Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Henry Churchyard wrote:

> [...]  I'm
> not demanding an obscene English translation for it -- but "girl" is a
> weak translation because it avoids the issue of the significant
> meaning difference between _rah.am_ and _na`ara_h, while "maiden" and
> "damsel" go in entirely the wrong direction.

The connotation of the root N(R seems to be "inexperienced" and, thereby, 
"young". The
word _raxam_ seems to mean "girl" but not with the connotation of 
"inexperienced". Perhaps
this means that the "girls" threw themselves at the victors??? The context 
doesn't really
tell us much. Remember that it's Sisera's mothers attendants who are speaking 
here. They
may be referring to "wenches" who threw themselves at the victorious 
soldiers, or may just
be a sharp perjorative term for "innocent" women who were raped by the 
soldiers, perhaps
akin to "slut". The text is a little ambiguous.

The irony, though, is that THE _raxam_, Ya`el, got the better of Sisera. In 
the Jdg 4
narrative, Ya`el definitely comes across to Sisera as a _raxam_ - a wench who 
is all too
willing to "look after" him. However, her actions show that she is still 
"innocent" though
fatally cunning. She is not an inexperienced girl (or na`arah) - she is 
definitely a
cunning _raxam_.

Regards!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
GEORGE ATHAS
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Tel Dan Inscription Website is at
http://members.xoom.com/gathas/teldan.htm
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::