Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

On Tue 15 Jul 2003 (12:44:04), jwest wrote:
> "ner" can here be vocalized as "tillage" or "lamp".  Neither is really
> very clear here, though "tillage" makes sense in the second cola- yet
> the cola doesn't match up with the first.  And lamp... how can a lamp
> be wicked or sin?

 Dear Jim,

 The word NiR occurs again in Proverbs 31:18 (NeRaHh in pause with the 3fs
 pronominal suffix), of the diligent wife whose *lamp* burns all night as she
 labours on, burning the midnight oil, earning revenue for the family with her
 cottage industries.

 By contrast, the "lamp of the wicked" (NiR R:$a`iYM in 21:4) is burning all
 night whilst the baddies plot their nefarious deeds in the thieves' kitchen.
 This understanding makes sense of the parallelism in 21:4 too.

 Just a thought FWIW,

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