Nadene Goldfoot
The most intriguing part of the bible to me was the famous story of Gideon and the 300 Lappers. This certainly one of the most curious and misunderstood episodes in the Hebrew Bible. In chapter 7 of the Book of Judges, the Lord instructs Gideon to reduce his massive army to an elite group of only 300 soldiers by means of a strange water drinking test. Why does Gideon need to get rid of so many soldiers? What possible connection could there be between the way that a soldier drinks and his combat abilities? Gideon lived in the 12th century BCE and was a member of the tribe of Manasseh. He defeated the Midianites near En Harod using the group of picked volunteers. Then he was offered the kingship but refused it, say that he was loyal to the principal that G-d is king of Israel. (Judg. 6-8).
The Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths, you shall put to the other side.” The number of those that lapped was 300; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water.
It is clear that there are two groups of men: (1) the “lappers” and (2) the “kneelers.” The smaller group of 300 “lappers” are chosen to remain while the larger group of 9700 “kneelers” are sent home. But the exact details of how each group’s drinking style differs are quite confusing. We tend to picture the “lappers” lying on their bellies with their tongues in the water drinking boorishly like dogs, whereas the “kneelers” are genuflecting down on one knee politely using their hands as a cup.
When I first read this, I immediately saw a difference in mental abilities between the 2 groups. The more advanced were the kneelers, while the more primitive were the lappers.
According to this interpretation, Gideon favored the “lappers” because they were less civilized, more animalistic and perhaps even less intelligent than the “kneelers”, and thus the opportunity for God to magnify his role in the victory becomes all the greater.
However, further reading in my Tanakh, the Stone Edition, tell me another way of looking at this picture. In order to thoroughly discredit the idea that idols had any power, G-d commanded Gideon to test his volunteers in a manner that would exclude anyone with even a tendency toward idolatry. Less than one percent of the original army was deemed worthy. Whether they lay prostrate on the ground to lap like dogs, or knelt to reach the water, their actions indicated that they were in the habit of making obeisance (a gesture expressing deferential respect, such as a bow or curtsy). Rashi did not approve of the kneeling gesture as evidently what people did when seeing an idol. (Rashi)
Another section that impressed me as to solving problems was Jacob in raising sheep and increasing his flock. Jacob had to work 7 years in order to have his Uncle Laban allow him to marry Rachel, Laban's daughter.
Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane [or chestnut or sycamore] trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.
And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped
and all the black in the flock of Laban.
He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks,
but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys. (Genesis 30:37–43)
Jacob was tricked by Laban and wound up with Leah, Rachel's sister, the one with weak eyes. He had to work another 7 years to marry Rachel, his first love. This served Laban right for the trick he played on Jacob.
This teaches us that though it is never permitted to steal or lie, one must protect oneself against thieves and connivers. Jacob resorted to several devices to outwit his uncle and retain what was rightfully his under the original terms of the agreement. (Talmud, Megillah)
I was highly impressed with Jacob's ability to influence the DNA of the sheep in how they were colored and marked into striped, speckled and spotted coats. Then again, how he handled the strong and the feeble sheep and divided them. All that figuring out such a problem happened centuries ago. Abraham, his grandfather, was born in the 2nd millennium or about 1948 BCE. His sons were Isaac and Isaac begat the twins, Jacob and Esau, so Jacob could have been born anywhere around 1900 BCE to 1850 BCE. Moses was born in 1391 BCE, so that gives us a point of reference as to how far back Jacob goes. All this happened about 4,000 years ago!
I wonder if any scientists have tried what Jacob did to increase his flock? Science seems to enter the thinking of these two people of the Old Testament, using it to solve their problems.
The question has come up of who came first, the 300 Spartans of Greece or Gideon's 300 soldiers of Israel. Israel's story took place in the 12th century BCE, so happened first. Herodotus's story of the of Leonidas's 300 Spartans that fought and died for Sparta, which was a part of Greece, took place about 530-480 BCE. Herodotus, the author, lived even later from 484-425 BCE.
Resource:
https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/holy-land-studies/gideons-doglike-lappers/
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/10/help-solve-this-bible-translation-mystery.html#:~:text=The%20Lord%20said%20to%20Gideon,knelt%20down%20to%20drink%20water.
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