Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Yitzhak and Rolf:

On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 11:27 PM, Yitzhak >
> Hello Rolf,
>
> I did not expect this type of response from you.
>
Like you, I did not expect this type of response.

I decided not to answer your question before Rolf had a chance to
respond. The answer I would have given is more like what you wrote
below:
>
> On the face of it, what appears to be going on is that NZLYM, generally
> a term for a verb that is at least telic, durative, dynamic, is used here
> as a noun only.  It generally means "rainwater" because rainwater is
> something that drops down/NZL from the sky.  But here, it has lost its
> verbal semantics and means "rainwater" even when that rainwater is
> stored in a bottle.  The poetry uses this term because it emphasizes
> the miracle.
>
In Biblical Hebrew it does not mean specifically “rainwater”, rather
in the Bible it is used with well water and water from springs and
streams. In Song of Songs 4:16 the verb is used with spices, not
water. The few times it is used in connection with clouds, even there
it can be used in the same way as we say in English that “clouds pour
down water”. Another thing I noticed with NZL is that it is never used
in the Bible apart from a poetic context. So much for the
lexicographic considerations.

In the context of Exodus, its use as a nominal participle trumps its
verbal aspects. In this poetic use, we have the contrast that “that
which flows” congealed. Thus I take it merely as a poetic reference to
“water” that solidified in a miracle.

> Yitzhak Sapir

Karl W. Randolph.