B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

We read there
וְנִגְּשָׁה יְבִמְתּוֹ אֵלָיו לְעֵינֵי הַזְּקֵנִים וְחָלְצָה נַעֲלוֹ מֵעַל רַגְלוֹ וְיָרְקָה בְּפָנָיו וְעָנְתָה
NIV: "his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say"
יָרְקָה = ירק-היא is from the root ירק, a bona fide member of the family of roots
דרג, דרך
זרה, זרח, זרק
טרח, טרק
ירה, ירח, ירך, ירק
סרג, סרח, סרק
צרח, צרך
שרג, שרך, שרק
So, יָרְקָה is realistically זָרְקָה רוֹק, 'she aimed and threw at his face the ejected spittle of her mouth.' רוֹק, 'saliva', is a variant of רוֹךְ, 'softness, tenderness', see Deut. 28:56.
The qal form זרק is 'cast away', but the hifil form הִזְרִיק means now, 'injected'.
From the same root ירק we have also the יֶרֶק, 'green plant' of Gen. 1:30
כָּל יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב לְאָכְלָה
NIV: "every green plant for food"
Here זֶרֶק = יֶרֶק refers to the plant spreading its leaves and branches, שריגים.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

Related to ירק (still related to זרק, 'throw, hurl, toss, fling, eject') is the new useful word סרק, 'combed his hair', namely, used a comb to untangle his hair and throw זרק it backwards.
The act סרק is possibly but a close variant of the act שׂרק of Isaiah 19:9
וּבֹשׁוּ עֹבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים שְׂרִיקוֹת וְאֹרְגִים חוֹרָי
NIV: "Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope"
Also the שׂוֹרֵק, namely, the זוֹרֵק שריגים ירוּקים, of Isaiah 5:1-2
כֶּרֶם הָיָה לִידִידִי בְּקֶרֶן בֶּן שָׁמֶן וַיְעַזְּקֵהוּ וַיְסַקְּלֵהוּ וַיִּטָּעֵהוּ שֹׂרֵק
NIV: "My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines"

we also recall that today
מַזְרֵק = מה-זרק is 'syringe'.

We recall further the post biblical word סְרָק, 'reject, worthless, devoid of value', that is now in common use, as in כדוּר סרק, 'blank bullet', or אילן סרק, 'fruitless tree'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

Another related post-biblical root of common use now is טרק as in טרק את הדלת, 'he banged the door', which is really זרק את הדלת, 'he flung the door'.
From this root we have also טריקה = טר-היא-ק-היא for the action itself.

Isaac Fried, Boston University