Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:

You cite Isaiah 17: 6 as a place where GRGR refers to “olives”.  But at
Isaiah 17: 6, GRGRYM, being the plural of GRGR, is translated as “berries” in
the KJV.  The translation “berries” is also used by the English Standard
Version, American Standard Version, Young’s Literal Translation, Darby,
JPS1917, and JPS1985.  Indeed,  a-l-l  of the standard translations I quickly
checked translate GRGRYM at Isaiah 17: 6 as “berries”, being the plural of
GRGR, “berry”.  A berry is something “round” that can be “rolled”.  Yes, an
olive berry can later be “crushed” to produce olive oil, as you state.  But
an olive berry, while it is still an intact “berry”, is not “crushed”,
but rather is something “round” that can “roll”.  Gesenius says that GRGR
means “berry, so called from its round and rolling form”.  To me, Gesenius’s
explanation makes sense.

At Joshua 5: 9, the verb GLL means “to roll away”.  GLGL as a noun seems
to mean something that “rolls”.  The actual word for wheel would seem to be
)WPN, at Isaiah 28: 27.  In the very next verse, Isaiah 28: 28, the English
translation of GLGL may be “wheel”, but GLGL actually seems to mean “
something that is round and rolls”.  Thus a GLGL could easily be a wheel, but 
GLGL
could in fact be anything that is “round” and “rolls”.  GLGL, meaning “
something that is round and rolls”, derives from GLL, meaning “to roll” or “
to roll away”.

Based on the foregoing, GRGR and GLGL appear to have similar meanings.
GRGR is a “berry” that is “round” and that can “roll”.  GLGL is anything,
such as a “wheel”, that is “round” and “rolls”.  As Gesenius points out,
the Talmud even uses GLGL to mean “berry”!

Since GRGR and GLGL seem to have closely connected meanings, it stands to
reason that each of their root verbs, GRR and GLL, also have closely
connected meanings.  One meaning of GRR, and the main meaning of GLL, is “to 
roll”.

To me, Gesenius gives a convincing explanation as to how GRR, GLL, GRGR and
GLGL are all closely related, all being based on the concept of “rolling”.
 Accordingly, the “rolling”/GRR/GLL hills in northern Canaan could
logically be called either GRR/Gerar or GLYL/Galilee.

Karl, on what basis are you so sure that GRR does not mean the “rolling”
hills of Galilee?  As far as I can see, it seems to be possible
linguistically, based on the analysis of Hebrew words above.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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