Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello Ishinan:

Thanks for your comments. I think you make some excellent points.

The arabic and aramaic languages appear consulted a lot less than the greek
language, for interpreting biblical hebrew words.

Word meanings in any language frequently change depending on place, time,
purpose, user, etc. These variables impel me to try and steer clear of
referring to any other language for assistance in deciphering ancient hebrew
word meanings. I try to look at the context of the document, if possible, to
decipher word meanings.

Your analysis seems sound, but I just wonder whether it slips into
speculation by reason of reference to another language.

regards,

fred burlingame

On Sun, Dec 26, 2010 at 4:21 PM, Ishinan <ishinan AT comcast.net> wrote:

>
>
> FRED BURLINGAME wrote:
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> Hello all:
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> The etymology of this name = strong's 6738 + 6343? "shadow of fear?"
>
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> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Daughters_of_Zelophehad.jpg
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> Any suggestions would be welcomed.
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> --------------------------------------------------
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> ISHINAN: Based on my research of Saadia Gaon (Sa`yid bin Yuwsuf
> al-Fayyuwmiy)
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> 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 <http://s.lb/> ; primary sense: hardy, strong and
> sturdy. Unfortunately, the suggestion offered above has nothing to do with
> shadow or fear!
>
>
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> 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.)
>
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> 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).
>
>
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> Best regards
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>
>
> Ishinan Ishibashi
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