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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Yamin -South

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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Will Parsons <wbparsons AT alum.mit.edu>
  • Cc: b-hebrew list <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Yamin -South
  • Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 01:40:52 -0400

1. Laban spoke Aramaic.

2. I recall that when I was about 8 years old, a bedouin girl used to come with a flock of some 20 goats to graze on a field near our house at the edge of town, at the foot of the hills of Lower Galilee. I am almost sure she was younger than I. I did not dare come close and only looked at her from a safe distance as I was afraid of her stones. I vaguely remember that from time to time she had an older boy with her. One day I saw her with three women. They motioned (they spoke no Hebrew and I spoke no Arabic) to me to come closer. I went to them and they felt my soft blond hair with their brown fingers and giggled heartily to each other. Then I run back home.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 1, 2011, at 9:50 PM, Will Parsons wrote:

Hi Isaac,

On Sat, 1 Oct 2011 18:53:37 -0400, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
The ending -IYN may be a plural marking. She called her son BEN- ONIY, the
son of my youth, and he called him BINYAMIYN, the son of my (many) days.

My impression is that -in as a plural marking is Aramaic, which surely would
not be likely in a Hebrew name at this early an age?

I estimate that RAXEL was about 5 years old (proof: she was still single)
when YAAQOB first set eyes on her.

I find that thought quite extraordinary - I realize that that in ancient times
people matured at an earler age than they do now, but I find the thought that
Jacob would be enraptured by a 5-year old, ... disconcerting to say the least.
And even then, would a 5-year old be entrusted with the task of taking care of
a flock of sheep on her own?

--
Will Parsons





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