Biblical Hebrew Forum

[MarianneLuban AT aol.com]

In a message dated 11/7/2004 2:59:08 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
peterkirk AT qaya.org writes:


> 
> I assume that "baHr" is not a rather crude attempt at phonetic spelling 
> of Aramaic "bar" = "son", but rather the H is a het and this is Hebrew 
> "baHur" (or perhaps "baHir") = "chosen one" or "young man". I note that 
> the Samaritan pronunciation given has a U sound, but maybe this is not 
> represented in the spelling.


The ketubah is written in Hebrew.  It is dated to the 19th Century of our own 
era and may retain an Aramaic term here and there but the Samaritans ceased 
to use Aramaic regularly long ago, of course.  It was translated by J. Wilson 
and I found it in John Bowman's "Samaritan Documents".  Bowman takes issue 
with 
some of Wilson's translations and even suggests that Wilson may have misread 
some of the letters involved and finds the phrase "Bahur ha-karnaim" unlikely 
and would emend it to "Bahur-ha-kohanim".   Bowman makes the point that 
Samaritan ketubot have not apparently changed since the format that was seen 
in the 
Elephantine documents.  That is a hallmark of the Samaritans--an aversion to 
change.  I would just have accepted Bowman's theory about what Wilson did 
with 
"karnaim" except for there is the problem of what the karnaim of Moses was 
all 
about--and this is also far from clear.  Since, at the time of the writing of 
this ketubah, the Samaritan community resided at Nablus, I doubt another 
toponym would be involved.  Wilson translated the phrase as "an eminent 
youth".  
The context is (with Bowman's amendment to "the choicest of the priests") 
"the 
bridegroom, the good, honorable, scholarly, and devout, and master of 
calculation, all of whose acts are worthy; and he is the choicest of the 
priests and 
the most handsome of bridegrooms, who does all good things..."

Bowman indicates that he has not translated this ketubah, himself, but has 
taken Wilson's rendering--so Bowman can only guess at what Wilson did or saw. 
 I 
have the feeling that this has nothing to do with actual "horns" or "priests" 
but has a meaning obscured by time.  

> 
> 
>From leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il  Mon Nov  8 01:49:29 2004
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From: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Karnaim
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Shoshanna Walker" <rosewalk AT concentric.net>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Karnaim


> >HH: If "baHr" mans "son," then the horns could be part of a phrase
> >indicating a man of strength. Presumably a groom in a marriage would
> >be a person of strength. Horns are a symbol of strength in the Old
> >Testament.
>
>
> More likely is the meaning ascribed to Moshe's "karnaim" - that his
> face shown so much, that rays of light protruded from it.
>
> Keren Or = ray of light
>
> Shoshanna
> _______________________________________________

I don't have any idea what the "qarnayim" of the Samaratin Ketubah are, but
the"Or" in "Qaran Or Panav" of Moses (Ex. 34:29, 30, 35) is spelled with an
'Ayin an literally means "the skin of his face becam horned". It is true
that Qeren can also be used figuratively (and in modern Hebrew is used for
"ray", including "radiation"), but that's an interpretation, not the literal
meaning.

Yigal