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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Circle חוג

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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Jerry Shepherd <jshepherd53 AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Circle חוג
  • Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:02:41 -0400

It appears to me that XUG is a variant of חך XEK (Job 12:11), the vault of the mouth'.
Also of חכה XIKAH (Is. 817), 'waited, stalled'. Also of XGG (Ps. 42:5(4)),
'assemble, congregate, press together'. Also of חק XEQ ( 1Ki. 3:20),
'breast, enclosure (as created by embracing)'.

Thus, חוג הארץ XUG HA-AREC of Is. 40:22, as well as חוג שמים XUG $AMAYIM
of Job 22:14, as well as the XUG of Proverbs 22:14,
are all referring to the vault גג GAG (how "material" I don't know) of the sky.
"circle" is here in the sense of "a circle of friends", not in the sense of the
geometrical figure (recall this remarkable fact: among all curves of a
given circumference the circle encloses the largest area,
as do people pressing to be closer together.)

The מחוגה M-XUG-AH of Is. 44:13 is possibly a M-XUQ-AH.

The YA-XOG-U of Ps. 107:27 is possibly 'stalled'.

I think that the Hebrew bible is far off such macro-geographical considerations
as the "spherical" or "circular" shape of the earth, or any other "cosmological" matters.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Aug 26, 2012, at 12:30 AM, Jerry Shepherd wrote:

the material vault of heaven





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