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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] "Sary" vs. "sary"
  • Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:28:12 EDT


“Sary” vs. “sary”

1. In the Bible, we see two plural forms of sin-resh/“sar”. The more
common plural form in the Bible, and the only plural form in the Patriarchal
narratives, is sin-resh-yod/“sary”. Genesis 12: 15 and 47: 6 (The other
plural
form, which is seen in several books of the Bible and in modern Hebrew, is
sin-resh-yod-mem/“sarim”.)

2. Sarah’s birth name, which I transliterate into English as “Sary”, is
spelled with the same three Hebrew letters: sin-resh-yod.

3. There seems to be clever Hebrew wordplay at Genesis 12: 15, based on “sary
” vs. “Sary”. Though the name “Sary” does not explicitly appear at Genesis
12: 15, it is clear from the preceding verses that “Sary” is who is being
looked at. So at Genesis 12: 15, the “sary” are looking at “Sary”, and the “
sary” recommend “Sary” to Pharaoh. There are of course no capital letters in
Hebrew, so in written Hebrew these two words look exactly the same:
sin-resh-yod. Pharaoh’s sin-resh-yod/“sary” are dealing with Abram’s wife
sin-resh-yod/“Sary”.

4. In English, “sary” at Genesis 12: 15 oddly gets translated as “princes”
, though certainly it is Pharaoh’s “top officials”, not princes (such as
Pharaoh’s sons), who are being referenced here. (In the Bible, when the word
“sar
” is applied to a human being, it usually means “top official”, such as a
military commander or Pharaoh’s senior officers. The word “sar” rarely means

prince” or “king” in the Bible, when applied to a human being.)

In English, Sarah’s birth name oddly gets translated as “Sarai”, pursuant to
the medieval pointing. (Note that Sary is not a “princess”. Sary does have
a strong-willed personality, though, like a king’s “top official”.)

In the Hebrew written text, in both cases it’s simply sin-resh-yod/“sary”.

Sary are dealing with Sary at Genesis 12: 15.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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