The Haftarah for Yom Kippur Afternoon: Micah 7:18-20

“May you cast to the sea-depths all our sins!”

These words are well-known to observant Jews because they form the basis of the Tashlikh ceremony of the afternoon of the first day of Rosh HaShanah in which this text is symbolically re-enacted. It is of course an excellent practice to inflect a text not only on a verbal level, but on a physical level. Kinetic learning is a trait of all full-bodied religion (pun intended).

Sephardic Jews recite Micah 7:18-20 together with Hosea 14:2-10 on Shabbat Shuvah (the Sabbath before Yom Kippur). All Jews recite it, together with the entire book of Jonah, as a Haftarah on Yom Kippur Afternoon.

The Masoretic text reads ‘their sins,’ not ‘our sins’ in 7:19. ‘Their sins’ seems to fit the context poorly, and might be accounted for in terms of scribal error (נו corrupted to מ). The Old Greek translates as if its source text read ‘our sins.’ The reading was independently reproposed in gaonic times.[1] I have adopted the proposal here.

מִי־אֵל כָּמוֹךָ

                   נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן

וְעֹבֵר עַל־פֶּשַׁע

                      לִשְׁאֵרִית נַחֲלָתֹו

לֹא הֶחֱזִיק

                לָעַד אַפֹּו

                              כִּי־חָפֵץ חֶסֶד הוּא

 

יָשׁוּב יְרַחֲמֵנוּ

                   יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ

וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם

                            כֹּל חַטֹּאותֵינוּ*

 

תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב

                         חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם

אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ

                               מִימֵי קֶדֶם

*MT emended

Who is a god like you,

     a forgiver of sin, 

who overlooks transgression

      of the remnant of his heritage? 

He does not hold onto

      his anger forever,

           for he takes delight in kindness.

 

He will again have compassion on us,

           and tread our iniquity underfoot. 

May you cast to the sea-depths

all our offenses.

 

May you show faithfulness to Yaacov,

            kindness to Avraham 

as you promised our ancestors

           in days long ago.
                                                      Micah 7:18-20

The keyword here is חסד. It is variously translated: ‘clemency’ (NRSV); ‘mercy’ (REB); ‘faithful love’ (NJB), ‘steadfast love’ (ESV), and ‘unchanging love’ (NASB). But NJPSV catches the nuance best with ‘kindness.’ God, it is confessed, is more than faithful to his promises. He goes beyond them, and in fact ignores them, for he shows kindness where, according to his promises, he was to have shown rigor.

For other interesting Yom Kippur posts, go here and here. Iyov is using a new machzor this season. Perhaps he will tell us post-Yom Kippur if he liked it.

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[1] Michael Fishbane, Haftarot (JPSBC; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002) 391, 491.

Comments

[chariots of fire 3]

Interesting post it is informational to read about one of the Jews most celebrated holidays. I think that it is confusing to see that ‫חסד can be translated into soo many different meanings I think that would make it hard to translate. I think that one word for five different meanings would make the readings difficult to understand. I completely agree that God is more than faithful about his promises, he shows kindness, and is very forgiving.

[Pulp Fiction 3]

The very first line, “May you cast to the sea-depths all our sins” is what drew me in. This verse to me stands very powerful! We all ask this of God every day of our lives. We mess up and ask for forgiveness, but where shall those sins go? I like that it refers to throwing them into the bottom of the sea. This makes me feel that my sins would really be gone forever and forgotten. No matter the sin, the passage shows that God is compassionate to us and will ignore our transgressions against him, as long as we seek the forgiveness for those transgressions. God is caring and has given us this promise.

[Truman Show 2]

We ask God for forgiveness every day and in Micah 7:18-20 shows that God is a loving and forgiving God. The part I really in this verse is “May you cast to the sea-depths all of our offenses”. This part of the verse shows me that it does not matter how bad the offense is, if we put all our faith in God and ask for forgiveness we will receive it. This gives me great happiness because as a Christian it shows me that I will always be forgiven as long as I keep my faith and pray for forgiveness.

[True Grit 2]

I agree with Truman Show 2. In many different passages in the Bible such as, Micah 7:18-20, we see how forgiving God is. If we pray for forgiveness he will honor our request. In the beginning of the passage it states, “May you cast to the sea-depths all our sins.” That is a very powerful statement that people take seriously. We literally profess our sins to the depths of the sea where they can be lost and forgotten. Our slate swept clean! However, I believe it is only possible to receive forgives if we learned our lesson, and are truly sorry for the sin we committed. Then we must continue on following the Lord. He decides all in the end.

[true grit 5]

God could not show us favor, He could not choose to love us, and He could just let us live in sin and wipe us clean from his sleight. He chooses not to for in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He chose to love us and send an ultimate sacrifice for our sins. That is what we remember most in what He did for us. And daily we confess our sins because He truly is a God of compassion and mercy. Yes there still is a God of anger because those that have fallen so far from him in sin he gave them into their sin and hardened their hearts towards knowing him. Thus we still need to fear him by upholding his commandments and in return for our love for Him and His son we will be truly cleansed of our sins and know him more.

