Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Marko Jauhiainen <marko.jauhiainen AT tpu.fi>]

Dear Jarold,

Harold R. Holmyard III wrote:

> > It has been suggested that the LXX translator of Zechariah 12:11 read
> > the Hebrew MGD[W]N as a verb or verbal noun deriving from GDD or (less
> > commonly) GD(. Do you agree with this and if you do, how would you parse
> > the word and/or translate it literally?
>
> HH: That seems right, although GD( seems less likely to me, as I can't
> understand why the ( would drop. The translator might have seen it as a
> derived noun meaning place of cutting off.

I was curious about GD( as well. However, T. Jansma (*Inquiry into the 
Hebrew Text and the Ancient Versions of Zechariah IX-XIV* [Leiden: E. J. 
Brill, 1949], p 119) writes, "G[reek] etymologizes from a root [ayin 
dalet gimel]". He does not even mention GDD as a possibility, although 
most others give only GDD. I understood this to mean that the Greek 
"ekkoptomenou" cannot be a translation of a verbal noun "MGDWN", at 
least in Jansma's opinion.

> > Among the proposals for the
> > latter I have seen "the place of the cut down", "his place of gathering
> > troops", and "attacking", for example.
>
> HH: It's probably good to stick with "Megiddo,"  however. See the evidence
> collected in Gesenius-Kautch-Cowley 85v. The LXX translator is often not to
> be followed in the later books.

Megiddo is fine. I was just wondering what the etymology of this place 
name might be, given that at least somebody has tried to translate it.

As for the GKC, the nearest copy may well be about three hours' flight 
away, so could perhaps offer a brief summary?

Shalom,
Marko