Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

David,

I have looked in the site of your post and this is what immediately  
caught my attention:
1. It is inconceivable that the Hebrew root (LM  has the evolved  
meaning of 'conceal', which as an act holds a supposition as to an  
implied intention by the actor. Neither is there any support I can  
see for the "other" (LM meaning 'agitated'. The two words (ELEM,  
'youth', and TA-(ALUMAH, 'mystery, concealment', come from the same  
root essentially meaning 'amass, bury under', and the artifice of two  
"different" [the tricky argument of phonemes versus phones] letters  
ayin becomes thus unnecessary. Otherwise, we would need, methinks, a  
third root (LM [and a presumed third "proto-semitic" ayin?] for (OLAM  
'eternity, creation'.

2. Trying to, even remotely, relate NAXAL-AH, 'property', and NAXAL,  
'pool, stream' via 'water, irrigation' is in my opinion a grave  
mistake. Different Hebrew words derived from the same root need not  
be notionally related --- there need not be any "horizontal"  
relationship whatsoever between different Hebrew words derived from  
the same root. Consider, for instance, the example of $EBER,  
wreakage', and $EBER, 'grain, sustenance'.
I am inclined to think that the root NXL is a variant of the roots  
XLL and KLL, 'include'. Thus NAXAL MAYIM, 'body of water' is a  
variant of MI-KAL HA-MAYIM of 2 Samuel 17:20 [in present day Hebrew  
ME-KAL is 'container', and ME-KAL-IT, is 'tanker'] , and  we are  
relieved by this of the need for the artifice of two "different"  
original het letters.
There are, of course, otherwise at least two evidently equvalent het  
letters in Hebrew: xet and he.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
On Feb 29, 2008, at 9:11 AM, David Steinberg wrote:

> I have been working on ancient Hebrew poetry (see Biblical Hebrew  
> Poetry
> and Word Play - Reconstructing the Original Oral, Aural and Visual
> Experience <http://www.houseofdavid.ca/anc_heb.htm>
> http://www.houseofdavid.ca/anc_heb.htm ) and came across Wolfgang
> Richter's enormous /Biblia Hebraica transcripta/ series. The only
> problem I have had in understanding his reconstruction of the biblical
> texts is due to some of the various signs he has used and his handling
> of gemination.
>
> He wrote a series of books in German outlining his approach.  
> However, at
> the beginning of his volume on Genesis he boiled it down into a few  
> pages.
>
> My German is non-existent so I asked two native German speakers to
> translate the key points. One was a journalist and the other and
> academic librarian. They both said that they could not really  
> understand
> his terminology.
>
> Does anyone know of an English guide to Richter's symbols and methods?
>
> David Steinberg
>
> Tel. 613-731-5964
>
> http://www.houseofdavid.ca/
>
> David.Steinberg AT houseofdavid.ca  
> <mailto:David.Steinberg AT houseofdavid.ca>
>
> <mailto:David.Steinberg AT houseofdavid.ca>
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew