Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Isaak:

Your theory works only with cherry picked data, and then even sometimes by
misrepresenting that cherry picked data.

For example, you reference רעה which you misrepresent as having the meaning
of ‘to graze’ while its uses in Tanakh show its meaning of ‘to feed’ of
which grazing is one way to feed ruminants. It is used also in connection
with feeding other people and even oneself.

בדר not Biblical Hebrew
בזר to allot
בסר a noun, unripe grapes
בצר to remove, be removed, e.g. grapes from a vine, abilities ⇒ to make or
be inaccessible, fortify (inaccessible place)
בשר to report, often a good report
בתר to section, cut into pieces
פדר noun, uncertain meaning, rumen, stomach, ??
פזר to distribute, disperse (push away)
פטר to open forth, release (from duties), in order to come out (in a place
where there is irrigation, a person who is opening forth or releasing waters
is stealing from his neighbors) hence to slip out (escape)
פצר to beg hence to urge
פשר a noun, used only once, explanation
פתר to interpret (a dream)

If the presence of ‘ר’ in a word “indicates reference to an aggregated
material state” as you claim, then what about:

אבר to soar

אדר to have splendor

אחר to delay

אטר to restrict, prevent access to

עצר to restrain, in the sense of keeping from an action, holding back

פגר to collapse from exhaustion

שׂקר to apply mascara (is not applying makeup deceptive, hence connected to
the following?)

שׁקר to deceive by any means


I can go on and on, but it should be clear by now that the presence of ‘ר’
in a word does not indicate “reference to an aggregated material state” as
you claim. This is why your theory doesn’t convince. When one looks at all
the data, not just your cherry picked data, then your theory falls apart.
And when I am a self-taught scholar, you can’t accuse me of following the
herd of scholastic orthodoxy (which I don’t even know).

Karl W. Randolph.

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 6:58 AM, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:

> I will give you the gist of it. First, I believe that the presence of
> the letter R in a Hebrew root indicates reference to an aggregated
> material state. For instance, the verb, RAAH, ראה 'see',
> essentially means 'to separate, differentiate, and distinguish the
> discerned details', while the verb RAAH, רעה, 'graze', essentially
> means 'to roam freely'.
> The root PTR, פתר, 'solve, unravel, clear-up', essentially means to
> 'break-up, or relieve, a difficulty'.
> This root is a member of the family of roots
>
> בדר, בזר, בסר, בצר, בשר, בתר
> פדר, פזר, פטר, פצר, פשר, פתר
>
> all of the same basic meaning.
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>
>