Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

maybe indeed tent = community, as some of us claim, maybe not.

but YO$EV still means to sit. maybe it means to sit in the tent 
instead of going out (the "pshat"), maybe it means to sit in the
community/larger family ("drash").

but it goes a long way to imply: to provide anything to this 
community, or even to be involved in its activities. 

when the woman says to the prophet: BETOKh ´AMI ANI YO$EVET, she 
does not mean that she is a leader and provider for her folk, only that
she does not need material help because HER COMMUNITY CAN HELP HER,
not the other way around.

so, even assuming "community", the meaning (drash) could be equally: "jacob 
was a leader and provider for his community" or "jacob was a lazy 
bum and lived on his community's charity".

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i stumbled the other day on Isa 43:27 which may be the clue to jim 
steinheart's questions on the partly negative portrayal of ALL the 
patriarchs and, later, kings: a possible justification for the later
misfortunes of the people: "Thy first father sinned, and thine 
intercessors have transgressed against Me". 

nir cohen