Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Just a clarification: B-Hebrew is a forum for the discussion of Biblical Hebrew language and literature.

Cheers.

GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,

Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)

On 08/01/2013, at 5:33 AM, "kenneth greifer" <kenneth AT messianicmistakes.com> wrote:

I know you are not supposed to discuss Hebrew Bible, but Biblical Hebrew here, so I am not sure if this is an actual Biblical Hebrew question. Could "bridegroom of blood" have actually have a literal meaning back then?

In Exodus 4:25 Zipporah circumcizes her son and says to him or Moses "you are a bridegroom of blood to me because of the circumcision." Usually people say she was talking to her husband Moses because she saved his life by doing the circumcision because G-d wanted to kill him or the baby a few lines before because Moses didn't circumcize the baby earlier.

Maybe a circumcized baby has blood on it's private parts and a bridegroom who marries a virgin gets blood on his private parts sometimes? So, it might have been an actual term for a man who married a virgin. It is a wild guess, but it might be an ancient _expression_ or just something she made up for the situation.

Maybe the baby was like a bridegroom who had blood on his private parts but from the circumcision. I may be wrong, but it is an interesting possibility.

Kenneth Greifer
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