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b.Sot· ah 42a:1 It is written “Harafah” (2 Samuel 21:16);2 and it is written “Orpah.” Rav and Samuel— One says: Harafah was her name. And why was her name called Orpah?—Because everybody would enter her from her rear [’orefin]. And one says: Her name was Orpah. And why was her name called Harafah?—Because everyone would thresh her like groats [harifot].3 And thus does it say (2 Samuel 17:19): “And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn [harifot]4 thereon.” Or if you wish, say from here (Proverbs 27:22): “Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat [harifot] with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.” Both of these name-etymologies presuppose the identification of “Harafah” as Goliath’s mother, and as Orpah, the sister-in-law of Ruth. The homiletical theme implicit in this interpretation is illuminated in a discourse that appears in several midrashic contexts, including the current page of b.Sot· ah: Rava expounded: As a reward for the four tears that Orpah shed5 for her motherin -law, she merited that four mighty warriors should issue from her, as it says (Ruth 1:9): “and they lifted up their voice, and wept.” Although the Talmud’s name-etymologies do not appear elsewhere, the general theme is developed in more elaborate detail in several Palestinian sources,6 such as Ruth Rabbah 2:20:7 Rabbi Berakhiah in the name of Rabbi Isaac: Orpah walked forty paces with her mother-in-law, and her son [i.e., the decree of his death] was suspended for forty days, as it says (1 Samuel 17:16): “And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.” 85 18 : Orpah and Harafah Rabbi Judan in the name of Rabbi Isaac: Orpah walked four miles with her mother-in-law,8 and four mighty warriors issued from her, as it says “These four were born to the giant” (2 Samuel 21:22).9 The point made by these traditions is a simple one: God, in his compassion, rewards even the smallest acts of virtue. The modest acts of kindness and consideration that Orpah performed for Naomi were reciprocated by allowing her (as Harafah) to be the mother of four illustrious soldiers. The point remains a valid one even if the midrash does not embellish Orpah’s personality beyond the details provided by the biblical narrative. She is portrayed there in a neutral manner, though of an inferior moral standing to Ruth, and yet her modest deeds of kindness are esteemed and rewarded by the Almighty. The additional details of her depraved sexual life, which form the basis of both Rav’s and Samuel’s interpretations,10 set God’s fairness in more extreme relief: So great is his righteousness that even a creature as debased as Ofrah-Harafah, whose entire existence was marked by immorality and licentiousness, is recompensed for her few expressions of morality. The same idea, with a different exegetical rationale, is found in the Palestinian midrashic traditions:11 Says Rabbi Isaac: Throughout the night that she separated from her mother-inlaw ,12 there mixed within her the foreskins of one hundred men.13 This is what is written (1 Samuel 17:23) “And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies [twkr(mm] of the Philistines.” It is actually written twr(mm—that is, from a hundred foreign foreskins that penetrated [nit‘aru] her all night.14 Rabbi Tanh·uma says: A dog was also one of them, as it is written (17:43) “And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog.” Although it is possible that the exaggerated depictions of Orpah’s immorality are intended to underscore God’s evenhanded treatment of the wicked,15 it is at least as likely that they originated in the widespread rabbinic tendency to portray all gentiles (that is, heathens) as wicked.16 These embellishments also suit the needs of dramatically preaching the Goliath story before the common folk by filling the audience with scorn and loathing for the depraved villain. Such extreme burlesques are standard fare in the homiletical repertoire and must have provided immense emotional satisfaction to Jews whose day-to-day existence was marked by oppression at the hands of latter-day successors to those biblical...

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