Matthew (if I may),
This is very illuminating: thank you. Could it be that in the case of the sheep and the goats goats are picked to represent the obdurate simply because they are notoriously less tractable and have foul tempers? Whereas sheep may be stupid but do let themselves be herded by shepherds, apprentice shepherds, 12-year-old shepherd boys (I've seen one or two in the South of France where I live) and even intelligent dogs (domini canes)? Nobody, if I recall, condemns the goats for being goats. But a) as we keep having to tell Spenser students about characters in the FQ, they are not 'real' goats, they are images; and b) they are images of potentially valuable (if hairy) people -- ourselves, at times -- who are stubbornly obdurate towards God and His salvation. Nor, of course, are the sheep valued for being sheep: God does not fancy stupid herdables even if they give decent wool. The sheep are equally images for those -- ourselves, at better times -- who, without having more value than goats, are tractable to the far-sighted will of a loving shepherd. (Here, incidentally, not more than an hour or two from the Pyrenees, we eat sheep's-milk cheese and goat cheese with equal pleasure -- the latter occasionally with honey.)
Roger
On Feb 13, 2011, at 10:13 PM, Stallard, Matthew wrote:
Apologies in advance for this long-winded and meandering post. I do not think that a typological reading of Ez El as essentially "demonic" will hold. To do so is to bark up, so to speak, the wrong goat.
Both positive and negative readings of goats abound in the Old Testament, and a number of terms are used for goat. The most common expression for goat is “ez.” Another Hebrew term for goat is sa’ir which literally means “hairy.” The male leader of a flock was designate ‘atudh which is typically rendered “he-goat.” This term was used of leaders or “goat-like leaders” I suppose at Isaiah 14:9 and Zechariah 10:3. The ordinary Greek word for goat is tra’gos as in Hebrews 9:12, 13. In Palestine, the dominant breed was and is capra hircus mambrica which is usually black but occasionally speckled. Goats were extremely valuable to the ancient Hebrews. The produced cheese, butter and milk, and its flesh was eaten (Genesis 27:9; Deuteronomy 14:4; Judges 6:19; 13:15; Luke 15:29). Goat’s hair was used for fabrics and tents and skins were used for tents and clothing (Numbers 31:20; Song of Solomon 1:5; Exodus 26:7; 35:26; Genesis 21:15; Hebrews 11:37). Goats were permitted as sacrificial animals under the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 1:10; 22:18, 19; 3:6, 12). The tresses of the Shulammite maiden were compared to the hair of goats (Song of Solomon 4:1; 6:5). The wife of a young man’s youth is compared to a goat at Proverbs 5:18, 19 (not recommended as a pick-up line).
Yes, it is true, that goats were not always presented in a positive light. At times, goats were used to describe those who opposed the people of Yahweh (Isaiah 34:6,7; Jeremiah 41:40; Ezekiel 34:17; Zechariah 10:3).
That said, “Ez El” can only be read as a messianic figure and not as a demonic figure. The etymology of Ez El or Azazel is highly disputed. The spelling of the Masoretic text suggests that it is a combination of the two roots meaning “goat” and “disappear” or “goat that disappears.” Many scholars, however, hold that there has been a transposition of consonants and that it should be rendered “strength of God.” The Vulgate translates the word as capro emissario (emissary goat or perhaps scapegoat) whereas the Septuagint uses the expression or kai klaron ena to apopompaio “the one carrying away evil.” Emphasis is put upon the goats being unblemished and sound before they ritualistically receive the sins of the people on atonement day (Leviticus 14-16). The two goats acted as one sin offering that carried away the sins of Israel. This seems entirely messianic and resonates with the writer of Hebrews who emphasized that Jesus’ offering of his human life as a sacrifice was more than that accomplished by “the blood of bulls and rams (Hebrews 10:4, 11,12). As scapegoat, he becomes the “carrier of our sicknesses,” the one “pierced for our transgression” (Isaiah 53:4, 5; Matthew 8:17; 1Peter 2:24). I just don’t see Ez El as the right contender.
