Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Yaakov:
Thanks for the reference. It gave me enough information that I was able to
do an online search for information, and while I was not able to look at the
text, the descriptions given of 6Q4 are that it is so fragmentary that the
probability of it answering my question are about nil.

Words that made me question:

יצוע YCW( (LXX πλευρα PLEURA meaning rib or ribcage, hence side) which in
verse 5 is used in the context that it is an architectural feature. It is
elsewhere used of a bed or camp bed. That they are listed separately and
their width shortest from bottom to longest at top makes it sound like
flying buttresses.

מגרעות MGR(WT (LXX διαστημα DIASTEEMA meaning distance, difference) is found
only here. Its root גרע GR( means to diminish, as in subtracting from,
plucking out, which makes it sound as if this refers to hollows in the walls
to anchor the ends of flying buttresses.

As for the LXX, you have given only part of the verse. When taken together
with verse 5 only adds to the confusion, as it is inconsistent in its
translation. In verse 5 יצוע YCW( is translated with μελαθρα MELAThRA whose
meaning I have been unable to find, with πλευρα PLEURA for צלעות CL(WT, but
in verse 6 יצוע YCW( is translated with πλευρα PLEURA while מגרעות MGR(WT, a
plural noun apparently referring to architectural features, is translated
with διαστημα DIASTEEMA which has a meaning akin to the noun רחבה RXBH.

I was hoping that the DSS could clear things up, but apparently this verse
is not found there. The other option is that these terms refer to
architectural features that have been forgotten. They may have been
forgotten as early as the LXX, so that those translators too were scratching
their heads.

It's not that important, merely as a lexicographer, I was curious. Thanks
for your response

Karl W. Randolph.

On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 4:05 AM, Yaakov Stein <yaakov_s AT rad.com> wrote:

> Karl
>
> > Because of the contextual clues, it appears that we might be dealing with
> a textual copying error.
> > That's why I ask, is this verse found in any of the DSS, and if so, what
> does the DSS say?
>
> The only place it may appear is 6Q4. Unfortunately, I don't have that one.
>
> On the other hand, the Septuagint seems to match the Hebrew very well here
> "he gave the house space all around, outside the house,
> in order that they should not lay hold of the walls of the house"
> (Oxford - New English Translation of LXX)
>
> In any case, I agree with Yitzhak that the Hebrew seems quite natural.
> Of the three YCY( structures, the lowest is the narrowest and the highest
> is the widest
> since the walls are step-pyramid, and the beams of the YCY( have to rest on
> the walls.
>
> Thus LBLTY has its usual meaning - "so that it won't".
>
> Yaakov (J) Stein