Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 02/07/2004 03:44, George F. Somsel wrote:

> ...
>  
> Peter,
>  
> Come, now.  I'm sure you know that Benjamin BiN:YfMIN meant 
> "Southern."  They were "rednecks."  :-)  Just kidding, all you U.S. 
> southerners.  It does, however, refer to the south.  The orientation 
> when calculating directions was toward the east so that to the "right" 
> was the south and )aXa:RoWN > )aXa:R"Y (behind) was west. 
>  
> george
> gfsomsel


George, please stop insulting me and then trying to hide it with a bad 
joke aout rednecks. I do NOT know that the word means "Southern". I 
agree that YAMIN can mean "south", but it can also mean "right hand" - 
and that is not just evangelical derivation from Gen 35:18, it is the 
basic meaning given by BDB. As for why this particular tribe or tribal 
ancestor was called this, we really have no idea, except that Gen 35:18 
might offer a clue. Probably not because he was right-handed, but the 
name can still mean "right-handed" - just as your name means "farmer" 
although you were probably not given it because you are a farmer.

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