The swords of battle cut through our basic humanity, ripping through our very core of decency and dignity. Yes, there is courage and competence when one fights for one’s loved ones or causes worth defending against a foe, but whatever weapons we use, cruelty will often overcome compassion, and grief will cover all.
Words fail yet metaphors and images attempt to capture something of the horror which is war, perhaps as if to try and make sense of the senseless. Maybe that’s why a strange and jarring image keeps appearing in the brutal prophecies of Jeremiah - often lost in translation: What is the sword of the dove?
The dove, a bird associated through our myths with peace and hope, an olive leaf in its beak, coos its way through biblical and other poetic sources, a symbol for the soul, for yearning, and for love.
But Jeremiah, several times through this book now almost finished, uses this odd term to talk of destruction and of the swift severing of life that this sword will see upon his people’s enemies. In this chapter swords are everywhere. it is Babylon’s turn to receive a searing vision of destruction -- when its time will come. Babylon - the empire that Jeremiah saw with his own eyes destroy Jerusalem, ruling the world -- one day will also be conquered and humiliated. Scholars suggest these final chapters may not have been his words - but Jeremiah or whoever spoke these words elaborate a future vision of the end of Babylon and the dissolution of its vast empire:
כִּרְת֤וּ זוֹרֵ֙עַ֙ מִבָּכִּרְת֤וּ זוֹרֵ֙עַ֙ מִבָּבֶ֔ל וְתֹפֵ֥שׂ מַגָּ֖ל בְּעֵ֣ת קָצִ֑יר מִפְּנֵי֙ חֶ֣רֶב הַיּוֹנָ֔ה אִ֤ישׁ אֶל־עַמּוֹ֙ יִפְנ֔וּ וְאִ֥ישׁ לְאַרְצ֖וֹ יָנֻֽסוּ׃
“Cut off the sower from Babylon, and whoever handles the sickle at the time of harvest! For fear of the sword of the dove they shall turn, each of them, to their own people, and they shall flee, each and everyone, to their own land.”
Jeremiah 50:16
So what is the sword of the dove? Well, it may be a mistaken read of the word ‘Yona’ which may mean ‘dove’ but may also be ancient Hebrew for ‘deception’.
The phrase will be referenced throughout the ages in Judaic literature, to illustrate brutality, the betrayal of humanity. Rabbi Shimon Duran, exiled from Spain in 1492, ending up in North Africa, wrote of his experience as a refugee:
“I am the person who saw misery, my soul is ashes, dust of the road on my face, no finery left, wailing like a dove, running from the sword of the dove..”
And in the 1980’s, Anita Shapira, an Israeli political historian wrote a Hebrew book that resonates right now so much --- about the tensions between right and might, the real and ideal conditions for the Zionist ideologies at the root of Israel’s existence. She called the book - The Sword of the Dove.
The sword cuts on through Jeremiah’s vision in this chapter, a refugee’s fantasy of revenge against all who took part in Babylon’s war on Jerusalem: A sword against the inhabitants of Babylon,
Against its officials and its wise men!
A sword against the diviners,
A sword against the warriors,
A sword against its horses and chariots,
And against all the motley crowd in its midst,
A sword against its treasuries. (50:35-37)
Bring back the dove. The one who carried olive leaves, cooing each dawn, reminding us of better days to wake up to, beyond these visions of annihilation, beyond betrayal, and beyond all wars.
Just two more chapters with Jeremiah’s visions left for us to journey with, hearts heavy with visions that somehow survived through generations and hopes for redemption that refuse to be released.
Let there be peace and hope and healing for us all.
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The "sword of the dove" is a paradox by which I think the ancient imagination tried to find a rationale for killing that does not contradict the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." If "vengeance" is the Lord's prerogative, then human beings can be---or see themselves as--- the instrument. The heavenly dove resorts to the human arm that wields the sword. Righteous anger when one sees the "right" as the will of God. A different anger from the emotion with which we are all familiar.
Nothing is more terrible than killing that is rationalized in such a way that killing can be dehumanized such that there is no need for grief, regret, shame, or guilt. But the fact is that the arm that wields the sword is attached to a complex human heart and mind in which the cost of killing will take its toll even to the seventh generation.
How amazing that at this moment in present time, our Rabbi channels Jeremiah, witness and poet. And in the midst of the terrible clamor, he continues to teach us. thank you.