Many people and most men, will not get the correct nuance in 1 Kings 17:10-16. I noticed it this morning when I listened to the lector proclaim the first reading for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Picture this. You are desperate, almost to the point of being distraught, because you are so poor you don't have enough food for another day. Weary, depressed, tired and preoccupied with trying to meet your daily obligations when a strange man asks you for a drink of water. (I know; this is Old Testament; just go along.) So you give the man a drink of water.
Then!
He has the chutzpah to ask for more! Now he asks for a cake!?!?!!!!!!! Here, you can't afford to feed yourself and son, and he wants to take the food out of your mouth!!!!
The translation says that she says, "As the Lord, your God lives, ...." and she explains her dire situation.
I think "As the Lord, your God lives..." is where she lost it. Depending on how much sleep I had, and how worried I was, I would have sworn at Elijah #@!%^#@*#*.
At the least, I would have said, "For cryin out loud..." and explained my situation like this poor widow did.
I'm sure my interpretation is correct because you realize Elijah's tone completely changes when he understands the widow's plight. In fact, he stays with her for a year to help her out. She was blessed.
Please lectors, put the correct tone of exasperation in your voice. Do the poor widow justice. Maybe people will fully understand.
1 comment:
This is how life is breathed into scripture. Your interpretation is spirit-filled. You might enjoy the medieval Jewish commentary (Chizkuni 2) that connects 1 Kings 17:15 to Leviticus 13:32 and explains that the Widow was asking for work on the SABBATH DAY OF REST. This makes 1 Kings 17 a reference to "the day of Atonement" and "a Sabbath devoted to heavenly concerns", which is the essence of how Jesus fulfills the Law and interprets it for us:
לכם, “for you (pl. masc.)” this is a reference to the day of Atonement, which has been sanctified for your sakes. On the other hand, the Sabbath of creation is known simply as שבת לה', “a Sabbath to be devoted to heavenly concerns.”
שבת שבתון היא, “it is a Sabbath of solemn rest;” the word היא, here is spelled with the letter י, not as frequently elsewhere with the letter ו. On the other hand, the same word in the same context in Parshat Emor, (Leviticus 23,32) is spelled with that letter וBoth words are read in accordance with the way they are spelled. If we want to remember this easily we can try and remember Kings I 17,15: ותאכל הוא והיא, “he and she ate;”
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