Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Hi Jack,

The color Adom (red) is always spelled with the defective holem, except in
Cant. 5:10, where it means something like "ruddy".
The eponym/land of Edom is almost spelled with a full holem (that
s,   )DWM  ), except in Ez. 25:24, where the word "be'edom" ("in Edom")
appears twice, the first of which is defective. On the other hand, "Adomi"
(Edomite) is always defective, although the plural Adomim can go either way.

The word Edom appears in a couple of the Arad ostraca, dated to the early
sixth century. There, it's spelled defectively.


And yes, I think that "that red, red, soup", is meant for effect.

Yigal
----- Original Message -----
From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 6:31 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Gen 25:29 - 30 - Adom & Edom


> Hello,
>
> In Gen 25:29 Jacob is cooking *naziyd* (boiled food) and
> Esau comes in asks to eat *ha-adom ha-adom* with a qamets
> under th aleph and what I take to be a defective holem over
> the dalet.  He is thus called Edom with a hateph segol
> under the aleph and a holem vav after the dalet.
>
> I have a few questions.
>
> 1) Is there any information on when a defective holem is
> used?  Are there any thoughts on why the defective holem
> was used for Esau's cry for the red lentil soup but not for
> his new nickname Edom?  Since one of the points of these
> verses is to explain how Esau came to be called Edom, it
> would seem that using a holem vav in adom would, at least
> visually, strengthen that link.
>
> 2) Is *ha-adom* repeated simply for dramatic effect, to
> show Esau's desperation or is there some gramatical or
> semantic point being made.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jack Tladatsi