Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

B-Hebrew Chaburim:

Some of you may be interested in the following.

I just looked at the well over one hundred uses of the term נגד NGD in
Tanakh, and found that the basic pre-Babylonian Exile use refers to “in the
presence of (Ps 23:5, Proverbs 21:30), laid out as a demonstration in the
presence of (Genesis 31:32, 37)”, while the addition of a prefixed מ- M-
indicates “out of the presence of, hence at or from a distance (Genesis
21:16, Deuteronomy 32:52, Proverbs 14:7)”.


In short, this is not just “before”, but an intimate presence where
communication takes place, up to and including where communication takes
place between a leader and a crowd of his followers (1 Kings 8:22).


Therefore, a verb from the same root exhibiting a meaning derived from the
same root would be expected to mean something like “to bring into the
presence of, present, demonstrate, lay out, (when the object is speech) to
make known (to present, lay out using a verbal picture)”.


During the Babylonian Exile, there seems to be a shift of meaning. Ezekiel
40–42 seems to use it in the sense of “opposite, on the other side” while
Daniel 10:13, 16 even has the idea of “opposing”.


Many of the uses in Nehemiah seem to be deliberate archaizing to
pre-Babylonian uses, though in chapter three uses it in a sense of “next to,
opposite” with מנגד MNGD indicating a starting point rather than a distance.


Any thoughts?


Karl W. Randolph.