Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

karl,

you must be mistaken here. even in the quotation you give, mekhon mamre 
translates KRH as "diggeth".
modern hebrew is very clear about it, using KARAH=dig, MYKHREH=ore mine. BH 
also uses it specifically 
for digging. in the expression "KRH BWR WYXPRHW" there is a clear parallel 
between KRH and XPR, dig.

so, why does BH need two words for digging?

the problem is not with KRH, it is with XPR. the verb XPR is used for wells, 
canals and city walls, as in the word 
XAPIR=city wall (?). it certainly has a specific meaning that has to do with 
water and stone/brick walls. 
meanwhile, KRH has to do with mining, or burrowing, in which a concave hole 
is formed. this concavity
is evident in the apparently unrelated BH word KAR=pillow. the hebrew origin 
is very close to the akkadian:
KWR MXCBTW: the remote place from which the (nation) has been, so to speak, 
dug out.

i agree that in the phrase KRH )ZNW one may interpret  KRH in the 
shakespearean sense of "lend me your ears".
i believe, though, that the meaning is, figuratively, concave:  "bend one's 
ears" to hear better.

nir cohen

On Sat, 12 Mar 2011 09:10:26 -0800, K Randolph wrote
 
> כרה KRH does not mean ‘to dig’ in Biblical Hebrew. Rather it means ‘ to 
> furnish as in to provide Pr 16:27’ . 
What may make people think that it means to dig is that often KRH is used for 
those who provide a well by means of digging.
> Karl W. Randolph.