its crimes. Both in the midrash and in the
Byzantine life of the saint, the killing of the pig on the Kalends symbolizes the execution
of the tyrant, an idea that we find in a version of another Aesopian parable concerning the
criminal pig, which Aelian relates in the third century CE:
587
Life of Sts. David, Symeon and George of Lesbos 16. Italic mine. Translation by Dorothy
Abrahamse and Douglas Domingo-Forasté, “δife of Stsέ David, Symeon and George of δesbos” in AliceMary Maffry Talbot, Byzantine Defenders of Images: Eight Saints' Lives in English Translation
(Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998), 182-183.
588
Interestingly enough, in what might parallel the Jewish tradition of the pig entering the Temple, the
rise of Leo V is symbolized as a pig that enters the Church. Life of Sts. David, Symeon and George of
Lesbos 14. Talbot, Byzantine Defenders of Images, 177.
589
Jaan Puhvel, “Victimal Hierarchies in Indo-European Animal Sacrifice,” The American Journal of
Philology 99.3 (1978): 359.
590
Hadas-Lebel, Jérusalem contre Rome, 310-312. Ibid. “δe paganisme à travers les sources
rabbiniques des IIe et IIIe sièclesέ Contribution à l’étude du syncrétisme dans l’empire romainέ” ANRW II,
19, no. 2 (1979): 427-429. For the Kalends in Rabbinic sources, see: εoshe Benovitz, “Herod and
Hanukkah,” Zion 68, no. 1 (2003): 39-40 (Hebrew). Emmanuel Friedheim, Rabbinisme et Paganise en
Palestine romaine: étude historique des Realia talmudiques (Ier -IVème siècles) (Leiden; Boston: Brill,
2006), 332-335.
591
On the day following Saint Martin Day the forty days of Advent begin, during which it is forbidden
to eat meat. See: Sillar and Meyler, The Symbolic Pig, 156. Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast, 77. Compare
to the Arabic proverb, “Every dog will have its dayέ”
225
This is the story from Phrygia; it is from Aesop the Phrygian. It says that if one touches a
pig, it squeals, and quite reasonably: it produced no fur or milk, nothing but meat, and it
has visions of death because it knows in what way its nature is a source of profit for
othersέ Tyrants are like Aesop’s pig: they suspect and fear everything, because they know
that they too, just like the pig, are at mercy of everyone. 592
If, as Joseph Tabory remarks, the tale in Esther Rabbah is not “Jewish,” as
expressed by the fattened sow which is sacrificed for the Kalends, 593 it nevertheless
serves to relay a “kosher” messageέ When told in a Jewish context, the non-kosher
elements take on a particular Jewish meaningέ The question is, who “Judaizied” the story?
The phrase cited by Esther Rabbah: “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the
Lord shall be as the fattened lambs” (Ps 37:2ί) speaks of the killing of fat lambs, a pure
animal. However, the story that follows, speaks of a sow, an impure animal. Haman,
symbolized by the sow, is, according to the sages, the descendant of Esau, who is
identified with the pig. The midrash proposes that the execution of Haman (Esther 7:10)
resembles the killing of the pig. 594 Now we can see how the porcine midrash in chapter
seven answers the injustice expressed in the porcine midrash in chapter four: “[To think
that] that sow is treated according to law, and a holy nation not according to law, but with
592
Elian, Historical Miscellany 10.5. The original Aesopian parable, entitled The Sheep, the Goat, and
the Sow: A story about a sow, teaching us to give each man his due: “A man had rounded up a sow, a goat,
and a sheep from his farm. While the donkey carried them all to the city, the goat and the sheep settled
down quietly, but the sow’s screams bothered their chauffeur, so the donkey said to the sow, ‘Why on the
earth can’t you go along quietly like the othersς’ The sow replied, ‘The goat is being brought here for her
milk, the sheep for his wool, but for me this is a matter of life and death! The moral of the parable is that
“each man has his own reason for acting as he doesέ” Translation by δaura Gibbs, Aesop, “Fable 3λ7: The
Sheep, the Goat, and the Sow,” in Aesop’s ab es (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002),
185.
593
Tabory, “The Proems, 12έ
594
For Purim’s vengeance fantasies, see: Hagit Sivan, Palestine in Late Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2008). In Sephardic communities it was the custom during Purim to write a “εarriage
Contract” (ketubah) for Haman and his wife Zeresh. In one example from Salonika (in Ya'akov Tzidkuni’s
collection) Haman is portrayed as the “cursed, stupid, notorious wild boar, enemy of the Jews,” see: YomTov Lewinsky, “ eit ad iku Et Haman biTefutzot Yisrael (How Haman was beaten in the Jewish
Diasporas),” Yalkut Folkloristi lePurim (Tel-Aviv: Ha evra Ha’Ivrit lyeda Am, 1λ47), 14 (Hebrew)έ
226
barbarity!ς” 595 The reply: injustice is temporary, for in the end the sow will be
slaughtered!596
Discussion
While the pig is the emblematic animal of the evil empire, it is quite surprising
that we find just one midrash concerning its killing. However, as we have seen, the later
Midrash on Psalms imagines the future extermination of the pig (Rome=Esau):
595
EstherR 4.5. Translation by Maurice Simon, Midrash Rabbah, Esther (London: Soncino Press,
1939), 60.
,
,
έ
596
For the image of Vashti in Rabbinic literature, see: Yael Shemesh, “Gi gu eha she ashtiμ εi ra,
midrash a a , ha-parshanut ha-femiistit,” Beth Mikkra 47 (2002): 356-372 (Hebrew). To the midrashim
mentioned above, we may associate a story in Hekhalot Rabbati (c. 650-900 CE) in which the killing of the
Roman emperor is associated with pigs. According to the legend, Emperor δupinus, who condemned Rέ
anina ben Teradyon to death, is miraculously transferred by an angel from his palace to a pig sty [where
the Rabbi was jailed[έ In the morning, the emperor’s soldiers came and killed the emperor, who seemed to
them to be the condemned rabbi: “R. Ishmael said: Suriya, the prince of the countenance, told me:
“Beloved, δet me tell you what HDR THWR HDR ‘WHYHε, the δord, the God of Israel, did at that hourέ
He ordered me to descend, and I harassed and pushed Emperor Lupinus out of his palace, where he slept at
night, and I led him to the pen of the pigs and dogs. I brought R. Hananyah ben Teradyon in and led him to
the palace of Emperor Lupinus. The next morning, the guards who were angry with R. Nehunya ben haQanah came to say: ‘(He is) sitting performing wonders in the house of study, sitting teaching the noble
ones of Israel Torahέ’ ‘Chop off his head!’ Emperor δupinus appeared to them as Rέ Hananyah ben
Teradyon [as R. Nehunyah ben ha-Qanah] and they cut off his head, while R. Nehunya ben ha-Qanah was
in his house. Meanwhile, R. Hananyah ben Teradyon went and bound the crown of his kingdom and
reigned over wicked Rome in the guise of Emperor Lupinus for six months, during which he killed six
thousand generals, a thousand generals each month. They displayed him in the form of R. Hananyah ben
Teradyon before the people of wicked Rome, and they seized him and threw him into the fire. Who was it
whom they had thrown into the fire in place of R. Hananyah ben Teradyon? (It was) Lupinus, since Ḳ after
they had killed him Ḳ they revived him again in the upper court of justice. They seized him, threw him into
the fire, and he suffocated in the flames.” Hekhalot Rabbati 8.3.120-121. Translation of MS O1η31 by
Ra anan Sέ Boustan, From Martyr to Mystic: Rabbinic Martyrology and the Making of Merkavah
Mysticism (T bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 233-236.
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227
“My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” (Ps. 120:6). Is there any man who
hates peace? Esau hates peace. Scriptures says, “I will give you peace in the land” (δevέ
2θ: θ)έ When will there be peaceς The verse goes on to answer, “After I will cause evil
beasts to cease out of the land” (ibidέ)έ Evil beasts can refer only to the boar, for it is said
“The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, and the wild beasts of the field devour it”
(Ps. 80:14), and the boar is none other than wicked Esau. 597
While the famous prophetic image in Isaiah 11:6 of the messianic era as a time
when animals will change their nature - when “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the
leopard shall lie down with the kid” - the Midrash on Psalms imagines the messianic
extermination of the evil beast, the boar. However, this midrash is isolated in its extreme
vision of the end of the boar and does not change the overall picture of the rarity of the
image of the killing of the pig in rabbinic literature.
This rarity might be conected to the many versions of the Islamic Hadith
according to which, in the end of the days, ‘Isā (Jesus) will descend upon earth and will
kill the pigs, as in, for example, the ninth century version of εuslim’s Sahih:
I swear by God that Jesus will descend from heaven and that he will be an equitable
judge, he will destroy the cross, he will kill the pigs, he will abolish the tax to the nonMuslims, he will leave the young she-camels and no one will be interested in them; spite,
mutual haters and jealousy will disappear, and when he calls the people to accept wealth,
no one will do so. 598
Some later versions speak of how ‘Isā (Jesus) “will kill the swine, break the cross,
destroy chapels and churches and kill the Christians except those who believe in him,” 599
or how ‘Isā (Jesus) “shall break the cross and slay the pigs and the Jews, so that the Jew
will hide near a rock. And the rock shall say to the believer: ‘τ believer, come, for there
597
MidrPss 120. Translation by Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, vol. 2, 293.
