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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Proverbs 30:19 (LMH

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  • From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Proverbs 30:19 (LMH
  • Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 01:54:51 -0500

Peter:

I still don’t see the parallelism when [‘almah] “virgin” is used, but at
least I think I know how you approach this verse. Correct me if I am wrong, I
think you are looking at it with the focus on the object (heavens, bare rock,
sea, virgin) while I’m looking at it with the emphasis on the action (flight
of the eagle, snake crossing bare rock, ship sailing in sea, man going in
unknown). As long as I understood it as “virgin”, the parallelism based on
action broke down and I was unsatisfied with every answer I got. But when I
realized that with different points the word could mean “unknown”, then the
parallelism throughout the verse fits.

(Incidently, I read a research project a few years ago where scientists found
out just how does a snake get across a bare rock? Fascinating.)

And I don’t have to use a euphemism. ;-)

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
On 30/09/2003 11:53, Karl Randolph wrote:

>Peter:
>
>The problem I have with the traditional translation is that I don’t
understand it.
>
>Oh I understand the lexemes and the sentence structure, but the idea doesn’t
make sense. Furthermore, the parallelism gives the actor, then his way in an
inanimate milieu for the first three, whereas what is his way in a virgin? ...
>
I would have thought any man would know that (even though I admitted I don't!). But certain things are just not spelled out explicitly in a polite text. Probably in each of the sets of ascending clauses in Proverbs 30, the focus is on the last one and the preceding three are compared with it. There is nothing strange about comparing a woman with the sky, the sea, and a rock - especially as no doubt the snake finds its way into a hole in the rock.

>... But “into the unknown” fits the parallelism, makes linguistic, logical
and psychological sense, and I understand it. ;-)
> >
Unfortunately that's does not imply that it is correct. You need much better evidence than that.

>Karl W. Randolph.
--
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