To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: 1Samuel1:9
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 23:11:57 +1000
In reference to the word I used - pavilion - I was trying to tie in the
suggestion that
what existed at Shiloh was not a building with foundations, but rather a
tent, as in the
tent of meeting a la Exodus. My point was that the structure of the _heykal_
(whether
fixed edifice or not) has nothing really to do with the idea behind the word
_heykal_.
Yes, the word _bayit_ means 'house', but that is the most common Hebrew word
used to refer
to a temple. Behind it is the understanding that a temple is the residence of
a deity -
where a deity lives and/or has their address. As has already been said, the
word _heykal_
does become more common in Late Biblical Hebrew. The idea behind _heykal_,
however, is of
spacious, or luxurious interior.