Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

i am resending my reply to jim steinhart in view of an email problem.

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