Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>
> 
> > (LMH (also (LM in 1 Samuel 17, 20) when referring to a person indicates
> that the person is unknown. The >root (LM has the meaning of being unknown,
> in hiphil the causitive meaning, i.e. to hide.
> 
> Karl,
> besides meaning "unknown", could (LMH / (LM also mean "unknowing" hence
> "innocent." In 1 Sam 17:56 no one present knows who David, the (LM is. In 1
> Sam 20:22 the (LM is totally innocent of the the communication going on
> between Jonathan and David.
> 
Possibly. That’s something to keep in mind.

> > (I think the term's use in Proverbs 30:10 refers to "the unknown", not a
> person. The only arguments presented >that I have seen that it refers to a
> person are not linguistic, but tradition. Hence I find them unconvincing.)
> 
> What is wrong with understanding the (LMH in Prov 30:19 the same as the
> other 6 places it is used in the Tanach? as an undefiled innocent young
> woman?

Context.

Context and root meaning of unknown.

In Proverbs 30:19, (LMH is used in the fourth example of where the future is 
unpredictable. One is of a ship, where a shift of the wind 
will change the ship’s heading, so its exact path is unpredictable. Another 
is of a snake on a smooth boulder, how it finds its way is 
unpredictable (I read a fascinating account of such in a science magazine 
years ago, interesting but off subject). Yet another is of an 
eagle flying, looking for prey, its path in the sky is unpredictable because 
of air currents, as well as the possibility of it finding prey. 
Then the fourth of a young man starting out in life, no one can predict what 
his life will be like. He goes into the unknown.

> The tender relationship of a man with an innocent young woman is a
> wonderful mystery of the human life - it can only be understood by the heart
> and not the mind. It is also a symbol the mystery between God and His
> people.
> 
I prefer Pshat to Drash. This is Drash based on the insistance that the term 
must refer to an object, in particular a female of the human 
persuasion. But a feminine noun can also indicate that it refers to an 
abstract concept, such as in this case “the unknown”.

> thanks,
> -Steve Miller
> Detroit

Karl W. Randolph.
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