Dispute Between a Man and His Book: Part 1 of 2

I was being scholarly. Reading through the Old Testament at a snail's pace, supplementing my reading with commentary from a commentary that provides obscure background information on Old Testament readings that are obscure enough without the additional help.

Having just finished Esther, I was soldiering through a small prefatory article covering the "wisdom literature" books that were coming up next... Job, Ecclesiastes, etc.

As I said, I was being scholarly.

Or attempting to be.

I turned a bit school-boyish, however, when I got to a comment about there being similarities between Ecclesiastes and (among other things) an ancient Egyptian text from that period titled The Dispute Between a Man and His Ba.

Ba?

Now I cannot speak for others, but I found the word "Ba" pretty funny, given the context. Rather un-scholarly. It almost sounds like the name a child would give to his security blanket.

After chuckling for a moment over this silly book title, I read on, expecting to find out what a Ba is.

My smile quickly faded from my lips. No definition.

Seriously?

You're going to give me a book title like that? With no explanation?

Yep.

So what began as The Dispute Between a Man and His Ba quickly turned into A Dispute Between a Man and His Book.

I began to write a tart comment in the margin.

"No, wait. Don't tell me what a Ba is. I want to guess."

While I was still writing these very words, my early-rising 9-yr old son wandered into my basement office.

He still sleeps with Blue Orsor (his title for Blue Oso, a blue furry blanket with a teddy-bear head in one corner).

He ought to know what a Ba is.

So I showed the book title to him, figuring he might find it funny too.

My son looked up at me after reading the words and said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, "Isn't Ba an Egyptian word for a spirit?"

I must have looked a bit dumbfounded, because he quickly clarified himself.

"Yeah, and when a man goes to sleep, it wanders around in the form of a chicken or something."

Not so long ago I was reading this child Ba, Ba, Black Sheep.

Apparently he's moved on.

It's good to have a scholar in the home at times like these.

Just for backup, you understand.

This reflection continues in Part 2...