Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

There's no evidence at all for your hypothesis, Jonathan. Kaph is not a guttural. Heth is. It's a common mistake to think they are both gutturals, but they aren't. Kaph is just a fricative. You can hawk up a lot of spit with it, but it's not a guttural. There's no shin causation going on here. Your hypothesis will also run aground on the semantics, as the root שׁלח covers are fairly different range of meanings to הלך. I think in this particular case the English translation of Exod 8.11 (using 'let go') and perhaps your Swahili is leading you down a Hebrew cul de sac. Repent, brother! Turn around and come back. :P

GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,

Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)

Sydney, Australia