what we do comes back
sink beneath the burden of loneliness
Stand between
and beyond
[For full chapter, click here
This chapter in some ways follows seamlessly from the
previous one. We return to the leitworts of “standing” “sitting” and “weight”.
Moses’ “heavy hands” here become the crushing “weight” that must be “lightened”
with the help of judges. As he did when he
climbed the mountain, Moses stands in a liminal space “before God,” both
part of the nation, and apart.
Yet in some ways, it is a discontinuity, as Moses’ old,
personal life abruptly breaks in with the appearance of his family: his father
in law, his wife, and her two children (no longer referred to as “his”, perhaps
to indicate the gaping gulf). We return to the beginning of Moses’ mission,
with the repeated word “hatzel—to save”—recalling both Moses’ initial
meeting with Tzipora, and his accusation that God has “not saved” His nation. Now
the initial linkage that God set up between “hearing” “seeing” and “knowledge” is
complete. “Now I know,” says Jethro. There is a poetic beauty in the completed
Exodus, with the Egyptians destroyed through their very instruments of oppression:
“in the very thing with which they had acted intentionally.”
Yet a price is paid. Moses sits “alone”. “It is not
good” Jethro says, recalling the primal “not good” of the Bible: “It is not
good that man should be alone.” “You will wither, you and the people with you.”
A system of judges is set up to relieve the burden. Yet while Moses no longer
acts alone, he is even more isolated, lacking intimacy even with the people who
“come to seek God.”]
No comments:
Post a Comment