Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

kenneth greifer wrote:
> Harold,
>
> I don't think Leviticus 11:41 and 43 about not eating "creeping things that 
> creep" (or "swarming things that swarm") is a repetition that means 
> "creeping things that creep on earth" as opposed to swarming or creeping 
> things in the sea (Genesis 1:26) because Leviticus 11:9-12 already discusses 
> what they can and cannot eat that lives in the water. Of course, anything is 
> possible.
>
> Anyway, there are more examples of unnecessary repetitions in the Tanakh, so 
> a virgin that has not known a man might be just one more example of a 
> repetition. I don't think anyone can know for sure why it says "that a man 
> has not known" after betula.
>
> A few more possibly unnecessary repetitions: Deuteronomy 17:1 "a defect, any 
> bad thing", Numbers 19:2 "perfect, that has no defect in it". Deuteronomy 
> 1:45 says G-d did not listen to them two different ways. He did not listen 
> to their voice, and He did not give ear (listen) to them.
>   

HH: The repeated $RC in 11:41 can still give clarification, as it 
evidently does, despite an earlier paragraph. The earlier paragraph 
might particularly make the clarification helpful. I don't have time to 
look at all these verses, which you have knack for finding. There is no 
doubt that Hebrew uses repetition, particularly in synonymous 
parallelism as a form of poetry and proverb. But remember that phrases 
could have an idiomatic value, so in Deut 1:45 the idea could have been 
that God would not accede to their request or even listen to them. I 
agree that we may not be able to know exactly what the implication of 
the words are when the text says "that a man has not known" after betula.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard