מאמר חדש על: שמואל

מאת: אבנר רמו

אל: avnerramu @ aol.com

Was Samuel an Ephraimite?
Avner Ramu
The Book of Samuel begins:
ויהי איש אחד מן-הרמתים, צופים--מהר אפרים; ושמו אלקנה בן-ירחם בן-אליהוא, בן-
תחו בן-צוף--אפרתי.
“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and
his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of
Zuph, an Ephraimite” (1 Sam 1:1).
The same book also tells us that the first son borne to Samuel son of Elkanah, was Joel (1 Sam
8:1-2).
Yet the Chronicler tells us about this family:
ואלה העמדים ובניהם: מבני הקהתי--הימן המשורר, בן-יואל בן-שמואל.
בן-אלקנה, בן-ירחם, בן-אליאל, בן-תוח.
בן-ציף )צוף(,
“And these are they that took their station, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites:
Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel;
The son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah;
The son of Zuph” (1 Ch 6:18-20).
While the change from תחו (thokhu) to תוח (thoakh) is apparently the result of an order-type
error, the change from אליהוא (elihua) to אליאל (eliel) is likely the result of the systematic
change in the divine name that appear as the suffix in people’s names.
Yet the most significant change made by the Chronicler is to indicate that this family was “Of
the sons of the Kohathites” and not “Ephraimites” as was told by the writer of the Book of
Samuel. The Chronicler also indicates that the Kohathites:
ויהיו משרתים לפני משכן אהל-מועד בשיר, עד-בנות שלמה את-בית יהוה בירושלם; ויעמדו
כמשפטם על-עבודתם.
“And they ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon
had built the house of YHWH in Jerusalem; and they took their station at their service
according to their order” (1 Ch 6:17).
I suggest that what motivated the Chronicler here was his reading in the Book of Samuel:
והנער שמואל משרת את-יהוה, לפני עלי - “And the child Samuel ministered to YHWH
before Eli” (1 Sam 3:1), and: ושמואל שכב בהיכל יהוה, אשר-שם ארון אלהים - “And Samuel
was laid down to sleep in the temple of YHWH, where the ark of God was” (1 Sam 3:3), and
his knowledge of the Mosaic Law.
Although Joshua, another “Ephraimite” man (Num 13:8, 16), also stayed in אהל מועד - “The tent
of meeting” (Ex 33:7, 11), this was before the official משכן אהל מועד - “The tabernacle of
the Tent of Meeting” (Ex 40:2) was erected, and it did not yet accommodate the “Ark of the
Testimony.”
In the Book of Numbers we read that only Aaron and his sons were designated to serve inside
“the tent of the testimony” and:
ושמרו את-משמרת אהל מועד, לכל עבדת האהל; וזר, לא-יקרב אליכם.
“And [you]keep the charge of the tent of meeting, whatsoever the service of the Tent may
be; but a common man shall not draw nigh to you” (Num 18:1-4).
Therefore, the Chronicler concluded that if Samuel indeed slept “in the temple of YHWH,
where the ark of God was” he could not have been an “Ephraimite” and must have been a
“Kohat