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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Zeloph-ehad or THE NOBLE ONE

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  • From: "Ishinan" <ishinan AT comcast.net>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Zeloph-ehad or THE NOBLE ONE
  • Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:21:40 -0600

FRED BURLINGAME wrote: Hello all: The etymology of this name = strong's 6738
+ 6343? "shadow of fear?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Daughters_of_Zelophehad.jpg Any
suggestions would be welcomed.
--------------------------------------------------ISHINAN: Based on my
research of Saadia Gaon (Sa`yid bin Yuwsuf al-Fayyuwmiy)

I would translate " Zeloph-ehad" as the "ONE"(ehad) of "NOBLE" "GENEROUS
ORIGIN" and/or of PURE RACE (S.lph tselph or Zeloph) cf. Arabic S.aliyb; root
of S.LB ; primary sense: hardy, strong and sturdy. Unfortunately, the
suggestion offered above has nothing to do with shadow or fear!



BTW. This is not the first time that B Hebrew compound words, including
initial "ts + l" letters, have been often misread and mistranslated as
"shadow." Consequently, this has led to unintended confusion.



(For those interested in familiarizing themselves with Sa`diyah's work
(Saadia Gaon), I suggest reading "The Zikkaron la-Rishonim we-gam
la-Aaronim. Studien und Mittheilungen aus der St. Petersburg Kaiserlichen
Bibliothek. 5 vols. St. Petersburg, 1879-82. Studien contains biographies and
works of Saadia Gaon, from manuscripts in the St. Petersburg library,
annotated by Albert Yakovlevich Harkavy.)





FYI . Sa`diyah is one of the founders of comparative Semitic philology and
the establishment of a new school of Biblical exegesis. He is also well
known to have written extensively in Arabic. His explanation of the Hebrew
vocabulary by the Arabic, particularly in the case of the favorite
translation of Biblical words by Arabic terms having the same sound, has been
in great part preserved in many Arabic sources.



Hitherto, the position assigned to Sa`diyah in the oldest list of Hebrew
grammarians has not been challenged even by the latest historical
investigations. Yet, in my opinion, there is an obvious underutilization of
his works by the majority of members in this HB group in favor of Greek and
Aramaic translations (with the exclusion of RANDALL BUTH, I might stress).



Best regards



Ishinan Ishibashi








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