רמס RAMAS, Micah 5:7(8)

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Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

רמס RAMAS, Micah 5:7(8)

Post by Isaac Fried »

We read there
כְּאַרְיֵה בְּבַהֲמוֹת יַעַר כִּכְפִיר בְּעֶדְרֵי צֹאן אֲשֶׁר אִם עָבַר וְרָמַס וְטָרַף
KJV: "as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces"
NIV: "like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue"
in which רמס is, 'crushed into little bits (often by the foot)', as hinted by the inclusion of the letter (root) R of plurality in the root.

The essential meaning of the root רמס is further found in its close post-biblical (from Aramaic?) relative רמץ, of which we have now the useful word רֶמֶץ, 'ash, embers, wood disintegrated by fire'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: רמס RAMAS, Micah 5:7(8)

Post by Isaac Fried »

Another related root is רמש of which we have the act רָמַש RAMAS, and the name רֶמֶש REMES. What is exactly רֶמֶש? Seems that the translators of the HB are not entirely certain about it.
In Gen. 1:24-25 we read
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה לְמִינָהּ בְּהֵמָה וָרֶמֶשׂ וְחַיְתוֹ אֶרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וַיְהִי כֵן וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ לְמִינָהּ וְאֶת הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ וְאֵת כָּל רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי טוֹב וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ וְיִרְדּוּ בִדְגַת הַיָּם וּבְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל הָאָרֶץ וּבְכָל הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ
NIV: And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
KJV: And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
But, רֶמֶשׂ REMES, may refer also to the creatures living in water. See Ps. 104:25
זֶה הַיָּם גָּדוֹל וּרְחַב יָדָיִם שָׁם רֶמֶשׂ וְאֵין מִסְפָּר חַיּוֹת קְטַנּוֹת עִם גְּדֹלוֹת
KJV: "So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts"
NIV: "There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small"
Also in Lev. 11:46
הַבְּהֵמָה וְהָעוֹף וְכֹל נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה הָרֹמֶשֶׂת בַּמָּיִם וּלְכָל נֶפֶשׁ הַשֹּׁרֶצֶת עַל הָאָרֶץ
NIV: "animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground."
KJV: " So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts"
So, it appears that רֶמֶשׂ refers to tiny, fractional, animals (say ants), as big as slivers of רֶמֶץ or רֶמֶס, and that רָמַש is, indeed, 'teem, swarm.'

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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