Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>]

Listers,

It is generally assumed that the big fish "vomited" Jonah up onto the dry
ground.  The Akkadian cognate of the Hebrew word qoph yod aleph (qey')
however seems to mean "excrete".  Is it possible, then, that Jonah was
actually "excreted" onto the dry ground or is vomit still the better
rendering?  My question, bluntly put, is-- out of which end of the big fish
did Jonah fly (according to the story of course....)?

Secondly, the location of the "excretion" is the eretz...  Do any of you
think this is a technical term for Eretz Yisrael- or merely a more general
term indicating some patch of dry land?  (I am leaning towards Eretz
Yisrael....)

Thanks,

Jim

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

" The righteous man looks after his own soul, and the bodies of others, 
whereas the hypocrite looks after his own body, and the souls of others"
Rabbi Lionel Blue

Jim West, ThD
jwest AT highland.net
http://web.infoave.net/~jwest