Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Polycarp66 AT aol.com]

In a message dated 8/12/2002 1:18:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk writes:


> 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).


That the passage is referring to Elijah's personal hirsute appearance seems likely in view of the story regarding his successor Elisha in 2 K 2 where the children mock him saying (:aL"h Q"R"aX (aL"aH

gfsomsel