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  • From: "Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Proverbs 31.3
  • Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 11:33:25 -0500


"King Lemuel" of Proverbs 31:1-9 is an interesting case for political
correctness. He seems to show it in verses 8-9, but hardly in verses
6-7! But who was he? Probably not an Israelite, and so probably a
speaker not so much of Hebrew as of a closely related dialect. This
shows up especially in the rather odd language of verses 2-3, with the
Aramaic BAR instead of BEN in verse 2 and the Aramaic or Arabic plural
M:LAKIYN in verse 3. So it would not be at all surprising to find the
word XAYIL being used here in a sense not normal in Hebrew but more
akin to the sense in Arabic. On the other hand, in the context the
word can hardly mean just "seminal fluid", as presumably Lemuel was
not being encouraged to homosexual activity (I doubt if his mother was
that politically correct! ;-). I would guess that we have a deliberate
double entendre here (as in Proverbs 6:15-18), with a word often but
not only used with sexual connotations.

It is interesting to see DEREK used in apparently synonymous
parallelism here. Is this common word used elsewhere with sexual
connotations?

Peter Kirk


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Subject: Proverbs 31.3
Author: <JWaldrip AT Baptists.Org> at Internet
Date: 19/03/2000 07:01


"Do not give your strength to women"

In Arabic this word "strength" refers to seminal fluid, but I do not think
that
is the sense in Hebrew, but rather strength, efficiency, etc.

Am I correct that this word translated "strength" is not used in connection
with
women in the Bible?

And how would you define this word? Does it refer to manliness, manhood, or
som
e such thing politically incorrect thing?


John S. Waldrip





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