[b-hebrew] Genesis 12: 5: RK$
Isaac Fried
if at math.bu.edu
Tue Nov 13 19:01:16 EST 2007
I would translate RKU$ of Genesis 12:5 as 'assembled possessions, or
'mobile property' [German: Möbel, Moebel], or 'transportable
possessions'. In particular, the word does not appear to refer to
owned land, contrary to its present day usage.The word is derived
from the root RK$ through the insertion of the personal pronoun U =
HU) for the thing itself. The presence of the letter R in the root
implies that it refers to a material state of aggregation or
dispersion. By the equivalence of the letters D, Z, T [Tet], Y, S, C,
$, T [Tav], and then G, H, X, K, Q we obtain all the immediate
relatives of RK$: RGZ, RG$; RXC, RX$; RKS, RK$, RKD
רגז, רגשׁ
רחץ, רחשׁ
רכס, רכשׁ
רקד
The NAB translates RAXA$ of Psalms 45:2 as 'stirred'. In the KJV it
is 'overflowing', while Luther sees it as 'dichtet', namely, a
variant of )R$, and )ARE$ET SPATAYIM of Psalms 21:3. In spoken Hebrew
RAXA$ is mostly used in the sense of 'creep, crawl' as of a swarm of
insects.
The root RKS in Isaiah 40:4 is 'collect or pile up' resulting in
REKES, 'mound'. In spoken Hebrew the root is used in the sense of
'hitch, knot, fasten, button-up'. Correspondingly RUKSAN is 'zipper'.
REKE$ of Micah 1:13 is 'team or group of beasts'.
"luxury commercial goods [a pillow and a stool?]" is an added
flourish of the imagination.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
On Nov 13, 2007, at 2:52 PM, JimStinehart at aol.com wrote:
>
> One of the keys to understanding the Patriarchal narratives is the
> word RK$
> ("rekush" or "rekuwsh") at Genesis 12: 5.
> In chapter 14 of Genesis, the word RK$ is used five times to mean
> "booty",
> or "luxury goods". Genesis 14: 11, 12, 16, 16, 21
> What really counts for us, however, is how this same word, RK$, is
> to be
> understood at Genesis 12: 5.
> (Elsewhere in the Patriarchal narratives, this word is
> alternatively spelled
> RKW$. Gesenius views RK$ as being a "defective" spelling. But
> at Genesis
> 12: 5, and in chapter 14 of Genesis, the spelling is RK$.)
> 1. Here is the JPS1917 translation of Genesis 12: 5:
> "And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all
> their
> substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had
> gotten in Haran;
> and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the
> land of
> Canaan they came."
> Note the odd and ambiguous word used to translate RK$ there:
> "substance".
> 2. Not surprisingly, the best explanation I have found of RK$ is
> in BDB.
> Here is part of BDB's explanation:
> "property, goods…gen. term for movable possessions of all kinds…
> Gn 12: 5;
> 15: 14…. esp. as booty Gn 14: 11,12,16,16,21"
> Booty, by its nature, consists of luxury goods. Though RK$ is a
> fairly broad
> and somewhat ambiguous word, it fits luxury goods perfectly. In
> chapter 14
> of Genesis, RK$ clearly is referring to luxury goods that are
> functioning as
> booty.
> (BDB does say that RK$ is broad enough to include livestock in
> certain
> contexts.)
> 3. Gesenius is also somewhat helpful in explaining RK$ as
> follows: "that
> which is acquired, earned, hence 'substance', 'wealth'".
> RK$ brought from Mesopotamia to Canaan could be "wealth" that had
> been
> "acquired" in far-away Mesopotamia on a long caravan trip. That
> would fit the
> concept of luxury goods that have been purchased in Mesopotamia
> for the purpose
> of being sold in Egypt.
> RK$ does not seem to fit at all well for inherited property, or
> family
> heirlooms, or necessities of life such as tents, etc. The term RK$
> conjures up an
> image, rather, of something that has been "acquired" or "earned",
> and that
> represents "wealth" of an obvious and readily marketable sort.
> Though RK$ is a
> broad term that can potentially include "movable possessions of
> all kinds",
> nevertheless one specific type of item that fits the term RK$
> particularly
> well would be luxury commercial goods purchased in Mesopotamia for
> re-sale in
> Egypt.
> 4. Other translators use the following English words for RK$ at
> Genesis 12:
> 5:
> JPS1985: "wealth"
> KJV: "substance" [The annotated Zondervan KJV Study Bible makes
> no comment
> as to what such "substance" may have consisted of.]
> English Standard Version: "possessions"
> Young's Literal Translation: "substance"
> Darby: "possessions"
> American Standard Version: "substance"
> Robert Alter: "goods" [with no comment in his long book as to
> what such
> "goods" might be]
> E.A. Speiser: "possessions" [with no comment in his long book as
> to what
> such "possessions" might be]
> Gerhard von Rad: "possessions" [with no comment in his long book
> as to
> what such "possessions" might be]
> Strong's says "goods, riches, substance".
> 5. Other than BDB's nice treatment, and the brief comment by
> Gesenius, I
> have been unable to find any commentary on what exactly Genesis 12:
> 5 is
> referring to when it says that Abraham and Lot brought their RK$
> into Canaan.
> 6. I view the RK$ at Genesis 12: 5 as consisting primarily of luxury
> commercial goods. As such, I see RK$ at Genesis 12: 5 as having
> a very similar
> meaning to RK$ at Genesis 14: 11, 12, 16, 16, 21.
> 7. If Abraham and Lot brought luxury commercial goods with them to
> Canaan
> from Mesopotamia, then we can figure out what is going on in the
> first several
> chapters of the Patriarchal narratives. These luxury goods would
> have just
> recently been purchased in Mesopotamia, on a one-time caravan
> expedition to
> that far-away locale, for the purpose of selling such luxury goods/
> RK$ in Egypt
> for a sky high price. In my view, that is the main reason, not
> any supposed
> beauty of 65-"year"-old Sarah, why Abraham is able to spend only a
> very
> short time in Egypt, and then come back to Canaan from Egypt a
> wealthy man. When
> Abraham gets back to Canaan from Egypt, Abraham has gold and
> silver, which
> were so very rare in modest Canaan. Virtually the only realistic
> way that a
> tent-dweller in Canaan could have any substantial amount of gold
> and silver
> is if that tent-dweller had managed to sell in Egypt luxury goods
> that such
> tent-dweller had acquired on a long and arduous caravan trip to
> far-off
> Mesopotamia.
> "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he
> had, and
> Lot with him, into the South. And Abram was very rich in cattle,
> in silver,
> and in gold." Genesis 13: 1-2
> No tent-dweller would come out of Egypt laden with silver and gold
> on the
> basis of having tricked a pharaoh as to the marital status of the
> tent-dweller's wife age 65. That makes no sense. A much more
> realistic scenario is that
> Abraham sold in Egypt luxury commercial goods that Abraham's
> father's family
> had acquired for that purpose on a very long caravan trip to far-off
> Mesopotamia.
> In my view, the key to understanding the opening chapters of the
> Patriarchal
> narratives lies in how we understand the key Hebrew word RK$ at
> Genesis 12:
> 5. I see RK$ at Genesis 12: 5 as primarily meaning, in context,
> "luxury
> commercial goods". Importantly, this is quite similar to the
> well-recognized
> meaning of RK$ in chapter 14 of Genesis.
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
>
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