[b-hebrew] )INH in Exodus 21:13
Isaac Fried
if at math.bu.edu
Thu Feb 7 08:48:33 EST 2008
The root )NH is of the family
אוה, אפה, אתה, אלה, אמה, אנה
)WH, )PH, )TH, )LH, )MH, )NH
all of the basic meaning of 'come, be, swell, rise'.
Hebrew describes emotional reality as it describes physical reality.
Desire is likened to a swell of the will --- the appearance of an
emotion fixation. Hence the colloquial Hebrew BA LI, 'I desire, I
want', as in BA LI FALAFEL, 'I would gladly have now a portion of
falafel'. This BA, 'come', is the WA of A)WAH of Deuteronomy 12:15,
and the derived TA-)AWAH, 'craving, desire, lust', of Psalms 106:14,
also the AB-BA of )AHABAH, 'love', and of the present-day TAY-AB-ON,
'appetite'.
Instead of AB-BA [the English 'be'] Hebrew may use for variety the
identity marker AN-NA [the English 'on, in'], by which TA-)AWAH
becomes the TA-)ANAH of Jeremiah 2:24.
With L instead of N TA-)ANAH turns into TA-)ALAH, 'manifestation of
ill will', as in Lamentations 3:65. In Genesis 26:28 it is
'manifestation of good will'.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
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