Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben and Jo Crick)]

On Wed  5 Jun 2002 (12:24:01), johntyler AT connoley.com wrote:
> Could $n be taken as a descriptor of the bt-'$rym? If we accept that '$rym
> is a variant of t'$rym, meaning boxwood, then bt-'$rym might be young
> boxwood. Or perhaps its another tree of the same family, prized for
> it's ivory color.
>

 Dear John:

 The consensus seems to be that BaT-'a:$uRiYM should be pointed BiT:'a:$$uRiYM
 as suggested by Kittel in the app: crit: of BHS.

 T:'a$$uWR occurs in Isaiah 41:19 and 60:13, where it is traditionally 
rendered
 as Box-tree. It could be the Arabic /Sherbin/, a species of cedar. This gives
 the sense "Thy deck they made of ivory [inlaid] *in sherbin wood* from the
 island[s] of Cyprus".

 Shalom
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
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