Food & Drink

in the Biblical World

Week Three

Luther Seminary 2016 Lay School for Theology Diane Jacobson and Anna Grunner

Food & drink as a lens for reading

Gender

Economy

Politics

Religion

Family

Social Class

How do food and drink function here?

Food & Drink in Ruth

Arthur Szyk 1947

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, He and his wife and two sons.

Ruth 1

22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Josef Anton Koch

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favor." She said to her, "Go, my daughter." 3 So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

Jean-Francois Millet

14 “At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain.

Marc Chagall

17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.

Threshing Floor

Wenzil Bible

6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. 7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.

16 She came to her mother-

in-law, who said, "How did

things go with you, my

daughter?" (Mi ‘At)

Then she told her all that

the man had done for her,

17 saying, “He gave me

these six measures of

barley, for he said, 'Do not

go back to your mother-in-

law empty-handed.’” Marc Chagall

How do food and drink function here?

Food & Drink in the Historical Books

Samuel & Kings

1 Samuel 9: Samuel’s Table 1Sam. 9:22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant-boy and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited, of whom there were about thirty. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you, the one I asked you to put aside.” 24 The cook took up the thigh and what went with it and set them before Saul. Samuel said, “See, what was kept is set before you. Eat; for it is set before you at the appointed time, so that you might eat with the guests.” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

1 Samuel 20: Saul’s Table 1Sam. 20:24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25

The king sat upon his seat…Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Saul’s side; but David’s place was empty.

26 Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, “Something has befallen him; surely he is not clean.” 27

But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty. And Saul said to his son

Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today?” 28 Jonathan

answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; 29 he said, ‘Let me go; for our family

is holding a sacrifice in the city…’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

1Sam. 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan. He said to him, “You son of a perverse,

rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame

of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your

kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan

answered his father Saul, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul threw his spear at

him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. 34 Jonathan

rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved

for David, and because his father had disgraced him.

How do food and drink function here?

1 Samuel 25: Abigail There was a man in Maon, whose property was in Carmel. The man was very rich…3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean. 4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up…to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 Thus you shall salute him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have...we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 14 But one of the young men told Abigail...Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys 19 and said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

2 Samuel 4: David’s Table 2Sam. 4:4 Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled; and, in her haste to flee, it happened that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

Later…

2Sam. 9:1 David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba; he said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”

2Sam. 9:9 Then the king answered, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that he may have food to eat; Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table...” Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons…he always ate at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths

for his name’s sake...

…You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

my whole life long.

How do food and drink function here?

1 Kings 17.1-7 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the

LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be

neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 The word

of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Go from here and turn

eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of

the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the wadi, and I have

commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did

according to the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the Wadi

Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him

bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the

evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7 But after a while the wadi

dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

1 Kings 17.8-24 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.” 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

How do food and drink function here?

Contemporary Issue: Food Insecurity

Food Insecurity

“There are 795 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nine people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide—greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.”

Source: The UN World Food Program

Hunger Statistics

• 2/3 of the world’s hungry people live in Asia

• Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence of hunger: one in four people are undernourished

• 45% of the children who die each year worldwide (3.1 million) die from causes related to poor nutrition

Source: The UN World Food Program

What Causes Hunger?

• Poverty Trap

• Lack of Investment in Agriculture

• Climate and Weather

• War and Displacement

• Unstable Markets

• Food Wastage

Margaret Mead “Today for the first time in the history of mankind, we have the productive capacity to feed everyone in the world, and the technical knowledge to see that their stomachs are not only filled, but their bodies properly nourished with the essential ingredients for growth and health.”

--The Changing Significance of Food

“Ever since the agricultural revolution, we have been running a race between our capacity to produce enough food to make it possible to assemble great urban centers…and our ability to feed and care for the burgeoning population which has always kept a little, often a great deal, ahead of the food supply. Those societies which practiced agriculture contrasted with subsistence societies...the relations between the haves and have-nots were in many ways simpler. Methods by which men could obtain permanent supplies of food and withhold them from their fellows hardly existed.”

--The Changing Significance of Food, cont’d

Catherine of Siena Julian of Norwich

Holy Fast and Holy Feast

By Caroline Walker Bynum

Why is food so prevalent in female saints’ spiritual practices?

• Anorexia nervosa

• Anorexia mirabilis

• Communion with God?

