Corbii "spurcati" ai proorocului llie , arabii presupusi saritori si exegetii bezmetici dar cu pretentii

Scriam ceva vreme despre profeta adventistilor si lacustele devenite roscove pentru a-l pastra pe Botezator vegetarian sadea. Le-a venit acum randul altora sa fie luati in ras ca vad in loc de corbi suri pe niste ... arabi ospitalieri. 

1 Regi 17:4 (GBV) Și va fi așa: vei bea din pârâu și am poruncit corbilor să te hrănească acolo“.

Conform Scripturilor , asa graieste Insusi Dumnezeu catre proorocul Ilie cand il indruma cum si ce sa faca: sa se ascunda la paraul Cherit din care urma sa bea apa, iar corbii  sunt angajați de Dumnezeu pe post de curieri/livratori de mâncare. Si foarte interesant este ca tocmai corbilor - păsări necurate/impure ( conform Torei - Leviticul 11:15, Deut 14:14 ) le poruncește Dumnezeu , nu porumbeilor, să-i fie livratori de mâncare profetului Sau.. Nu mai avea Dumnezeu alti "angajați" de a recurs la "necurații" corbi ? E vreo lecție aici pentru urechile deschise sa audă adevarul  ?

Unii chiar au considerat ca e prea scandaloasa angajarea corbilor pe postul de curieri livratori de mancare la distanta, asa ca au considerat mai usor de inghitit arabii decat corbii. Asa se face ca in nota de subsol din Biblia Catolica ( 2013, Iasi) gasim :

În locul acestui termen [ corbi ], unii comentatori preferă „arabilor”. Această ipoteză ar fi în continuitate cu alte texte biblice care îi prezintă pe străini venind în ajutorul poporului lui Dumnezeu: Gen 42-47; Rut 1,1; 1Sam 27,1; 1Rg 17,8-9.

Carevasazica onor niste comentatori citesc "arabi" in loc de "corbi". De unde si pana unde se itesc in peisaj arabii evacuandu-i pe corbi cu fulgi si pene cu tot? 

Ceva lumina aduc comentariile biblice :

      Barnes' Notes on the Bible :

The ravens - This is the translation of most of the ancient versions; others, omitting the points, which are generally allowed to have no authority, read "Arabians;" others, retaining the present pointing, translate either "merchants" (compare the original of Ezekiel 27:9, Ezekiel 27:27), or "Orbites." Jerome took it in this last sense, and so does the Arabic Version.

George Leo Haydock  :

Ravens. Hebrew horebim, (Haydock) is sometimes rendered "Arabs "by the Vulgate, 2 Paralipomenon xxi. 16. Others would translate, "merchants "or the inhabitants of Arabo, which was near Carith. They suppose that the ravens, being unclean birds, would never have been employed. But they were only forbidden to be eaten or touched, when dead; and God is not restricted by his own laws. He might thus chose to display his wonderful providence. St. Jerome relates how St. Paul, the first hermit, was fed thus by a raven, with half a loaf a day; and a whole one was sent, when St. Anthony went to see him. (Calmet)  

Asadar comentatorii sunt catolici si il urmeaza pe sfantul (lor) Ieronim, dar nu numai catolici  ! , a se vedea The Pulpit Commentary - doar cateva selectii : 

1. It is hardly in accord with God's usual way of working, that he should employ birds of the air and those unclean (Leviticus 11:15; Deuteronomy 14:14) and ravenous birds, to feed and succour His saints, rather than men or angels. Of course, no one who does not altogether repudiate the supernatural will deny for a moment that the Almighty could, had it seemed good to Him, have sustained His prophet by the instrumentality of ravens, just as easily as by any other means. But it appears to be almost a fixed principle of His dealings with men, not to resort to miracles when ordinary means will suffice; or if He does employ miracles, they are never bizarre or fantastic; they are not such as to suggest the idea of fable or legend; they are invariably the simplest and directest means to the end. And it is submitted that this prolonged and methodical ministry of ravens is altogether unlike God's method of procedure on other occasions.

3. Despite the practical unanimity of the versions, the interpretation "ravens" has been disputed from very early times. St. Jerome among Christians, Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh and Kimchi amongst Jews - these are but some of those who have repudiated this rendering.

