קלל Gen. 12:2-3
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 8:44 pm
We read there
וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה
KJV: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed"
קלל is a member of the Hebrew root family
גלל, הלל, חלל, כלל, קלל
further related to
בלל, דלל, זלל, טלל, ילל, מלל, סלל, עלל, פלל, צלל, שלל, תלל
all of the basic meaning of 'heap'. We understand the kin הלל as meaning 'heap praise', as in Proverbs 27:2
יְהַלֶּלְךָ זָר וְלֹא פִיךָ נָכְרִי וְאַל שְׂפָתֶיךָ
KJV: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips"
and we surmise that so is קלל, just a mouthful of imprecations or maledictions.
On the other hand, ברכה, 'blessing', may refer also to actual material gain.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה
KJV: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed"
קלל is a member of the Hebrew root family
גלל, הלל, חלל, כלל, קלל
further related to
בלל, דלל, זלל, טלל, ילל, מלל, סלל, עלל, פלל, צלל, שלל, תלל
all of the basic meaning of 'heap'. We understand the kin הלל as meaning 'heap praise', as in Proverbs 27:2
יְהַלֶּלְךָ זָר וְלֹא פִיךָ נָכְרִי וְאַל שְׂפָתֶיךָ
KJV: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips"
and we surmise that so is קלל, just a mouthful of imprecations or maledictions.
On the other hand, ברכה, 'blessing', may refer also to actual material gain.
Isaac Fried, Boston University