• Suffering and redemption?

• Agency?

“In contemporary Western societies, the standard of thinness upholds a class structure where men, whites, and the rich are superior to women, people of color and the poor. Thinness connotes power, control, wealth and competence.”

–Food and Gender, by Carole Counihan and Steven Kaplan, 4.

“Shrinking Women”

by Lily Meyers

Food in the Prophets

Emptiness, Anxiety & Threat

Emptiness

Amos 6.4-6 4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; 5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; 6 who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Deuteronomy 24

Deut. 24:6 No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge. Deut. 24:14 You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. 15 You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the LORD against you, and you would incur guilt.

Psalm 107 4 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; 5 hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; 7 he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town. 8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. 9 For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.

Ezekiel 34 11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out...14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Ezekiel 7.15

The sword is outside, pestilence and famine are inside; those in the field die by the sword; those in the city—famine and pestilence devour them.

רעב ודבר יאכלנו

Ra’av ve-dever yokhalenu

2 Kings 6 / Deuteronomy 28 25 As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord king!” 27 He said, “No! Let the LORD help you. How can I help you? From the threshing floor or from the wine press?” 28 But then the king asked her, “What is your complaint?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.”

Deut. 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you…49 The LORD will bring a nation from far away…a grim-faced nation showing no respect to the old or favor to the young…52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down…53 In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined and gentle of men among you will begrudge food to his own brother, to the wife whom he embraces, and to the last of his remaining children, 55 giving to none of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because nothing else remains to him…56 She who is the most refined and gentle among you…will begrudge…even the afterbirth that comes out from between her thighs, and the children that she bears, because she is eating them in secret for lack of anything else, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in your towns.

Lamentations 4.9-10 Lam. 4:9 Happier were those pierced by the sword than those pierced by hunger, whose life drains away, deprived of the produce of the field. Lam. 4:10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my people.

Anxiety

Psalm 102 Psa. 102:0 A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the LORD. 1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you… Psa. 102:3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass; I am too wasted to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my skin…. 9 For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink… 11 My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.

Isaiah 29.8

Just as when a hungry person dreams of eating

and wakes up still hungry,

or a thirsty person dreams of drinking

and wakes up faint, still thirsty,

so shall the multitude of all the nations be

that fight against Mount Zion.

Micah 4.4

But they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

Threat

Haggai 1.5-6

5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

Hosea 9.10-14 10 Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, in its first season, I saw your ancestors. But they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to a thing of shame, 11 Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception! 12 Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them until no one is left. 14 Give them, O LORD— what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Zephaniah 1.2-7 2 I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the LORD. 3 I will sweep away humans and animals… I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth, says the LORD. 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is at hand; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests.

Isaiah 34.2-3 Is. 34:2 For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their hoards; he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter (לטבח, la-tevakh) 3 Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.

Food and Drink as Metaphor in the Psalms, Job, and Song of Songs

The Words of

Torah The Righteous

Followers

of Torah The Evil

Doers

Metaphor in the Laments Words to The Beloved

Food and Drink as Warning

Food and Drink as Promise

Promise to the Faithful

ELW 484 You Satisfy the Hungry Heart

refrain

You satisfy the hungry heart with gift of finest wheat.

Come give to us, O Saving Lord, the bread of life to eat.

As when the shepherd calls his sheep, they know and head his voice,

So when you call your fam’ly, Lord, we follow and rejoice.

Is not the cup we bless and share the blood of Christ outpoured?

Do not one cup, one loaf, declare our oneness in the Lord?

Food and Drink as Promise

Promise to the Faithful

Promise to the Poor

Promise to the King

Promise to All Creation

Food and Drink as Warning

Food and Drink as Promise

Promise to the Faithful

Nehemiah 8 1 All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law aof Moses, which the LORD had given to Israel. …3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand... 6 Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

10 Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." 11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, "Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved." 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

16 So the people went out and brought them, and made booths for themselves, each on the roofs of their houses, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them; for from the days of Jeshua son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

For Next Week

How did the class encourage you to think about food this week? How do your eating patterns intersect with issues of justice? What, if anything, are you eating this week that is a sign of your relative privilege? Where do you feel anxiety and emptiness in what you eat? Watch or listen to a food show: What do you notice in the way we talk about food? Do you hear any themes we have talked about in this class?