The Zohar: 1 (The Zohar: Pritzker Edition) by Daniel C. Matt

Author:Daniel C. Matt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780804771337
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2019-08-19T23:00:00+00:00

387. Dumah Literally, “silence,” a name for the netherworld in the Bible, e.g., Psalms 94:17: Unless YHVH had been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in dumah (cited later in this passage). Cf. Psalms 115:17.

In rabbinic literature Dumah is the angel in charge of souls of the dead (BT Berakhot 18b, Shabbat 152b, Sanhedrin 94a). In the Zohar he retains this role but also oversees Hell. See 1:94a, 102a, 124a (MhN), 237b.

388. any of those who guarded... See Bereshit Rabbah 48:8: “Rabbi Levi said, ‘In the time to come, Abraham [who initiated circumcision] will be sitting at the door to Hell, and he will not let any circumcised Israelite descend there.’” Cf. BT Eruvin 19a; Zohar 1:93a, 94a, 95b.

389. that incident... With Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11–12). Seeing her bathing, David was attracted to her and slept with her. He then arranged for her husband, Uriah, to die in battle, after which he married her.

390. A man who commits adultery with a man’s wife The verse continues: —who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—is surely to be put to death, the adulterer and the adulteress.

391. To your neighbor’s wife The verse continues: you are not to give your emission of seed, defiling yourself through her.

392. Bathsheba was destined... See BT Sanhedrin 107a: “Rava expounded, ‘...Ever since the six days of Creation, Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, was designated for David, but she came to him with suffering.’ The school of Rabbi Yishma’el taught likewise: ‘She was designated for David, but he ate her unripe [prematurely, while she was still married to Uriah].’” See Zohar 1:73b; 2:107a; 3:78b.

393. of all those entering battle... See BT Shabbat 56a: “Rav said, ‘Rabbi [Yehudah the Prince], who is descended from David, seeks to defend him, and expounds [the verse] in David’s favor: You have taken his wife to be your wife (2 Samuel 12:9) implies that you have marriage rights to her [since the verb to take denotes marriage, as in Deuteronomy 24:1], for Rabbi Shemu’el son of Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: “Everyone who went to war in the dynasty of David would first write a writ of divorce for his wife.”’”

394. waited three months To determine whether Bathsheba was pregnant or not. Otherwise, if a baby were born seven months after the new marriage, it would be unclear whether the newborn’s father was David or Uriah. See M Yevamot 4:10; BT Yevamot 42a.

395. spelled both אוריה (Uriyyah) and אוריהו (Uriyyahu) The first spelling ends with the divine name יה (yah), the second with יהו (yahu), three of the four letters of יהוה (YHVH). The sacredness of Uriah’s name indicates his chaste character (see Vayiqra Rabbah 23:10). Note how the prophet Nathan describes the relationship between Uriah and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:3): she was like a daughter to him. In the Bible, the spelling אוריהו (Uriyyahu) is never applied to Uriah the Hittite; it is the name of an entirely different figure, a prophet contemporary with Jeremiah who was executed by King Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:20–23).

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