Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Irene Riegner <iriegner AT concentric.net>]

Peter Kirk

I  concur.  In fact I am writing a paper on Yhvh's anger and the
metaphoric use of xrh, xrwn, hmh and )p and I have come up with similar
translations.

It's too late---or too early in the morning---for a detailed discourse,
but a phrase like xmh w)p, which is frequently translated as a hendiady,
rage and fury (NRSV or NJPS), seems to indicate that the anger is
connected to the nose---"breather" as Peter Kirk suggested---or that it
is breath that exits through the nose.  Ps 78.38:  In the rage of his
nose/breather---bhrwn )pw.
The anger that comes out is frequently poured, $pk or ntk, suggesting a
liquid rather than vapor.

irene riegner