Jacob's Wedding

T H E JE W I S H Q UA R T E R LY R E V I E W, Vol. 94, No. 3 (Summer 2004) 521–522 N O T E Jacob’s Wedding HOWARD JACOBSON IN SEVERAL PLACES the midrash embellishes the biblical account of the events surrounding Jacob’s marriage to Laban’s daughter. Genesis Rabbah 70.19, in an expansion that clearly has its roots in the Bible’s words at Gn 29.25, hal ayh hnh, reports that the local guests recited praises and uttered the following, hal ayh hal ayh hyylyh hyylyh.1 The closest to a satisfactory understanding of these words comes from Ginzberg, who so understands the tenor of the passage: ‘‘[The guests] tried to give him [Jacob] a hint of Laban’s purpose. In the marriage ode which they sang they used the refrain halia in the hope that he would understand it as Ha Lea, ‘This is Leah.’’’2 Ginzberg is, it seems to me, fundamentally right. He leaves unanswered , however, the central question. While he refers to the marriage ode’s refrain halia, he fails to tell us what this refrain is. I think it possible to identify this mysterious word halia, and its origin. Greek weddings—and probably Roman ones as well—included as part of their ritual the guests singing a form of ululation, a combination of the sound ‘‘l’’ with a vowel. Thus, we have ‘‘ololu’’ (as indicated by
λολςω), λελευ
(λελ ςω), λαλα ( λαλ ςω). In Sappho’s description of the wedding of Hector and Andromache, we read γυναι
␬ες δ’ λλυσδον (fr. 44.313 ). At Euripides’ Heracles 10–11, all the Thebans celebrate Megara on her marriage with wedding songs and ululations, 1. The manuscripts vary, but this seems the right reading and is supported by the text of Sekhel Tov ad Gn. 29.22 (ed., Buber, 133). See the apparatus of Theodor-Albeck, p. 818. As for the reading of Midrash ha-gadol ad Gn. 29.23 (ed., Margulies, 516), ljr ah ljr ah it is apparent that Margulies and L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia, repr. 1968), 5:294 are correct in holding that this represents a deliberate alteration from hal, by someone who failed to understand the point here. 2. Legends, 1: 360. 3. Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta, ed. E. Lobel and D. L. Page (Oxford, 1955). The Jewish Quarterly Review (Summer 2004) Copyright 䉷 2004 Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. All rights reserved. 522 JQR 94:3 (2004) µενα οισι . . . συνηλ λαξαν. At Dido’s ‘‘wedding’’ to Aeneas, Vergil writes, ulularunt . . . nymphae (Aen. 4.168).4 In brief, hyylyh hyylyh can represent the Greco-Roman ululation performed at weddings. But there is probably more here. The noun ayylya is found in the Palestinian Sefer ha-maasim le-vne Erets Yisrael in the sense of ‘‘lamentation’’ (joined with hykb).5 Thus, the ritual wedding ululation is in our text associated with the ululation of mourning and prefigures the unhappy results of the night’s events. Not only does the deceit-ridden wedding have its dark undercurrents, but so too does the celebratory singing.6 4. Though the point of this line is debated. 5. See B. M. Levin’s edition at Tarbiz 1.1 (1929): 97. The word also renders hnyq at Targum to 2 Sam 1.17. 6. I am much indebted to Professor Daniel Sperber, whose references, comments , and criticisms greatly improved this note. ...