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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] chalal - perforate/pierce?

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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>
  • To: "b-hebrew-lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] chalal - perforate/pierce?
  • Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:47:41 -0500

La Fanga wrote:
I've heard that the word mechalal in Isaiah 53:5 can means pierced based on
the Arabic cognate khalal which can mean to pierce/perforate/skewer. How
correct is it to carry over the Arabic meaning of a homonymic word into
Hebrew? I know that Arabic often helps us to understand archaic Hebrew words
however I also know that not all words that sound alike are the same. Do the
two words derive from the same semitic root so that it can be said they are
the same in meaning? I checked an Arabic concordance and while the Arabic
khalal can have a myraid of different meanings, the word seems to be used
commonly in the sense of spoiling, corrupting, or other degeneration similar
to the primary meaning of the Hebrew. So is it linguistically possible for
mechalal to mean pierced as some claim? Thanks.

HH: The word in Isa 53:5 means "pierced" in the sense of "wounded." The lexicon lists an Arabic cognate that means "pierce."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard





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