[b-hebrew] chalal - perforate/pierce?

Harold Holmyard hholmyard3 at earthlink.net
Wed Sep 5 12:47:41 EDT 2007


La Fanga wrote:
> I've heard that the word mechalal in Isaiah 53:5 can means pierced based on the Arabic cognate khalal which can mean to pierce/perforate/skewer.  How correct is it to carry over the Arabic meaning of a homonymic word into Hebrew?  I know that Arabic often helps us to understand archaic Hebrew words however I also know that not all words that sound alike are the same. Do the two words derive from the same semitic root so that it can be said they are the same in meaning? I checked an Arabic concordance and while the Arabic khalal can have a myraid of different meanings, the word seems to be used commonly in the sense of spoiling, corrupting, or other degeneration similar to the primary meaning of the Hebrew. So is it linguistically possible for mechalal to mean pierced as some claim? Thanks.
>   

HH: The word in Isa 53:5 means "pierced" in the sense of "wounded." The 
lexicon lists an Arabic cognate that means "pierce."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard



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