Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

In early Biblical Hebrew, ssade/C can be emphatic sin.

Consider in this regard the Hebrew verb “to laugh” and the name “Isaac”.  In Genesis, they’re both spelled with ssade/C:  CXQ and YCXQ.  [The west Semitic meaning of “Isaac” is “He Laughs”, but since his mother’s birth name is not Semitic, his own name will have as its more profound meaning its non-Semitic meaning:  “He Sits Next to God”.]

But in late books in the Bible, “he laughs” and “Isaac” are spelled not with a ssade/C, but rather with a sin/%:  %XQ and Y%XQ.

Here are some Biblical cites.  “[He] laughed”, spelled YCXQ with a ssade/C, is at Genesis 17: 17.  The name “Isaac” is likewise spelled YCXQ with a ssade/C two verses later at Genesis 17: 19.  By contrast, “[man is] laughed” is spelled %XWQ with a sin/% [not a ssade/C] at Job 12: 4, and “Isaac” is spelled Y%XQ with a sin/% [not a ssade/C] at Amos 7: 9.

That indicates that in early Biblical Hebrew, ssade could be an emphatic sin, having a sound quite similar to sin.

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Ilinois