Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

On Sat 10 Aug 2002 (19:41:40), black_strat AT hotmail.com wrote:
> I am interested in knowing more about the phrase "ba`al se`ar" in 2 Kings
> 1:8.  Does this mean that Elijah was a hairy man,
> had a priestly garment of hair, or had long hair (on his head)?
> Those are the three options I have discovered, but none seems to stand out
> in light of what I have been able to learn.  Also, does anyone have a good
> Jewish description of what Elijah may have looked like?

 Dear Jon,

 You probably saw my initial response. Nobody has yet jumped in on your
 complete repost, so here goes:

 The consensus of the versions that I have to hand is that "hairy" is the
 most likely meaning of "Ba`aL &e`aR". That he was wearing a "hair-shirt"
 secured by a girdle is an attractive suggestion favoured by the NIV, but
 not by the others.

 Zechariah 13:4 has 'aDDeReT &e`aR "they will not put on a hairy mantle in
 order to deceive" NRSV.

 Matthew 3:4 has "Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt
 around his waist...". It seems that John the Baptizer deliberately dressed
 in imitation of the stereotyped "prophetic style" of Elijah.

 The Zechariah reference clearly indicates a *garment* 'aDDeReT; Genesis 25:25
 has K:'aDDeReT &e`aR, like a hairy mantle, describing the perinatal 
appearance
 of baby Esau.

 So IMHO we must compare the hapax legomenon Ba`aL &e`aR with Isaiah 41:15
 Ba`aL PiYPiYYoT as I suggested in my previous post.

 FWIW, Jerome in the Latin Vulgate puts at 2 Kings 1:8 /vir pilosus et zona
 pellicia accinctis renibus/ "a hairy man and girded with a leather girdle
 round his loins". The LXX has ANHR DASUS, KAI ZWNHN DERMATINHN PERIEZWSMENOS
 THN OSFUN AUTOU (virtually identical with the Latin).

 Shalom

 Ben
--
 Revd Ben Crick BA CF, and Mrs Joanna (Goodwin) Crick
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
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