As I have said before, in contrast to English, Hebrew is a root based language,***
words derived from the same (or similar) root of a very basic meaning. The root חל (a variant of***
גל, גלל, הל, הלל, חל, חלל, כל, כלל, קל, קלל)
essentially means 'amass, accumulate'. In Numbers 31:9 חיל refers to the mass of earthly holdings , while in numbers 31:14 it refers to a mass of men.
Consider the the very first biblical verb ברא commonly translated as "created". But can I can get an inkling of its intended meaning only by relating it to the roots פרא, פרה, פרע
Isaac Fried, Boston University
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