The right goat, I believe, could be found in renderings of sa’ir in four specific instances: Leviticus 17:7; 2Chronicles 11:15; Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14. In the cases of Leviticus 17:7 and 2Chronicles 11:15, the context is connected with religious practices condemned by the Hebrews but practiced by the surrounding nations. The Septuagint renders the term here as “the senseless things” and the Vulgate as “the demons.” Modern translators have followed suit. Rotherham “demons,” Revised Standard, Jerusalem Bible. American Translation “satyrs”; and Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros and A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Brown, Driver, and Briggs “goat shaped demon.” Interestingly, the American Standard Version uses “he-goats.” For whatever reason, a goat was used to signify the worship of these other gods. Herodotus suggests that the Greek belief in Pan may have been influenced by Egyptian goat worship. The references in Isaiah are not as clear. Some modern translations even rendering them as “ostriches” “jackals,” or even “hyenas” (Moffatt and Revised Standard).
At any rate, I think that the sense of Matthew chapter 25’s goat negativity is better understood from these examples of hairy sa’ir than from Azazel.
Best,
Matthew
____________________________________
Matthew Stallard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English
Ohio University
Department of English
302 Ellis Hall
Athens, OH 45701
[log in to unmask]
office: 740-593-2770
cell: 740-591-4273
my book webpage: http://www.mupress.org/contributorinfo.cfm?ContribID=561
my faculty webpage: http://www.english.ohiou.edu/directory/faculty_page/stallard/
________________________________________
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ANNE PRESCOTT [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 6:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Ez of El / Goat of God
Thanks--as always, you are a wonderful library all on your own. Anne.
On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 10:47 PM, James C. Nohrnberg <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Sheep are a type of innocency; goats, unlike sheep, have horns, and are less tractable beasts--more unruly. Could the goats possibly have been associated with demonic Azazel who receives the scapegoat sent into the wilderness with sins on its head (Leviticus 16: 8, 10): Heb. 'ez = the goat ("go away" = 'azal)? Azazel (azaz, 'be strong' + el, 'god') is a fallen angel in Enoch 6:6, etc. But I do not know if any one has suggested that the Day of Atonement, in Lev. 16, apocalyptically understood, as possibly being a source for the separation of the sheep from the goats (in Matt. 25:31ff.: "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."). For, in the end (at Mt. 25:46), "These [presumably 'the goats' are meant] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Ordinarily sheep, goats, & bullocks, are all acceptable for sacrifice and sin-offerings.) And I suppose there might possibly be a hint of the diselection of Esau, who is resembled to a goat by the goat-skins in which the flock-keeping Jacob more or less successfully impersonates him (his hairy twin).
On Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:23:07 -0500
ANNE PRESCOTT <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Roger reminds me of how much I do miss the old "Lamb's Tail" award at
Porlock. Indeed, I am sorrier and sorrier that I won't be at K'zoo and hence
Porlock this year so as to hear a chorus of baa's and oinks. I do hope I
can quote some of all this for a talk at the RSA, though.
One observation and one query. Observation: on several occasions I've
noticed that the modern print versions on EEBO for some of the texts I've
been looking at for bits on sheep-hooks, scepters, and David, refer to those
intriguing opposites the sheep an "the groats." So God can divide the sheep
from the groats? Not really impressive, although I'd give many an an angel
or crown to see those groats. Query: does anyone know why in the Bible sheep
are good and goats are bad? Do lambs taste better than baby goats? Maybe
this is in Scripture and I just forget. I know you can herd goats--look at
Obama's paternal family. But why do goats go to the left and sheep go on
God's right hand. Nobody calls a religious figure the goat of God.
Signed, Puzzled in New York.
