Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Christopher:

First of all, "traditional" lexicography 
needs to justify its claim that there are 
two roots. There is no evidence from within 
Biblical Hebrew itself that there were two 
roots.

Secondly, the Hebrew word CLM does not need 
to have the same meaning as any English word 
as "shadow" may actually be a derived or 
secondary meaning of the actual root, and 
the root meaning is not found in English. 
English seems not to have the same concept 
at all. For want of a better word in English 
I have used "shadow" but indicate its 
broader meaning in Biblical Hebrew than 
found in English.

This question also brings up the question of 
semantic domains: when we bring up a 
question of meaning, whose semantic domains 
are we talking about? For example, in 
Cantonese, lo6 sü2, and apparently also (QBR 
in Biblical Hebrew, have a semantic domain 
that encompasses both rats and mice, while 
in English, as well as other Germanic 
languages, they are separate. Similarly, CLM 
in Biblical Hebrew encompasses shapes that 
are similar or representative to another 
object, an imperfect copy as it were (made 
of gold in 1 Samuel 6) of which "shadow" is 
just one variety of CLM.

Then we must also consider idiomatic use. 
E.g. Numbers 35:52 "you will make the 
shadows of their statues (used as idols) 
lost" which would include not only getting 
rid of the idols themselves (by melting 
down, burying, etc. so that they cast no 
shadows), but also any small representation 
thereof that would be carried as an amulet 
or put in a little shrine in a house.

This is not quite the same as CL which has 
more the connotation of being under the 
shadow of, or in the shade of, rather than 
the shape of that shadow.

So as I said before, strictly from a 
linguistic viewpoint, we cannot make a claim 
that CLM )LHYM indicates that God had a 
physical body.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Heard, Christopher" <Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu>
> 
> On Sep 6, 2005, at 3:01 PM, Karl Randolph wrote:
> > As for the use of the word CLM to indicate
> > corporality of the ancient concept of God,
> > there is reason to doubt: for one, the basic
> > meaning of CLM is "shadow", i.e. something that
> > represents but does not match the object that
> > casts the shadow. Even what it is made of can
> > be completely different. When it refers to the
> > "shadow" of an object, that "shadow" will never
> > be mistaken for the real McCoy, e.g. the gold
> > rats and buboes of the Philistines in 1 Samuel,
> > it was clear that these were not the buboes and
> > rats, rather just representations thereof.
> > Therefore, to say that man is made in the CLM
> > of God does not automatically assume that God
> > has physical corporality, strictly from a
> > linguistic analysis.
> 
> Karl,
> 
> While I tend to agree with you rather more than with Kevin on the
> issues of "the Hebrews and abstract vs. concrete thought" that have
> been going on this thread (please forgive the poor attempt at a "tag
> line"), I think you also are hanging more on CLM than the word can
> hold up. Traditional lexicography recognizes two roots spelled CLM,
> CLM I "image" and CLM II "shadow, shadowy thing." If this arguable
> distinction is followed, CLM II is solidly attested for biblical
> Hebrew only in two verses from the Psalms. If you are going to try to
> make "shadow"--attested only twice--the "_basic meaning_," and then
> try to interpret the more commonly attested sense in light of that so-
> called "basic meaning," then you really must _justify_ your claim
> that "shadow" is the "basic meaning" of CLM, and that this "basic
> meaning" then carries the semantic-conceptual freight that you
> attribute to it (above) into other senses. If you want to be
> persuasive, you can't just _posit_ this, but must _demonstrate_ it.
> 
> --
> R. Christopher Heard
> Assistant Professor of Religion
> Seaver Fellow in Religion
> Pepperdine University
> Malibu, California 90263-4352
> Professional Web Page: http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard
> Internet Resource Index: http://www.iTanakh.org
> Personal Web Page: http://www.heardworld.com

-- 
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