drunk – NEWPROTEST Publishing

So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept. God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Genesis 21:14-19 (NASB)

There are a number of anomalies and odd statements in Genesis 21 that seem to hint at something, or reinforce a lesson.

Look at this word חֵמֶת (chemet). Some translations say “bottle,” but it’s a wineskin. Here it’s full of water.

You may remember from Genesis 18 how Abraham demonstrated his hospitality to the three angels – he brought them bread and water, which is echoed here. Later, Lot in Genesis 19 offers the angels bread, but in that chapter, no water is mentioned.

This word chemet is only found four times in the scriptures, and three of them are here in this passage about Hagar and Ishmael.

Chemet, chemet, chemet… with water.

The fourth time it’s mentioned, the context is quite different. Also, it seems quite related to Genesis 19.

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor,
Pressing him to your bottle,
Even to make him drunk,
That you may look on his nakedness!
Habakkuk 2:15 (NKJV)

The phrease “look on his nakedness” is a euphamism for sex.

Perhaps Abraham’s water for Hagar and Ishmael is meant to stand in continued contrast against the unkindness and lack of hospitality in Sodom and Gomorrah, where the men wished to force themselves onto other men.

Genesis is full of patterns, and a break in a pattern is meant to call your attention to it.

There’s a break in the pattern with Noah, and it is profound.

In Genesis 5, we have this repeating pattern in the genealogy. A person was born, they had a son, then they had other sons and daughters, and then they died. Over and over again, from Adam to Lamech.

But not so with Noah.

You might first think, “Well, of course not with Noah. Noah is still alive by the end of Genesis 5,” and you’d be right. He is.

But jump to the end of Genesis 9, and what do you see?

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
Genesis 9:28-29 (NIV)

Where is the “and had other sons and daughters?” It’s missing.

Remember – the pattern (and deviations from it) IS the story. And in the case of children, it is explicitly tied to the blessing of “be fruitful and multiply” in Genesis 9:7.

But Noah is not fruitful. He does not multiply. This is meant to catch your attention.

The rabbis wondered about this. In the Midrash, one teaching suggests Ham’s sin wasn’t about “shaming dad’s nakedness,” but rather was about castration. In doing this, he prevented Noah from having more children. So Noah retaliates against Ham’s child.

Another view points to Leviticus, where the phrase “your father’s nakedness” comes into view, and it’s associated with sleeping with your father’s wife, although this is generally about a second wife, and not one’s own mother. But maybe Ham is Oedipus?

The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:8 (NKJV)

I have another view.

When Noah is reintroduced in Genesis 9:21, we are told he is a “man of the soil.” Literally, Noah is “ish ha’adamah.”

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.
Genesis 9:20 (NIV)

This word “ish” does mean “man,” but when we first saw this word, it was in Genesis 2, when man met his wife: Ish and Isha. Husband and Wife.

Perhaps Noah fell in love with the ground. Perhaps he first loved the Creator, and then turned and loved the created thing, and devoted all of his time to it, neglecting God and his own wife.

How much dedication does it take to tend a vineyard so you can get drunk from it?

In any event, this is my view. In Jewish studies, this is called “drash,” and it’s only as true as it holds up to other clear teachings/truths in the Torah.

From this drash, I see: love God, love your neighbor. Don’t love the earth or the things in it above people and God.

Tag: drunk

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