Victor´s translation is accurate. "Rashi on Ex. 1:1 comments "These are the names of the sons of Israel - even though He counted them by name when they were alive (Gen 46:8-27), He counted them again when they were dead so as to show how beloved they were, for they were compared to stars which He brings out by number and by name, as is said (Is. 40:26) "Who brings their (stars?/heavens?) host out by number, calling all of them by name".
According to Jewish tradition, nomen est omen, so much so that names are changed in order to bring about a change of luck (and/or health) for those gravely ill, for instance. Such changes are usually predicted by astrological means (even if the Rabbis are recorded in the Talmud discussing astrology as not being applicable to the Jewish people, maybe a polemic against sectarians). We know that astrology, on the other hand, played a significant role in Qumran. There´s no need to stretch imagination to suppose that people in love with Enoch and the sons of light thought of stars (luminaries) in terms comparable with those of Philo qualifying them as "visible gods". Nor is it absurd to consider that Rashi, or the midrash Shmot Rabba on which Rashi based his commentary was alluding to resurrection, since the whole passage is introduced by the key words alive and dead: " He counted them by name when they were alive...(and) again when they were dead so as to show how beloved they were". Who did it? The Lord of Hosts.Why? To express his love (meaning He surely won´t let them be dead) Finally, another useful connection is the Star-prophecy of Bileam, so important in the scrolls and their messianic orientation. Peter Janku "This comment is based on Midrash Shemot Rabbah. At the risk of imaginatively sermonizing and eisegeting, I assume that the prophetic reference to "taking out the stars" is behind the explanation, thereby inserting a hint of the coming Exodus at the beginning of the account of the enslavement. Perhaps it's even a sort of astral omen, predicting the Exodus. God mentions the names of the Israelites as he mentions the names of the stars. Just as He mentions the stars' names in the process of taking them out, so He calls the Israelites by name in anticipation of taking them out of Egypt. By the way, an additional connection is the word "host". Here, the prophecy alludes to Exodus 12:51. Victor" For private reply, e-mail to "peter janku" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from Orion, e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: "unsubscribe Orion." Archives are on the Orion Web site, http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il. (PLEASE REMOVE THIS TRAILOR BEFORE REPLYING TO THE MESSAGE)
