This expresses what I thought every time I saw those blue fingers. It reminds me a little of the story of Qayin (קין) and Hevel (הבל) - Cain and Abel.
וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן אֶל הֶבֶל אָחִיו
וַיְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה
וַיָּקָם קַיִן אֶל הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיַּהַרְגֵהוּ
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל קַיִן
אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ
וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי
הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי
Vayomer qayin el hevel ahiv
Vayhi bihyotam basade
Vayaqam qayin el hevel ahiv vayahargehu
Vayomer H' el qayin
Ey hevel ahikha
Vayomer lo' yada`ti
Hashomer ahi anokhi
And Cain spoke to Abel his brother
When they were in the field
And Cain rose up against his brother and killed him
And the Lord said to Cain,
"Where is Abel your brother?"
And he said, "I don't know,
Am I my brother's keeper?"
We are all our brothers' keepers. When the Iraqis went out and voted, they were keeping their country.
When Cain is punished, he complains:
הֵן גֵּרַשְׁתָּ אֹתִי הַיּוֹם מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה
וּמִפָּנֶיךָ אֶסָּתֵר
וְהָיִיתִי נָע וָנָד בָּאָרֶץ
וְהָיָה כָל מֹצְאִי יַהַרְגֵנִי
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ ה'
לָכֵן כָּל הֹרֵג קַיִן שִׁבְעָתַיִם יֻקָּם
וַיָּשֶׂם ה' לְקַיִן אוֹת
לְבִלְתִּי הַכּוֹת אֹתוֹ כָּל מֹצְאוֹ
Hen gerashta oti hayom me`al p'ney ha'adama
Umipaneykha esater
V'hayiti na` vanad ba'ares
V'haya kol mos'i yahargeni
Vayomer lo H'
Lakhen kol horeg qayin shiv`atayim yuqam
Vayasem l'qayin ot
L'vilti hakot oto kol mos'o
Thus you have expelled me today from the face of the earth
And from your face I will be hidden
And I will be a roamer and a wanderer of the earth
And anyone who finds me will kill me
And the Lord said to him,
"Therefore anyone who kills Cain will be punished sevenfold"
And the Lord put on Cain a mark
So that nobody who finds him will hurt him
The mark of Cain is usually thought of something bad, but actually it was given to him in order to protect him. Like those blue fingers...
ADDENDUM: The ha- in hashomer ahi anokhi (am I my brother's keeper) is not the ha- which means 'the'. This ha- has a different vowel, and it introduces a question. It is a short form of the word ha'im (האם).
Posted by David Boxenhorn at February 1, 2005 10:55 PM