Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Brian Tucker" <editor AT journalofbiblicalstudies.org>]

Should one understand W:YFP"YXA Breathe or Witness

Prov 14:5 BDB lists this as a verb from the root [peh waw het (PWX)]
(BDB,806). Bibleworks shows it as hiphil imperfect 3rd person masculine
singular from (peh waw het [PWX]) meaning to breathe or blow or cause to
do such.

Loewenstamm and Pardee showed that the Ugaritic [yph] 'witness' (4.258,5)
offers a better range of meaning for the biblical term.

1. If this is true could someone explain the morphology of the word if it
is from a different root.

2. Is BDB wrong here? Should we understand it as a 'witness' the NAU has
witness but has 'breathes out' in the margin.

3. How would you parse W:YFP"YXA if it is not a hiphil imperfect 3rd
person masculine singular from PWX?

4. Does the parallel of PWX and ("D in Proverbs 19:9 offer enough support
for this new understanding of the term?

Thanks
Brian Tucker
editor AT journalofbiblicalstudies.org
http://journalofbiblicalstudies.org