Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Raymond de Hoop <rdehoop AT tref.nl>]

Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net> wrote on 01-02-2001 00:26:

> And my point is that the only place you've documented where
> Ugaritic does this is in a formulaic phrase.  I'm asking for other
> Ugaritic references other than `lmt `nt to demonstrate that this was
> a real, common usage of the word in Ugaritic and not just a stock
> formula.

Dave,

This is a discussion on lexicography, which implies that you start with no
pre-conception on the word and the texts in which you'll find the word you
have to translate. You just start from the context. And you have to include
every data, every single usage of the word, also formulaic texts. The data
are to scarce to exclude these texts.

Second, I referred to the the probably "formulaic use of (lmh in Isaiah
7:14, so in your case you've  to exclude it too.

Thirdly, the single case that >Glmt< (to be clear, with Ghayin, not `Ayin as
you wrote) is used in Ugaritic in a probably none formulaic case (KTU
1.24:7-8), it might refer to a young woman who is still virgin at that
moment. Yet, it is questionable whether >Glmt< should be rendered here as
"virgin". In this case "maiden" or "(young) Lady" (in Dutch we have
"jonkvrouw", which is literary "younglady") might be a more appropriate
rendering. 

Fourthly, even if you want to render Ugaritic >Glmt< with "virgin", the text
of KTU 1.24 does certainly not imply that we are going to deal here with a
virgin birth. 

Raymond

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Dr Raymond de Hoop          Tel.: ++31 50 553 0115
Boeiersingel 11
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The Netherlands                 E-mail: rdehoop AT tref.nl


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