Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

When looking at the meanings of the words, as they are actually used
in Tanakh, that case is hard to sustain.

On 12/4/06, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> Inasmuch as we are dealing with Genesis, it is worth while noticing
> that ברא, BARA, which is rendered in English: 'create', and which
> is the first verb (root) of the entire bible, is a variant of פרע
> PARA, 'disperse'. There is nothing in this verb (root) to indicate
> that God made "something" out of "nothing".
>
> Other relatives of ברא are ברה, פרא, פרה.
> Isaac Fried

ברא, BR) means to create, set up, though not every time something from
nothing (the context, e.g. Genesis 1:1–2, gives us the something out
of nothing).
ברה, BRH means to be fed, other than similar sound, very different meaning.
פרא, PR) is a happax whose meaning is uncertain Hosea 8:9, the noun
refers to a wild donkey that lives in the desert. This could actually
be the noun referring to the action.
פרה, PRH to produce fruit, i.e. be fruitful.
פרע, PR( to loosen, as in to set free from restraint.

Just because words sound similar does not mean that they originally
came from the same root.

Karl W. Randolph.