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  • From: Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com>
  • To: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Vav Nun Suffix
  • Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:56:46 +0100

Jim,

My warm congratulations for your study on words with suffix -WN.

Me also, I did a study on this word type.
First, we should carefully distinguish those that end in -WN (= on) from
those that end in WN (= un).
You included in your list, for instance, adjective/noun XNWN, (= xanun)
gracious (Ex 22:26) (Remark: Not Ex 22:27)

Those ending in -WN (= on) are mainly nouns while those ending in -WN (= un)
are adjectives.

Samples:

-WN (= on):
1. alon, an oak (Hos 4:13)
2. xalon, window (Gn 26:8)
3. rimon, pomegranate (Joel 1:12)
4. xazon, ecstatic vision (Hos 12:11)
and many others as you list them.

-WN (= un):

1. xannun, gracious (Ex 22;26) --> medial nun with dagesh.


Nouns in -WN (= on) have some mystery: they show a range of meanings, from
the most immediate:

-aton, female donkey (Nm 22:23)
-aron, ark (2Ch 6:11)
-adon, lord (Ps 12:5)

to the most abstract:

-sason, joy, gladness (Ps 45:8)
-qalon, ignominy (Jb 10:15)
-zadon, insolence (Jr 50:31)
-gaon, exaltation (Jb 40:10)
-zikaron, remembrance (Ex 17:14)
-bitaxon, security, trust (Ecc 9:4)

Of course, we find some exceptions:
some that end in -WN (= on) are adjectives and not nouns: rishon, first (Ex
12:2), axaron, last (Ps 78:4)

