Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

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 
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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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