Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 04/03/2007 03:32, Berel Beyer wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts on Jerome's translation of 1 Kings
> 22:38?  He has habenas which is unlike both the masoretic text and LXX
> (הזנות & πoρναι).  Is he following Targum Yonatan who has זינה (zayin
> yud nun he)?  Rein is not all that close to armor, body-wear, etc.,
> however.   Is this just a loose translation of TJ, or is there some
> other word that he may have been looking at (or is it something else
> that I'm missing ... the most likely possibility!).
>
>   
I'm at a disadvantage here perhaps in not knowing what Latin "habenas" 
and Aramaic ZYNH are supposed to mean. But the latter would appear to 
mean something like "immorality", like Hebrew ZNWT and Arabic "zina" - 
although there could be another meaning as well. Perhaps the Aramaic 
translator used this abstract noun as something of a euphemism to avoid 
an indelicate specific reference to prostitutes. Maybe Jerome 
misunderstood this, although I would expect him to work more from the 
Hebrew than the Targum.


--
Peter Kirk
E-mail:  peter AT qaya.org
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