Biblical Hebrew Forum

[john.leake AT yahoo.co.uk]

They're homonyms - the Proto-Semitic roots are (no or <χêth>) so both 'roots' are probably etymologically connected , but since both ideas are visible in Arabic, Aramaic, Phoenician (I think) and Hebrew (I've only seen the food side in Ugaritic, but I'm relying on a primer), the split in meaning must be at a very early stage of the language, Proto-West-Semitic, if there's not any borrowing going on.

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From: K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>;
To: George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>;
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Jonathan Mohler <jonathan.mohler AT gmail.com>;
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] ובלחם
Sent: Mon, Apr 15, 2013 3:22:18 PM

George et al:

On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 11:06 PM, George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au> wrote:

I'm unconvinced, Jonathan. I think this is reading too much into etymology. I can't see how we get from 'beating' to 'eating bread'. Also, it doesn't explain the Arabic cognate, which means 'meat'. There are, it seems, two distinct roots: to fight, and to have a meal.

Yes I agree that there seem to be two distinct roots, but are they homonyms or merely homographs? 

GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,

Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)

Sydney, Australia

Karl W. Randolph.