": " έ
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) "]:
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598
Muslim, Sahih, 1.136.155 cited in: Roberto Tottoli, ib ica Prophets in the ur ān and εus im
Literature (Richmond: Curzon, 2002), 157.
599
Al-Baydāwī, Tafsir (13th Century), on Sūra XδIII, vέ θ1, cited by: Hava δazarus-Yafeh, “Is there a
Concept of Redemption in Islamς” Some Religious Aspects of Islam: A Collection of Articles (Leiden: Brill,
1981), 52-53.
228
is a Jew near me: kill him’” 600 Hence, the killing of the pigs in some versions is
analogous to the killing of the Muslims’ others. Although the hadith represents a common
tradition while the Midrash on Psalms is a unique text, both imagine the messianic era as
a violent end of tensions which the pig represents, as an era of the end of the pig, the end
of the other.
It is not surprising that in Christianity, we find a very different messianic
construction. If the end of time is not imagined as a period where all humanity will eat
pork, the idea that in the end of time all humanity will be Christian implies that the
historical process of Christianization of the world will lead to an increase in pork eating
until it is consumed by all humanity. 601 However, part of the messianic move of
Christianity, by the abrogation of the prohibition of pork, makes it a locus of abrogation
of the old testament´s binary tension between pure and impure, between Israel and the
nations.
The sages, to the contrary, insist upon maintaining the tensions that the pig
incarnates. In fact, they strengthen the meaning of the avoidance of pork as a locus of
separation between Israel and the nations. Therefore, even in their discourse on the
messianic era, the sages usually take care not to go too far, insisting that the nature of the
pig, or the law concerning it, will not change. Hence, the important simile for the sages is
not the killing of the pig, but rather avoiding association with it, first by avoiding the real
animal, especially consuming its meat, and secondly by disassociation from what it
Ta’yīd al-milla, foll. 44r (Spain, Huesca, 1360). Cited by: David Nirenberg, Communities of
Violence. Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996),
197.
601
In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice (3.5.1) δancelot complains about Jessica’s conversion: “This
making of Christians will raise the price of hogs Ḳ If we grow all to be pork eaters, we shall not shortly
have a rasher on the coals for moneyέ”
600
229
stands for (Rome, the Empire, Christianity). For the sages, to not kill the pig and not
consume it in some sense means to be devoid, to be controlled, to be powerless. The pig
is not the object of violence for the Jews; it is not the subordinate but rather the dominant,
the ruler, the Empire. For the sages, avoidance became an important principal in their
relation with the non-Jewish world and the Empire in particular, and they asked their
fellow Jews to avoid as much contact with non-Jews (sex, marriage, eating, etc.) as
possible. Avoidance became an active force of resistance to respond to a passive political
existenceέ In other words, avoidance became one of the Sage’s solution to their being
devoid of political power. Pork became one of the foci of this “politics of avoidanceέ”
The pig is the Roman Empire which devours Israel, who is devoid of power in this world;
however, by avoiding pork Israel will reverse this situation in the world to come. In the
messianic era Rome, being devoid of political power, will be devoured, while the
kingdom will be restored to Israel.
230
Discussion and Conclusion
When was Rome identified with the pig in rabbinic literature? After addressing
this question, we will discuss the meaning of this identification of Rome with the pig in
the light of the broad context of the rabbinic discourse concerning pigs and the avoidance
of pork. Following this, we will examine the link between the sages’ identification of
Rome with the pig and the use of porcine symbolism by the Romans themselves. Then
we turn to the question of time in the model of the four kingdoms and in the typolo gical
pair, Jacob and Esau, before concluding.
When was the equation “Rome = Edom = Esau = The Fourth
Kingdom=Pig” Established?
If the topos of the replacement of the tamid by the pig is as early as the
Maccabees (2nd cent. BCE), we can presume that its transfer to the destruction of the
Temple by the Romans was somehow natural, and could have occurred in an early period.
If we consider a possible impact of the boar emblem of the legion X Fretensis, a remote
memory of a sacrifice of a pig that might have been carried out in the Temple Mount, and
the presence of boar images on the coins of Aelia Capitolina, we can presume that the
linkage of the pig to the legend of destruction, known already to Origen (d. c. 254 CE),
was made in the Tannaitic period. However, the question remains as to when the equation
“Esau = Edom = Rome = the fourth beast = pig” was established.602
602
Aminoff, The Figure, 223-233. In Jewish fundamentalist circles the identification of Christiantiy
with the pig remains commonplace up to this day. See for example: Yoel ben Aharon Schwartz, Yemot
Olam: Mabat al-Tekufatenu veMasmauta (Jerusalem: Dvar Yerusalym, 1980), 15έ Cited in: Abraham
Amsallem, Bein Israel LeAmim (Between Israel and the Nations) (Jerusalem: Publisher unknown,
2000/2001), 23-25 (Hebrew).
231
While the identification of Esau with Edom is biblical, 603 the identification of
Esau and Edom with Rome seems to originate from as early as the thirties of the second
century, if we accept as authentic the attribution of this identification to the sages of the
generation after the Bar Kokva revolt. 604 As for the identification of Rome with the fourth
kingdom of the book of Daniel, this likely occurred in the first century CE. 605 The
connection of Esau with the boar is found in 1 Enoch and the Book of Jubilees (2 nd cent.
BCE), 606 which led several scholars to propose that “the wild boar may have been a
common Jewish term of abuse for the Edomites during the Antiochan crisisέ”607 However,
it is not clear if this early connection to Esau with the boar contributed to the
identification of Edom/Esau with the pig in rabbinic literature. Mireille Hadas-Lebel
believes that the identification of Rome with the pig originated with the allegorical
interpretation of Psalms κί:14: “The boar out of the wood,” as a prophecy of the
603
Feldman, Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible, 322.
Adiel Schremer, “εidrash and History: God’s Power, the Roman Empire, and Hopes for
Redemption in Tannaitic δiterature,” Zion 72 (2ίί7): 2λ (Hebrew)έ Cohen, “Esau as Symbolέ” Sέ Zeitlin
believes that Rome was identified with Edom only since the fourth century, see: S. Zeitlin., “The Origin of
the Term Edom for Rome and the Roman Church,” JQR 60 (1970): 262-263. An earlier date was proposed
by Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, volέ V, 272, note 1λ: “The use of the names Edom, Seir, Esau,
and similar ones, to describe Rome is very old, and was probably coined at the time of Herod, whose
designation "the Idumean" was applied to his masters, the Romans. When Rome adopted Christianity, the
same appellations were transferred to the Christians and Christianityέ (…) In the Amoraic portions of the
talmudic and midrashic literature, the use of Edom for Rome is met with quite frequentlyέ” Jacob Neusner
argues that ‘Esau’ and ‘Edom’ begin to function as nicknames for Rome only in the later Rabbinic works,
and not in the early, Tannaitic, sourcesέ For criticism of this opinion, see: Adiel Schremer, “Eschatology,
Violence, and Suicide: An Early Rabbinic Theme and Its Influence in the εiddle Ages,” in Apocalypse and
Violence, ed. A. Amanat and J. J. Collins (New Haven: Yale Center For International and Area Studies,
2002), 20, note 7.
605
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 10.206-210; The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch 39; The Apocalypse of
Edras, 12.11,13. See: Hadas-δebelέ “Rome,” λκ-99.
606
Bryan, Cosmos, 117, note 7ίέ According to the book of Jubilee, Esau, attacking Jacob, says: “If the
boar can change his skin and make bristles soft as wool, or if he can make horns to sprout out of his head
like the horns of a stage or a sheep then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with youέ” Jubilee 37.20. The
text continues: “When Jacob saw that he was adversely inclined toward him from his mind and his entire
self so that he could kill him and (that) he had come bounding along like a boar that comes upon the spear
which pierces it and kills it but does not pull back from it, then he told his own (people) and his servants to
attack him and all his companionsέ” Jubilees 37. 24-25. Traslation by James C. VanderKam, The Book of
Jubilees (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 249.
607
Bryan, Cosmos, 117-18 [following: A. Dillmann, Das Buch Henoch (Leipzig: Vogel, 1853), 259.]
