Further Thoughts on Amalthea's Horn
Yesterday, I referenced Amalthea’s Horn, and how this might have been referenced in the gemara, Bava Batra 91:
וְאָמַר רַב חָנָן בַּר רָבָא אָמַר רַב: אִמֵּיהּ דְּאַבְרָהָם – אֲמַּתְלַאי בַּת כַּרְנְבוֹ. אִמֵּיהּ דְּהָמָן – אֲמַּתְלַאי בַּת עוֹרֶבְתִּי. וְסִימָנָיךְ: טָמֵא – טָמֵא, טָהוֹר – טָהוֹר.
And Rav Ḥanan bar Rava says that Rav says: The mother of Abraham was called Amatlai bat Karnevo. The mother of Haman was called Amatlai bat Orevati. And your mnemonic, to ensure that the two are not confused for one another, is that a raven [orev] is impure, and in this manner one remembers that Orevati is the grandmother of the impure Haman, while a sheep [kar] is pure, which indicates that Karnevo is the grandmother of the pure Abraham.
אִמֵּיהּ דְּדָוִד – נִצֶּבֶת בַּת עַדְאֵל שְׁמָהּ. אִמֵּיהּ דְּשִׁמְשׁוֹן – צְלֶלְפּוֹנִית, וַאֲחָתֵיהּ נַשְׁיָין. לְמַאי נָפְקָא מִינַּהּ? לִתְשׁוּבַת הַמִּינִים.
Rav Ḥanan bar Rava continues: The mother of David was named Natzvat bat Ada’el. The mother of Samson was named Tzelelponit, and his sister was called Nashyan. The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference as to what their names were? The Gemara answers: It is important with regard to an answer for heretics who inquire into the names of these women, which are not stated in the Bible. One can reply that there is a tradition handed down concerning their names.
And I reposted a parshablog post, connecting it to Amalthea’s Horn, which the Septuagint gives as a translation of Keren Happuch, the daughter of Iyov.
It is unclear what “Teshuvat Haminim”, an answer to heretic, means. The explanation given is that we thereby show that we have an oral tradition about lots of material that is extra-biblical. Why this is so important, I don’t know. I also don’t know if we can actually reconstruct why it is so important as a rejoinder to heretics. Do we have enough surviving information?
Keren Hapuch is one of the daughters born to Iyov at the tail end of the book, making up for his prior children dying.
This figure Keren Hapuch / Amalthea’s Horn makes its way into the Apocrypha, that is, a book that ultimately wasn’t canonized into the Christian Bible. Essentially, it is Biblical fan fiction, taking Biblical characters and making a sequel. This book, The Testament of Job, contains strange ideas about the existence of angelic language, and is a jumping off point for recommending specific hymns that they asserted
Thus, in chapter 12:
5 But after three days Job saw the holy angels come for his soul, and instantly he rose and took the cithara and gave it to his daughter Day (Yemima).
6 And to Kassia he gave a censer (with perfume = Kassia), and to Amalthea’s horn (= music) he gave a timbrel in order that they might bless the holy angels who came for his soul.
7 And they took these, and sang, and played on the psaltery and praised and glorified God in the holy dialect.
and the end of chapter 11:
27 Then did the other daughter by the name of Amalthea’s Horn (Keren Happukh) gird herself and her mouth spoke in the language of those on high; for her heart was transformed, being lifted above the worldly things. 28 She spoke in the dialect of the Cherubim, singing the praise of the Ruler of the cosmic powers (virtues) and extolling their (His) glory.
29 And he who desires to follow the vestiges of the "Glory of the Father" will find them written down in the Prayers of Amalthea’s Horn.
Who gave the mnemonic, וְסִימָנָיךְ: טָמֵא – טָמֵא, טָהוֹר – טָהוֹר? On the one hand, the Stamma often will provide mnemonics. It is important for the Garsan, reciter, so as to preserve the accuracy in transmission. Here we have two Amitlai people, so we need to take steps to not mix them up.
The other possibility is that it is Rav Chanan bar Rava himself. After all, Amoraim will indeed say וְסִימָנָיךְ. Consider these two, from Rav Chanan bar Rava.
So maybe this is part of his teaching style.
If he actually said this mnemonic, then the associations he makes might speak to the issue of whether this is actually a corruption, or at what point the corruption happened.
I mean, there definitely would need to be a corruption in going from
אֲמַּתְלַאי בַּת כַּרְנְבוֹ
To
Amalthai bat Keren Happuch
Firstly, there is metathesis, switching around the letters lamed and tav in Amalthea to Amatlai. Second, the Kuf of Keren, meaning horn, becomes a kaf. And the bleed-in from -n-hapuch to become n-evo also involves corruption, like the unvoiced peh turning into the voiced bet. Also, these are supposed to be the same name, so why is one the daughter of the other.
The mnemonic was טָמֵא – טָמֵא, טָהוֹר – טָהוֹר. So the one associated with the good one, Avraham, should be associated with the good animal. And this is taken as the כר, meaning kosher sheep. That association doesn’t necessarily work with קרן הפוך.
I also wonder if knowing some of these names can help us with Biblical chronology, that is, not litshuvat haminim, but lecheshbon haminyan. For instance, Hatzlilponi appears in the genealogies in I Divrei Hayamim, 4:3.
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ אֲבִ֣י עֵיטָ֔ם יִזְרְעֶ֥אל וְיִשְׁמָ֖א וְיִדְבָּ֑שׁ וְשֵׁ֥ם אֲחוֹתָ֖ם הַצְלֶלְפּֽוֹנִי׃
These were [the sons of] the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazlelponi,
Also, this is within the descendants of Yehuda. So Manoach is from the tribe of Dan, but his wife would be from Yehuda. Could this factor into a response to some Christian polemics, about matrilineal descend from Yehuda?
Anyway, ending here.