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b-hebrew - Re: shamayim = sha + mayim ?

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  • From: Moshe Shulman <mshulman AT ix.netcom.com>
  • To: "Michael DePangher" <spectrum AT petrography.com>
  • Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: shamayim = sha + mayim ?
  • Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 11:46:39 -0500


At 11:12 PM 11/20/00 -0500, Michael DePangher wrote:
Dear Friends,
I am just learning Biblical Hebrew, so this may turn out to be just an
embarassing revelation of my ignorance.
The idea occurred to me that shamayim might be a compound word of sha (?)
+ mayim (waters) in a manner similar to ish (man) and ishah (woman) with
woman (Gen 2:23 -- she shall be called "ishah" because she was taken out
of "ish"). The idea would be something like "heaven" will be called
"shamayim" because it was taken out of the "mayim" in Gen 1:6-8. However,

Actually there is a Midrash that 'shamayim' is a contraction of 'aish' (fire) and 'mayim' (water.


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