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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 2:5

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  • From: George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>
  • To: VadimCherny AT mail.ru
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 2:5
  • Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 18:06:11 -0400

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 11:30:35 +0300 "Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
writes:
> > Vadim, you may not live in Manhattan either, but you obviously
> don't live
> > in a sun-dry land. As Martin probably knows from Australia and I
> have also
> > seen, there are very dry parts of Australia and other countries
> (even of
> > Russia, actually, near the Caspian coast) where lots of small
> bushes grow.
> > And the same is true of many parts of the Middle East.
>
> The answer consist of several parts.
>
> First, I doubt that siah means "bush." That meaning is rare and
> dubious,
> with clear etymological connection to the root. I would talk the
> first
> phrase as, "all small talk in the fields was not [no more]."
>
> Second, herbs indeed don't grow well in sun-dry land.
>
> Third, the writer used a common hyperbole. When one says, "All is
> lost," he
> rarely implies "all." When we hear, "All fish had gone from that
> pond," the
> person is aware that a few likely remained. "All herbs of the field
> would
> grow not" seems applicable to draught.
>
> Fourth, the common translation "yet" is very misleading. Arabic
> cognate
> tarem, on the contrary, means something like "cease."
>
> Fifth, for watering of the whole earth geshem is much more
> appropriate.
> Matar seemingly implies that on the whole land there was not even a
> drizzle.
>
> Vadim Cherny
_______________

Vadim,

First, what in the world does "all small talk in the fields was not [no
more]" mean to you? To me it is meaningless unless perhaps you're
talking about gossiping in the fields.

Second, the fact that even drought-resistant plants can't grow with
absolutely no moisture is precisely the point: There was neither rain
nor a man to "work", i.e. irrigate, the ground. I think that you should
abandon your meaningless understanding of %iYaX.

george
gfsomsel
___________




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