604
232
destruction of the Temple by Rome. 608 Frenkel appears to be correct when he argues tha t
this assumption is not probable for it is not mentioned anywhere in the midrashic
literature.609 In his opinion, the midrashic equation came into existence in two phases: 1)
in the second century CE the identifications of Rome with the four beasts of the Book of
Daniel and Rome with Esau and Edom were shaped simultaneously, and 2) One hundred
years later the four impure animals mentioned in Leviticus chapter eleven were linked to
the four beasts (kingdoms) of Daniel (Leviticus Rabbah 13.5). 610 Both Frenkel and
Hadas-Lebel tend to date the identification of Rome with the pig, according to the date of
the speakers to which the different midrashim are attributed. But how can we know that
the saying indeed reflects the ideas of these sages and not those of later generations
ascribed to them? The Talmud and Midrash are difficult if not impossible to date exactly,
given that for many generations they followed the oral tradition and were only compiled
and edited much later. 611 In any case, it seems that from the fourth century on, for the
sages, the equation “Esau = Edom = Rome = the fourth kingdom = pig,” was, as Frenkel
Hadas-Lebel, Jerusalem Against Rome, 507. Hadas-Lebel, “Rome,” 3ίηέ
Fraenkel, Darchei Aggadah VeHamidrash, vol. II, 618, note 128.
610
According to Frenkel, Leveticus Rabbah is the most ancient misrashic source of the identification
“Pig = Edom = Romeέ” Fraenkel, Darchei Aggadah VeHamidrash, vol. I, 219.
611
Daniel Boyrin notes, “By speaking of talmudic culture, I am emphatically not suggesting that there
was one homogeneous form of this culture for the nearly six hundred years and two major geographical
centers which attest to it. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, there were consistent differences between the earlier
and later forms of the culture and between its western version in Palestine under Hellenistic cultural
domination and its eastern version in Babylonia, where Persian culture reigned supremeέ (…) But the texts,
particularly the later ones, such as the Talmuds, are encyclopedic anthologies of quotations, comprising all
of the places and times of rabbinic culture production. We can assume with confidence neither that a given
passage quoted from a particular authority represent an expression of that authority’s time and place, nor
that it doesn’t and that it only belongs to the culture in which the text was put together ]…[έ Indeed, even,
the redaction of the midrashic and talmudic texts cannot be assigned with any certainty to a particular time,
place, or set of persons. Even within the individual texts, there is evidence that different sections received
their final forms in very different historical momentsέ (…) By default, then, I am generally constrained to
write of rabbinic culture as a whole, even knowing that such discussion represents only a gap in our
knowledgeέ” Daniel Boyarin, Carnal Israel: Reading Sex in Talmudic Culture (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1993), 24-25.
608
609
233
notes, “commonplaceέ” 612 This observation is supported by Jerome’s (dέ 4ίκ) comment
that the Jews identified Rome both with the fourth beast of the book of Daniel and the
boar of Psalm 80:14. 613 The broadness of this equation in Judaism after the fourth centur y
is observed in Yannai’s piyyutim, liturgical poems from the Land of Israel (6 th cent.). For
example, in a Kedushah to Yom Kippur, Yannai uses the idea which is found as early as
Leviticus Rabbah 13.5, that the pig (Rome - the fourth kingdom) blasphemes:
The reign of the pig gnaws at us, it eats our power, and crushs our labour, (cf. Daniel 7:7);
It tramples upon us and treads down our land, with no end, ]saying[” "I am, and there is
no one besides me” (Isέ 47:κ),
to the nation you have said: “I am God, and there is no other” (Isέ 4η:22)έ 614
In a Keroba to Genesis 32:4, Yannai uses another idea which is origi nally found
in Leviticus Rabbah 13.5, that the fourth kingdom, the pig, is more dreadful than the three
kingdoms which preceded it: 615
612
Fraenkel, Darchei Aggadah VeHamidrash, vol. I, 219.
Jerome, Commentary on Daniel 7:7. PL 25. Translation by Gleason L. Jr. Archer, Jerome's
Commentary on Daniel, (Michigan, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1958), 71-82. See: George H. Van
Kooten, “The Desecration of the ‘The εost Holy Temple of all the World’ in the ‘Holy δand’: Early
Jewish and Early Christian Recollections of Antiochus ‘Abomination of Desolation,” in The Land of Israel
in Bible, History and Theology: Studies in Honour of Ed Noort, ed. Jacques van Ruiten and J. Cornelis de
Vos, 291-316 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2009).
614
Yannai (Keroba to Yom Kippur). My translation (partly following W. Jac. van Bekkum, “The
Classical Period of the Piyyut: the Paytan Yannay (Sixth Century AέDέ),” in Jaarbericht van het
vooraziatisch-egyptisch genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 27 (1981): 138. Menachem Zulay, Piyyute Yannai
(Liturgical Poems of Yannai) (Berlin: Schocken, 1938), 336.
,
)
]έέέ[
/
( ,
)"
"
/(
615
We find the theme in an anonymous lament: “Alas, the gnawing (animal) had seized the Temple
(hadom)/ Pouncing upon me with iron clad teeth that tore me to the bone (kedom)/ And I was plunged into
the turbulence of Sodom/ Oppressed for 550 years under the kingdom of Edom (= Rome)έ” Translation by
Hagit Sivan, “From Byzantine to Persian Jerusalem: Jewish Perspectives and Jewish-Christian Polemics,”
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 41 (2000): 284. Y. Davidson, Otzar ha-shirah v'-ha-piyut (Treasury
of Song and Liturgical Poetry), vol I (New York: 1924Ḳ1933 (repr., New York: Ktav, 1970)), 1712.
.
/
/
/
The printed manuscripts of prayer books (mahzorim) read: “Alas, the gnawing (animal) had seized the
Temple (hadom)/ it stabbed me like a pig which tears to the bone (kedom)/ Dirty and loathsome as the
turbulence of Sodomή It τppressed ” me some years, made me its footstool (hedom)έ” εy translationέ
.
,
/
/
/
Or in the anonymous lament:
έ]
[(
)
/
Ḳ
/
Jέ Yahalom, “The Transition of Kingdoms in Eretz Israel (Palestine) as Conceived by Poets and Homelists,”
Shalem 6 (1992): 8 (Hebrew).
613
234
Edom which [terrified me?] and cause me dread; your animal name was not given;
his body is comparable to a brave boar; more terrifying than its companions [the other
three empires], [that the prophet Daniel] saw in his imagination. 616
In another piyyut (Keroba 23 to Genesis 25:19), Yannai enumerates a long list of
differences between Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Rome), contrasting “The history of lamb
and pig/ lamb to sacrifice (korban
) and pig to destruction ( urban
)έ”617 The
destruction associated with the pig could refer to the past destruction of Israel/the Temple
by the pig (Rome), but also to the future destruction of Rome in the messianic era. 618 In
his Keroba to Deuteronomy 2:2, Yannai ask his fellow Jews not to revolt against the
Empire, but rather to pray for its punishment in the messianic era:
I adjure you the sons of rightness (cf. Song of Sol. 2:7), do not awaken; in your love, his
animosity does not wake up.
And early in the morning, solicit without lighting fire /until it will be desired (cf. Ibid.
2:7), the time of the nightingale (cf. Ibid. 2:12)/ the time to reap the corn will come,
when the harvest matures, and the vintage rots, the chaff dries, and the pig will be broken,
and He will return the kingship to its holy possessor. 619
616
Yannai, Keroba to Genesis 32:4. My translation. The Liturgical Poems of Rabbi Yannai according
to the Triennial Cycle of the Pentateuch and the Holidays. Vol. I. ed. Zvi Meir Rabinovitz (Jerusalem:
Bialik Institute, 1985), 199 (Poem 30, lines 88-89) (Hebrew).
.
;
/
;
έέέ
617
Yannai, Poem 23, lines 24ḳ35. My translation.
/
/
.
/
The Liturgical Poems of Rabbi Yannai, 162-163.
618
This is an idea also found in Yochanan HaCohen´s (Levant, 7 th century) apocalyptic siluq (final
section of the Piyyut before qedusha) to Lamentations:
”έ
ή
ή
ή
“
Cited in: Yahalom, “The Transition,” θέ
619
Yannai, Keroba to Deutronomy 2:2. My translation. Zulay, Piyyute Yannai, 230.
ή
ή
/
] [ ή
.
/
ή] [
ή
ή
ή
/
Yannai is playing here with the Songs of Songs 2:7, 12.
ְ שְ ב ְת
ב
ֹ ֹ ד. שת ְפ
ּ ְ ֹ ְת
ְ ּ ת
ׂ ֹ ְ ְב ֹ ְ ּש ב ְ ֹ ֹ ְב
ֹּ
ְְּ ּ ש
ֹ
ְ ֹ
ְ
ֹ
ֹ ד. ֹ ְ ּ
ְ פ
ְ
ּ ְ
.ֹ ְ
ּש
] ְ [
.ְ ְּ
ְ ְ ּ
ְ ֹ
.
