נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י יֹאמַ֖ר אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֽם׃
דַּבְּר֞וּ עַל־לֵ֤ב יְרוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙...
Comfort, oh comfort My people,
Says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem...
Who measured the waters with the palm of His hand,
And gauged the skies with a span of Her fingers,
And dispensed earth’s dust with a measure,
And weighed the mountains with a scale
And the hills with a balance?
What is the order and division of creation in this verse?
What does the imagery of hands, scales and balances remind you of?
Why might this rhetorical question bring us comfort?
(יא) כְּרֹעֶה֙ עֶדְר֣וֹ יִרְעֶ֔ה בִּזְרֹעוֹ֙ יְקַבֵּ֣ץ טְלָאִ֔ים וּבְחֵיק֖וֹ יִשָּׂ֑א עָל֖וֹת יְנַהֵֽל׃ (ס)
(11) Like a shepherd He pastures His flock: He gathers the lambs in His arms And carries them in His bosom; Gently He drives the mother sheep.
(ט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יִקָּו֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם מִתַּ֤חַת הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ אֶל־מָק֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃ (י) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לַיַּבָּשָׁה֙ אֶ֔רֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵ֥ה הַמַּ֖יִם קָרָ֣א יַמִּ֑ים וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
מהו ההבדל שבין השאלות שבפסוק י"ב לבין השאלות שבפסוקים י"ג-י"ד?
What is the difference between the rehtorical questions in verse 12 and the questions in verses 13-14?
מהי כוונתן הכללית של שאלות רטוריות אלה?
What is the greater intention of these rhetorical questions?
Guided Him in the way of right?
Who guided Him in knowledge
And showed Him the path of wisdom?
IMAGE (VA-ETCHANAN)
We're made in the image
and the likeness
which means we're
chips off the God block.
Damut, likeness, sounds
related to dam, blood
as though God's DNA
inhered in our bodies
though the etymology
doesn't hold up. Still
maybe it's the God in us
that lets us form
clay into vessels, wood
into houses, words
into language--
but we need to take care
not to worship
the structures we build
not to confuse
our various capabilities
with the real source
of creative power, lest
the land spit us out
and our God consign us
to never remembering
there's something out there
greater than the work
of our limited hands.