Biblical Hebrew Forum

["David Kimbrough (CLWA)" <dkimbrough AT clwa.org>]

I believe he means that there are clear references to what we call today the
Gulf of Aqaba being referred to as "Yam Suf" in Kings, just as there are to
the Gulf and Suez and the Red Sea.  Yam Suf would seem to be the Red Sea
plus both of its arms, Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba.

There is in fact no more kelp in any of these bodies than the Mediterranean
Sea and certainly less than the Sargasso Sea.  However, the "Medi - Terra -
nean" sea is not really in the "Sea in the Middle of the World" either.

Sedges are land plants, including some reeds, of the family Cyperaceae,
having solid stems, leaves in three vertical rows, and spikelets of
inconspicuous flowers, with each flower subtended by a scalelike bract.
There are indeed plenty of sedges around the edges of the Red Sea, just as
there are around the Mediterranean and the Gulf of California.

dkimbrough AT clwa.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Polycarp66 AT aol.com [mailto:Polycarp66 AT aol.com]
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 4:23 PM
To: dwashbur AT nyx.net; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Yam Suph "Reed" Sea - Seaweed


In a message dated 1/26/2004 7:17:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
dwashbur AT nyx.net writes:
My oldie-but-goodie Gesenius lexicon says "sea-weed, sedge, Jon. 2,6. 
Hence YAM-SW.P, the sea of sedge, i.e. the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea,
which abounds in seaweed..."  I've never been there so I can't verify
this, but considering how long the lexicon has endured and how many
others have been based on it, I would suspect that he did his homework. 
And as has been pointed out, the references in Jonah and the clear
reference to the Gulf of Aqabah seems to preclude the idea that the
expression referred to the Bitter Lakes, unless we want to posit an ad
hoc meaning especially for the occurrences in Exodus.
______

Perhaps I'm reading too much into your post, but I'm wondering if you are 
suggesting that Jonah was in the Gulf of Aqabah (whether a historical
prophet or 
simply the subject of a moral story)?  My reading of Jonah indicates that he

went to Joppa which would indicate a Mediterranian provenence.

gfsomsel
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