Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Karl:
I will tell you what in my humble opinion the root BR)=BARA means. It  
consists of the composition BA+RA where BA is a marker of existence  
or substantiation, as is the English word 'be', and the marker of  
plurality or aggregation RA. Thus all BARA means is 'to exist in an  
aggregated state'.

Every Hebrew root that contains the letter R refers to a varied state  
of existence (see: www.hebrewetymology.com).

If you accept this from me, then heavens will open and you will see  
Hebrew in all its glory. Otherwise you will continue to wallow in  
dictionaries, concordances, loan words, 'cognate languages' and so on.

As I grew up we used to read the Hebrew Bible every day. We did not  
have a dictionary nor a concordance at home; still I understood every  
word of it.

God did not borrow words from 'cognate languages' to transmit his  
divine message.
Isaac Fried

On Dec 6, 2006, at 1:02 PM, K Randolph wrote:

> Isaac:
>
> You are using your theories of etymology based on form to assign
> definitions of words. I don't think that is right. I think the correct
> way is to look up the words in their actual uses, their function, and
> speculate about common origin only if the functions show a commonality
> as well.
>
> I also don't buy into the belief that the ancients did not have a good
> sense of the abstract as well as the concrete, therefore if a term
> indicates an understanding of abstract concepts, I do not speculate
> concrete basis for those abstractions.
>
> After all, words can converge in form which originally were considered
> very different, as well as be loan words from other languages. In
> those cases, a speculated common origin can lead you astray as to how
> the ancients actually understood their meanings. Even on words that
> are not convergent nor loan words, you lack a paper trail showing a
> commonality of origin.
>
> In short, using a concordance and looking up all the actual uses of
> words below, I don't see the meanings you assign to terms.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> On 12/5/06, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> > Notice that there are three instances of BR): (1) 'to create', as in
> > Gen 1,1; (2) 'to shred' , as in Ez 23,47; and (3) 'to be large, to be
> > great', from which BARI), as in Gen 41,2, is derived.
> >
> > The root BRH means 'to eat=to devour=to tear and shred food', either
> > in the mouth or in the pot. Compare: "to break bread".
> >
> > The root PRH means 'to bring forth or create offsprings, to spread
> > out'. It is related to the roots: PRX, PRQ, PRQ etc.
> >
> > The root PR( means 'to ruffle, to be unruly, to be disorderly, to be
> > fractious, to be wild'.
> >
> > The root PR) means 'to be wild' or to be in the state PR( .
> >
> > To my utter chagrin I am intellectually unfit to enter into a deep
> > discussion as to what 'create' means, or what it means to turn
> > "nothing=no+thing" into "something=some+thing".
> > Isaac Fried
> > On Dec 5, 2006, at 11:10 AM, K Randolph wrote:
> >
> > > 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.
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