Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: Rahab (was: `ad hayom hazeh)

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lewis Reich" <lewreich AT javanet.com>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Rahab (was: `ad hayom hazeh)
  • Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 19:41:49 -0500



At 10:08 PM 02/09/2000 +0200, Jonathan Safren asked me:

>How can zonah grammatically mean this? The root of zonah is znh, while the
>root of mazon, "food", is zwn.

>----- Original Message -----
>From: Lewis Reich <lbr AT sprynet.com>
>>
>> Actually "zonah" does also grammatically mean one who provides food,
>> it's a homonym for the word that means "whore".


I may very well be wrong, but I had in mind (as you probably surmised) the
phrases in the first paragraph of birkat ha-mazon (grace after meals)
"ha-zan et ha-olam kulo b'tuvo" (who sustains the whole world) and "ha-zan
et hakol" (who sustains all [creatures]). "Zonah" seemed to me arguably a
female singular form of the masculine singular "zan". Was I mistaken to see
it that way? or would it be "zanah"?

At 07:30 PM 02/09/2000 +0200, John Ronning asked:
>
>Can you give an example of such a usage (in Biblical Hebrew
>that is)?

Haven't yet had a chance to do a search, but none occurs to me off the top
of my head. Birkat ha-mazon is quite old, but I imagine it's Hebrew is late
Second Temple or Mishnaic. Jonathan's post suggested to me that I might
have misconjugated zwn.

Lewis Reich





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page