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  • From: Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 25:25, Different Lexemes & No Puns?
  • Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:41:58 -0600

A couple of these could actually be defined as puns, but most of them are
simply memory devices. Some better examples: folks who lived under the reign
of Antiochus Ephiphanes often called him Antiochus Epimanes. The former
means "appearance" as in a deity; the latter means "maniac." The similarity
of sound and the twist of words is what makes it a pun. Another: some years
ago my wife and I were in a grocery store picking up a few things. In places
like that, I like to read people's name tags since names are sort of a hobby
of mine. The young lady bagging our groceries was named Cedar, like the
tree. As we walked out I mentioned to my wife that the girl had an unusual
name. She asked what it was. I said "Her name is Cedar. I know that
because I Cedar name tag." (Cedar == "seed her" using an incorrect
grammatical form instead of "saw") That's an actual pun, and a dreadful one
at that. Those are the kind I like; the stupider, the better. But that kind
of play on words is what constitutes a genuine pun.

On Friday 16 September 2005 10:26, Karl Randolph wrote:
> Jack:
>
> Either your definition of a pun is different than mine, or the
> examples you give below are not puns.
>
> When I think of puns, I think of examples like when we as
> kids played name the state capitals game: after a few months
> we all could name the state, then immediately give the capital,
> so to keep interest we started referring to "Home of the gods"
> (Olympia, Washington), "Famous missionary" (St. Paul,
> Minnesota) and among those were puns "Metropolis
> underneath automobiles" (Cars On City (Carson City), Nevada)
> and "Completely rabbit" (All Bunny (Albany), New York). Merely
> calling a person's descendants and/or place after his nickname
> does not fit my understanding of "pun", certainly not in English
> nor in Biblical Hebrew.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: tladatsi AT charter.net
>
> > Not the same lexeme?
> >
> > The OT is quite clear that the nation of ?DM is supposed to
> > be named after Esau s nickname ?DM (Gen 36:1 and 36:8).
> > For this to be true, the two words would have to be the
> > exact same lexeme. Esau s nickname was given to him
> > because he asked his brother for a bowl of ?DM (Gen 25:30).
> > There seems no way to me for someone to be named after a
> > bowl of red stew and that name not being the same lexeme as
> > the red stew. Three of these words are unquestionable the
> > same lexeme, each being a link in a chain of thing being
> > named after each other, all of which are red. The only
> > questionable word is ?DMNY which is universally translated
> > in ancient times and modern as red, reddish, or ruddy
> > (e.g., LXX purrakhv, Vulg. rufus). The core concept of
> > redness and the clear link to a common grammatical root
> > makes a very strong case for these four words being the
> > same lexeme. (Some might argue that the name of the nation
> > Edom really is derived from the color of the countryside.
> > Most of the Trans-Jordanian country is the color of the
> > infield of baseball field, the red color of brick. It is an
> > iron oxide thing. However that is neither here nor there).
> >
> > Not a pun?
> >
> > Esau is born ?DMNY and in turn give birth to a nation
> > called ?DM. Esau asked Jacob / Israel for ?DM and
> > received it in exchange for his birthright. Thus his
> > descendants received from him the country called ?DM
> > (instead of the land of Canaan which Israel received)
> > because Esau asked for ?DM from Israel Of course, the
> > older nation of Edom was conquered by the younger nation of
> > Israel as the older brother Esau / Edom lost his birthright
> > to the younger brother Jacob / Israel.
> >
> > Puns with political punch proliferate profusely.
> >
> > These are not the only puns in Ex. 25, although the only
> > one which is based on a single lexeme. Esau is also born
> > S?R, hairy. His descendents lived in the land of S?YR.
> > These are clearly not the same lexeme but a phonetically
> > based pun.
> >
> >
> > Jack Tladatsi

--
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"Maybe I'll trade it for a new hat."




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