Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rodney K. Duke" <dukerk AT appstate.edu>]

Dear Karl,

I have not been following the thread on Pro 30:19, but I saw your 
exchange below with Bryan and wanted to throw out a thought, although it 
might be one that you have discounted already. I have assumed that the 
point of contact among the examples given is the mystery about how 
"progress" is made:

eagle: how does it fly, move through the sky, a non-tangible medium?
snake: how does it move, it has no feet/legs?
ship: how can it move forward/follow a course in fluid?
man and maiden: how does one move/become attractive to a woman?

Rodney Duke

> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 13:14:33 -0500
> From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Re: Proverbs 30:19
> To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <20031003181434.16448.qmail AT email.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
> Bryan:
>
> You aren’t a sailor. Particularly not a commercial sailor in the days of sail.
>
> Naybe a ship sailed a cargo easer than schlepping it overland, but it was 
> hardly easy. There was constant work to be done aboard the ship, watches to 
> stand, and if the wind didn’t go right, you were expected to row. There was 
> seldom an idle moment awake and sleep is often stolen. Then there was the 
> danger of being caught out in a storm (I hear those in the Mediterranean can 
> come up suddenly, almost without warning) and sunk. Once in harbor, the crew 
> was expected to load and unload the ship. It doesn’t sound easy to me.
>
> It sounds a little easier to me, but a snake on bare rock is struggling. He 
> doesn’t find the easy grips to push against that he finds in vegetation and 
> sand. If he miscalculates and the bare rock is high up, it can be fatal.
>
> Of the three, only the flight of the eagle sounds easy, because soaring on 
> thermals and updrafts is the easiest way for a large bird to fly. Come to 
> think of it, it takes so much energy for a large bird like an eagle to fly 
> that they are not found except in places so rich in game so only short 
> flights are needed, or in mountains where there are many updrafts.
>
> If I sound nitpicky, that is what I went through before suggesting (LMH could 
> mean “unknown” or possibly agreeing with the LXX in saying it means 
> “youthfulness, period before marriage”, literally, “in his virginity”.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>
>
>  
>
> > Here's another thought on the verse:  the verse is really about the fourth,
> > the way of the strong man with the innocent lass.  The speaker is marvelling
> > at how *easily* he has his way with her comparing his easy manner with the
> > effortless soaring of the eagle, slithering of the snake and progress of a
> > ship.
> >
> > Shalom,
> > Bryan
> >
> > B. M. Rocine
> > Living Word Church
> > 6101 Court St. Rd.
> > Syracuse, NY 13206
> >
> > ph: 315.437.6744
> > fx: 315.437.6766
> >