[b-hebrew] Yom in Biblical and Rabbinic Texts
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org
Thu Oct 27 18:04:36 EDT 2005
On 27/10/2005 22:41, Read, James C wrote:
>...
>A week being seven days and the seventh day being the 'shabath'
>etymologically linked to the number 7 which comes from the verb
>'to rest' as you already know.
>
>
>
Actually I know that this is not true. There are two different Hebrew
roots here, $B( (that's ayin at the end) "seven" and $BT "cease, rest".
Both are common Semitic roots and so far more ancient than Hebrew. It is
just possible that they have a connection in the remote prehistory of
Semitic languages, but I won't go into the implications of this. Anyway,
that connection would not be the derivation of "seven" from "rest",
although just possibly vice versa.
--
Peter Kirk
peter at qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk at qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/
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