Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Phil Sumpter" <philsumpter AT hotmail.com>]

The first verb in Ps 51:9 is apparently a jussive in the second person. 
Andersen-Forbes and van der Merwe define the jussive as "an indirect command 
to the 3rd (and sometimes 2nd) person." In what sense is >tkhatteini< 
"indirect"? If it just means "cleanse me," then what distinguishes it 
semantically from a normal imperative?

Philip Sumpter

http://narrativeandontology.blogspot.com/
>From him AT vadimcherny.org  Sat Aug  1 14:22:54 2009
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Date: Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:22:11 +0300
From: Vadim Cherny <him AT vadimcherny.org>
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] HEBREW HOMONYMS was Lexical question
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I agree, it is hard to argue with ben Moses ben Asher and Rambam )
However, the fact is that they understood homonyms differently from
modern grammarians. Thus, for example, Rambam in Moreh Nevuhim treats
"elohim" as a homonym denoting God, angels, rulers, or judges. We would,
of course, find those meanings closely related. It seems that for Rambam
any two meanings were homonyms, even if semantically related. In a
sense, he spoke of theological rather than semantic homonyms. Still in
other words, while we call *totally unrelated* meanings homonyms,
Maimonides calls them homonyms if they are not *strictly equal* in
theological terms. To that end, he introduced a concept of perfect and
imperfect homonyms.

Vadim Cherny
www.vadimcherny.org


Ishinan wrote:
> Vadim Cherny wrote:
>
> The thing is, Hebrew lacks homonyms. What you see as homonyms are actually 
> related meanings. As Karl saw for himself, finding the common meaning 
> requires some study but it is always there. This is a function of root 
> cells. I take Steinberg's  dictionary
> (*) for a fine example of such search.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Ishinan's response:
>
> In the Supplements to the Vetus Testamentum series which cover the whole 
> range of Old Testament study, is a pertinent article which I recommend 
> reading.  It is entitled: Hebrew Homonyms by G. R. Driver, p. 50.
>
> A preview of the article can be reviewed at:
> http://books.google.com/books?id=nrI3AAAAIAAJ&dq=Hebrew++homonyms&source=gbs_navlinks_s
>
> or
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=nrI3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Hebrew++homonyms&source=bl&ots=EvlYyo-p1D&sig=-OF-MkRpNws1QOZrXovJ5C3Dwa4&hl=en&eiþdzSvzHKI26NZ_GmLEM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=Hebrew%20%20homonyms&fúlse
>
>
> I would also consult the following Hebrew scholars, who wrote extensively 
> on the topic of Hebrew homonyms:
>
> AARON BEN MOSES BEN ASHER who compiled a list of eighty homonyms, "Shemonim 
> Zugim," which was afterward incorporated in the "Masora Finalis," s.v. א, 
> and in the "Oklah we-Oklah" (). Aaron ben Moses may be regarded as the 
> connecting link between the Masorites and the grammarians.
>
> DAPIERA, SOLOMON BEN MESHULLAM (Neo-Hebraic poet of North Spain; died after 
> 1417) compiled a comprehensive dictionary of rimes in three parts, two of 
> which dealt with homonyms and synonyms
>
> IBN BAL'AM, ABU ZAKARYA YAḤYA (R. JUDAH)  (Hebrew grammarian of Toledo, 
> Spain, about 1070-90.)
>  "Ta'lif fi al-Muṭabiḳ wal-Mujanis" (in Hebrew, "Sefer ha-Tagnis"), on 
> Hebrew homonyms, still unpublished. Only a fragment of the original Arabic 
> has been preserved (see Poznanski in "R. E. J." xxxvi. 298).
>
> HEILPRIN, JEHIEL BEN SOLOMON: (Lithuanian rabbi, cabalist, and chronicler; 
> born about 1660; died at Minsk about 1746). Of Heilprin's numerous works, 
> mentioned in the "Seder ha-Dorot," the only one which has been published is 
> "'Erke ha-Kinnuyim," a dictionary of synonyms and homonyms occurring in the 
> Bible, Talmud, and other works, chiefly cabalistic (Dyhernfurth, 1806).
>
> MOSES BEN MAIMON  (Talmudist, philosopher, astronomer, and physician; born 
> at Cordova March 30, 1135; died at Cairo Dec. 13, 1204; known in Arabic 
> literature as Abu 'Imran Musa ben Maimun ibn 'Abd Allah) . He devoted much 
> of the first part of the "Moreh Nebukim" to the interpretation of the 
> Biblical anthropomorphisms, endeavoring to define the meaning of each and 
> to identify it with some transcendental metaphysical expression. Some of 
> them are explained by him as perfect homonyms, denoting two or more 
> absolutely distinct things; others, as imperfect homonyms, employed in some 
> instances figuratively and in others homonymously.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HADASSI, JUDAH BEN ELIJAH HAABEL:(Karaite scholar, controversialist, and 
> liturgist; flourished at Constantinople in the middle of the twelfth 
> century).  Hadassi mentions a previously written work of his entitled 
> "Sefer Teren bi-Teren," a collection of homonyms which, he says, was an 
> addition to the eighty pairs of Ben Asher (alphabets 163 ב, 168 ס, 173 × 
> ).
>
> IBN EZRA, MOSES BEN JACOB HA-SALLAḤ (ABU HARUN MUSA): (Spanish 
> philosopher, linguist, and poet; born at Granada about 1070; died after 
> 1138; His "Tarshish" is accompanied by a commentary explaining the 
> signification of the homonyms used.
>
> JUDAH IBN BALAAM. wrote on the accents of the first three books of the 
> Hagiographa, on homonyms ("Kitab al-Tajnis"), and several smaller treatises 
>  Mention should be made here of the following works pertaining to the 
> subject, and written in Arabic by Spanish Jews of the eleventh and twelfth 
> centuries:  Abu Ibrahim ibn Barun's monograph "Kitab al-Muwazanah," on the 
> relation of Hebrew to Arabic (edited, as far as extant, by Kokowzoff, St. 
> Petersburg, 1894); "Kitab al-Kamil" (in Hebrew "Sefer ha-Shalem"), 
> including a grammar and lexicon, by Jacob b. Eleazar of Toledo, known only 
> through extracts.
>
>
>
>
>
> HILLEL I.  on Gezerah shawah: Argument from analogy. of Biblical passages 
> containing synonyms or homonyms .
> as the chief guides for the interpretation of the Scriptures and for the 
> deduction of laws from them (Tosef., Sanh. vii.; the introduction to the 
> Sifra, ed. Weiss, p. 3a, end; Ab. R. N. xxxvii.).
>
>
>
>
>             Best regards,
>
>             Ishinan B. Ishibashi
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________
>