Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yonah Mishael" <yonahmishael AT gmail.com>]

I assume you mean Psalm 31:16? It is a matter of etiquette to spell
out the verse in question so that we can see it quickly and know what
we're looking for. ;)

BYDK (TTY HCYLNY MYD-)WYBY WMRDPY
בידך עתתי הצילני מיד־אויבי ומרדפי

This is simply the very common Hebrew noun (T עת (et), which occurs
throughout the Bible. It is generally feminine, but the plural is
formed either as (TYM עתים (itim) or (TWT עתות (itot) in the Bible. In
this case, it bears the -ot ending.

It can be found in BDB under the entry of (NH ענה on p. 773. It is a
general term for the "time" at which something happens, and it is also
sometimes nearly synonymous with ZMN זמן (zeman) in signifying an
"appointed time" for something.

I would think that in this case, it refers to something like ZMN,
saying that all of the times that are appointed for David to do
something are in the power of God. This reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3,
which says that there is a time for everything under heaven, using ZMN
and (T in a parallel sense as (at least near) synonyms. The word used
throughout the passage is (T rather than ZMN.

Hope this helps some.

Yonah

On 10/12/06, sujata <shevaroys AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> What is the exact meaning of the word translated "times" in Psalm 31:15  Is 
> this Hebrew word used elsewhere bible?
>  Thanks
>  Sujata

--
Yonah Mishael ben Avraham
Joplin, MO
yonahmishael AT gmail.com