Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <Yigal.Levin AT biu.ac.il>]

I think that the main issue here is economic, not "self worth". Naomi is an 
old woman with no means of making a living. She has no property and can't 
really work, and in the patriarchal society and agrarian economy that was 
ancient Israel, this means that she is pretty much destined to be a beggar. 
The only way that she would have of ensuring that she would be supported 
would be to "catch a man" (even as a second wife), but at her age who would 
have her? So she tries to convince her daughters-in-law to leave her to her 
fate. Orpah (whose name means "back of the neck", as in "turning back", in 
Hebrew להפנות עורף) goes, Ruth stays.  

Yigal Levin

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Watts [mailto:dekruidnootjes AT eircom.net] 
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 3:20 PM
To: Yigal Levin
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org; Jason Hare
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ruth 1: 12 too old for a husband

Ok positive proof that my modern hebrew needs some serious negotiation.  I 
never meant 'too old to be a woman' but that is obviously what I wrote quite 
funny since this is how I would have said it in conversation and been laughed 
at.  (made a similar mistake in dutch many years ago when starting to learn - 
I ordered chips with hot peanut butter sauce and onions - I instead asked for 
chips and peanut butter sauce with lots of cows udders please!  instead of 
onions because the two words are only different by a single letter, and I 
pronounced that single letter obviously)

Anyway it seems that by the framing of the language a woman's self worth was 
heavily dependant upon being married?  This is important for me to understand 
because I am wondering whether naomi's lack of self worth here is expressed 
or whether this would have been the normal way of expressing a desire to be 
married?


Chris Watts
Ireland



On 22 Jul 2013, at 11:57, Yigal Levin wrote:

Hi Chris,

זקנתי להיות אשה would be "I am too old to be a woman", which is of course 
nonsense, because even an old woman is still a woman. A speaker of modern 
Hebrew would say something like אני זקנה מדי להיות עם איש, "I am too old to 
be with a man", since לאיש, "of/for a man" implies that the woman is 
possessed by the man, and while this reflects the situation in antiquity 
perfectly, it is not the way most couples in modern society like to express 
their relationship. Also, a speaker of modern Hebrew might prefer גבר instead 
of איש, since איש is often used for "anyone" generically, while גבר is used 
for "man" specifically. So להיות עם איש would sound like "to be with anyone", 
while להיות עם גבר, "to be with a man", would hint at a sexual relationship, 
which of course is exactly what Naomi is talking about.

Yigal Levin

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:b-hebrew- 
bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Chris Watts
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 1:28 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Ruth 1: 12 too old for a husband

The part of verse 12:  זקנתי  מהיות  לאיש  concentrating on the mem prefix.  
Looking down my lists of how מן  is used I have presumed to fit it into the 
"Causal" category, (from arnold and choi ref heb syntax book).  Literally 
translated in idiomatic way:  "I am too old from being for a husband."  It's 
interesting to see how modern hebrew would say this:  אני זקן מכדי שאהיה לי 
הבעל  they have also that nuance of 'from' followed by the verb 'being'.  It 
is interesting to note that she does not say :
זקנתי להיות אישה



Chris Watts
Ireland



_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew