Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Pere,

One needs to be careful, I think, not to assign to a Hebrew root:
1. A dynamical sense.
2. An implied sense.
The root GLL [as well as GL and its variants HL, XL, KL, QL] does not  
mean 'roll' in the dynamical ongoing sense, certainly not in the  
sense of going around, but in the sense of 'collect, encompass,  
elevate', only. GALGAL, 'wheel', is not a rolling device but two  
mounds, GAL, attached at their base --- it is a uniformly swelling  
contraption.
This swelling can be horizontal or vertical. Galil in the sense of  
'region, district' [what the Germans call Bezirk or Kreis] is a  
horizontal, or a flat two-dimensional, inclusion, but GAL as a mound  
is a vertical three-dimensional inclusion. When 1 Samuel 26:7 says  
that $AUL was sleeping BA-MA-(AGAL, he does not mean that he was  
sleeping in a pile, but rather that he was sleeping at the center  
with his warriors uniformly spread around him. But (EGEL, 'calf', is  
an upright pile of bones and muscles.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Apr 30, 2008, at 1:21 AM, <pporta AT oham.net> <pporta AT oham.net> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I'm unable to follow the explanations of Jim, mainly because I know  
> nothing of Egyptian language.
> But as regards the etymology of Galilee, I think that maybe both  
> Isaac and Jim focus on the issue in a too much complicated way.
> The same as in Joel 1:5 we have the noun (SYS, sweet wine or  
> pressed out juice, from verb (SS, to press... the noun GLYL is  
> derived from verb GLL, to roll, and means, as Isaac suggests, a  
> hilly land, a wavy terrain.
>
> Are there any objections to this?
>
> Pere Porta
> Barcelona (Spain)
>
>
>
> [IF]
> It is possible that GALIL is indeed a KALIL, a geographical inclusion
> of some sort, but it is also possible that it is so named for its
> hilly terrain of GALIM GLULIM. This GAL seems to appear also in the
> names GOLAN, GILBO(A, GILGAL, GILOH, [the personal names GALYAT and
> the hefty (EGLON of Judges 3:17?] and GIL(AD.
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>
> On Apr 29, 2008, at 2:39 PM, JimStinehart AT aol.com wrote:
>
> > Etymology of “Galilee”
> >
> > A.  “Galilee” in Hebrew is gimel-lamed-yod-lamed.  There obviously
> > are three
> > key consonants in “Galilee”, which are gimel-lamed-lamed/G-L-L.
> >
> > B.  The accepted etymology of the word “Galilee” is that it means
> > “district,
> > circuit or region”.  Isaiah 9: 1 (alternatively referenced as
> > Isaiah 8: 23)
> > is cited in support of that proposition.
> [cut]
> > Jim Stinehart
> > Evanston, Illinois
> >
> >
> >
> >
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