Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

Perhaps there is also an echo of Genesis 27:11 where Esau is called a
hairy man, 'ish sa`ir, in contrast to the smooth (in more than one
English sense!) Jacob, 'ish xalaq.

Peter Kirk

-----Original Message-----
From: Polycarp66 AT aol.com [mailto:Polycarp66 AT aol.com] 
Sent: 14 August 2002 03:28
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: 2 Kings 1:8

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 ---