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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Isaiah 53:8 lamo

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Vadim Cherny <vadim_lv AT center-tv.net>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Isaiah 53:8 lamo
  • Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 12:49:14 +0000

On 20/12/2004 12:31, Vadim Cherny wrote:

To find out the
meaning, we need to establish the etymology. ...

No, no, NO!!! Meaning is not established by etymology. Meaning is
established by usage in context.


Everywhere but in Hebrew and to some extent in Chinese. Of course, modern
languages, for one, deviated from etymological meaning, and for another,
accumulated huge contexts. This does not work with Tanakh, ...


So, are you claiming that Hebrew was preserved by divine intervention from the processes which affected all other human languages? Hebrew already had centuries, maybe millennia of use before the Bible was written and had plenty of time to accumulate "huge contexts" and semantic shift. There are clear examples of semantic shift within biblical Hebrew, just as in English and all modern languages, including I am sure Chinese. One semantic shift within the Hebrew Bible itself is with the word SARIYS, which clearly refers to castrated eunuchs in Esther, but is used of married officials in Genesis e.g. 39:1. Perhaps others can suggest Hebrew words whose meanings contrast clearly with their apparent etymologies.

Well, `edut which we have been discussing is certainly an example of this if it is really to be derived from `wd "repeat".

... where we have a
handful of lamo, and where, as in isaiah 53:8, it is the context that
depends on the meaning of lamo. Again, we have so little of the clear
context that the relation is the opposite: etymological meaning of the word
allows us to clarify the context. In this case, etymological meaning of lamo
as lhemo shows that nega is to people, not to the character.


In extreme cases where we don't know enough from the context and the regular usage, we may have to look at the etymology as the best guide we have - although that is not much use when the etymology is disputable, as here. In this case the better guide is that lamo usually has a plural or collective meaning, which makes a strictly singular referent in this case less likely. But there is simply insufficient evidence to completely rule out a singular referent.

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






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