Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Stephen Shead <sshead.email AT gmail.com>]

Hi Michael,

Ah, yes, that makes sense now. But actually, scanning about half the instances in a range of books, I get the impression that חסר means "decrease" rarely, if at all, in fact. The basic idea seems to be that of "lacking" something. Of course, the context may make it clear that the lack contrasts with a previous abundance, but I don't see that in the majority of cases. Maybe there are exceptions, but even with the waters in Gen 8:3, the relative "lack" of water is the end point after a steady process of decreasing - but the decrease is expressed with שׁוב, not חסר. Again, there is no reason to think that חסר **in itself** actually connotes the decrease here nor even a contrast with previous abundance - that comes from the context. And in most cases I glanced at, there was clearly no "before-after" contrast in view.

In that sense, I find it strange and unhelpful that HALOT lists its first major definition (in bold face) as "decrease" (similarly Holladay, "diminish"). And almost all of the sub-senses and examples listed under that simply don't fit with "decrease"!

In terms of חסר Psalm 8:6:

- If you read it intertextually with Gen. 1, as I said, it would clearly be pre-fall. No decrease on view.

- Simply reading the text as it stands (which is, as George said, the basic and fundamental step - thanks for clarifying, George, agree entirely!), imposing the sense "You made him slip below his earlier status of equality with אלהים" is very strange in the context. The psalmist is marvelling, somewhat bemused given his smallness, at the gloriously high status conferred on humanity by God - as the following emphasises in unrelentingly glowing terms (vv. 6b-9). The idea of a decrease from an earlier superior glory doesn't fit with the flow of ideas.

Regards,

Stephen Shead

Centro de Estudios Pastorales

Santiago, Chile

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Abernathy <mabernathy AT conwaycorp.net>
To: "b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: 
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:33:53 -0500
Subject: [b-hebrew] Psalm 8:6

Sorry, I meant to ask about the meaning of חסר
It appears that most uses suggest that the object described is made to be less than it originally was.  This made me think the Psalmist might be describing an original, more exalted condition that was lost.
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy