B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Steve says:
It is not just Evangelical Christians who say that the root meaning of almah and alam is "unknown".
I was discussing this with a prominent anti-missionary rabbi. I asked him what is the root meaning of alam, and he said "unknown".

Says I:
The act עלם does not mean 'unknown', but rather 'hide' or 'cover up'. In any event, עֶלֶם ELEM and עלמה ALMAH have nothing to do, in my opinion, with something "unknown", only with a tall and full stature.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

We have been talking about this before. In a family, חָם XAM is the father of the husband. This appellation has certainly nothing to do with חוֹם, 'warmth', with חוֹמָה XOMAH, 'wall', and with חמאה XEMAH, butter'.
Some say that the encircling wall keeps the enclosed inhabitants warm, and that the XAM is warmly affectionate towards his family, all of which is in my opinion no more than silly talk.
חם is related to אח AX, 'brother', אם EM, 'mother', and חי XAY, 'alive'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University