Ki Tetze - When You Go Out -כִּי־תֵצֵא- August 26, 2023

These stipulations address private matters in civil and domestic life, in contrast to the previous parashah which dealt with public matters affecting the nation.

Some of the commandments discussed in this Torah Portion:

the law of the rebellious son

the obligation to bury the dead without undue delay

the requirement to return a found object

the prohibition against causing pain to any living creature

the prohibition against prostitution

the laws of marriage and divorce

the procedure of the Levirate marriage

and the obligation to eradicate the memory of Amalek.

Among others

Deuteronomy 21:10 NKJV

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

3655 יָצָא‎ (yā·ṣā(ʾ)): v.; ≡ Str —1. go out, come out, i.e., leave an area with linear movement 2.bring out, 3. extend, 4. serve, 5. descend, 6. produce, 7.vent, 8. spread, 9. : יָצָא הַ־ יַיִן מִן‎ (yā·ṣā(ʾ) hǎ- yǎ·yin min) be sober, formally, have wine go out of one 11. go to war, 12. dying, formally, going out of the soul,

The parashah Ki Tetse begins and ends with the imagery of going out to war (Dt. 21:10, 25:17–19).

In between, 74 mitsvot address miscellaneous laws of the covenant.

Deuteronomy 21:10 NKJV

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

The Hebrew phrase al oyvecha, “on your enemies,” can also be understood in the literal sense of “on top of your enemies.”

In every battle, the way to achieve victory is to gain the higher ground.

We must never stoop to the level of evil to fight it on its own terms;

in the words of the sages, “One who wrestles with a filthy person becomes dirtied as well.”

Rather, we should rise above it, affirming our belief that there is no true existence other than God, and that nothing contrary to His goodness and truth has any real power.

When our going to war is in a manner of “on your enemies,” we are guaranteed that “God shall deliver them into your hands.”

Also from one’s spiritual enemies one must “capture captives.”

Anything negative in man or in the world can be exploited for the good, if one can derive a lesson from it in the service of the Creator.

We can learn 7 things from the thief:

1) What he does, he keeps to himself.

2) He is willing to take risks to attain his goal.

3) He does not distinguish between “major” and “minor” things, but takes equally exacting care of each and every detail.

4) He invests great effort in what he does.

5) He is swift.

6) He is always optimistic

7) If at first he fails, he is back time and again for another try.

The same way if these 74 laws do not apply to us, we can still learn from them

35 of the 74 Laws

1- female captives of war, and lays down the conditions under which a soldier may marry a captive.

Deuteronomy 21:10–14 NKJV

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 13 She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her.

Sometimes a most holy soul is imprisoned in the depths of the kelipot (the “husks” (casings) which conceal Godliness in our world).

Thus it comes to pass that the Jewish soldier is attracted to a captive woman, because his soul recognizes the “beauty” imprisoned within her.

(This is why the Torah refers to her as a “beautiful woman,” even though—as the Sifri (book) derives from the verse—the same law applies if one is attracted to a physically ugly woman.)

Therefore, the Torah provides the procedure by which she is to be cleansed and included in the holy community of Israel . . .

The Torah is speaking only to counter the yetzer hara(evil inclination).

For if God would not permit her for him, [the soldier] to take her without permission.

[In essence, however, the Torah views this as a negative thing, and]

if he marries her, he will ultimately come to despise her, as it says after this,

Deuteronomy 21:15 NKJV

15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved,

Moreover, he will ultimately father through her a wayward and rebellious son (see verse 18). For this reason, these [three laws] are juxtaposed.

(Midrash Tanchuma; Rashi)

2- The right of a firstborn son to a double portion of his father’s inheritance is then detailed.

Deuteronomy 21:15–17 NKJV

15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, 16 then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. 17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

3- The section concludes with the procedure for dealing with an aberrantly rebellious child.

Deuteronomy 21:18–21 NKJV

18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

4- Speedy burial of the deceased

Deuteronomy 21:22–23 NKJV

22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

This is a degradation of the divine King in whose image man is created, and the Israelites are God’s children.

This is similar to a case of two identical twin brothers.

One became king, while the other was arrested for robbery and hanged.

Whoever saw him, the robber, would say, “The king is hanging!”

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 46b; Rashi)

This is followed by laws legislating the dignity of the dead

and the obligation to bring a body to prompt burial, the mitzvah to care for and return a lost object

(if the owner can provide identifying signs), and the duty to help lift up a fellow’s beast of burden that is “fallen on the road.”

5- Returning a Lost Object to its Owner

Deuteronomy 22:1–3 NKJV

1 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. 2 And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself.

Most teachers of the Torah taught: There was a “dealing stone” in Jerusalem.

