Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

jim,

i accept this as a possibility (compare also with SHEKHINAH in hebrew, which may be
translated (inter alia) as both "abode" and, in view of your evidence,  "authority").
it also provides an interesting nuance to the phrase SHOKHEN MEROMIM.

one might argue that the direction you suggest may have been an inverted one. consider for example the
medical term "resident" in english, where the original term (to dwell) preceded the occupational term (a young professional).

i actually tend to think both senses were forged together. i assume that the verb $KN was formed from the noun
KN=basis/solid via the $-prefix (indicating the active), meaning the settling act of a nomad military force into a fixed or
temporary location, henceforth, MISHKAN. as this passage was decreed by the leader, by definition he was
the "resident=SUKINA".

nir cohen

On Thu, 1 Nov 2012 17:08:48 -0400 (EDT), JimStinehart wrote
>
>
> Nir Cohen:
>
> Instead of $KN meaning “to dwell”, it may mean “to rule”.  In Amarna Letters EA 256: 9 and 362: 69, the Akkadian word for “magistrate” is alternatively rendered by the west Semitic word su-ki-ni or su-ki-na, where the consonants are %KN.  Thus an archaic meaning of $KN might be “to rule” or “to be the magistrate over”, instead of the later meaning of “to dwell”.  If the -WN ending is an archaic-style ending, that might make this archaic meaning more likely.
>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois


--
Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)