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b-hebrew - Re: Exodus 20:5,6

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  • From: peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Exodus 20:5,6
  • Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:50:19 -0500


The basic issue here is surely of the lexical meaning of the Hebrew
nouns $IL."$ and RIB."A( (shillesh, ribbea`) which occur together in
Ex 20:5, 34:7, Num 14:18, Deut 5:9 also shillesh occurs in Gen 50:23.
In this last reference B.:N"Y $IL."$IYM apparently refers to Ephraim's
(or Joseph's ?) great-grandchildren, suggesting that $IL."$ is simply
the Hebrew word for grandchild, and similarly RIB."A( is the Hebrew
word for great-grandchild. So the expression in Ex. 20:5 and (with
slight variations) in all of the verses listed above is simply "to
children, to grandchildren and to great-grandchildren". There is then
another question of whether to understand "thousands" in the following
verse as "thousands of generations".

Peter Kirk





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