“On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 9:24 AM, Isaac Fried wrote:
> It is conceivable that the ending -AI as in XALON-AI, 'windows', of
> Jeremiah 22:14 is indeed a remnant of a pluralization method by a
On another thread, Pere Porta and I have been discussing (1) the word
shin-dalet-yod (which, if the Masoretic pointing added in the Middle Ages
were
accepted, would I guess come out as $ADAI), and (2) the word sin-resh-yod
(Sarah’s
birth name, which pursuant to the Masoretic pointing is transliterated into
English as “Sarai”), and (3) the word sin-resh-yod (Pharaoh’s top officials
at
Genesis 12: 15).
Pere Porta and I would greatly appreciate it if you would analyze the yod
ending of those three words.
Unlike Pere Porta, I myself see little reason to give any credence to the
Masoretic pointing of words that appear in the Patriarchal narratives. Both
Pere
Porta and I are somewhat suspicious of the claim that “an archaic feminine
suffix” is involved here.
For the convenient reference of people who have not been following the other
thread, here briefly are two relevant arguments that have been published on
these issues:
1. “[T]he only difference between Sarai and Sarah is that the former
reflects an archaic feminine suffix, the latter, the normative feminine
suffix: both
versions of the name mean ‘princess’.” Professor Robert Alter of Berkeley, “
Genesis: Translation and Commentary” (1996), at p. 73.
Please note the reference here to an alleged “archaic feminine suffix” in
Sarah’s birth name.
2. “The original name Sarai bears the archaic feminine suffix ai, as in
shaddai, the name of God related to the word ‘breast’. [19] This suffix is
found
in early West Semitic, usually in the names of deities or mythical beings,
and appears in Ugaritic in the names of a series of nature goddesses. [20]
Significantly, Sarai is the only feminine biblical name with this suffix.
…(19.) David Biale, "The God with Breasts: El Shaddai in the Bible," History
of Religions 2l.3 (1982): 240-256. W. F. Albright, "The Names Shaddai and
Abram," Journal of Biblical Literature 54.3 (1935): 173-204.
(20.) Harriet Lutzky, "Shadday as a Goddess Epithet," Vetus Testamentum 48,1
(1998): 15-36.”