Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

You are are right.

1. Pilling up frogs in a conical heap forms a DGOR (or YGAR. See Gen.  
31:47).
2. Pilling up frogs in a circular heap forms a GADER (or KETER,  
KADUR, QDERAH, etc.).
3. Pilling up frogs in a serrated heap forms a MA-DREGAH.

Otherwise, thanks for the useful links.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 4, 2011, at 8:20 PM, fred burlingame wrote:

> Hello Isaac:
>
> Thanks for taking the time to furnish your insightful comments.
>
> I suppose what concerns me about this process, follows. At first  
> blush, you appear to furnish a nice solution, a guide for  
> perplexing and infrequently used hebrew words. In other words, look  
> east towards the eastern language, aramaic translation. But I  
> wonder, whether we are wading into a swamp of quicksand from which  
> there is not return.
>
> 1. The meaning of aramaic דגר (de-gar), "heap," in exodus 8:10;  
> seems a bit different  than the meaning of hebrew דגר (da-gar) in  
> isaiah 34:15 and jeremiah 17:11, "brood over."
>
> 2. The piling up of dead frogs in heaps differs from the  
> arrangement of live chicks by mother hen under wing. But I can see  
> how the aramaic helps to understand the hebrew.
>
> 3. When we observe targum jonathan of isaiah 34:15 and jeremiah  
> 17:11 however, yet different aramaic words appear to translate  
> hebrew "da-gar" דגר .
>
> http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/searching/targumsearch.html
>
> 4. Further, the famed western language greek translation of isaiah  
> 34:15 veers off in an entirely different direction.
>
> http://apostolic.interlinearbible.org/isaiah/34.htm
>
> I just wonder in light of the above whether we are better off  
> choosing one version of the text, be it the western language  
> translation, the eastern language translation, or the hebrew  
> rendition ... and sticking with it ... for better or worse?
>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
>
> p.s. כבד (ka-ved) appears frequently used in hebrew; so the need  
> for reference to aramaic translation arises not?
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 4:31 PM, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> Here are examples where the TARGUM adds insight into the Hebrew.  
> XAMARIM ( חמרם ) of EX. 8:10 is rendered by Onkelos DGOR-IYN  
> ( דגורין ), helping us with the meaning of the Hebrew root DGR  
> ( דגר ). W-HA-KBED ( והכבד ) of next verse 11 is rendered by  
> him W-YAQAR ( ויקר ), helping us with the meaning of the Hebrew  
> root YQR ( יקר ).
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University