On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 4:46 PM, Roger Kuin <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
I hereby commission all the participants hitherto who dare appear at
Kalamazoo this year to produce this as a Porlock Event, and invite
nominations for its nomenclature. It could, and perhaps should, be annual,
after the manner of the Jan Williams and Kathleen Van Dorsten
divertimentos.
Excelsior!
Roger
On Feb 11, 2011, at 6:53 PM, Scott Lucas wrote:
Come to think of it, congregational psalm singing is about the only thing I
haven't seen as a plot device on *Shaun the Sheep *yet. Helen, you and
Psalm Woman could write the script! It could all start on that ill-starred
day when the Farmer decides to bring home that new, rather opinionated flock
of sheep he bought while on a trip to Geneva. Led by Shaun's heretofore
unknown northern cousin, the grim, grumpy Shaun Knox, the newcomers soon
have the "fur flying" in the pasture!
Shaun Knox could call the flock to the barn to offer a enlightening sermon,
holding up the behavior of the pigs as proof positive of the doctrine of
double predestination.
Later, the sheep could all stage a stirring debate over whether Shirley's
gaudy pelt (or "furplice," if you will) is an abomination before the Lord or
merely a matter indifferent.
Some slapstick could be introduced by having neighboring farmer Mr. Algrind
come for a visit, only to take a pratfall after getting hit on the head by a
seashell.
The kids will love it.
Scott
Scott C. Lucas
Professor of English
The Citadel
Charleston, SC 29409
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Vincent, Helen <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Beth,
as long as they were baaing in the vernacular...
Helen
Helen Vincent
Senior Curator
Rare Book Collections
Tel: +44 (0) 131 623 3894
Fax: +44 (0) 131 623 3888
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
National Library of Scotland
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Edinburgh
EH1 1EW
Scotland
------------------------------
*From:* Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of *Quitslund, Beth
*Sent:* 10 February 2011 15:07
*To:* [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
*Subject:* Re: Psalm 23
No worries.
Though my dreams last night were haunted by ghostly choruses of plowboys,
baaing.
Beth Quitslund
Associate Professor
Department of English
Ellis Hall 348
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701
phone: (740) 593-2829
FAX: (740) 593-2832
------------------------------
*From:* Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On
Behalf Of Coughlan, Pat (English) [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
*Sent:* Thursday, February 10, 2011 7:25 AM
*To:* [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
*Subject:* Re: Psalm 23
Dear Beth,
Oh please can we not have the full text of “I just wanna be…”?
PC
------------------------------
*From:* Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of *Quitslund, Beth
*Sent:* 09 February 2011 18:54
*To:* [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
*Subject:* Re: Psalm 23
Helen, I think I'm going to have to put that on a t-shirt.
However, for the record, that version of Ps 23 isn't by Thomas Sternhold
(probably Thomas Norton), and was certainly not published in 1549.
(Secondary power: stunning fistblows of pedantry.)
The best version of Ps 23--sort of--that I've heard lately--is a song
beginning "I just wanna be a sheep (baa baa baa baa)," and includes the
verse "Don't wanna be a goat (nope)." It's kind of catchy, actually....
Beth
Beth Quitslund
Associate Professor
Department of English
Ellis Hall 348
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701
phone: (740) 593-2829
FAX: (740) 593-2832
------------------------------
*From:* Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>] On
Behalf Of Vincent, Helen [[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>]
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 09, 2011 1:43 PM
*To:* [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
*Subject:* Psalm 23
Beth's post reminds me (because she is Psalm Woman*) that the Guardian's
Poem Of The Week is Psalm 23, in three early modern translations - King
James, Tyndale, and Sternhold. As ever, the responses to these texts from
outside the academy make interesting reading...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/feb/07/poem-of-the-week-psalm-23
Helen
*superpower: making ploughboys burst into song
Helen Vincent
Senior Curator
Rare Book Collections
Tel: +44 (0) 131 623 3894
Fax: +44 (0) 131 623 3888
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
National Library of Scotland
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Edinburgh
EH1 1EW
Scotland
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