Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 13:09:46 -0800 "C. Stirling Bartholomew"
<jacksonpollock AT earthlink.net> writes:
> Job 38:26 lhm+yr (l-)rC l)-)y$ mdbr l)-)dM bw
> 
> Theodotian renders l)-)y$ and l)-)dM in Job 38:26 as
> (ou ouc aner and (ou ouc anthropos.
> 
> I wonder if this accurately reflects an intended **semantic** 
> distinction
> between )y$ and )dM? Or does the choice of two words with similar 
> meanings
> have something to do with Hebrew poetics, parallelism, etc? In other 
> words,
> do we go astray by stressing the difference in meaning between the 
> two words
> if the authors intent was unrelated to a difference in meaning?
> 
> It has been suggested that l)-)y$ and  l)-)dM function as adjectives 
> meaning
> a place with no human habitation. Does anyone think there is an 
> intended
> **semantic** distinction between )y$ and )dM?
> 
> greetings,
> Clay Bartholomew 
________________

Yes, it's just stylistic variation without a real difference in meaning
regarding )iY$ and )fDfM.  I would try to find two different words to use
in English for them so long as it doesn't seem to indicate a distinction
between the two.  Perhaps that can't be easily done and you may need to
settle for "unihabited land" // "where no man dwells."

george
gfsomsel
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