Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

i still side with the jackals.

the purpose of Isa in that phrase was not to strike his listeners with a sense
of TERRIBLE AWE or FEAR, but to provide an image of urban DESTRUCTION and the
WILDERNESS taking over the ruins, plus a sense of PUTRID DEATH,
emanating from dead bodies left at the aftermath of destruction.

if this is the purpose, the natural candidates are scavengers rather than
beasts of prey or legendary beasts of terror. hienas, jackals, perhaps some
big black birds like the deserd eagle. dinosaurs and dragons would miss the
mark here. although crocodiles were found in canaan, and might at times 
leave their river habitat, they were not associated TYPICALLY with urban
destruction and putrid death as jackals and hienas. 

nir cohen

On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:00:17 -0400, b-hebrew-request wrote
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