Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Karl,

I am afraid you commit a grave and fundamental error in mixing up the  
root [SHORESH], the act [POAL], and the noun [SHEM]. The root is a  
material state; there is nothing else it can be. It becomes an act in  
the presence of actors who cause a body to assume the state indicated  
by the root. A noun refers to a body having the properties indicated  
by the root.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jun 19, 2007, at 11:21 AM, K Randolph wrote:

> Isaac:
>
> I am merely a lexicographer, not a philosopher nor theologian,
> therefore I will not enter into a philosophic argument whether or not
> "...and there can not be, a Hebrew root of the meaning "to be
> unknown"". Rather, in using a concordance to examine its uses in
> Tanakh, and comparing it to synonyms and contrasting to antonyms, as
> well as analyzing noun and other derivatives from the same root, "to
> be(come) unknown" is the closest equivalence in modern English.
>
> Secondly, in analyzing Biblical Hebrew usages, your claim "The hebrew
> root indicates a material state." cannot be maintained; even most
> nouns refer to actors, not static objects.
>
> Your objections appear to be philosophic, not linguistic, and as such,
> I consider this discussion closed.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> On 6/19/07, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> > Karl,
> >
> >
> > I can just repeat what I said before: There is no, and there can  
> > not be, a Hebrew root of the meaning "to be unknown". The hebrew  
> > root indicates a material state. The root (LM, as well, as its  
> > twin )LM, consist in my opinion of the single-consonat roots  
> > [substantives] AL-AM, 'tall-massive'. Thus both (LM and )LM  
> > essentially mean 'grow high, pile over'. The borrowed sense of (LM  
> > as 'hide, conceal' comes from the idea of 'go under cover' or  
> > 'burrow' done with the intent of vanishing from sight, as an  
> > animal would do covering itself with sand.
> > The price you pay for substituting the metaphorical value  
> > 'unknown' of (LM for its basic value 'grow up, pile over' is your  
> > interpretation of ALUMIM, 'youth', as "the period when girls are  
> > still sexually unknown to boys, and boys are still sexually  
> > unknown to girls", which I would not even remotely concede.
> > I am also in grave doubt on the translation of HA-QODRIYM MINI  
> > QARAX as "blackish by reason of the ice". Job 6:16-18 describes in  
> > my opinion the snow capped mountains of East Africa.
> >
> >
> >  Isaac Fried, Boston University
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