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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: kwrandolph AT gmail.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] RB
  • Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:50:53 EST


Karl:

1. You wrote: “So what? What is the evidence that we deal with a two
letter root here? None.”

(a) RB is the 2-consonant root of many city names in Canaan, both in the
Bible and in non-biblical sources. By contrast, no city in Canaan was ever
called “City of Four”. A city with a “gate” can logically have the name “
Great City”, whereas there is no reason for QRYT )RB( to having the meaning
of “City of Four”.

(b) The meaning of RB( as a verb in Leviticus seems to be based on RB, not
RB(. The meaning makes perfect sense as being “be big (in a manly way)”,
while not meaning “be four”.

2. You wrote: “Ayin when it is part of a word, it is part of the root. It
doesn’t get dropped nor added. So this is a minimum a three letter root.”

(a) $M( has a 2-consonant root: $M.

(b) YD( has a 2-consonant root: YD.

(c) RB( has a 2-consonant root: RB.

(d) Most other Hebrew verbs that end in ayin have a similar pattern.

The ayin in those verbs has been added to the 2-consonant root as a mere
verbal suffix. That final ayin is not part of the root.

3. The fact that )RB( as a common word means “four” does not mean that
)RB( as the name of an Anakim giant must mean “Four”, or that the city name
QRYT )RB( must mean “City of Four”. Rather, based on those Bronze Age
proper names having an archaic 2-consonant root, RB, the giant’s name means
“Big”
, and the city name means “Great City”. That is a much more sensible
analysis.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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