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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Job 6:16, was definite article in Isaiah 7:14
  • Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:30:37 -0500

Isaac Fried wrote:

OK, this is the prevailing wisdom, but where did the translators get HA-QODRIYM as "They are dark" or "They are black"?

They got it from the prevailing meaning of the word in the OT, which is "be dark." Here is the HAL definition of QDR, but I leave out things that don't come across because of fonts:

QDR: MHeb. hif. to become dark, JArm. pe. itpa. to become dark, pt. passive, blackened; Mnd. qdr pa. to strike, cut, wound, pan{el conjugation, to be (become) dull, gloomy (of the eyes, Drower-M. Dictionary 405a); Arb. qad≈ira, qad≈ura dirty, unclean, to be (become) filthy.
qal: . . . cf. Delekat (VT 14 (1964) 55), who for Heb. accepts only the meaning to be dark (meaning to mourn, the first meaning below); he rejects the second and third meanings below, but see Jb 6:16 and Arb.
—1. to become dark: of the sun and the moon Jl 210 515, the sky Jr 428, the day Mi 36; ?
—2. to become dull, become dirty (lAjÅn) Jb 6:16.
—3. to be dirty, untidy, in mourning garb : Jr 821 142 Ps 3514 387 4210 432 Jb 511 3028. †
Hiphil
—1. with acc. to darken (the stars … the bright lights in the sky) Ezk 327f.
—2. to put into mourning, dress in mourning clothes (of the Lebanon) Ezk 3115. †
hitp: pf. … to grow dark (the sky with clouds and a storm) 1K 1845. †


In any event, in my opinion the pre-positioned HA- refers to mountains not water.

There is no mention of mountains in the context, and the HA- has to have an antecedent, which is evidently a plural word because of the form QDRYM to which it is attached. The plural word in the previous verse that fits is HXLYM, "torrents."

Also, notice that Dalman is being careful in saying that the water is only never clear [niemals klar].

HH: The swell water is never clear. The swell water is the water at the time of year when the ice and snow melt. If it's not clear, it's dark or dirty.

And what about the snow supposedly vanishing over them, is it above them on mount Xermon?

HH: The snow could fall on the water from the sky, or could be on pieces of ice that float along, having descended from the mountains. It could fall off the ice or break off in chunks from along the banks of the river.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard







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