Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Reginald Wallace Ponder, Jr." <rwponder AT lycos.com>]

Dear Myron:
    Thanks for your well-ordered and thoughtful analysis.  I appreciate
your mentioning the other occurences of NHM in Job.  This certainly is
important.  I will study these occurences further, since I still am
reluctant to understand the niphal in 42:6 according to the usual piel
meaning.  But regardless of whether the occurences of the root share a
common meaning or show a contrast in meaning, they surely help in
ubnderstanding the structure and meaning of a Biblical book. I agree with
Robert Alter's assessment (after Martin Buber and others) that repitition
of a root is significant, even when (or especially when?) the root shifts
markedly in meaning in different stems or in different contexts.

    Your note on the preposition *'al* was helpful.

    Finally, I think your analysis points to the importance of "big
picture" reading, or awareness of context, in interpreting BiblicaL texts.
 You and I arrived at very similar understandings of the Book of Job as a
whole, and thus of the ending, despite divergent renderings of the Hebrew
in 42:6.  I will take your grammatical/lexical points under advisement. 
And also many thanks to everyone who has been helping to make this a
challenging and provocative discussion.
Shalom,
Rev. Reggie Ponder, Jr.
Mt. Tirzah United Methodist Church
Timberlake, NC USA