.ּ ְ ְב
ְּ ְ ֹ תֹ ש
ז
For the link between this piyyut and the midrash “why is it called azirς,” see Shraga Abramson, “Ma'amar
Chazal U-Perusho (A Rabbinic Saying and Its Interpretation)” Molad 27, new series 4 (1971): 421-429
(Hebrew)έ The piyyut’s ideas are to the ones found in Genesis Rabbah θ3έ2ηέ
235
The Edom to which Yannai refers stands for his contemporary Christian
Byzantine Empireέ In a Keroba to Yom Kippur, Yannai states that the Christians “will be
humiliated, ashamed and disgraced,” inter alia because they “arrange a sacrifice ] min ah
[ of pig’s bloodέ”620 In a fragment of another Keroba to Yom Kippur of Yannai the
Christians are similarly described as “the ones who kill a human being and slaughter an
ox/ who are fervent about the ones that see their secret/ who are yearning to make an
offering of pig's bloodέ” 621 Yannai seems to refer to Isaiah 66:3,17, in which, as we have
seen, later midrashim were used to refer to the punishment of the nations (Rome/ the
Christians) in the messianic era.
To summarize, the nature of the sources does not permit exact dating of the
process of the identification of Rome with the pig, but rather only an approximate,
hypothetical reconstruction is possible (fig. 23). Prior to the destruction of the Temple, in
seventy CE a topos of porcine profanation of the temple existed. This tradition included
"). Zulay, Piyyute Yannai, 33λ (poem 12).
έ
Translation by Steven Fine, “σon-Jews in Synagogues of Late-Antique Palestine: Rabbinic and
Archeological Evidenceέ” in Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue, ed. Steven Fine
(New York: Routledge, 1999), 232-233.
621
Yannai, Keroba to Yom Kippur. My translation. Zulay, Piyyute Yannai, 382.
.
ή
;
ή
We find the same accusation in the Muslim Animal's epistle. which is part of “Rasa’il Ikhuan al-safa,” an
encyclopedic composition written in Arabic by the Brethren of Purity who lived near Basra, Iraq in the 10 th
century. Here the pig says “The Romans, on the other hand, eat our meat with gusto in their sacrifices and
believe that it makes them blessed before Godέ” Ikhwān al-Safā’, The Case of the Animals versus Man
before the King of Jinn. A Tenth-century Ecological Fable of Basra , trans. Lenn Evan Goodman (Boston:
Twayne Publishers, 1978), 63. The text was translated by Kalonymus ben Kalonymus in Provence in 1316
under the title Igeret Baale Haim. Kalonymus Ben Kalonymus, Igeret Baale Haim, ed. I. Toporovesky, ep.
A.M. Habermann (Jerusalem: Mosad haRav Kuk, 1959) (Hebrew).
"έ
"
This paragraph was not included in the English translation and adaptation of the Hebrew translation: The
Anima s’ δawsuit against umanity. A εodern Adaptation of an Ancient Anima Rights Tale, trans. and
adap. by Rabbi Anson Laytner and Rabbi Dan Bridge. Intr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Louisville, KY: Fons
Vitae, 2005), ix.
620
Yannai, Keroba to Yom Kippur ("
236
Psalm 80:14, Isaiah 66:3,17 and the memory of an alleged sacrifice of a pig/sow in the
Temple by King Antiochus during the Macabeean crisis in the second century BCE.
Old Testament
Esau=Edom
2nd cent. BCE
The Boar out of the
wood P“ 8 : 4
The four
kingdoms
(Daniel 7)
Isaiah 66
The topos of the
profanation of the
Temple by a pig
Esau=Boar
Jubilee
1st cent.
Esau=Edom=Rome
?
4th
Rome=
the fourth
kingdom
The destruction
legend
Esau=sus (gr.)=sow
cent.
Genesis Rabbah
Esau=Edom=Rome=The fourth kingdom=Pig=The boar out of the wood
Leviticus Rabbah
6th-9th
cent.
Why is it called hazir?
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
The messianic punishment
of the pork eaters
Fig. 23: Hypothetical reconstruction of the midrashic process of identification of Rome
with the pig.
In the first century CE, the identification of Rome with the Esau=Edom and the
fourth kingdom were established. The legend of the Temple destruction by a pig was
established perhaps as early as the second century CE, probably due to the influence of
the earlier topos of profanation of the Temple by a pig. The identification of Esau with
the boar of psalm 80:14 was established before the end of the fourth century CE. The
interpretation of the name Esau as sow in Greek was probably also from this period. In
Leviticus Rabbah (4th-5th centέ), the equation “Rome = Esau = the fourth kingdom = the
pig = The boar out of the wood” appeared in its complete, fully developed formέ In later
period (6th-9th cent.), the midrash “why is it called a irς,” found as early as Leviticus
Rabbah, was developed to reject the idea that pork will become pure in the messianic era,
237
and this midrash was aggregated with the midrash on the future punishment of pork
eaters by God, which has Isaiah 66 as its proof text.
In short, the identification of Rome with the pig was a result of a configuration of
diverse exegesis readings and topoi which exagetical combined to create the equation
“Rome = Esau = the fourth kingdom = the pig = The boar out of the woodέ” This,
however, is found in its complete form only in Leviticus Rabbah and later midrashim
which cite it, such as Yalkut Shimoni and Midrash Tan uma. In other sources (mostly
from the Land of Israel), we find only variants of parts of this equation.
The identification of Rome with the pig and the rabbinic disc ourse
concerning the pig and the avoidance of pork
The association of Rome with the pig directly or indirectly linked it to everything
associated with this animal by the sages: prohibition of breeding/commerce/touching,
plagues, leprosy, impurity, sin, filthiness, excrement, sexual corruption, the destruction of
the Temple, hypocrisy, injustice, harmfulness, persecutions, forbidden sexual relations
with non-Jews, sexual lust, heresy, and drunkenness. To this sphere is contrasted the
sphere of Israel which stand for purity, Torah, justice, the Temple, the Land of Israel, and
other positive qualities. The two spheres are separated, and mixing between the two
(especially raising pigs, heresy, learning Greek wisdom, or eating pork) is conceived as a
transgression (fig. 24).
Mary Douglas, in her classic book Purity and Danger (1966), argues that impurity,
like uncleanness, “is matter out of place,” an anomaly within a given classificatory
system. Anything that crosses or blurs the boundary of a given category is considered
238
defilement. 622 To illustrate this idea, Douglas analyzes the abominations of Leviticus,
particularly its dietary rulesέ She points out that in δeviticus, “holiness requires that
individuals shall conform to the class to which they belong. And holiness requires that
different classes of things shall not be confusedέ (…) to be holy is to be whole, to be one;
holiness is unity, integrity, perfection of the individual and of the kind. The dietary rules
merely develop the metaphor of holiness on the same linesέ” 623
Impurity
Purity
Sexual lust
Proselytes
Torah’s
learning
Jacob
Justice
Torah
Israel
Temple
Land of Israel
Destruction
Drunkenness
Gluttony
Raising
pigs
Jews who do
not learn Torah
Forbidden
sex
Pig
Heretics
Learning
Greek
wisdom
Excrement
Idleness
Leprosy
Nations of
the world
Hypocrisy
Uselessness
Rome
Harmfulness
Esau
Prostitution
Purity
Filthiness
Death
Fig. 24: The Discursive spheres of Israel and the Pig in Rabbinic literature.
In this system, “cloven hoofed, cud chewing ungulates ]cattle[ are the model of
the proper kind of food for a pastoralistέ” The pig is one of the borderline cases of this
order, an anomaly, and thus impureέ She notes that the failure of the pig “to conform to
622
Douglas argues that defilement must be analyzed in the light of the total system of classification of
a given culture: “Defilement is never an isolated eventέ It cannot occur except in view of systematic
ordering of ideas. Hence any piecemeal interpretation of the pollution rules of another culture is bound to
fail. For the only way in which pollution ideas make sense is in reference to a total structure of thought
whose key-stone, boundaries, margins and internal lines are held in relation by rituals of separationέ”
Douglas, Purity and Danger, 42.
623
Ibid., 55.
239
the two necessary criteria for defining cattle is the only reason given in the Old
Testament for avoiding the pig; nothing whatsoever is said about its dirty scavenging
habits,” suggesting “that originally the sole reason for its being counted as unclean is its
failure as a wild boar to get into the antelope class (…)έ”624 Hence, the pig stands for the
distinction between pure and impure, or more exactly for the refusal to mix categories, as
Seth D. Kunin notes:
Both [Israelite] myth and ritual include mediators; these, however, are always
problematic and need to be transformed. Thus, the pig in the food rules system appears to
mediate between the categories of permitted and forbidden animals Ḳ the system denies
this mediation by making the pig especially negative. This is a consistent process
whereby all mediators are denied by transformation, usually in the negative direction but
occasionally in the positive. What is significant is not the direction of transformation but
the denial of mediation. 625
This denial of mediation is manifested in the sages´ primary relationship with the
pig: that of avoidance. Contrary to the polyvalent Greco-Roman porcine discursive
sphere, the rabbinic porcine discursive sphere is binary, the product of a world order
which pivots around the distinction between pure and impure. 626 Other binary couples are
parallel to the fundamental binary couple “pure-impure;” these include :
Pure
Israel
Pure animal
Shepherd
Torah learning
To rule oneself
The impulse to do good
Impure
Nations of the world
Pig
Swineherd
Learning Greek wisdom
To be ruled by desire
The impulse to do evil
624
Ibid., 56.
