Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Monday 28 June 2004 05:06, Peter Kirk wrote:
> 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.

Alternately, I was wondering if "eye" might be a simple metonymy for "face"?

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
is like getting a kiss over the telephone.