Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 6:54 AM, <JimStinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

>  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.  …  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.
>
>
Quoting a mistranslation hardly helps your argument, further it strengthens
a criticism of you in that it indicates that you don’t know Biblical Hebrew.
Gesenius and his followers often were wrong, in that they looked at Hebrew
according to form, while Biblical writers wrote according to action. The
action most often done to olives is that they were crushed for their oil,
hence the reference to crushing in Isaiah 17:6.

> …
>
> 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.
>
>
It is plausible based on a faulty understanding of the Biblical Hebrew
language and how it was used. That’s why we repeatedly ask you to learn the
language. But you repeat one elementary mistake after another, indicating
that you don’t know the language.

>
>
> Jim Stinehart
>
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
Karl W. Randolph.