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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The Name "Simeon"
  • Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 17:49:31 -0500

Jim,

I am afraid that your investigations into the meaning of the names of the children of Jacob is doomed. You are in fact falling, I believe, into an etymological trap neatly set up for you by the latter God fearing editors of the narrative.
It is possible that all these are originally and essentially scared names of indigenous deities held dear by the foreign born matriarchs and their maids, and bestowed upon their children. Later editors defaced the names by the additions of filler consonants and invented vowels so as to make them sound innately meaningful. The playful and obviously nonsensical etymologies attached to "explain" the names are but a subtle message not to take them too seriously.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Dec 6, 2007, at 10:12 AM, JimStinehart AT aol.com wrote:

The name of Jacob’s second son is “Simeon”. Here is the relevant JPS1917
translation regarding the name “Simeon”: “And she [Leah] conceived again, and
bore a son; and said: 'Because the LORD [YHWH] hath heard that I am hated,
He hath therefore given me this son also.' And she called his name Simeon.”
Genesis 29: 33

In my view, there are four key Hebrew words involved here, as follows:

SHIN/SIN-MEM-ayin: shama’/“heard”

SHIN/SIN-NUN-aleph: sana’/“hated” [At Genesis 29: 33, the form of this
word is SHIN/SIN-NUN-vav-aleph-heh.]

NUN-tav-NUN: nathan/“given” [At Genesis 29: 33, the form of this word is
yod-tav-NUN.]

SHIN/SIN-MEM-ayin-vav-NUN: “Simeon”

There are three key Hebrew true consonants here: (1) shin/sin, (2) mem, and
(3) nun, in that order. I myself see three levels of deliberate puns here,
with the second level pun being by far the most important.
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