Anyone who lost something would go there, and anyone who found something would go there. T

his one would stand and announce [his find], and the other would stand up, give identifying signs and take it.

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 28b)

6- aiding/ Helping a Neighbor When his Animal has fallen Because of its Burden

Deuteronomy 22:4 NKJV

4 “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.

7- The prohibition Against Cross-Dressing

Deuteronomy 22:5 NKJV

5 “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.

8- The obligation to send away a mother bird before taking its chicks or eggs.

Deuteronomy 22:6–7 NKJV

6 “If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

Maimonides writes that the reason for these mitzvot is so that “one should not kill the child in sight of the mother,

for the animal has great pain from this.

There is no difference between the concern of a person and the concern of an animal for their children,

because a mother’s love and compassion for the fruit of her womb is not a function of the intellect or speech,

but a function of the thought process that exists in animals as in people.”

9- Building a safety Fence around a Flat Roof

Deuteronomy 22:8 NKJV

8 “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

10 - the prohibitions against sowing mixtures of seeds

Deuteronomy 22:9 NKJV

9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

11- Plowing with a Mixed Pair of Animals

Deuteronomy 22:10 NKJV

10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

12- Wearing a garment which contains a Mixture of Wool and Linen (shatnez);

Deuteronomy 22:11 NKJV

11 “You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.

13 - Wearing tzitzit

Deuteronomy 22:12 NKJV

12 “You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself.

Talmud:

There was once a man who was very scrupulous about the precept of tzitzit.

One day he heard of a certain harlot overseas who took four hundred gold dinars for her hire.

He sent her four hundred gold dinars and scheduled a day with her. When the day arrived he came and waited at her door, and her maid went and told her,

“That man who sent you four hundred gold dinars is here and waiting at the door,”

to which she replied, “Let him come in.”

When he came in she prepared for him seven beds,

six of silver and one of gold;

between one bed and the other there were steps of silver,

but the last were of gold.

She then went up to the top bed and lay down upon.

He too went up after her in his desire to sit with her,

when all of a sudden the four fringes of his garment struck him across the face,

whereupon he slipped off and sat upon the ground.

She also slipped off and sat upon the ground and said,

“I swear by the Roman Caesar, I will not let you go until you tell me what blemish you saw in me!”

“I swear,” the Jew replied, “that I have never seen a woman as beautiful as you.

However, there is one mitzvah which we were commanded by our God, and tzitzit is its name.

Concerning this mitzvah it is twice stated in the Torah ‘I am the Lord your God’—‘I am the one who will seek retribution, and I am the one who will reward.’

Now the four tzitzit appeared to me as four witnesses, testifying to this truth.”

“I still will not let you go,” the prostitute said, “until you provide me with your name and the names of your city, your rabbi, and the school in which you study Torah.”

He wrote down all the information and handed it to her.

The woman sold all her possessions.

A third of the money she gave to the government (as a payoff so that they would allow her to convert ),

a third she handed out to the poor,

and the remaining third she took with her—along with the silver and gold beds—

and she proceeded to the school which the man had named, the study hall of Rabbi Chiya.

“Rabbi,” she said to Rabbi Chiya, “I would like to convert to Judaism.”

“Perhaps,” Rabbi Chiya responded, “you desire to convert because you have taken a liking to a Jewish man?”

The woman pulled out the piece of paper with the information and related to the rabbi the miracle which transpired with the tzitzit.

“You may go and claim that which is rightfully yours [i.e. the right to convert],” the rabbi proclaimed.

She ended up marrying the man.

Those very beds which she originally prepared for him unlawfully, she now prepared for him lawfully.

Such was his reward for meticulously observing the mitzvah of tzitzit.

(Talmud, Menachot 44a)

14 -The Penalty for a Husband who defames his Wife

Deuteronomy 22:13–21 NKJV

13 “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, 14 and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ 15 then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. 17 Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughter was not a virgin,” and yet these are the evidences of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; 19 and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. 20 “But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

A person who defames his wife, claiming that she was unfaithful to him because he desires to divorce her, is fined a hundred shekels of silver,

and he can never divorce her against her will.

Adultery (relations between a man and another man’s wife) is punishable by death, both for the man and the woman;

a woman taken by force, however, is blameless.

If a man forces himself on an unmarried woman, he is obligated to marry her (if she so desires) and cannot divorce her “all of his days.”

The Torah also specifies a number of forbidden incestuous relationships, as well as a list of persons who are precluded from marrying into the community of Israel (e.g., a bastard).

Ammonites and Moabites “shall not enter into the congregation of God, even to their tenth generation,” but Egyptians and Edomites ... are accepted after three generations.

15- The Punishment for Adultery

Deuteronomy 22:22 NKJV

22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Leviticus 20:10 NKJV

10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.