Seth D. Kunin, We Think What We Eat: Neo-Structuralist Analysis of Israelite Food Rules and
Other Cultural and Textual Practices (London and New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 16.
626
As Walter Houston notes, “Judaism inherits from the development of custom and thought in prebiblical and biblical times a law of animal kinds that summarizes in itself a great richness of symbolic
themes. It stands for the order and peace of civil society over against the disorder and violence of the wild;
for the just and traditional ordering of society against anarchy; for the purity of the sanctuary against the
permanent threat of pollution; for the holiness of the people of God as his devoted ones; for their protection
against pressures from without, and their separation from all that would threaten their dedication to their
one God; for the possibility, not confined to Israel alone, of living in peace with God’s creatures and in the
experience of his presence. It does not merely symbolize these things; by the constant practice of rules it
actually inculcates themέ” Houston, Purity and Monotheism, 258.
625
240
Justice
Proselytes
Avoiding pork
Jacob
Injustice
Heretics
Pork eating
Esau
The highly associative nature of rabbinic literature links these binary couples in
several configurations. However, Rome does not only stand for the negative qualities
associated with the pig, but also for what makes the pig abominable: the mixing of
categories. This is particularly manifested in the identification of Rome with Esau
(Jacob´s twin brother) and in the midrash which presents Rome as doing injustice while
pretending to do justice in the same manner in which the pig presents its hooves,
pretending to be pure while not ruminating the cud.
Reversing Rome’s porcine discourse
If any real use of the pig or porcine symbols by the Romans contributed in some
way to the identification of Rome with the pig, the rabbinic literature does not refer to
them at all. Hence, any interpretation which attempts to explain the identification by a
reaction to real historical events or causes is reductionist and highly speculative. Rather,
it is more probable that by identifying Rome with the pig, the sages to some extent are in
dialogue with the use of porcine symbolism in Roman political discourse. Insofar as the
Romans did have positive porcine political symbols (Aeneas’s sow, the boar as emblem,
the emperor as boar’s hunter), the sages´ negative reversal of the pig became more
powerfulέ The equation ‘Rome = pig” was not less Roman than Jewish: in a counter symbolism, the sages reverse this reference from positive to negative. The pig served
both sides to express two opposite political conceptions: that of the powerful and that of
241
the powerless, that of the ruler and that of the subjected. While for the sages the Jews are
the victims of Rome - the boar which gnaws at them - the Roman rulers saw themselves
as not only comparable to the boar, but also as those who defend the Empire from its
enemies, comparable to a wild boar which one must destroy. The sages, rejecting the
politics of raw power, reject the boarish/boar hunter metaphor of the ruler. Rather, they
invert the Roman identification with the boar from a sign of legitimacy to a sign of
illegitimacy; thus, the Roman boar went from being the symbol of power and victory to
one of destruction; the sow of fortuna and prosperity became a curse. The sages did not
resist with the enemy’s (boarish) terms of (boar) hunting, but rather longed for a future
where the boar ( a ir) will return the rule to Israel. This messianic projection avoids the
politics of force, which may give rise to a direct violent confrontation with the Roman
Empire. Rather, the sages advocate a non-violent politics of subjection to the non-Jewish
rule. However, the rabbinic resistance to the Empire was not only a passive messianic
solution. By equating the pig, the impure animal par excellence, with the Empire, the
avoidance of pork became an act of concrete resistance, in the here and now. A daily act
of eating became an act of resistance to the omnivore-homogenized politics of Imperial
universalism. Not partaking of pork meant not partaking in the Empire. Usually, Greek
and Latin distinguish between the domestic and wild pig, thus facilitating the Greeks´ and
Romans’ distinction between hoggishness and boarishness, or between the pig as a
symbol of earthly desires and the boar as a symbol of courage and power. Hebrew on the
other hand, uses only one word,
a ir, for both the domestic and wild pig, which
facilitates the sages argument that the positive value of the boar should be rejected, that
the courage and power of the boar is nothing more than earthly desires. 627 One who
627
The pig and the boar are indeed one biologcal species. As Francois Poplins remarks: “ils sont deux
242
identifies himself with the boar as a symbol of power is nothing more than a pig, a slave
to his desires.628
The Fourth Kingdom
The model of the four kingdoms gave a new meaning to the avoidance of pork: if
in the Hebrew Bible it is inscribed mainly in a non-temporal order, with its main axis
being pure-impure, in the midrashim it is inscribed in a temporal process, with its main
axis being subjection-redemption, viewed as a concrete succession of four empires:
Babylonia, Media, Greece, and Rome. The pig became a powerful political symbol,
inscribed in concrete relations over ti me between the subjected Israel and Imperial Rome.
The (non-historical) model of the four kingdoms inscribed the relationship with Rome
(Christianity) in a historical pattern. This construction makes the existence of the other
tangible according to the inner Jewish grammar of time; the sense of the existence of the
Empire is understood according to an inner grid (or logic) which is foreign to the Romans.
We can see in this construction what was for Jean Piaget the premise of structuralism:
“an ideal (perhaps a hope) of intrinsic intelligibility supported by the postulate that
structures are self-sufficient and that, to grasp them, we do not have to make reference to
all sorts of extraneous elementsέ” 629 The model of the four kingdoms is total: it explains
chose divisée en deux par l’homme. “Poplin, “Que l’homme cultive aussi le sauvage que le domestique,”
528.
628
The same process happened in the Christian symbolism at the end of the εiddle Ages: “De fait, à
partir du millieu du XIIIe siècle, dans les somme théologiques sur les vices, dans les recueil d’exempla puis
dans les bestiaires littéraires ou iconographiques associés aux sept péchés capitaux, le sanglier semble
additioner sur sa personne tous les vices et péchés autrefois distribués entre le porc domestique et le porc
sauvage : sorditas, foeditas, libido, intemperantia, gula, pigritia, d’un coté ; violentia, furor, cruor, ira,
superbia, obstinatio, rapacitas, impietas, de l’autreέ” Pastoureau, “δa chasse au sanglier,” 1κέ Bryan notes
that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 is “the unclean beast par excellence,” which stands in contrast to the one
“who is like a ‘man’, the archetypal clean land creature,” created in the image of Godέ” Bryan, Cosmos,
238.
629
Jean Piaget, Structuralism, 9
243
the political reality in the past, present, and future. It provides the reasons, or the inner
grammar, of the relationship between Israel and foreign powers, as well as the conditions
that will cause this relationship to change in the future. This model served the sages’
politics of submission, where liberation is projected into a messianic era, where
frustrations of being powerless here and now are contained by the expectations of a
messianic redemption. In the model of the fourth kingdoms, we find what Mircea Eliade
calls the “Eternal return”:
In studying these traditional societies, one characteristic has especially struck us: it is
their revolt against concrete, historical time, their nostalgia for a periodical return to the
mythical time of the beginning of things, to the “Great Timeέ The meaning and function
of what we have called “archetypes and repetition” disclosed themselves to us only after
we had perceived these societies’ will to refuse concrete time, their hostility toward every
attempt at autonomous “history,” that is, at history not regulated by archetypesέ 630
Although Eliade thought that Judaism does not have such a conception of time,
Moshe Idel notes that the difference between archaic religions and rabbinic Judaism is
not very significant. 631 Indeed, in the model of the four kingdoms we can see how Rome
is understood as an archetype, or as a cyclical phenomenon. This corresponds to the
predomination of memory over history in Judaism, as demonstrated by Yosef Hayim
Yerushalmi, 632 a historical memory which tends to be understood in terms of patter ns
(what Neusner called paradigmatic history). 633 This cyclical conception of history, as
Gabrielle M. Spiegel summarizes, is manifested in the repetition of the liturgy:
630
Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return (New York: Harper, 1954), xi.
εoshe Idel, “Afterward,” in εircea Eliade, The Myth of Eternal Return, trans. Yotam Rehuveny,
ed. Ronit Nikolsky (Jerusalem: Carmel, 2002), 146-147 (Hebrew). See also Ibid. Ascensions on High in
Jewish Mysticism: Pillars, Lines, Ladders (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2005), 232.
632
Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Zakhor, Jewish History and Jewish Memory (Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 1982).
633
Jacob σeusner, “History, Time, and Paradigm in Classical Judaism,” Approaches to Ancient
Judaism 16 (1999): 189-212έ Ibidέ “Paradigmatic versus Historical Thinking: The Case of Rabbinic
Judaism,” History and Theory 36 (1997): 353-377. Ibid. The Presence of the Past, the Pastness of the
Present: History, Time and Paradigm in Rabbinic Judaism (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1996).