Kind regards

Pere Porta
2010/11/15 <JimStinehart AT aol.com>

>
> In this thread, I would like to explore the vav nun suffix. There are
> three types of words or names that have a vav nun suffix: (i) common
> words,
> (ii) personal names, and (iii) geographical place names. In this post, we
> will
> focus solely on common words [before moving on to names in a later post].
>
> By my count, over 40% of the common words in the Hebrew Bible that have a
> vav nun suffix are in the Patriarchal narratives! [All the details, for
> anyone who may be interested, are set forth in the long footnote at the end
> of
> this post.]
>
> Is this a plene spelling issue? That’s not likely. The old parts of the
> Bible, such as the Patriarchal narratives, have less plene spelling [which
> among other things adds in interior vavs] than later parts of the Bible.
> Then
> why do so many common words with a vav nun suffix appear in the Patriarchal
> narratives? Something seems amiss here. Gordon Wenham, who is perhaps the
> leading scholarly commentator on Genesis, sees part of the Patriarchal
> narratives as having existed in written form, in some fashion, as early as
> the
> 13th century BCE, and no later than the 10th century BCE. “Genesis 1-15”
> (1987), at p. xliv. But prior to the 9th century BCE, no interior vowels
> were
> recorded in west Semitic writing [except in Ugaritic]. So then how account
> for the plethora of vav nun suffixes in the Patriarchal narratives? Is it
> sensible to think that a 1st millennium BCE editor put in each and every
> one
> of those interior vavs? Why would that have been done more extensively
> than anywhere else in the Bible? If this is not a plene spelling issue
> [and I
> myself don’t think plene spelling has much to do with it], then why are
> there so many interior vavs in the Patriarchal narratives? It would make
> no
> sense for a 1st millennium BCE editor to stud the Patriarchal narratives
> with
> common words with vav nun suffixes. That simply cannot be the explanation,
> can it? Moreover, in a later post we can see the same phenomenon with
> personal names, where it would make even less sense for a later editor to
> be
> putting in interior vavs. This seems to be a great Biblical linguistic
> mystery.
> Where are all those interior vavs coming from, in the form of all these
> common words with vav nun suffixes, in the truly ancient Patriarchal
> narratives?
>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
> Footnote: For anyone who may be interested in the details, here’s the
> breakdown of all the vav nun common words in the Bible. [Note: Limited to
> words that appear at least 10 times in the Hebrew Bible. Includes all
> words
> ending in -WN, even in those cases where the vav may be a part of the root
> of
> the word, rather than being part of a suffix. Words ending in -WN that the
> lexicons say are in the Patriarchal narratives are listed there, even in
> the
> few cases where, as noted below, the actual form in the Patriarchal
> narratives does not show an express vav.]
>
> A. Patriarchal Narratives: Common Words with Vav Nun Suffix
>
> 1. )LYWN at Genesis 14: 18
> 2. )LWN at Genesis 12: 6 and 18:1 [also a personal name at Genesis 46:
> 14]
> 3. XLWN at Genesis 26: 8 [as to which it is said: “derivation unknown”]
> 4. )DWN at Genesis 45: 8
> 5. )WN [meaning “sorrow”, in the form of the name BN-)WNY at Genesis 35:
> 18]
> 6. )WN [meaning “strength”, in the form of )WNY at Genesis 49: 3]
> 7. )XRWN [as at Exodus 4: 8, though at Genesis 33: 2 in the plural as
> )XRNYM, so this is ambiguous as to the interior vav]
> 8. )RWN at Genesis 50: 26
> 9. )TWN [as at Numbers 22: 23 may in effect be in the Patriarchal
> narratives, although the actual forms there are )TNW at Genesis 49: 11 and
> )TNT at
> Genesis 12: 16, so the presence of the interior vav is ambiguous]
> 10. HMWN at Genesis 17: 4
> 11. YGWN at Genesis 42: 38
> 12. LWN at Genesis 24: 25
> 13. (WN = “iniquity” at Genesis 15: 16 [The vav-nun ending here may not
> be a suffix; root is viewed as being (WH, and the vav is viewed as being a
> consonant.]
> 14. CGWN [but at Genesis 13: 14 in the form of CGNH, without an express
> interior vav; cf. CGWN at Exodus 26: 20]
> 15. R)$WN, meaning “first”, at Genesis 25: 25
> 16. RCWN [but in the form of RCNYM at Genesis 49: 6, without an express
> vav; cf. RCWN at Exodus 28: 38]
> 17. )SWN, meaning “mischief”, at Genesis 42: 38 [derivation “unknown”]
>
> B. Rest of Bible: Common Words with Vav Nun Suffix That Do Not Appear in
> Patriarchal Narratives
>
> 1. RMWN = pomegranate
> 2. )RMWN =castle
> 3. )BYWN = poor, needy
> 4. G)WN = exaltation [Ezekiel 16: 56]
> 5. HWN = riches [Ezekiel 27: 27]
> 6. ZDWN = arrogance [Deuteronomy 17: 12]
> 7. ZKRWN = memorial [Exodus 12: 14]
> 8. XZWN = ecstatic vision [I Samuel 3: 1]
> 9. XYCWN = outer [I Kings 6: 29]
> 10. XNWN = gracious [Exodus 22: 27]
> 11. XRWN = wrath [Numbers 25: 4]
> 12. Y$YMWN = desert, wilderness [Psalms 78: 40]
> 13. YTLWN = profit [Ecclesiastes 1: 3]
> 14. L$WN = tongues [Genesis 10: 20]
> 15. MKWN = fixed place, foundation [Exodus 15: 17]
> 16. M(WN = dwelling [Deuteronomy 26: 15]
> 17. ($RWN = tenth part [Exodus 29: 40]
> 18. QLWN = shame [Job 10: 15]
> 19. %%WN = joy [Isaiah 12: 3]
> 20. $)WN = pomp [Isaiah 5: 14]
> 21. $BTWN = rest, Sabbath [Exodus 16: 23]
> 22. TXNWN = supplication [Job 41: 3]
> 23. TXTWN = lower [Joshua 16: 3]
> 24. TYKWN = middle [Judges 7: 19]
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--
Pere Porta




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