Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lemuel G. Abarte" <lemuel AT bcd.weblinq.com>]

Irene,

Pardon if I may say that it looks like a Buddhist classic poetry to me.

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From: Irene Riegner <iriegner AT concentric.net>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Date: Wednesday, January 27, 1999 2:18 AM
Subject: Re: Hebrew plural nouns

Andrew Smith wrote

The word for noon in
Hebrew, tzohorayim, is plural.

 
Looks to me like dual.

"Afternoon" means more than "noon" ;  it's an expanse of time.  And the dual would fit in with the rabbinic explanation:  As the sun moves in the afternoon, one sees shadows first on the west and then on the east---two positions for shadows (plus the incremental positions in-between).

regards,

irene riegner

"form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form;  emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ
from emptiness;  whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of
feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness.
----from the Heart Sutra----