631
244
Although the historical events of the biblical period remain unique and irreversible,
psychologically they are experienced cyclically, repetitively, and hence atemporally. In
liturgical commemoration, as in poetic oral recitation, the fundamental goal is, precisely,
to revivify the past and make it live in the present, to fuse past and present, chanter and
hearer, priest and observer, into a single collective entity. The written text, when it
represents a transcription of a once-live recital, commemorates both the past which is
sung about and performance itself. History, in the sense that we understand it to consist
of unique events unfolding within an irreversible linear time, is absorbed into cyclical,
liturgical memoryέ” 634
By identifying the fourth kingdom with the forbidden animals of Leviticus 11,
history is also manifested by the praxis of food avoidance. Through this link, categorical
thinking of the food classification system is interwoven with a paradigmatic conception
of history. In this manner, the relational tension between Jews and non-Jews, between
Judaism and Rome, is shifted from the historical-political arena of the present to an inner
Jewish activity that is deeply inscribed in messianic aspiration. Because Rabbinical
thinking is marked by a paradigmatic-analogical reading of history that sees history in
terms of patterns, the sages could easily express history by classificatory categories of
pure and impure animals. Hence, different aspects of the world converge, and a more
solid, global vision of existence is achieved - a more crystallized order. The midrash
turns the pig, the fourth kingdom, into a time capsule. The micro-chronic dimension, the
time of the ritual, repeats the macro-chronic time of history. The micro-chronic
dimenstion of the here and now (this world) came to contain the macro-chronic
dimension, the historical pattern, which leads to future redemption (the world to come).
Rome (Christianity) is not the end of history, but a cyclical phenomenon that will
disappear, as have its predecessors. However, the model of the four kingdoms does not
only manifest the idea of historical recurrence, that history repeats itself, but also that this
Gabrielle M. Spiegel. “Memory and History: Liturgical Time and Historical Timeέ” History and
Theory 41, no. 2 (2002): 152.
634
245
repetition is linear, that it will come to an end. 635 In a sense, the midrash “why is it called
a irς,” which reads the name of the pig ( a ir) as the verb to return (leha zir), holds the
basic principle of cyclic time, of the eternal return, but also the idea of its end. Thus,
while the model of the four kingdoms contains the idea of cyclic movements of rise and
fall, it does not possess the concept of the arbitrariness of the wheel of fortune. In the
future, the wheel will turn and Rome (Christianity) will fall while Israel will rise.636
The midrashic discursive sphere of the identification of Rome with the pig might
be understood as a social drama, following Victor Turner’s definition of social drama as
the unity of a process of disharmony occurring in a situation of conflict, divided into four
principal phases: breach, crisis, redressive action, and reintegration/schism (table 9). 637
The first phase, the breach, is a violation of the norm generated by a symbolic trigger of
confrontation, corresponding to the destruction of the Temple by the pig; the crisis is the
period of the subjection to the boar (the Roman Empire); the redressive action is the
keeping of the law, including the avoidance of pork, which will bring the Messiah; and
the reintegration is the messianic era, when the pork eaters will be punished.
635
For the limits of the distinction of cyclical and linear history in Judaism and Christianity, see: G. W.
Trompf, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought: From Antiquity to the Reformation
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979), 116-220.
636
For the fourth kingdom model in Late Antique Christianity and Judaism, see: Alexei M. Sivertsev,
Judaism and Imperial Ideology in Late Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 9-20.
637
Victor Turner, Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors. Symbolic Action in Human Society (Ithaca and
London: Cornell University Press, 1974), 37.
246
Turner’s
social drama
The
midrashic
terminology
Breach
Crisis
Destruction
( urban)
Subjection to
Rome,
Exile (galut)
Time
Midrashim
Past
The legend of
destruction
Present
The
identification
of Rome with
the pig
The Pig
The destructor
The oppressor
Redressive
action
The fulfillment
of the
commandments
(avoiding
pork)
Present
Leviticus
Rabbah 13
The tool of
redressing
Reintegration
Redemption
(geula)
Future
The pig will
return the
kingdom to
Israel; God will
punish the pork
eaters.
The tool of
redemption/ the
messianic
punishment
Table 9: The Pig in the historical model of the Midrashic discursive sphere.
Jacob and Esau
What is the logic behind of the identification of Esau with the pig? Avshalom C.
Elitzur proposes to link the Jews’ hate for Amalek to the Jews’ hate for
the pigέ
According to his terminology, both are manifestations of a “metaphysical hate,” a hate
that originated from the proximity between the hated and the hater. Elitzur notes that as
much as the hated Amalek is a relative of Israel, so the hated pig is close to human. 638
Although Elitzur speaks about Amalek, his reading is even more relevant to Amalek’s
“grandfather,” Esau. 639 The problem of animality in general, and that of the huma n
relation to the pig in particular, lies in the proximity of the human animal to other animals.
The pig, like man, is an omnivorous mammal, and its inner organs resemble those of man.
This is probably also the reason that if, as the French proverb says, “Each person has in
Avshalom C. Elitzur, “Amalek and the swine: The anatomy of metaphysical hatredέ” in Sefer
HaYovel Lichvod proffesor Shlomo Shoham, ed. Chemi Ben Nun et al. (Tel-Aviv: Ydihot Ha ronot, 2004)
(Hebrew). On line version: <http://www.e-mago.co.il/e-magazine/hate.html> Consulted August 23, 2011.
639
On the midrashic association between Amalek and Esau, see: Aminoff, The Figure, 24κ-2η7. For
the subject of twinship, see: Sharon Roubach, In Life, in Death, they were not Parted: The Idea of Twinship
in Western Christianity, PhD Dissertation (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 2003).
638
247
his heart a dormant pig (Tout homme a dans son cœur un cochon qui sommei e),” often
humans tend not to recognize their own proximity to the pig but rather associate its nature
with their fellow man. Proximity brings with it the risk of the blurring of frontiers, and
hence is a source of anxiety. From the sages´ perspective, the twin, like the pig, is a
mixture of two categories, as the pig is half pure (parting the hoofs) and impure (not
chewing the cud); the twin Esau, is half pure (being the descendant of Isaac) and half
impure (being an evil person). Hence, the nature of the pig is the nature of Esau, or Rome,
being a family member and stranger at the same time, or being a mixing of pure and
impure, and hence abominable.640
During the period of the First Temple, Edom and Israel kept hostile relations. The
myth of the origin of Israel also tells us the origin of its neighboring nation, explaining
the proximity between the two as well their enmity. 641 In the myth of Jacob and Esau, the
history of Edom is the history of Israel in negative. The birthright or the Election is
absolute and unique. The Election is by the Father, and it is vis-à-vis the Other, the twin
brotherέ The Election of Jacob (Israel) is the “Diselection” of Esau (Edom). 642 As
Gershon D. Cohen notes, the couple “Jacob-Esau” was particularly apt as a model for the
Carol Bakhos, “Figuring (out) Esau: The Rabbis and Their τthers,” Journal for Jewish Studies 58,
no. 2 (2007): 250-262.
641
For the diverse relational configurations of Esau and Jacob as a dialogical model, see my article:
Misgav Har-Peled, “Entre l’âne et le bœuf, réflexion sur la machine dialogique,” dans Adam et ’astraga eμ
ssais d’anthropo ogie et d’histoire sur es imites de ’humain, ed. Gil Bartholeyns, Pierre-Olivier
Dittmar, Thomas Golsenne, Misgav Har-Peled et Vincent Jolivet (Paris: Les éditions de la Maison des
sciences de l’homme, 2ίίλ), κ7-97.
642
Seth D. Kunin notes that in Genesis, “genealogical closeness was indirectly related to ideological
closenessέ” In the Talmud, he argues, the “nature of these relations will change as Israel becomes less
politically significant; with the contraction of political relations, there will be a similar contraction in
nations that are ideologically negative Ḳ within this contraction, those nations that are genealogically close
will remain strongly negative and equally will be associated with nations that remain politically significantέ”
Kunin, We Think What We Eat, η ]see “chapter θ: Israel and the σations” (ppέ 211-237) and Kunin’s earlier
publication: “Israel and the σations: A Structuralist Survey” JSOT, 1999. 82:19-43.]
640
248
relationship of Israel and Rome because of the proximity of the claim of election between
the Jews and the Romans:
(…) there was a basic similarity between Rome and Judea in patterns of thought and
expression. Neither of them could accept their existence as a mere fact. Each considered
itself divinely chosen and destined for a unique history. Each was obsessed with its
glorious antiquity. Each was convinced that heaven had selected it to rule the world.
Neither could accept with equanimity any challenge to its claims.
