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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] "The eye of the earth"

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "The eye of the earth"
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 04:06:13 -0700

On 28/06/2004 00:35, Yigal Levin wrote:

The same expression appears in Exodus 10, when describing the locusts. In
verse 5 it's "And it shall cover the (YN H)RC, and (he/it) shall not be able
to see the earth". Also starnge. The subject of WKSH "and it shall cover" is
the locust; so who is it, exactly, that will not be able to see the earth?

In verse 15, it is the loscust who covers the (YN H)RC and makes the earth
dark.

I think that the idea, that the loscust in exodus and the Israelites in
Numbers are so many that they cover the whole earth, is clear. But what is
the (YN of the earth?

Yigal


Could the meaning in both cases be that the earth is metaphorically looking? After all, in most cases of (YN + noun in a construct relation or a pronoun suffix, including idiomatic uses like "in his sight", the noun or pronoun refers to the one who looks. So in these phrases H)RC would be a metonymy for all the people of the earth, who in Exodus 10 could not see the ground for locusts, and similarly in Numbers.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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