Biblical Hebrew Forum

[TedBro AT aol.com]

Isaac:
 
Not sure what you are asking. I thought Jerry did a nice job documenting  
the metallurgical use of RQ(...
 
"Rq( as a verb occurs 12x in the Hebrew Bible. With 5 of those  occurrences,
Exod 39:3; Num 17:3, 4; Isa 40:19; and Jer 10:9, there is no  debate at all
as to what is being denoted by the verb: a process of  hammering, beating,
and stamping out metal."
 
 For example, 
 
39:3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to 
 work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the 
fine  linen, with cunning work. (King James Bible, Exodus)
 
I must admit that I have not looked at this entire verse in the Hebrew. (Am 
 still on vacation and away from my home library.) But I assume that RQ( is 
here  rendered "beat" and that "thin plates" is a reasonable rendering.
 
As to whether the root is early or late, not sure what that would mean or  
why important... Surely we are talking pre-Iron age in any case, right?
 
On the substance of the argument, wouldn't you agree that if there is no  
literal hammer implied in God's creating a RQY(, there need be no literal  
metallic surface either?
 
Cheers,
Ted
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 9/10/2012 1:04:38 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
if AT math.bu.edu writes:

So that  RQ( is a late root, dating from the time ancient man started to 
beat malleable  metals into sheets?   


Isaac Fried, Boston University


On Sep 10, 2012, at 12:28 PM, _TedBro AT aol.com_ (mailto:TedBro AT aol.com)  
wrote:


1) RQ( is a metallurgical term meaning beaten into a smooth  surface