Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

karl, pere,

1.     >>>>> Some pairs don’t follow a pattern.
בקע, בקעה
Not analysed yet

these are roughly rift and valley.
bq) means to rip apart like a hatching egg or ram a wall.
shmot 14:15, 14:22.
biq)ah is a vally.

2.      >>>>>
חק, חקה, which, if these follow any pattern, I suspect that חק refers to
individual laws, while חקה refers to groups of laws, such as the group
referring to the sabbath.

in the legal sense this is indeed the case: xoq is a single rule in 
shmot 18:16 and xuqa as a set of laws in 12:10. 

non-legally, meaning just "a rule to be repeated indefinitely", as xoq-)olam
or xuqat-)olam, they seem to be synonymous: compare 12:24 and 27:21.

xoq is also called mishpat. i dont know of any distinction between them. 
in vaikra 19:37 xuka (in fact, xuqot in plural!!!) and mishpat are both
mentioned. see also 20:8. see also mitzvot-mishpatim bamidbar 35:13. this may
lead to a new thread...

more pairs from the torah (leafing through shmot, vaikra):

*. mal)ak (angel/messenger), mla)ka (work, mission)
*. riv, meriva (quarrel, big quarrel?)
*. tzav, mitzva
*. 'ed, 'edah (witness, community)
*. ner --> (manor ??), menorah
*. em, amah (both feminine!)
*. efod, afudah 
*. ketef, kitfah 
*. masak, masekah
*. tzar (batzar lo: be in trouble), tzara (trouble)
*. xet, xata)ah
*. shemetz (stain?) , shimtzah 
*. qodesh, qdushah
*. esh, isheh!!! vaikra 22:8, 23:25 (both feminine).
*. nexoshet, nexusha naikra 25:19 (both feminine!).
*. xerev, xorbah/xurvah (sword and its action) 
*. xerem, xormah
*. mirqax(at) (cooked food), merqaxa (skirmish).
 
so, these are not necessarily m/f pairs.

nir cohen