Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Sat 14 Nov 98 , peter_kirk AT sil.org wrote:
> Are there any other cases in which a woman has ZERA`?

 Dear Peter,

 Just a quick search yields
   Leviticus 22:13
   Ruth 4:12
   1 Samuel 1:11, 2:20

 The ZeRa` is "offspring" as well as "potential offspring" (sperm/ovum).
 The word ZeRa` seems to mean basically *vegetable* seed, and only
 metaphorically human "seed", or "children", or "descendents" generally.

 Someone was asking about the "seed of the serpent" (Genesis 3:15). I have
 always taken this as a reference to "Original Sin". Jesus said to his
 enemies "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye
 will do" (John 8:44). He said to Nicodemus "Ye (plural) must be born
 again" (John 3:7). David lamented "in sin did my mother conceive me"
 (Psalm 51:5). David's mother was the (unnamed) wife of Jesse; there are no
 grounds to think that he was begotten by Jesse of a prostitute, as some
 have claimed. Compare Psalm 58:3: "The wicked are estranged from their
 birth: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies".

 But here I go digressing into the realms of "doctrine", verboten on
 b-hebrew.

 Shalom,
 Ben
 
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
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