John 8:5 NKJV

5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

16- Other Sexual Conducts: the penalty for nonconsensual sex; and certain prohibited marriages.

Deuteronomy 22:23–29 NKJV

23 “If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 25 “But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. 27 For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her. 28 “If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.

The sages say that when the children of Israel assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai,

“God held the mountain over them like a jar and said to them:

‘If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, here shall be your grave’”

(Talmud, Shabbat 88a).

But the Jewish people had already expressed their desire and willingness to enter into the covenant with God.

Why did God coerce them?

But perhaps God desired to ensure that their bond would be eternal and irrevocable.

By forcing Himself on them, He was binding Himself with the law that “he may not divorce her all his days.”

(Maharal)

17- Maintaining Pure and Hygienic Army Encampments

Deuteronomy 23:14 NKJV

14 For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

18- Impurity From Seminal Emissions

Deuteronomy 23:10–13 NKJV

10 If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. 11 But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp. 12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse.

19- Prohibition against Prostitution

Deuteronomy 23:17–18 NKJV

17 “There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. 18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

20- Prohibition against Lending with Interest

Deuteronomy 23:19 NKJV

19 “You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.

21- The obligation to honour Vows.

Deuteronomy 23:21–23 NKJV

21 “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. 22 But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. 23 That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

22- The Right of Field Workers to eat from the Produce they are Harvesting.

Deuteronomy 23:24–25 NKJV

24 “When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. 25 When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.

23- The Torah then briefly discusses Marriage and the bill of Divorce.

Deuteronomy 24:1–4 NKJV

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

But Yeshua visits the topic again

Matthew 5:31–32 NKJV

31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

A divorced couple cannot remarry if the woman has been remarried to another man (and divorced again or widowed) in the interim.

24- A newlywed man is exempt from military service for a full year.

Deuteronomy 24:5 NKJV

5 “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

25- It is forbidden to accept utensils used to prepare food as loan security

Deuteronomy 24:6 NKJV

6 “No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one’s living in pledge.

26- Prohibition to forcibly take a debtor’s possessions as collateral

Deuteronomy 24:10–11 NKJV

10 “When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you.

When taking possession of an object as security for the repayment of a loan, certain restrictions apply.

It is forbidden to impound the debtor’s tools of trade, such as his millstones, for then you “take a man’s life as security.

27- Kidnapping is a capital offense.

Deuteronomy 24:7 NKJV

7 “If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.

Kidnapping a person to sell him into slavery is a capital crime.

28- A poor man’s security must be temporarily returned to him on a daily basis.

Deuteronomy 24:12–13 NKJV

12 And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. 13 You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God.

29- We are commanded to always remember that Miriam was afflicted with tzara’at (Biblical leprosy) for speaking badly about Moses.

Deuteronomy 24:8–9 NKJV

8 “Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt!

30 - We are forbidden to withhold or delay a worker’s wages.

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NKJV

14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 15 Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

31- Relatives’ testimony is inadmissible in a court of law.

Deuteronomy 24:16 NKJV

16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

32 - Various mandatory gifts for the poor, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow are discussed.

Deuteronomy 24:17 NKJV

17 “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge.

33- The procedure for corporal punishment is outlined.

Deuteronomy 25:1–4 NKJV

1 “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3 Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight. 4 “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

34-The mitzvah of Levirate marriage (yibum) is introduced:

if a married childless man dies, his brother is obligated to marry the widow.

If the brother refuses to marry the widow, he and she go through a chalitzah ceremony, which frees her to marry whomever she wishes.

Deuteronomy 25:5 NKJV

5 “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

If yibbum is not performed, the legal bond between the dead man’s wife and brother must be released through the ceremony of chalitzah (“removal of the shoe”):

Example:

Boaz Redeems Ruth

35- The reading ends with the mitzvah to remember Amalek‘s evil deed, ambushing the Israelites on their way from Egypt.

The last of Ki Teitzei’s 74 mitzvot are the commandments to remember the deeds of the most vile of Israel’s enemies,

the nation of Amalek, and “blot out their remembrance from under the heavens”:

Deuteronomy 25:17–18 NKJV

17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.

What is the incident (of Amalek) comparable to?

To a boiling tub of water which no creature was able to enter.

Along came one evildoer and jumped into it.

Although he was burned, he cooled it for the others.

So too, when Israel came out of Egypt, and God split the sea before them and drowned the Egyptians within it, their fear fell upon all the nations.

But when Amalek came and challenged them, although he received his due from them, he cooled off the awe in which they were held by the nations of the world.

(Midrash Tanchuma)

Deuteronomy 25:16 NKJV

16 For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.

CLOSING

We said this week’s reading, Ki Teitzei, contains 74 commandments, more mitzvot than any other Torah portion.

