Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

When you say that hmtz refers to souring, that's merely a presumption. The
root cells hm-mtz are distinct in other words - hemer, matzot, lehem. That
cannot be a coincidence.
The translation "leaven" doesn't square with several other instances I
enumerated in the original post. Particularly, Hos7:4 about bad baker who
ceases to watch the dough until it becomes hmtz in hot oven. The
conventional translational "leavened" is absurd. Dough does not leaven in
hot oven, but is baked.
You need to re-read the account of Pesach. Hebrew did not bake the bread
when they left Egypt, but sun-roasted it on the way. The bread, therefore,
was specifically not baked. There is no implication about it being leavened
or not.
Wine is described as hometz, not hametz. The difference is there: hometz is
something that makes something else hametz. Wine is not used as leavening
agent. Considering another name for wine, hmr - hemer, hmtz - hometz could
only mean "hot, pressing." That's by the way, exactly how the wine is called
in Russian, lit., "heating drink."

Vadim Cherny


> The meaning of XMC refers to sourness, sourness in both taste and
> outlook on life, not to baking except the old word in many languages
> is that bread that is "soured" is bread that has yeast in it. That is
> still in English referring to sourdough bread.
>
> Concerning the original Passover, the people were told to leave in
> haste, meaning that any bread that was taken along had to be baked
> right away, there was no time for it to become soured, i.e. have the
> yeast ferment the bread.
>
> Other things are listed as soured as well, such as vinegar and mash
> that has fermented in a silo.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
>