Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 8/4/06, kenneth greifer wrote:

> Psalm 22:15 says something like "like water I was poured out, and all of my
> bones have parted, my heart was like wax melted in the midst of my inner
> parts". Maybe it could say "in the midst of a heap" (mem ayin yud). If your
> bones separate, wouldn't it mean that you would collapse into a heap?

The word mem-ayin-yod does not mean "heap".  The word ayin yod, with a
hirik [ (iy ] means ruins, and could refer to a heap of ruins.  The name of 
the
city Ai (Ayin, patax, yod) has been derived from this word.  It is quite
possible that the word (iy is derived from an original (ay, with a patax.  The
word me(ay (with a qamats) could then be explained as: min (ay, with the
n dropping before a consonant, the i lengthening to a tsere because the (ayin
cannot be doubled after the n drops, the patax lengthening to a qamats
because it is the end of the verse.  However, then you have two prepositions
following each other, and not just any two prepositions but prepositions with
opposite semantics: "inside from rubble."  This doesn't make sense.  Also,
the word (ay doesn't just refer to any type of heap but has a strong
connotation of a mound of ruins of a destroyed city.  So the bottom line is
that this doesn't work out.

Yitzhak Sapir
http://toldot.blogspot.com