Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Michael:

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 12:58 AM, Mike Burke <michaelgburk AT yahoo.com> wrote:

>>>This is an example where one looks up all seven of the times it is used, and work from there.<<<<

I took "1.) moth, 2.) herbage, grass" to mean that the word could mean either or.

My first question was, “Which lexicon are you using?”

While I wrote a dictionary, my goal was not to make up new meanings, rather merely to revise what others had written before. Then only when it seems necessary. None of the dictionaries that I know of has “2) herbage, grass” as a possible meaning for עש ($. So from where did you get that?

One of the principles I understand as good lexicography is to understand each word as having one meaning—sometimes that meaning is broad and applicable to many contexts, sometimes narrow and usable in only few contexts, only sometimes are homonyms (different words with the same pronunciation) found in languages with polysyllabic words.

(For those of you who want to look to the example of “strike”, there’s evidence that there were two different roots that converged to the same pronunciation—one meaning “to hit” and the second “to mark, make a line”. The second root is used in contexts of making marks or counts against a person. In baseball, the rules allow two counts against a batter, the third count requires that he leave the batter’s place. One evidence of this second use is that a batter could hit 20 foul balls, but only the first two are counts against him.)

Therefore, unless there’s good evidence for a homonym, we’re to take meanings that are recognized from other contexts and apply them to new situations.

Even if it means "moth" (an animal that eats clothing) in Isaiah 50:9, how does that help us determine what it means in Job 4:19?

Therefore, unless there’s good evidence for a homonym, we’re to take meanings that are recognized from other contexts and apply them to new situations. 

 

Michael Gerard Burke

Karl W. Randolph.