קוה QAWA, Gen. 1:9

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

קוה QAWA, Gen. 1:9

Post by Isaac Fried »

We read there
יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד וְתֵרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה
KJV: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear"
The root קוה (here as יִקָּווּ היא-קוה-הוּא) is a member of the Hebrew root family
גבא, גבע, גוע, גבה
הוה
חבא, חוה
כבה, כבע, כוה
קבע, קבה, קוה
עגב, עקב, עקף, אכף
חפה, כפה, קפא

of the basic sense of 'rise', גבה, having a גֵּו.
We have from this root also the קָו, '(long) line, (tall} ruler', of Isaiah 44:13
חָרַשׁ עֵצִים נָטָה קָו יְתָאֲרֵהוּ בַשֶּׂרֶד
KJV: "The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line"
NIV: "The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker"
Also תִּקְוָה = את-היא-קוה, 'rising expectation, elevation, having hope', as in Job 5:16
וַתְּהִי לַדַּל תִּקְוָה
NIV: "So the poor have hope"

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

Re: קוה QAWA, Gen. 1:9

Post by Isaac Fried »

We recall here the related, hapax legomenon, כפה of Proverbs 21:14
מַתָּן בַּסֵּתֶר יִכְפֶּה אָף
KJV: "A gift in secret pacifieth anger"
NIV: "A gift given in secret soothes anger"
Here כפה is like the כבה, 'extinguish, cover over to quench', of 2Sam. 21:17
וְלֹא תְכַבֶּה אֶת-נֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל
NIV: "so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished"
KJV: "that thou quench not the light of Israel"
In post biblical, and spoken, Hebrew כפה is mostly used in the sense of 'force, enforce, impose, compel', as in עבודת כפיה, 'forced labor'.
Also the כֵּף, 'cape, hill, promontory', of Job 30:6
לִשְׁכֹּן חֹרֵי עָפָר וְכֵפִים
KJV: "To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth"
Also the גֶּבֶא, the inverted גבעה, 'hill', (as חוֹר, 'cavity, hole', is an inverted הוֹר, 'mound') of Isaiah 30:14
לַחְשֹׂף מַיִם מִגֶּבֶא
NIV: "scooping water out of a cistern"
KJV: "or to take water withal out of the pit"
Also the גֵּו (as is גֵּב), 'back, body', of Isaiah 50:6
גֵּוִי נָתַתִּי לְמַכִּים
KJV: "I gave my back to the smiters"
All of the basic material sense of גבה, 'elevate, grow, mount up'.

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

Re: קוה QAWA, Gen. 1:9

Post by Isaac Fried »

We further recall in relation to קוה the Aramaic גוֹב GOB, (related to the Hebrew גבב and נקב), 'pit, den, dugout, hollow', of Daniel 6:8(7)
יִתְרְמֵא לְגֹב אַרְיָוָתָא
NIV: "shall be thrown into the lions’ den"
and further in Daniel 6:24(23)
וְהֻסַּק דָּנִיֵּאל מִן גֻּבָּא
NIV: "So Daniel was taken up out of the den"
Thus, גוֹב is, 'high' גבוֹה but upside down into the ground.
We encounter another גוֹב in Amos 7:1
וְהִנֵּה יוֹצֵר גֹּבַי בִּתְחִלַּת עֲלוֹת הַלָּקֶשׁ
KJV: "behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth"
NIV: "He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up"
possibly so named because they pile up.
See also 1Kings 6:9
וַיִּסְפֹּן אֶת הַבַּיִת גֵּבִים וּשְׂדֵרֹת בָּאֲרָזִים
NIV: "roofing it with beams and cedar planks"
KJV: "and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar"
wherein the understanding of יִּסְפֹּן as, 'created a roof', comes apparently from 1King 6:15
וַיִּבֶן אֶת קִירוֹת הַבַּיִת מִבַּיְתָה בְּצַלְעוֹת אֲרָזִים מִקַּרְקַע הַבַּיִת עַד קִירוֹת הַסִּפֻּן, צִפָּה עֵץ מִבָּיִת וַיְצַף אֶת קַרְקַע הַבַּיִת בְּצַלְעוֹת בְּרוֹשִׁים
KJV: " And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir."
NIV: " He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper"
and from the סְפִינָה, 'covered boat?', of Jonah 1:5
וְיוֹנָה יָרַד אֶל יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה וַיִּשְׁכַּב וַיֵּרָדַם
NIV: "But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep"
LJV: "But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep"
We should add here the related post-biblical דּוֹפֶן, 'wall, partition' (not ceiling), as in יוֹצא דוֹפן, 'unusual', originally meaning born through a cut in his mother's side, the way Julius Caesar allegedly came to the world.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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