Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George F. Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

The JPS Tanak translates

 
And you, O Migdal-eder,
Outpost of Fair Zion,
It shall come to you:
The former monarchy shall return—
The kingship of Fair Jerusalem.
By their capitalization they seem to indicate that it is a name of a
location whether or not it was "a tower . . . where shepherds kept guard
over the animals . . ."

_ The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land _ by Avraham Negev
states
MIGDAL-EDER The place where Jacob sojourned after the death of Rachel
(Gen. 35:21; Authorized Version: ‘tower of Eder’), known also in the
Roman period. In the Septuagint it is located between Beth-El and
Rachel’s tomb. In the time of the Mishna the place was still known, and
it is there that the Messiah will make himself known. Eusebius (Onom.
43:12) and other early Christian sources identify Migdal-Eder with
Shepherd’s Field 1 1/2 miles east of Bethlehem. Identified with Siyan
al-Ghanam, southwest of Jerusalem. 
There is some thought that Eder which is mentioned in Josh 15.22 may be
Arad (metathesis).  This was in the south of Judah "toward Edom."  In
this case, Migdol-Eder could be "Tower of Eder (Arad)" rather than "Tower
of the Flock."  There is a tendency to give aetiological accounts of
place names such as is the case with Beersheba which has more than one
aetiological story ("oath" or "seven").  At this point, however, we can
do no more than speculate so I would recommend not taking a firm position
regarding this.

gfsomsel
_________

On Fri, 4 Jun 2004 21:59:47 +0200 "wattswestmaas"
<wattswestmaas AT eircom.net> writes:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Can anyone tell me if there is evidence that Migdal-Eber was a 
> tower
> situated on the road to Jersusalem north of Bet-lechem (Bethlehem) 
> where
> shepherds kept guard over the animals that were to be used for the 
> temple
> sacrifices.
> 
> This is in connection with Micah 4:8 where the word can be written 
> as a
> place name instead of: "tower of the flock". The other occurence to 
> be found
> in genesis just after Jacob buried his beloved Rachel.
> 
> Finally I would just like to know if the verb: Aleph-Tav-Heh used in 
> this
> sentence (Sometime Aleph-Tav-Aleph) belongs to the 'Lamed-aleph' or 
> the
> 'Lamed-heh' conjugation.
> 
> Thankyou - chris
> 
> 
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> 
>From villandra AT austin.rr.com  Fri Jun  4 19:43:50 2004
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From: "Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>
To: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>,
        "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
References: <20040604042708.E6F0A3CE181 AT ws3-4.us4.outblaze.com>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Gen 1:2
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 18:42:46 -0500
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Keepijng the eggs warm?!   It has to make sense in context, folks!

Seriously, this wouldn't be the place where the Bible mentions dry bones
rattling or dancing around, would it?

So what would be your idea of what the Spirit of God did?   Glided?  (Eagles
do that.)

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra AT austin.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2004 11:27 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Gen 1:2


> Dora:
>
> One of my first questions after joining this group was the definition of
RXP.
>
> In Deuteronomy 32 it is used for an eagle, which is a big, heavy bird,
which doesn't hover (except possibly metaphorically). In Jeremiah it is used
of bones when he was dejected.
>
> Peter Kirk found a source in a cognate language that indicates that RXP
refers to nesting. Thus we can see the action of the eagle settling itself
on its young while they are still small, to keep them warm. Similarly, when
a person is depressed, as Jeremiah indicates he was, his bones felt heavy
like lead set down and not to be moved. And the first of the three uses has
the Spirit of God settling down upon the cold, hard, lifeless and still ball
that was the earth.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>
>
> > According to one of my Hebrew texts, it means hovering, as in what a
bird
> > does over a nest.
> >
> > It says, "the root of this verb is [rosh chet pey]", meaning "hover
over"
> > such as a bird does over the nest.  The leter Tet indicates thius verb
is
> > feminine singular (she) perfect tense.  The letter "s" is a type of verb
> > conjugation to be discussed later. (this always helps)  This verb can
> > literally be translated as "she did hover".  The "She" of this word is
the
> > ruach, which is a feminine word.  While most consider teh "Spriit" is a
> > "he", Biblically, it is a "she".
> >
> > Yours,
> > Dora Smith
> > Austin, Texas
> > villandra AT austin.rr.com
> --
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