11. “Erva”- Sex: it's all about fluids.

A common biblical phrase about sex, is normally translated as “to uncover the nakedness.” This Hebrew idiom expresses, however, more than a removal of modest attire. It means, rather, to "dis-cover the sex,” as in the famous biblical sense of “knowing.” The second word, erva, is simply “sex”— a noun for genitalia, not "nakedness." It is the translators that were overly puritan, I believe, and not the Hebrew writers.

The most important verses, regarding erva, are Leviticus 20:17-19, for they show the multiple meaning of "discovering" another person’s sex:

“If there is a man who takes his sister… so that he sees her sex and she sees his sex, it is a disgrace... He has discovered his sister’s sex; he bears his guilt. If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and discovers her sex, he has tapped her source, and she has discovered the source of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. You shall also not discover the sex of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has tapped his relation; they will bear their guilt.”

The meaning of "discovering" is retained in English. It means (a) to see, albeit on a mutual basis, but also (b) to lie with, and (c) to tap [into]. The "taping" or element of discovery is most interesting. Immodest uncovering of nakedness is the same, obviously, whether a woman is menstruous or not; but, for whatever reason, the discovery is different in nature when the act draws upon the woman’s "blood source." The translation of the verb (he'era) is based, amongst others, on a verse about Rachel: "And she hastened, and tapped (va'taar) her pitcher into the trough" (Genesis 24:20). If the noun erva relates directly to this similar-sounding verb for "taping/drawing liquid" I cannot say for sure, though the case of the aunt makes it clear that the taping faculty of erva is not restricted to menstruation. Interestingly, another very close term, erya, IS menstruous: "When you were naked and erya—squirming in your blood you were" (Ezekiel 16:22); "In the shame of erya, she who dwells in Zaanan does not come forth" (Micah 1:11). In any case, erva seems to have more to do with drawing bodily fluids than with nakedness, and the above passage demonstrated how well "sex" works as a proper translation.

From here on it is simple: “Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the sex of his father” (Genesis 9:22); “you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your sex will not be discovered on it” (Exodus 20:22); “When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he found a sexual account in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement” (Deuteronomy 24:1); “young and old, naked and barefoot with exposed backsides —aye! the sex of Egypt” (Isaiah 20:4); “Your sex was discovered in your whoredoms with your lovers” (Ezekiel 16:36). A more difficult verse concerns keeping an army camp holy: "The LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp... and He must not see in you a sexual account, or He will turn away from you” (Deuteronomy 23:9-15). The passage starts with reference to nocturnal emissions, and continues with the obligation to have an outhouse. At first glance, the context seems to connect the "account of erva" with uncovered feces. It may, however, have more to do with exposed backsides, and it very likely hints at what not to do at night, in an army-camp tent. This, then, is how I think one should read the chunk of prohibitions in Leviticus 18:6-19:

“None of you shall approach any body-relation of his to discover sex; I am the LORD. You shall not discover the sex of your father, that is, the sex of your mother... You shall not discover the sex of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s sex. You shall not discover the sex of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to discover her sex; they are relatives. It is lewdness. You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to discover her sex. Also you shall not approach a woman to discover her sex during her menstrual impurity.”

In a single biblical story, however, erva is used as a metaphor — when Joseph challenges his hungry brothers who came down to Egypt from Canaan:

“Joseph remembered the dreams which he had about them, and said to them, ‘You are spies; you have come to look at the erva of our land.” Then they said to him, ‘No, my lord… your servants are not spies.’ Yet he said to them, ‘No, but you have come to look at the erva of our land!’” (Genesis 42:9-12).

This is the only non-sexual use of erva in the bible, denoting secrets. I wonder, however, if Joseph cannot be referring specifically to the source of the Nile — so similar to the idea of a woman's source of menstrual flow! Furthermore, in a primitive fertility-rites culture is it quite conceivable to talk of "the sex of the land." In any case, one cannot question the fact that the dark secrets of the Nile's fertile flow would be the most important strategic assets in an empire that is built, and completely dependent, upon it.

Ethan

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P.S. A future post will explain why, in the Hebrew Bible, the term davar always means a "statement," or an "account." Those familiar with my essay on the soul will appreciate that, in the Hebrew Bible, sex relates exclusively to man's water-element, itself connected to the cosmic blood-reservoir.The verb "to tap" is a perfect translation of הערה. It is generally associated with the water sources of the cosmos, such as the Nile, or the water underworld to which the life-blood (nefesh) drains to at death. Relevant dictionary definitions of the verb "to tap" include: 1). to draw liquid from a vessel. 2).to draw off liquid by removing a tap or by piercing a container. 3). to penetrate, for the purpose of drawing something off. As to גלה, I thank my sister in law, Schulamith, for replacing "un-cover" with the brilliant "dis-cover." Regarding the sexual element of the Nile my friend Benzi drew my attention to the fact that the Nile, like all biblical water sources, is said to have lips.

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