This morning I was reading part of the Book of Numbers waiting for The Cook to get the bacon and eggs going and came across the five daughters of Zelophehad ('first born' if you believe sources). The whole deal was that he had no sons, so his daughters petitioned Moses to give them their landed inheritance and the Lord said, "Okey Dokey"...not sure what the original Hebrew was for that.Hoglah was the name that stuck out. I thought, poor girl she would be called Miss Piggy for sure if she was given that name in an English speaking context. Turns out, it means 'partridge' so I guess Pops wasn't being mean after all. This search of course led Captain Google to check out the other four names in the list: Mahlah, Noa, Milcah, and Tirzah. Now, usually the Bible lists names in the order of birth, so Partridge was right smack dab in the middle of the girls...no doubt exhibiting all those 'middle child' traits modern psychologists attribute to that state of being.
In any event, we've got Mahlah ('sickness' or 'disease'), Noa ('movement'), Milcah ('queen'), and Tirzah ('delight'/'pleasure'/beauty). I can just see old Zelophehad and Mrs. Z sitting around the fire after the births coming up with these monikers! "Well, Dear, what shall we name this sickly looking thing that seems diseased after 30 hours of labor?" "Mahlah, Honeypie, what else?" Then after the next excursion into Genesis 3 pain..."Lookit this delightful little bundle squirming around all over the place...we've got to name her Noa!" Then along came Partridge, a.k.a. Hoglah. "Well, Honey, what name this time?" "Dunno, Sweets...look over there...a partridge in a pear tree!!! Let's name her Noa!!"
Further down the connubial road, Milcah gets her name...Queen. I can just see a miniature version of Suzanne Sugarbaker arriving on the scene of the Zelophehad Ranch!! (Yes, I've been watching reruns of 'Designing Women' lately.) Oh, if you're unfamiliar with the 1986-93 show, just go to You Tube and type in the name. I'm guessing this girl grew up a bit on the spoiled side as her older sisters were supposed to take care of her when she was sick (Mahlah), take her for walks when she squawked (Noa), and fed her chicken and dumplings when hungry (Hoglah).
Later on, Tirzah came along and Mom and Dad named her based on her being THE BABY... someone who was cute as a button (were kids that cute before the invention of buttons?)...and, no doubt, the favorite...like ALL of us Babies Of The Family ARE!!
So, there you have only the 24th published cogitation of my fourth year of blogging...304, then 190, then 97, now only 24 with 3 days to go before Year Five of Self Indulgent B.S....and then we'll be into 2012, the Chinese Year of the Dragon, and the Jewish Year 5772...for what it's worth; which was a GREAT song by Buffalo Springfield in 1967.
Oh, our Hannah Montana balloon photo just seems appropriate for this post for some reason...I guess all that's left to say is...
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