Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

All,

Now the the Jewish holiday of yom kippur, the day of atonement, is  
over it is worth recalling that the root SLX, and the derived word  
SLIXAH, 'forgiveness', pertains in the Hebrew bible to a divine act  
only. Only God can perform the act of SLIXAH. It is not in the power  
of one man to forgive another man.
In Jeremiah 5:1
שׁוֹטְטוּ בְּחוּצוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם  
וּרְאוּ-נָא וּדְעוּ וּבַקְשׁוּ  
בִרְחוֹבוֹתֶיהָ אִם-תִּמְצְאוּ  
אִישׁ אִם-יֵשׁ עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפָּט  
מְבַקֵּשׁ אֱמוּנָה וְאֶסְלַח, לָהּ
"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and  
know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if  
there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I  
will pardon it" [KJV],
is, in my opinion, also God's words.

Isaac Fried, Boston University