Some of the commandments discussed were:

the law of the rebellious son

the obligation to bury the dead without undue delay

the requirement to return a found object

the prohibition against causing pain to any living creature

the prohibition against prostitution

the laws of marriage and divorce

the procedure of the Levirate marriage

and the obligation to eradicate the memory of Amalek.

But I would like to bring to your attention two points that match the Torah portion to the Brit Chadachsha

Deuteronomy 21:10 NKJV

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

The most important equivalents in the Septuagint are Gk. exérchomai, ekporeúomai, éxodos, and exágō (for the hiphil).

Altogether, however, the Septuagint uses more than 100 equivalents for the root.

Luke 9:31 NKJV

31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Luke in Greek

Our Torah Portion also represents the exodus of this life into the eternal life with Yeshua

There is a “going out” of here into the Millennium Reign

That’s the first point of this portion I wanted to highlight

The second one has to do with

Deuteronomy 21:20 NKJV

20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

The Original Article – A Glutton and a Drunkard

In the well known gospel account of the wedding at Cana, Jesus is recorded as performing a miracle in which he changes water into wine.

Many have debated on whether or not the wine was fermented.

Did Jesus drink fermented drink?

In one gospel passage, his enemies are reportedly calling him a “drunk and a glutton.”

Matthew 11:19 NKJV

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

In this closing, I will show that the charge most likely has nothing at all to do with drinking.

The source of the name calling can be shown to be the Torah of Moses and may have more to do with a charge of rebellion against authority than with having too much to eat and drink.

Deuteronomy 21:20 NKJV

20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

Other verses in the Bible:

Luke 7:34 NKJV

34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

Proverbs 23:21 NKJV

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

Proverbs 26:9 NKJV

9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Proverbs 28:7 NKJV

7 Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son, But a companion of gluttons shames his father.

Titus 1:12 NKJV

12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

Luke 21:34 NKJV

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.

Ephesians 5:18 NKJV

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

1 Corinthians 6:10 NKJV

10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Nahum 1:10 NKJV

10 For while tangled like thorns, And while drunken like drunkards, They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.

In biblical texts we find legal material that explicitly seeks to control what food could be eaten, how ritual slaughter should be performed, and how harvests should be distributed

Such texts contrast with those that frame and describe consumption that was deemed unacceptable.

Eating habits that ran against the grain of prescribed norms, or what I term ‘deviant’ consumption, is likely the motivation behind the law of the Rebellious Son in (Deuteronomy Chapter 21, verses 18-21) who is accused of being ‘a glutton (zôlēl) and a drunkard (sōbēʾ)’ by his parents, and stoned to death as punishment.

In the English translation, this accusation suggests the Rebellious Son was consuming food and drink in excessive quantities, but this is unlikely to be the case given the portrayal of food and consumption in in other biblical texts.

Frequently in the Hebrew Bible abundant food and the ability to eat to satiety, or engorgement, is framed as a gift or blessing from Yahweh. For instance

Psalm 22:26 NKJV

26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!

Psalm 132:15 NKJV

15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.

Both describe Yahweh blessing the poor with food or engorgement, while in Isaiah Yahweh repeatedly says he will bless his people with rich food and feasts

Isaiah 55:1–2 NKJV

1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

The same is in (Is chap 26:6; 58:1–11).

Scarcity and lack, rather than plenty, were the norm for ordinary people of ancient cultures who survived by subsisting off the land using agrarian and pastoral farming strategies.

Significantly, we have texts, particularly in prophetic books, which criticize the feasting activities of the wealthy who do not share with, or care for, the impoverished

Jeremiah 5:26–28 NKJV

26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men; They lie in wait as one who sets snares; They set a trap; They catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28 They have grown fat, they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the needy they do not defend.

Also, in Amos chapter 6:4–7; Ezekiel Chapter 16:49).

These texts, while highlighting the luxurious foods consumed, do not target the quantity eaten per se,

but instead are concerned with the disparity between the opulent food of the elite and the lack of food for the poor.

It is the neglect and absence of care, despite the elites having access to abundant food,

that is emphasized here, which is pertinent, as we know that one of the benefits of shared feasts was to distribute foods between social groups.

The elite feasters who do not care for the most vulnerable of society are not acting in the most socially cohesive way, but they are not at fault simply for eating too much.

They are also not punished with death as a result, unlike the Rebellious Son.

The rebellion is not depicted by how much food the person drinks, but in not sharing

Yeshua would have been called a glutton and a drunkard because He did not follow the rabbinical interpretation of the Torah, but the Father’s

It is thus quite difficult to argue that these biblical texts were specifically concerned with preventing gluttony, or advocating for self-restraint at meal times.

Remember His Torah/ Live the Torah/ Teach the Torah

Shabbat Shalom

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