Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

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