Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_R_Kirk AT hotmail.com>]

This sounds to me like a picture of someone so determined to get every
drop of liquid out of a cup that they try to suck the liquid out of the
porous earthenware itself - in the same way that a dog might try to suck
the goodness out of a bone by gnawwing it.

Is it still viable to understand GRM piel, following BDB, as "break
(bones)" rather than "gnaw", here and in Numbers 24:8? This is obviously
preferred by several of the modern versions you cite.

Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthew Anstey [mailto:ansteyfamily AT optusnet.com.au]
> Sent: 27 November 2002 15:15
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Eze 23:34 "to gnaw its earthenware"
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Can anyone shed any light on the phrase in Ezekiel 23:34, "and you
will
> gnaw (GRM) its [the cup's] earthenware (CHERESH)"?
> 
> In preparing this entry for SDBH, I have written the following draft
> footnote. Any comments are welcome.
> 
> The meaning of the phrase ואת־חרשׁיה תגרמי is uncertain. Ancient
> Versions: Targum Jonathan emends to ותגמרין "and you will make an end
> of"; LXX reads as ואת־חדשׁיה גמרתי "and her new moons I will take
away";
> Syriac freely renders "you will cut off your hair". Modern Versions:
> RSV: "and pluck out your hair"; NJV: "And gnaw its shards"; NJB: "then
> you will break it in pieces"; TEV: "and with its broken pieces"; CEV:
> "Then smash the cup to pieces". HOTTP recommends following MT as
> follows: "and you will chew on its broken pieces". Several versions
> implicitly or explicitly suggest that the broken pieces of the pottery
> cup are what is used to lacerate the breasts ושׁדיך תנתּקי as the
verse
> continues. Following the MT, one can surmise that the metaphor of
> gnawing the pottery cup (of affliction and desolation v.33) represents
> hardship.
> 
> With regards,
> 
> Matthew Anstey
> Semantic Domains of Biblical Hebrew (SDBH) Dictionary Project
> United Bible Societies
> 
> Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
> Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid
> Residence: Kambah, ACT, Australia
> ansteyfamily AT optusnet.com.au
> +61 (0)2 6296 4044
>