Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

"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


______________________________ Reply Separator 
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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