Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Charles David Isbell" <cisbell AT home.com>]

Hi Liz:

Your suggestion is certainly creative and surely as good as the Latin and
Greek attempts.  The major problem I see is the use of $eLaH also in the
immediate context of 4:11 to mean "a weapon."  This appears to be the
context that controls the attempts of the versions.

Perhaps an alternate difficulty is whether the verb $-L-H functions with
this referential orbit to imply bodily elimination.  There is, of course, a
secondary root $-T-N, which BDB derives from $-Y-N, although there is a good
Akkadian root "shanu".  A Hiphil form of $-T-N is used to mean "urinating"
(references in BDB), and this appears to be the standard biblical idiom.

Still, I must admit that I "like" your translation.

Shalom,
Charles David Isbell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>
To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2000 3:25 PM
Subject: Neh. 4:17b


 The translation of this passage seems perfectly clear and obvious to me,
yet I haven't seen one commentator translate it this way. People translate
it based on the LXX, which says "[none of us] took off our clothes, each
kept his weapon in his right hand."
My translation is: "none of us took off our clothes, or even went to the
bathroom."  Literally, it reads "nor sent out water." People read it "his
weapon the water."
It seems obvious to me what's going on.
Whatcha all think?

 thanks,
Liz