This collective self-consciousness and obsession with past and future, with duty
and destiny, came to its greatest expression in Rome in the Augustan age and most
notably in the works of Livy and Virgil. Though shaken by civil wars and the decline of
ideal Roman society, the average learned Roman echoed of his people what the Jew said
of his own: “Thou didst chose us from among all peoples; thou didst love and favor us;
thou didst exalt us above all tongues and sanctify us with thy commandments. Thou, our
King, didst draw us nearer to Thy service and call us by Thy great and holy nameέ”
]Jewish holidays’ prayer 643] As the Jews spoke of an eternal covenant between Israel and
God, the Roman could quote the promise of Jove to Rome: “Imperium sine fine dedi ]“I
have given empire without end”[έ” 644
The idea that the Roman empire will be “without end,” the discourse of eternal
Rome, extended with time to the Empire and Caesar, reached its climax in the times of
Hadrian (early 2nd cent.), 645 and sharply contradicted the Jewish concept of election. The
Jews subjected to Rome are confronted with the gap between the biblical promise of
election and the real political condition of exile and subjection to Rome. In Particular, the
sages had to explain how this could be the case if the commandments were suppose to
protect and glorify Israel, as Deuteronomy 26:15-19 declares:
This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and
ordinances; so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. 17
Today you have obtained the Lord's agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in
his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him.
18 Today the Lord has obtained your agreement: to be his treasured people, as he
promised you, and to keep his commandments; 19 for him to set you high above all
643
;
The sanctification of the Day: Kedushat HaYom.
,
,
,
Cohen, “Esau as Symbol,” 2ηέ
645
Benjamin Isaac, “Eternal Rome,” Historia 1-2 (1998): 19-31 (Hebrew)έ Fέ Gέ εorre, “τn Urbs
Aeterna and Urbs Sacra,” Transactions of the American Philological Association 25 (1984): 34-60.
.
644
249
nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people
holy to the Lord your God, as he promised. 646
Hence, while keeping the commandments was supposed to set Israel “high above
all nations,” the political reality was that the Jews were subjected to Rome´s power and,
in the life of a Diaspora minority, fulfilling the commandments poses practical hardships
on the Jews in daily life. The sages resolve this problem, and others, with the idea that the
commandments and suffering come to purify ( eṣaref
) Israel. The yoke of the
commandants is not a punishment, but rather proof of the virtue of the Jews, a virtue for
which they will be recompensed in the messianic era. The promise of Election is
conditioned: if Israel will follow God’s commandments, it will be free and sovereign, but
if not it will be subjected to others. If Israel will repent for its sins and will accomplish
the Law, then it will be liberated. In this scenario, there is a constant tension between
election and subjection, between past (the promise), present (exile/subjection to Rome),
and the future (messianic redemption).
As Daniel Boyarin notes, “after 312, Esau, or Edom, his descendant, is most often
read as referring to the Christian Church, or as the sages themselves put it: “The
Principate turned to sectarianism” (B. Sotah 49b and parallels). 647 Hence, as the
identification of Esau passed from Rome to the Church, the identification with the pig
passed to the Church as well, and by extension to Christians, the “pork eatersέ” Contrary
646
Deuteronomy 26:15-19.
ְέָ ְש- ְ ּ ְָ ְ - ְב, ֹ ; ְש ְ ת ְ ש
ֹ ְֹ , ֹ ְָ
έ ְב
ְְ ש
ּ שְפ
- ְָ ְ ְ ; ְ ְ ּ ּ ְש, ְ , ש ש
ֹּ -
משְפ- ְ -ְ ּ ֻ
ְ ְ ש,
, ֹ ְ ְָ ּ ְ תέ
ְָּ ְ ָ ֹ
ְ , ֹ ז
ֹ ְָ ֹ ְ : ֹ ,ְ ת
, ְ ְ; ְ ש- דב, ש, ֻ ְ
ְ
. ש דב,ָ ֹ
ש
647
Boyarin, Dying for God, 3. As Guy Stroumsa notes, “It is precisely when “the barbarians” threaten
the Empire from within and without, in the late fourth and fifth century, that the Christians ceased to see
themselves as “barbarians”, or peregrine, and identified, for the first time unambiguously, as Romansέ”
Guy Stroumsa “Philosophy of the Barbarians: τn Early Christian Ethnological Representations,” in
Geschichte-Tradition-Reflexion: Festschrift Martin Hengel, vol. II, ed. H. Cancik, H. Lichtenberger and P.
Schäfer (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1996), 347.
250
ֻ ְב
ְ -
ְ
ֹש
to pagan Greeks or Romans, for the Christians eating pork became an affirmative act of
being Christian. If the biblical laws were surpassed by Jesus, then to avoid pork is to
reject the coming of the Savior, and eating it an act of acceptance. Hence, avoidance of
pork became not just the marker of Jewishness in the eyes of Christians as it was in the
eyes of Jews, but a marker of Judaizing, of heresy.
The pair Jacob-Esau in the patristic reading serves as a model for the relationship
between Judaism and Christianity. Jacob henceforth represents the Christians, and Esau
the Jews. As the primogeniture passed from the older to the younger, in the same way the
Election passed from Israel according to the flesh (the Jews) to Israel according to the
spirit (the Christians).648 The true Israel is not defined by the flesh but by the faith. This
idea is found as early as Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Romans: “And not only this; but when
Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; For the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, ‘The elder
shall serve the younger’ (Gn 2η:23)έ As it is written, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I
hated’ (εalachi 1:2)“ (Romans λ:1ί-13). The reading of Genesis 25:23 with Malachi 1:2
reinforced the original sense of the storyέ That is to say, it is the case that not only “the
elder shall serve the younger” but also that the one is loved and the other is hatedέ Paul
reversed the biblical role of Esau as the dialogical Other of Israel. Here Esau comes to
represent Carnal Israel, the dialogical other of true Israel (verus Israel). 649 As Israel
648
See: Limor Ora, Jacob and Esau, in: Jews and Christian in Western Europe. Encounter between
Cultures in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Unit 1 (Tel-Aviv: The Open University, 1993) (Hebrew).
εartine Dulaey, “δa figure de Jacob dans l’exégèse paléochrétienne (Gn 27-33),” Recherches
Augustiniennes 32 (2001): 75-168.
649
An exegetical reversal much like that achieved by Paul for Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians 4: 28-31.
see: David σirenberg, “The Birth of the Pariah: Jews, Christian Dualism, and Social Science”, Social
251
Yuval remarks, for both Judaism and Christianity the pair Jacob and Esau was understood
typologically as a model of their relations:
It uses an existing narrative system based on Scriptures and charges it with the later
conflict between Israel and Edom, Judaea and Rome, Judaism and Christianity, a conflict
between chosen and rejected, persecuted and persecutor. This involvement with the
question of who is chosen and who is rejected, who is “Jacob” and who is “Esau,”
reflects a process of self-definition as well as, ipso facto, a definition of the other, the
persecutor and rival. The tension evoked by typology is one between subjugation,
suffering, and exile, on the one hand, and dominion, primogeniture, and victory, on the
other. For Christianity, it is viewed as the tension between the Old Testament and the
New Testament; for Judaism, it is that between Exile and Redemption. 650
But if Jacob and Esau are a common typological pair for both Judaism and
Christianity, they understood them in different ways. As Daniel Boyarin notes, “If for the
Church Judaism ultimately was a superseded ancestor of the true heir to the promise, for
the Rabbis, the two entities were more like constantly struggling twin siblingsέ” 651 In a
sense, it seems that Christianity tends to understand the model of Jacob-Esau more as
representing a dialectical process, where the accent is put on the progressive nature of
their relations, while rabbinic Judaism understands it more dialogically, where the two
pairs are imagined has having diverse relations over time.
652
Likewise, if pork
consumption for the Christian was a locus of passage from Judaism to Christianity, from
the old law to the new one, 653 for the sages the avoidance of pork was the locus of
passage (that is conceived to be more as a return than a turn) yet to come in the messianic
era.
Research, 70, no. 1, (2003): 201-236, 212. For the elabroation of Paul´s reading by the Church Fathers, see:
Limor Ora, Jacob and Esau. Adiel Schremer, “εidrash and History: God’s Power, the Roman Empire, and
Hopes for Redemption in Tannaitic δiterature,” Zion 72 (2007): 13 (Hebrew).
650
Israel Jacob Yuval, Two nations in your womb: perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late
Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 1.
651
Boyarin, Dying for God, 3.
652
For the Bakhtinian distinction between dialectics and dialogics, see: Tzvetan Todorov, Mikhail
Bakhtin: The Dialogical Principle (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984 (1981)), 104.
653
Boyarin, “δe porc en dieu Pôrosέ”
252
Fabre-Vassas, following εary Douglas’ work, notes that “if forbidden foods
manifest the categories of a culture, they also necessarily demonstrate the indigenous
distinctions between societies. They are only fully affirmed, and can only be understood,
in the context of this confrontationέ” 654 The sages not only admit the inter-cultural
confrontation around the avoidance of pork, but they also resolve it in a sense by thinking
of the abominable animal dialogically as embodying their relationship with the Roman
Empire and later on with Christianity.
