Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

To Ishinan, 

Let me add my voice to george’s. 

A garment, a patch and a layer are three concepts wide apart. I do 
not see in your evidence any clue of the root RQ( used as “patch”
in NES.
 
Some of your references do not have the root RQ( at all. 
The only early source you quote is about RKS, which is not necessarily a close
relative of RQ(.   If you have “wrapping, covering” in 
mind, I see no evidence that RQ( was used In this sense in Hebrew.
perhaps "layer" is, yes, a possibility.

Btw, I find the connection  between RKS (nowadays, button up, fasten) and )PWD
(some Fastened garment) which you raise interesting.  

>> ( parallel meaning is also found in many Semitic languages such as in
Ugaritic, Classical Arabic etc

Where?

Nir cohen

-------------------
>>>ishinan:  MEANING AND SYMBOLISM OF CLOTHING IN REFERENCE TO THE HEAVENS IN
SEMITIC LANGUAGES 
 
> The trilateral root of _rq`_ in Hebrew actually means "patch", ( parallel
meaning is also found in many Semitic languages such as in Ugaritic, Classical
Arabic etc. All of them are, invariably, describing the sky region with the
exact same terminology.  Parallel to Hebrew_ rq`_ Arabic has al-raqiy` or  the
first heaven 
> and  al-'Arqa` for each  layer or patch  of the seven heavens . This is a
clear reference to each one of the seven heavens.  The Qur'an (Fussilat 41:
12)    "And He created seven skies (heavens)  in two days, and taught each sky
its duties. And He adorned the nearest sky (or: the sky of this world) with 
stars...etc."  and 
> "Allah is He Who created seven Firmaments and of the earth a similar
number."   (Qur'an 65:120) 
> 
> Further Islamic texts refer to several levels of heavens: known as
al-Firdaws, `Adn, Na`iym, Na'wa, DAr al-salAm, dAr al-MuaqAmah, Al-MaqqAm
al-'Amiyn. 
> 
> Each of these heavens being a cover to what is next to it as though it was
'patched' over by the next one above it.  The highest celestial 'region' being
portrayed as 'patched' garment. 
> 
> The same idea of the seven heavens is  expressed in the Jewish Kabbalah:
Shamayim, the first Heaven Raqy`, the second Heaven Shehaqim, the third Heaven
Machen, the fourth Heaven Machon, the fifth Heaven Zebul, the sixth Heaven,
and Araboth the seventh Heaven. 
> 
> Ugaritic, equally has a rich vocabulary in describing heaven as a divine
clothing.  For example: when Motu  sarcastically  refers back to Ba`lu's
victory over Yammu and his monsters, he asserts that Ba`lu was uncovered (
i.e. suffered a terrible  humiliation)  But then he goes on to state that, the
heavens came loose  like the girdle (rks) of his cloak (`ipd) {see KTU
1.5:1.4-5}. Thus it would seem that Motu takes the heavens to be the
"clothing" of the weather -god Ba`lu ( here it could just as well become an
obvious metaphor for the clouded sky.) In fact, in Ugaritic, once the heavens
are depicted as Ba`lu cloak. 
> 
> Similarly, the Bible frequently uses the concept of the heavens covering
YHWH like a tent ( which incidentally is made of patches sowed together). In
fact the idea that the heavens are YHWH 's garment finds an echo in Ps. 
102:25-26 
> 
> "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens
(shamamym) [are] the work of thy hands. 
> 
> They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment (bgd); as a vesture ( lbwsh) shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed:" 
> 
> In addition, natural phenomena also may be clothed by YHWH. Indeed, in
anger, God clothes the heavens with blackness, and he makes sackcloth (sq)
their covering ( ksw-t) Isa. 50:3 "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I
make sackcloth their covering." 
> 
> I hope that the above examples are sufficiently convincing to convey the
true meaning and symbolism of "clothing/patched garment:"  in reference to the
sky or heaven(s) in the Semitic languages. 
> 
> Best regards to all 
> 
> Ishinan Ishibashi