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  • From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
  • To: Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>
  • Cc: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] QNH-BSM
  • Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 22:17:12 -0700

Hello Peter & al.

I don't think it is clear that the Hebrew word QNH or more specifically
QNH-BSM refer to Cannabis (either Indica or Sativa). In particular, QNH-BSM
refers to a resinous and armotic reed. Cannabis is of course not a reed but
it could be mistaken for one and of course the authors of the Bible were
systematic toxonomists so the word QNH might refer to a broad range of
plants. However, the resin of Cannabis is not particularlly aromatic and
there is no record of Cannabis ever being used for the production of aromatic
oils. Cannabis seed oils have been produced but the treatment of wood, like
linseed oil.

Even if QNH did refer to Cannabis, why would the Greeks need to borrow a word
from a foreign language for a plant they were well acquainted with? When
Herodotus (450 BCE) and Dioskarides (70 CE) refer to Kannabis, Hebrew was
already a dying language. There would not seem to be any reason for a loan.

At the very best, assuming QNH-BSM did refer to Cannabis, it would only be a
faux ami.



--
Jack Tladatsi

---- Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org> wrote:
> On 20/05/2006 18:14, tladatsi AT charter.net wrote:
> > ... In any event I cannot think of any non-religeous Hebrew loan words to
> > Greek, certainly not before the CE. ...
> >
>
> How about Greek KANNA and KANWN (W = omega; cf English "cane" and
> "canon") from Hebrew QANEH, or at least from its Semitic cognates? This
> is of course semantically and lexically very close to the hypothesised
> KANNABIS loan. In fact KANNABIS, if not Scythian or Thracian, could well
> be a Greek compound of KANNA and something else, although probably the
> latter element is not Hebrew BSM.
>
> Also of course we have most of the names of the Greek letters of the
> alphabet, which are clearly loans from NW Semitic. It is of course
> almost impossible to distinguish loans from Hebrew from loans from its
> closely related languages, unless this is clear from a religious context.
>
> --
> Peter Kirk
> peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> http://www.qaya.org/




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