Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Paul Zellmer" <pzellmer AT sc.rr.com>]

Fred,

How do you come to that conclusion?  Every language that I have studied has
words that are close synonyms whose meanings are nuanced to some degree.
And those nuances, while not necessarily immediately recognized by
non-native speakers, are well recognized by the "average" native speaker.
There are times that an "average" native speaker might not be able to
describe the nuances to a non-native speaker, but he still recognizes that
there is a slight difference in semantic domain.  I see no difference in the
Hebrew language that would preclude this innate recognition by the "average"
native speaker during the time that Hebrew enjoyed the status of lingua
franca for the twelve tribes.

Nehemiah 8:8 describes a population that did not have Hebrew as their
everyday language.

Deuteronomy 31:9-13 says nothing about the people not understanding the
language, just that they needed to be reminded of the message and their
responsibility to obey the commands.

All this being said, a question still remains: even if you were correct
(which studies have indicated that you are not) in your continued
proposition that the Tanach was not for "consumption" by the average Hebrew
person, what impact does that have on our study of the linguistic aspects of
the texts (as opposed to the applications or theological significances of
the texts)?

Paul Zellmer

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of fred burlingame
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 11:12 AM
To: David Kolinsky
Cc: B-Hebrew
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] guess work

Hello David:

Thanks for your excellent explanation of these words and their different
meanings in the context here.

Your nice remarks lead me to the following conclusion. The masoretic text
and/or its predecessor components (such as scroll of
deuteronomy) was not intended in 882 b.c., for consumption by the average
hebrew person, except via a priest to mediate//explain it. cf., nehemiah 8:8
(442? b.c.). see also, deuteronomy 31:9-13.

regards,

fred burlingame
On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 12:32 AM, David Kolinsky
<yishalom AT sbcglobal.net>wrote:

>   Fred,
>
> In the following passage, I offer, based on my etymological scheme, a
> description of the nuanced differences between these words.  However, as I
> am sure everyone on this list knows: the connotative meaning of a word or
> the nuanced meaning that a word has is not necessarily reflective of its
> literal meaning or the meaning of its etymologic source.
>
> Dt1:12
> T!RCh "burden"
> literally means "something a person goes out of their way to do"
> in this case: that aspect of Moshe's responsibility to the Israelites that
> requires him to go out of his way to fulfill
>
> MS\A  "burden"
> literally means "something that is lifted up and carried along for a
> prolonged time"
> in this case: that aspect of Moshe's responsibility to the Israelites that
> requires him to persevere for a prolonged period of time
>
> RYB "strife"
> literally means "becoming larger or posturing"
> in this case: that aspect of Moshe's responsibility to the Israelites that
> requires him to deal with their posturing or showing arrogance
>
> Dt 1:13
> ChKM  wise
> literally meaning "one who can grasp (mentally) a thing piece by piece"
> in this case: provide men who can gain understanding of a situation by
> considering it one piece at a time
>
> NBN understanding
> literally meaning "one who can see a thing from the inside"
> in this case: provide men who can gain understanding of a situation by
> considering it as if they were inside of it
>
> YD/A knowing
> literally meaning "one who can point something out and acknowledge a
thing"
> in this case: provide men who can gain understanding of a situation by
> considering what they can recognize or acknowledge of it from previous
> experience
>
>
> Thanks for your time,
>
> David Kolinsky
>
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