Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Yaakov,

XSP means 'lift up, raise, elevate, bring forth' and hence by  
implication 'expose to view, bare, reveal'. It is so in Isaiah 52:10

חָשַׂף יְהוָה אֶת-זְרוֹעַ קָדְשׁוֹ  
לְעֵינֵי כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם וְרָאוּ  
כָּל-אַפְסֵי-אָרֶץ אֵת יְשׁוּעַת  
אֱלֹהֵינוּ

in Jeremiah 13:26, in Isaiah 30:14 and in Isaiah 47:2. Psalms 29:9

קוֹל יְהוָה יְחוֹלֵל אַיָּלוֹת  
וַיֶּחֱשֹׂף יְעָרוֹת

is more enigmatic. I see the English translators divided over )AYALOT  
being deer or oaks. Also about the meaning of YXOLEL, being to dance  
or to generate.
By the equivalence of B, W, P; G, H, X, K, Q; D, Z, T, Y, S, C, $, T  
we expose [XOSPIM] the immediate relatives of XSP

גדף
הדף
חטף, חצף, חשׂף, חתף
כסף, כשׁף, כתף
קטף, קצף

חטב, חצב, חשׁב
כזב, כשׂב, כתב
קצב, קשׁב

The MA- and the -O- in MA-XS-O-P are in my view personal pronouns.  
MA- is essentially the stand-alone [before it got grafted onto XASOP]  
MAH, 'the thing which is'. The internal -O- is a contracted HU),  
'he', standing also for the thing itself. These two personal pronouns  
[identity markers] turn the root XSP into the noun MAXSOP, 'the thing  
which has the property of XSP'. The initial MA- is needed since  
XASOP, 'you, expose', is already taken, and so is XASUP, 'he is  
exposed'. Yet XASIP, with an internal I = HI) for the thing itself,  
is available, and actually in use in 1 Kings 20:27. Only XASEP is  
left available, but it is a rare and doubtful "mishkal" [see $ARET of  
Numbers 4:12].
Hebrew employes now XASIPAH = XAS-I-P-AH for 'exposure', with the two  
personal pronouns -I-  = -AH = HI) standing for the thing itself.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Nov 18, 2007, at 6:31 AM, Yaakov Stein wrote:

> I was wondering about the grammatical form of the word MX&OP.
>
> The root clearly means "to expose" or "to reveal"
> from comparison with Is52:10 and Ps29:9.
>
> I always read the sentence as if it were LX&OP, i.e.
>    peeling the bark (in order) to expose the white
>
> but Rashi and others remark that MX&OP is GYLWY, i.e.
>    peeling the bark (and thus) exposing the white
>
> an easier possibility for M--O- is a noun form (similar to MXSOR,  
> MXSOM)
>    peeling the bark (and discovering) the exposed white
>
> (Incidentally, in modern Hebrew this noun form is used
> for an "exposed" neckline.)
>
> However, the first reading requires a L, the second should be X&YPH,
> and the third seems to be missing some connectives.
>
> Can anyone explain this grammatical form ?
>
> Yaakov (J) Stein
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