εary Douglas argues that, “if two symbolic systems are confronted, they begin to
form, even by their opposition, a single whole,” 655 If this is true, then this “single whole”
is full of holes, or gaps, and hence is highly partial. In some sense, in the Judeo-Christian
dialogic, being one is in some sense being and not being the other. However, we should
not make this dimension the essence of their relations. The question is not to discover
“agency” in Jewish texts and hence establish the “dialogic” nature of Jewish Christian
relations, but rather to learn how both Jewish and Christian texts construct the other
dialogically. Hence, we should separate dialogism as referring to an aspect of inter-group
relations from dialogism as referring to the way identity is constructed by incorporating
the real or imagined voice of the other in one discourse. In both cases, one’s logic is
created vis-à-vis the other’s real or imagined logic, and hence is dialogical.
Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast, 6. Also: Claudine Vassas, “Questions anthropologiques autour
de l’interdit du porc dans le judaïsme et de son élection par le christianisme,” dans De la domestication au
tabou: le cas des suidés dans le Proche-Orient ancien, éd. B. Lion et C. Michel, Travaux de la Maison
René-Ginouvès 1 (Paris: De Boccad, 2006), 229.
655
Douglas, Natural Symbols, 43-44.
654
253
After the fourth century, Christianity not only condemns the avoidance of pork,
but makes pork eating a legal obligation, as for example in the Apostolic Canon from the
(4t-5th cent.):
The Christians would not imitate the Jews on the subject of abstinence from [certain]
foods but would even eat pork, the δord having said that “what enters the mouth does not
sully the man but ]rather[ what exits the mouth, as if coming from the heart” (εt
15:11;17-18); that they would not be attached to the letter [of the law] but would conduct
themselves according to [its] spirit and [its] elevated meaning, for the carnal synagogue
of the Jews execrates pork but is possessed by unkindness in keeping with the prophetic
word: “they gorged themselves on pork and left the scraps for their little ones” (cfέ Psέ
16:14). 656
Hence, the contradictory Jewish and Christian practices are mutually related
dialogically: if one eats pork, he rejects the position of those who abstain from pork, and
vice versa. At the end of the eleventh century, Tobiah ben Eliezer in his Misrash Leqah
Tob (Psikta Zutara), explains the struggle of Jacob and Esau in their mother´s womb
(Genesis 25:22) in dialogical terms:
“And the sons struggled” (vitrozezu
) - they were cutting [each other] inside the
womb, as it was said “and [she] crushed (vataretz
) his skull.” (Judges λ:η3): a sign
for generations: the [first] one runs to kill the other, and the other runs to kill the first one
- as says Rabbi Yohanan. And Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: the one permits the
commands of the other, and the other permits the commands of the other. How? That one
forbid the day of Sabbath and the other forbid the day of Sunday; the one forbid pork and
the other permitted it, for this reason it was said: Vitrozezu [they struggled] Ḳ two words
are: ‘viter zivuyo Ḳ ]he permits his commands[’έ657
The rabbinic dialogue, of “this says this and this says that” is transformed here
from constituting the nature of rabbinic learning to that of the basic principle of relations
The Apostolic Canon 5. Charles Joseph Hefle, istoire des conci es d’après es documents
originaux, tome 1, vol. 2 (Paris: δe Clère, 1907), 1076-1077. Claudine Fabre-Vassas partially cites this
source in her: “Juifs et chrétiens, autour du cochon,” Identité alimentaire et altérité culturelle [Actes du
colloque de Neuchâtel, 12,13 novembre 1984 (Neuchâtel, Belgium: Institut d'ethnologie Saint-Nicolas,
1985), 61. and Fabre-Vassas, The Singular Beast, 247 (Fabre-Vassas confused this text with the Council of
Antioch in 325 CE).
657
Psikta Zutara (Midrash Lekah Tob), Genesis 25:22. Psikta Zutara (Midrash Lekah Tob), ed. S.
Buber (Vilna, 1884). My translation.
,
,
,(
)
:
,
έ
ς
,
,
:
" έ
'
,
:
:
,"
":
,
,
,
,
656
254
between Judaism and Christianity. This is a later source, but it seems to express well the
dialogical dimension of pork in the Judeo-Christian context: the Christians ate pork (in
part) to distinguish themselves from Jews, while Jews did not eat pork (in part) to
distinguish themselves from Christians. This symmetry did not exist before the rise of
Christianity. In the Roman world, Jews perhaps abstained from pork (also) in order not
to be Romans, but Romans did not eat pork in order to avoid being Jews. Perhaps the
Jewish avoidance of pork seemed strange or negative to some Romans, but it did not have
any special importance for them: it did not have any relation to the ways in which they
generally understood their pork consumption.
Conclusion: The Dialogical Beast
A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So while the light fails
τn a winter’s afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.
T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding, No. 4 ‘Four Quartets, Vέ 658
For Judaism, history is now and practice. The timeless moments are historical,
and the unhistorical practice is history. The avoidance of pork is a manifestation of being
part of the sacred history of salvation - to be part of a process, and at the same time part
of the condition that the process will be achieved, i.e. the Gehula, the redemption of the
Messianic age. This inscribing of the avoidance of pork in time goes hand in hand with
imagining it in the inter- relations with the other. This might correspond to Emannuel
Levinas´ conception of time itself:
Tέ Sέ Eliot, “δittle Gidding,” Vέ Tέ Eέ Sέ Eliot, Collected Poems 1909-1962 (New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World, 1963), 208 [first published in Four Quartets, 1942].
658
255
Relationship with the future, the presence of the future in the present, seems all the same
accomplished in the face-to-face with the Other. The situation of the face-to-face would
be the very accomplishment of time; the encroachment of the present on the future is not
the feat of the subject alone, but the intersubjective relationship. The condition of time
lies in the relationship between humans, or in history. 659
Time is not an external quality to which events correspond, but rather inherent to
the relations with the other. In the midrashim, the pig is a unit of time which contains and
marks the relations with the other (animal, the divine (God), and humans
(Rome/Christianity). The avoidance of pork marks a distinction between the Jews and
omnivorous animals, for it is by self-control that the Jews distinguish themselves from
their own animality, from a piggish nature, and from the animal kingdom. It is by a total
acceptance of the avoidance of pork that the Jews accept and confirm their particular
relation with God; it is by refusing to partake of pork that the Jews resist the omnivorous
Empire, whether pagan or Christian. If the pig is a symbol of otherness, of the Other, all
the more appropriate that the sages called it “another thingέ” δike the heretic par
excellence, Elisah ben Abuya, is named: A er, τtherέ The pig became the “other” par
excellence, a symbol of “otherness” itself - otherness understood as that of the brother
twin.
Midrash Temurah (13th cent.?), while speaking of the need for contradictions in
the world and noting that without purity there is no impurity and vice versa, says that “the
pig and other unclean animals said to the clean ones: You should be grateful to us,
because were it not for the uncleanness of us and our friends you would not be known as
clean. If there is no just [man] there is no wicked [man]; said a wicked man to a just man:
you should thank me for if I were not evil, how would you be known [as just]? If all men
659
Emmanuel Levinas, Time and the Other: And Additional Essays (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University
Press, 2002 (1947), 79.
256
were just, you would have no advantageέ” 660 If Judaism and Christianity (and Isla m)
should not thank each other, they should at least give thought to the measure by which
their identities are mutually constructed. The case of the pig, the dialogical beast, may
help us think in this dialogical dimension: the way each religion constructs its
fundamentals (identity, morals, anthropology, conception of history, etc.) in dialogue
with the other real or imagined voice; by inventing the other in the particular discourse of
each religion. We should ask ourselves to what extent the reason or logic of each of these
religions is the fruit of dia-logics, of being between diverse logics.
660
Midrash Temurah 4. Shlomoh Aharon Wertheimer. Batei Midrashot, vol. 2. (Jerusalem: Mosad
Harav Cook, 1953), 192-193.
,
,
έ
,
έ
έ
,
For the rhetoric of Midrash Temurah, see: Mauro Perani, Il Midrash Temurah: la dialettica degli opposti in
un'interpretazione ebraica tardo-medievale (Bologna: EDB, 1986).
257
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VITA
Misgav Har-Peled was born in Jerusalem, Israel, on April 3, 1973. He studied at
The High School for Environmental Education, Ben Gurion College, in Sde-Boker,
Negev, Israel, where he majored in Environmental Studies and Archaeology. He received
a Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical and Classical Archaeology and General Studies (with a
specialization in Philosophy and Medieval History) from the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem in 1999. He then moved to Paris, France, where he received a εaster’s Degree
in History from the University of Paris I Ḳ Panthéon Ḳ Sorbonne (δ’espace io . Etude
sur la transformation des églises en écuries par les musulmans durant les croisades,
1095-1291) in 2002. After one year as an exchange student at the École Française de
Rome and at The University of Rome, La Sapienza (Programme: Histoire et
Anthropologie des sociétés méditerranéennes de l’antiquité à la période contemporaine),
he recieved his DEA from the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS),
entitled: δe
ier d’Abraham et δ’Agneau de Dieu. Une étude comparative de
’anima it dans e udaïsme et e christianisme). Misgav currently resides between TelAviv, Israel, and San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.
285