Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Karl,

Well, if you think that (ALEYMO YITALEM $ELEG,

עָלֵימוֹ יִתְעַלֶּם-שָׁלֶג

is "on them (mountains?) snow will make itself unknown", then so be  
it. Just notice the 'itself' in the statement to account for the fact  
that YITALEM is in Hitpael form.

On Jun 14, 2007, at 1:12 PM, K Randolph wrote:

> Dear Isaac:
>
> Though that is the meaning as translated into simple prose, I  
> disagree in
> that that is a highly poetic statement as stated by Job.
>
> Anyone who has seen how a thick layer of snow makes obscure that  
> which is
> below can understand how piles of snow can make unknown that which  
> is below.
> I remember one year while living in Bærum west of Oslo, that the  
> first snow
> of November was the last to melt in May, where the snow piled up to  
> over a
> meter deep making unknown everything below, even the earlier layers  
> (it was
> an unusually cold winter).
>
> What was the climate like in Job's day? Was he living in highlands  
> where
> multiple layers of snow could accumulate before melting in the  
> spring? Was
> the snow making unknown even the earlier layers of snow? A thick  
> layer can
> make unknown even wnere it started from.
>
> While studying prose I will allow for a single exception as a  
> reason to
> question the definitions given in other dictionaries. In poetry,  
> Job being a
> prototypical example of such, I try to translate his poetry into prose
> before using it as an example to question the meaning as indicated  
> by the
> majority of uses. That snow makes even itself unknown fits the  
> context,
> therefore I see no reason to allow the term to have a different  
> meaning than
> what the majority of uses indicate what it has, which is "unknown".
>
> In conclusion, I see no reason to use this passage in Job as a  
> basis to
> question that (LM עלם means "to be unknown".
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> On 6/13/07, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> > Karl,
> >
> > The key point is: Do you agree with me that  Job 6:16: (ALEYMO YIT 
> > (ALEM
> > $ELEG,
> >
> > עָלֵימוֹ יִתְעַלֶּם-שָׁלֶג
> >
> > is "upon them snow will pile itself up" or "upon them snow will  
> > accumulate
> > itself", or not?
> > Because if you do, then we know the basic meaning of the root (LM.
> >
> > Isaac Fried, Boston University
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