EATING THE ROPE

When someone commits suicide in the Kewa culture, or tries to, they are “eating the rope.” The “rope “is made of a strong vine and can be fashioned into a loop and knot (a kind of noose) and slipped over the head and around the neck. Metaphorically, one is “eating the rope.”

I once saw a woman who tried to “eat the rope” but failed. She had put the noose around her neck, jumped off a vine bridge over a small stream and tried to kill herself. However, some men working nearby saw her hanging and quickly rescued her. They laid her on the ground, unconscious, and despite the rope burn on her neck, she was still alive. The men called to me, “We must get a pig and kill it,” so that we can get the spirits off her back.

The evil spirits were not inside her, they were on her back. The woman lived and I learned that she had a spurned lover and that is why she jumped off the bridge, intending to kill herself. It would be a terrible embarrassment for her lover and, if she were married, would create chaos because the bridal payment would have to somehow be returned.

We were also living among the Kewa when another young woman tried to “eat the rope,” but she was trying to trick her husband. She left her digging stick and her net bag at the entrance to the bridge, wiped some mud on the edge of the bridge from which she allegedly jumped, and then ran off into the bush. Some people found her belongings and assumed the worse. The husband was summoned and the wailing began.

However, it wasn’t long before the woman and her trick was discovered and people were angry with her. They had wasted their crying in vain.

Suicide is common throughout the world, with about 740,000 reported annually, which is a death every 43 seconds. In America, suicide is one of the leading causes of death, with 49,000 in 2023, which works out at about one such death every 11 minutes. The rate increased about 30% between 2000 and 2020 and it is about four times higher among males than females. The average age is 45-64, but among males it was highest for those aged 75 and older. Victims in the U.S. use firearms, hanging/suffocation, and poisoning as their main methods.

The Bible condemns killing, and although it says nothing specifically about suicide, we can assume that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” also refers to killing oneself. 

There are seven cases of suicide mentioned in the Bible, and the story of Judas Iscariot is the best known. King Saul also killed himself because his armorbearer would not. One of the counselors of King Absalom killed himself when the King would not follow his advice. Emotional upheaval, like fear and shame are common components in suicides.

It is not uncommon for certain countries, as well as in parts of the United States, to have legalized assisted suicide. Assisted suicide, not to be confused with assisted dying, is when a medically approved person responds to a death request and takes actions to help end someone’s life.

Euthanasia is when someone brings about the death of a person, with or without consent. The World Federation of Right to Die Societies have tried to make the practice sound gentler by calling the act “voluntary assisted dying.”

Many diseases lead to death and terminal illnesses can cause unbearable and uncontrollable pain. In such cases the matter of how and when death takes place is important to the person and the family. 

Christians may generally prefer a “natural death,” in which the body responds inevitably to losing its functions and the person “dies.” However, for Christians, the spirit lives on and cannot be killed by any means, including by “eating the rope.”

Any family that grieves when a member commits suicide and then must endure an unendurable hardship needs our help and prayers.

Karl Franklin