Biblical Hebrew Forum

["David Taylor" <dave201 AT mail.com>]

Peter,

I do agree with you that the words BRK "bless",BRK "kneel", and B.:R"KFH 
"pool, pond" share the same root, but I differ with you in the root itself. I 
believe that common root is BRK "kneel" which gives the sense of coming down. 
So the pool, pond is where the water comes down and collects/gathers and BRK 
"blessing" comes down from G_d (i.e from above).

What do you think?

Dave


----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT ozemail.com.au>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 14:41:54 +1100
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] The Meaning of brkh

> Vince, I think you are both right and wrong here. Right that these words
> should be treated as distinct lexical items with distinct meanings. But
> wrong in assuming that these are simply homonyms with no etymological
> connection. There is good reason to understand (along with BDB) the
> sense BRK "bless" as a secondary sense of BRK "kneel"; also B.:R"KFH
> "pool, pond" as derived from BRK "bless", in a cultural context in which
> a pool or pond of water is a very real blessing and evidence of God's
> bounty. If there is evidence that these come from really separate roots,
> I have not seen it. The "root fallacy" comes in when exegetes misuse
> these links to tell us something about the "real" or "original" meanings
> of the words.
> 
> Peter Kirk
> peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
> http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/
>   
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Medina, Vincent
> Sent: 22 January 2003 06:56
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [b-hebrew] The Meaning of brkh
> 
> Wes:
>  
> To attempt to derive the meaning of brk “to bless” from other roots with
> the same spelling is to commit the infamous “root fallacy” (the mistaken
> assumption that the meaning of words is derived from their roots). The
> other roots you mention which mean “spring” or “knee” are merely
> homonyms, i.e. words which are spelled and sound alike but have distinct
> meanings. These occur in every language. In English the word “bank” and
> refer to the land at the edge of a body of water or a financial
> institution. It would be a mistake to believe that one of these meanings
> is derived from the other. There are numerous other examples in your
> Hebrew lexicon of different roots with the same spelling. They should
> also be treated as distinct lexemes. Hope this helps.
>  
> Vince
>  
> Solo Deo Gloria
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

-- 
__________________________________________________________
Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com
http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup

Meet Singles
http://corp.mail.com/lavalife