[Chariots of Fire 2]

I think this post is really interesting. Never did I know about these kinds of practices. To me, being involved in the spiritual words or passages would be more along the lines of singing or reading. Singing mostly for what you believe in and to also praise God and ask for forgiveness. Participating in events such as this ceremony and singing I think helps a person get more involved in learning and becoming closer to God. I also think that the idea of casting all your sins and troubles out to sea is interesting. Being forgiven for your sins and then doing away with them as if they would go into the sea is a fascinating way to think about forgiveness. It seems as if God would forgive us for anything that we have done, and become at peace with ourselves.

[The Mission 21]

I really liked this post. I truely believe that God is more than faithful about his promises, as well as the way he shows forgiveness and kindness. I also enjoy reading about the different Jewish Holidays, especially Yom Kippur, which is probably the most celebrated Jewish Holidays. However, I do not like how there is one word for so many different meaning. I'm obviously talking about the word חסד. I think that things can become a bit confusing when reading a text and having to figure out which phrase the text is refering to.

[True Grit 3]

To me the most important part of God is his ability to forgive. I truly believe that if you are sorry for your sins and you ask for forgiveness you will receive the redemption you deserve. No matter what you do I believe if you truly believe in God and his powers you will be ultimately forgiven! This holiday seems so great! And I’d love to further understand it!

[breaker morant4]

True Grit 3, I completely agree with you there is nothing you could do in this world that would make God so mad that God would not forgive you. I have never heard of the Holiday Yom Kippur but it sounds like a good one in that it teaches forgiveness and how much there God loves them any thing that brings people together they are ok in my book.

[Pulp Fiction 5]

I am greatly inspired religiously by those who follow the Jewish religion. I am a catholic and therefore my praying is done on a pretty low key and low energetic level. To see the Jewish people get so emotional and energetic into their prayer really is inspiring. I just recently learned about their holiday called the Yom Kippur. It is extremely interesting that they have a holiday like this. Essentially if they are truly sorry for all their sins they will be forgiven. This is an interesting thing to think about. Is it true that if you are truly and genuinely sorry for what you did, you will be forgiven by God? I think if you are genuinely sorry then yes he will forgive you, but God will be the only one who will know if you are genuinely sorry or not.

One reason that I don’t like the idea of every sin can be forgiven is that it might give people the idea that they can sin and be forgiven for it. Obviously this isn’t the case for many people, but for some they might use that as a way to get away with sinning. Now clearly God will not forgive someone if they aren’t genuine, but I also believe he will stop forgiving them if they keep committing the same sin over and over. I’ve always been taught learn from your mistakes, so that same concept I’m sure is present when it comes to being forgiven from sin.

[Dead man walking 4]

I like that the Jewish people still take their holidays seriously and reenact as they were originally done. Unlike, the Christian faith, were commercialism has drain this into almost a meaningless celebration. It has become so overwhelmed with business and Santa Claus. It’s humorous how far people have fallen from the origin of the birth of Jesus and the major holidays we celebrate.

Also, I real engaged to the line “May you cast to the sea-depths all our sins!” I really picture the cleaning of ourselves with water for purity and a new beginning for the removal of our sins.

[PrayingWithLior1]

There’s a lot of information in this post. I find the Jewish traditions and religion very interesting because its part of my religion and my beliefs as a Lutheran.

[True Grit 1]

This is an amazing passage, our God is a forgiving and holy God. He will forgive you every time when you ask for his forgiveness. He will only forgive those who truly wants to be forgive, not those who ask for forgiveness and later do it again. One of the verse in Micah 7:18-20 and the verse 19 said "He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." This verse really touches me because even though how much we have sin and ask for forgiveness God still have the big heart and forgave us from what we have done. Just to escape from all the sins to make us have a better life. Our God is always honest and showing us how faithful he is to us all the time for forgiving and letting us know that our prayer has been answered from him.

[Breaker Morant 6]

It is interesting to see how Yom Kippur is celebrated in the Jewish Tradition. It is one of the holiest days for the Jewish people to search their souls for any signs of sins and repentance. Which is why Micah is a good prophet to read and to meditate on. "He will again have compassion on us,/and tread our iniquity underfoot. May you cast to the sea-depths /all our offenses." When we have sinned so much, God is merciful and forgiven IF we truly Repent, that is to change our mind and our behavior. Only by correcting our sins, can we have God to dwell with us again. I agreed with you Pulp Fiction 5, we must be genuine in our repentance and correct the wrongs that we have done. God is not just a being to forgive every wrong, if we take God to be like that then people will not learn righteousness or do the right and just deeds.

[The Truman Show 5]

I agree with Dead Man Walking 4. The Jewish religion seams to have withstood the commercialization of our modern society. In the spring time, when Easter is around the corner, all you see in department stores or in the media is Easter eggs and bunnies. The biblical meaning of this holiday and Christmas have been over shadowed by big business trying to sell you things.
I also like the idea that Pulp Fiction 5 brought up. Sins should not be just brushed of like a slap on the wrist. In some cases a sin committed could be insignificant, but when a sin that has a large impact should not be as easily forgiven.