Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

"Marry' is, of course, but a euphemism, there was no "marriage" in  
biblical times. A man took a woman and she was his. The prophet is  
raising here the image of the "sons" of Zion coming upon and making  
love to their desired, XEPCI-BAH חפציבה, land.
The verb BAAL means 'come upon, possess'. This translation is  
interesting in the sense of seeing BAAL as equivalent to PAAL,  
somewhat in the sense of Isaiah 54:5.
It appears to me that the root B(L essentially means 'tall, high,  
lofty'. This is possibly the meaning of the canaanite god BAAL: 'the  
doer'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Mar 8, 2011, at 5:15 PM, Doug Belot wrote:

> Hi , I wonder could anyone help me with gender words in Is 62:5 ,  
> "And your sons will marry you" , does hebrew demand this be "sons  
> marry you" , it seems some translation alter this to "build" you or  
> some such that does not suggest a "marry" need be involved or  
> indeed the "sons" .