Abraham Turned Human
By Ory Bernstein
Translated by A.Z. Foreman She didn't promise me anything else, Didn't tempt me with a thing or try. Not when I went out ahead of the army and not when the army passed by. One of my sons I sent to die, the other I tried to sacrifice, while I maintained an innocence no longer useful or wise. When all the prophecies come to pass as, for evil, they always do, My eyes like a heifer's eyes will rise pleadingly toward you. Behold me in my affliction, see my days are numbered and bound. I was, after all, just a happenstance for things to happen around.
Audio of me reciting this translation in English
Audio of me reciting this poem in Hebrew
Commentary with Literal Translation:
Avraham Naˁase Enoši
Abraham Is Made Human
Lo hivṭaḥt li davar šone
lo pitit oti bedavar.
Gam kšeyatsá'ti lifney hamaḥane
Vegam kšehamaḥane ˁavar You didn't promise me any other thing, you did not tempt me with a thing. Both when I went out ahead of the army, and when the army passed. In this first stanza, the second person pronoun forms are feminine, addressing presumably either Sarah or Hagar. Reference to going out ahead of the army alludes to Abraham leading his retainers on a rescue operation. It also invokes wording used in Exodus 14.
Yéled eḥad šaláḥti lamut,
Ve'eḥad nisíti laˁaqod
Vešamárti ˁal temimut
Šelo tesayaˁ li ˁod One son I sent to die, and one I tried to bind, and I preserved an innocence which is not helpful to me anymore. The two sons are of course Ishmael and Isaac. The word temimut "innocence" has biblical overtones not only of naiveté but of purity, Godfear and uprightness.
uxšekol hanvu'ot mitqaymot
vetamid mitqaymot leraˁ
ˁeynay eléyxa muramot
bitḥina, keˁeyney para. And when all the prophecies take place — and they take place for evil — my eyes will be lifted to you in supplication like the eyes of a heifer. Here the addressee is grammatically masculine and may thus refer to either God, Isaac or Jacob. Probably to God. Reference to a heifer invokes a passage from Numbers 14 dealing with the sacrifice of a heifer, an ironic inversion of the story in which Abraham attempts to kill his son at God's request. Abrahamic monotheists seem generally to think this shows virtue, piety and — in the end — divine mercy. The Abraham of this poem however seems to think of it as a rather questionable deed which he regrets. The reader is of course free to make up their own minds. If you see somebody binding their own child to a piece of wood and preparing to slaughter them, claiming that God demands this of them, it is your choice whether or not to praise them for their willingness to gut their children. And if they then claim that God does not actually wish this, that an angel stopped their hand, it is likewise up to you whether you call child services or praise god for having— in his mercy and love — merely allowed the kid to be horribly traumatized rather than murdered. For all I know you just might think that this is the sort of stable, balanced and nurturing person who should be left to raise their children in peace. Inspiring scriptural passage, or episode of Criminal Minds? You decide.
re'e oti beˁonyi, re'e
oti kešeyamay nisperu
Haíti, kixlot hakol, raq miqre
šesvivo hadvarim qaru Behold me in my affliction, behold how my days are numbered. I was, after all, just a hap which things happened around. Like "days are numbered" the phrase "behold... in affliction" is a Biblical formula (e.g. Gen 29:32, Exodus 3:7). In the Hebrew Bible, for God to "behold someone in their affliction" implies that God will also have mercy on them and ease their suffering. Here, though, it has an ironic tone. Perhaps something to the effect of: "just look what a screwed-up life I've had. I'm only human and you, Yahweh, manipulated me as a tool. But please take pity on me. I'm at your mercy in this cruel universe." Or at least that's how I read it (heh heh.)
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