4. A very slight change in the vowel points - עַרְבִּים instead of ערְבִים - yields the meaning "Arabians." That a fugitive would readily find, not only shelter but sustenance among the Bedouin, whose generous hospitality and loyalty to strangers is proverbial, is obvious, and we knew that about this time some Arab tribes had dealings with the Jews (2 Chronicles 17:11); but without any change at all, a sufficient meaning may be extracted from the word.

Interesant e ca :

• Biblia Catolica in limba romana (2013/2020) desi traduce corect "corbi", totusi mai vine si cu aceasta nota de subsol amintind fara a pomeni direct de "retinerea" lui Ieronim, in timp ce Biblia de studiu Caolica (3rd ed. 2016 ) nu mai pomeneste nimic de "varianta"  arabilor.
• in ciuda mult trambitatei "Sa nu se-atinga de Cuvant, sa-l lase cum e-n Carte", unii protestanti inclina spre mici "ajustari" cat sa faca textul biblic sa intre chinuit in stramtele lor prejudecati....

De ce s-a ajuns la "arabi" de la "corbi" ? Unii spun apasat ca nu se cuvenea ca tocmai niste pasari necurate/impure sa poarte in ciocurile lor "spurcate" hrana pentru sfantul prooroc Ilie, cel ce urma sa fie ridicat la cer intr-un car de foc , fara sa vada moarte , sa fie proslavit si sa vina mai tarziu sa converseze cu Insusi Dumnezeu intrupat pe muntele schimbarii la fata. Acestei motivatii/obiectii ii raspund unii comentarori din vechime ai Scripturii  - un exemplu gasim in  "Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium" via Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture  ( ACCS ) :

But [the food was not brought to Elijah] by an angel, as it was to John, nor by a man, as Daniel received it by Habakkuk,  but by a raven, in order to show that there is nothing impure in the creation of God—just as God gave to Samson water to drink from the jaw of a donkey  —and in order to signify, at the same time, the abrogation of the prescriptions of the Law. According to other authors, the angels were disguised as ravens.

Deci corbii au fost livratorii pentru ca Dumnezeu a vrut sa arate ca nimic nu este impur in creatia lui Dumnezeu pentru a fi angajat in implinirea planurilor Sale - un alt exemplu fiind Samson - la care se poate adauga usor si episodul relatat in Judecatori 14:8,9. Nu este nici necesar nici corect sa se speculeze despre "abrogarea prescriptiilor legii" cat timp Dumnezeu a spus ca a venit nu ca sa abroge  Legea ci ca sa o implineasca. (Matei 5:17-18). Asadar "puritanismele" si speculatiile sa-si cate de treaba si sa nu mai incurce mintile cu interpretarile lor.

O alta explicatie a substituirii corbilor cu arabii se poate intrevedea in ultima propozitie a pasajului citat. Pentru ca unii vedeau ingerii transformati in ... corbi - alta traznaie : o supalicitare a supranaturalului - altii ca sa evite minunea unor corbi care sunt angajati de Dumnezeu ca livratori de mancare profetului Sau, au preferat sa "apeleze" la arabi intr-o deschidere anti-supranaturalista si universalista .

Un alt citat tot din ACCS merge pe aceeasi idee ( desi cu o nuanta aparte , critica iudeilor), filiera de asta data fiind cea a scolii exegetice siriace/nestoriene , una literalista opusa celei alexandrine , alegorice:

The Schools say, 17  A raven stole the [food] from houses, inns, markets and peasants, since it is an impudent, wild and merciless bird by nature. It has no natural love for its young and does not feed them, but another bird adopts them and feeds them. Through this [the Scripture] shows that animals of such a nature performed what God ordered them to do and provided for the necessities of the prophet, whereas the children of Israel, even though they were endowed with reason, did not want to observe the law of God. 

  17 Isho‘dad is referring to the Nestorian exegetical school, which prevailed in Syriac biblical exegesis from the fifth to the sixth centuries and was mostly based on the biblical commentaries by Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350-428). 

Si ca sa termin in aceeasi nota sarcastica - ce altceva merita aiureala cu pretentii de exegeza ?! -  precum si cu profeta adventistilor, daca "sfantul" Ieronim et co tin mortis sa citeasca in 1 Regi 17:4 in loc de corbi "necurati" arabi ospitalieri , sa intelegem ca si in Geneza 8:7 Noe a trimis sa zboare un .. arab ospitalier ca sa vada daca apele potopului s-au retras? Cuvantul in ebraica este fix acelasi .