וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

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

וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

Post by Isaac Fried »

We read there
וְלָקַחְתָּ אֶת שֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה וְיָצַקְתָּ עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וּמָשַׁחְתָּ אֹתוֹ
KJV: " Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him"
וּמָשַׁחְתָּ = הוּא-משח-אתה is from the root משח, a member of the root family
מזג, מזח
מסך, מסק
מצח
משח, משך, משק
מתח, מתק

'apply a thick layer of oil upon a surface'.
The related root מתח, 'stretch, spread', is found in Isaiah 40:22
הַנּוֹטֶה כַדֹּק שָׁמַיִם וַיִּמְתָּחֵם כָּאֹהֶל לָשָׁבֶת
NIV: "He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in"
The other related root משך, 'pull, haul, drag, draw, tow', is found in in Songs 1:4
מָשְׁכֵנִי אַחֲרֶיךָ נָּרוּצָה
KJV: "Draw me, we will run after thee"
NIV: "Take me away with you—let us hurry!"

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

Re: וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

Post by Isaac Fried »

Seems to me that the difference between משח and מרח is that מרח, 'smear', involves a crushing, and hence the letter ר in the root. See Isaiah 38:21
יִשְׂאוּ דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים וְיִמְרְחוּ עַל הַשְּׁחִין וְיֶחִי
KJV: "Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover"
NIV: “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover”

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

Re: וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

Post by Isaac Fried »

I add that the related root מעך is 'sqwash, squeeze', but with no tearing apart- there is no ר R in this root.
See Ezekiel 23:3
וַתִּזְנֶינָה בְמִצְרַיִם בִּנְעוּרֵיהֶן זָנוּ שָׁמָּה מֹעֲכוּ שְׁדֵיהֶן וְשָׁם עִשּׂוּ דַּדֵּי בְּתוּלֵיהֶן
NIV: "They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed"
KJV: "And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity"
Also Lev. 22:24
וּמָעוּךְ וְכָתוּת וְנָתוּק וְכָרוּת לֹא תַקְרִיבוּ לַיהוה
KJV: "Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut"
NIV: "You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut"
where מע-הוּא-ך = מָעוּךְ is with the internal PP הוּא pointing to the carrier of the blemish מעך.
Notice that in the מע-הוּא-כ-היא = מְעוּכָה of 1Sam. 26:7 the כ is without a dagesh because the word is being spelled in full with an וּ, a shuruq, rather than with a qubutz.

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

Re: וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

Post by Isaac Fried »

We read in Nu. 31:50
אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר מָצָא כְלִי זָהָב אֶצְעָדָה וְצָמִיד טַבַּעַת עָגִיל וְכוּמָז
Onkelos translates it as
גְּבַר דְּאַשְׁכַּח מָן דִּדְהַב שֵׁירִין וְשַׁבִּין, עִזְקָן, קְדָשִׁין וּמָחוֹךְ
Spoken Hebrew took this מָחוֹךְ to mean, 'corset, girdle', a woman's tightly fitting undergarment, worn to hold together and thus better shape the figure.
This, possibly following the understanding that כּוּמָז = כ-הוּא-מז of the root כמז is akin to
גמד, גמז, גמץ, גמש
חמד, חמט, חמס, חמץ, חמש, חמת
כמז, כמס, כמש, כמת
קמט, קמץ
of the underlying meaning 'hold tightly together'.

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

Re: וּמָשַׁחְתָּ Ex. 29:7

Post by Isaac Fried »

The root גמץ is interesting in that we have from it the unique, but still obvious, word גּוּמָּץ = ג-הוּא-מץ, 'pit, excavation', of Ecc. 10:8
חֹפֵר גּוּמָּץ בּוֹ יִפּוֹל
KJV: "He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it"
גּוּמָּץ is but a slight variation of קוּמָץ, 'clenched', namely, loose soil gripped and held together to form a clod or a mound. In גּוּמָּץ the mound is in the negative, an empty space down into the ground.
It is related to the post-biblical גֻּמָּה GUMAH, 'hole, dent, dimple', a slight variation of קֻמָּה עָקוּמָה, rising, but here referring to an empty space down into the ground.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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