Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:17:37 +0200 "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
writes:
> Most English translations of "Parah Adumah" (Num 19:2) give "red 
> heifer". My Webster's defines "heifer" as either a "full-grown young 
> ox" or "a young cow that has not born a calf". Presumably, it is the 
> second that is meant. 
> 
> As far as I know, a Parah is just a cow, with no special reference 
> to its age or having had a calf. Does anyone know where the more 
> specific definition of "heifer" came from?
> 
> Yigal Levin
> _______________________________________________

I think you are correct so far as the Hebrew is concerned, but you may be
mistaken in regard to the English.  1 Sam 6.7 reads

W:(aT.fH QfXW. Wa(a:GfLfH Xa:Df$fH )eXfT W.$:T."Y PfRoWT (fLoT )a:$eR
Lo)_(fLfH (a:L"YHeM (oL Wa)a:SaR:T.eM )eT_HaP.fRoWT B.f(a:GfLfH ***
WaHa:$"YBoTeM B.:N"YHeM M")aXa:R"YHeM HaB.fY:TfH ***

Thus it is clear that in Hebrew the PRH could have calved.  My English
dictionary (which could stand to be updated) has the definition for
"heifer"

"A young cow, especially one that has not yet given birth to a calf."

By saying "especially" it would indicate that a young cow which had
calved was not totally excluded.

george
gfsomsel
___________
>From yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il  Wed Dec 22 03:19:15 2004
Return-Path: <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>
X-Original-To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: from beitberl.ac.il (mail3.beitberl.ac.il [62.0.12.19])
        by happyhouse.metalab.unc.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id AFF6F4C005
        for <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 03:19:14 -0500 
(EST)
Received: from Internal Mail-Server by mail3 with SMTP;
        22 Dec 2004 09:22:00 +0200
Received: from ws.beitberl.ac.il ([62.0.12.10])
        by mail.beitberl.ac.il (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.21 
(built
        Sep 8 2003)) with SMTP id <0I94003KQ6MUWN AT mail.beitberl.ac.il> for
        b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org; Wed, 22 Dec 2004 10:09:07 +0200 (IST)
Received: from beitberl-ext.beitberl.ac.il(62.0.12.10)
        by ws.beitberl.ac.il via csmap  id 18608;
        Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:13:29 +0200 (IST)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 10:19:53 +0200
From: "Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>
Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] red heifer
In-reply-to: <0A4A05F78A7A3B40B57869F1E04C41E590529B AT bbmail.beitberl.ac.il>
To: 'Yigal Levin' <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>,
        'b-hebrew' <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>, 
biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com
Message-id: <0A4A05F78A7A3B40B57869F1E04C41E51EC1F3 AT bbmail.beitberl.ac.il>
Organization: Beit Berl College
MIME-version: 1.0
X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626
Content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1255
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Importance: Normal
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-priority: Normal
Cc: 
X-BeenThere: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5
Precedence: list
List-Id: Hebrew Bible List <b-hebrew.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew>,
        <mailto:b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew>
List-Post: <mailto:b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew>,
        <mailto:b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 08:19:15 -0000


An article on the "red heifer" has been submitted to Mo'ed; Annual for
Jewish Studies. If accepted, it will appear in Vol. 15 (2005).

Jonathan D. Safren, Editor
Mo'ed; Annual for Jewish Studies
Center for Jewish Culture
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office
44905 Israel
Tel.: 972-9-7476396
Fax: 972-9-7476397
e-mail: moed AT beitberl.ac.il
URL: www.beitberl.ac.il/moed
 
-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Yigal Levin
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 9:18 AM
To: b-hebrew; biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [b-hebrew] red heifer

Most English translations of "Parah Adumah" (Num 19:2) give "red heifer". My
Webster's defines "heifer" as either a "full-grown young ox" or "a young cow
that has not born a calf". Presumably, it is the second that is meant. 

As far as I know, a Parah is just a cow, with no special reference to its
age or having had a calf. Does anyone know where the more specific
definition of "heifer" came from?

Yigal Levin
_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
 This mail was scanned via Beit Berl PineApp




 This mail was scanned via Beit Berl PineApp