Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Eating Bread

I enjoyed this quick parallel.

Moses is first introduced to Jethro through the context of eating bread (a euphemism for being given a wife, according to some.) Jethro tells his daughters:

כ וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל-בְּנֹתָיו, וְאַיּוֹ; לָמָּה זֶּה עֲזַבְתֶּן אֶת-הָאִישׁ, קִרְאֶן לוֹ וְיֹאכַל לָחֶם.

20 And he said unto his daughters: 'And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.'

~Exodus 2:20

Isn't it suitable that when Jethro joins Moses at the camp, he is repaid in the same way?

יב וַיִּקַּח יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, עֹלָה וּזְבָחִים--לֵאלֹהִים; וַיָּבֹא אַהֲרֹן וְכֹל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֶאֱכָל-לֶחֶם עִם-חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה--לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים.

12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. [emph. mine]

~Exodus 18: 12

I like that it comes full circle. Jethro meets Moses in the context of eating bread; when Jethro comes to the camp, he is honored by all who come to eat bread with him, almost as if to thank him for fostering Moses for all those years.

3 comments:

G said...

Cute.
Reading into things a little, but still a nice thought.

Anonymous said...

I posted exactly the same idea last week. Great minds etc.

the apple said...

Rebbetzin Greer is into those types of parallels from what I recall.