qml = "to dry up"?
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:02 am
Got another one:
Recently I came across Accadian qamû "parched" (cf. CAD 13, p. 76).
Prolegomena: סוּף = "swamp, mud":
סוּף evidently doesn't refer to "reeds":
This makes sense: In Ex 2:3,5; Is 19,6; Jon 2:6 סוּף is located (1) on the ground and (2) near/in the water.
Cf. also Midrash Exodus on Ex 2:3,5: "R. Samuel bar Nachman said: This is to be understood as "swamp" [...]."; Syr (Jon 2:6): "ocean floor"; 8HevXIIgr Jon 2:6: "marshy ground".
קמל="dried up"?:
So, let's assume that סוּף means "swamp" and go on to קמל
קמל is used in
"To wither" hardly matches this context. So I wonder whether one could associate heb. קמל with acc. qamû, interpret it as "to dry up" and translate:
Sebastian
Recently I came across Accadian qamû "parched" (cf. CAD 13, p. 76).
Prolegomena: סוּף = "swamp, mud":
סוּף evidently doesn't refer to "reeds":
- The common etymology eg. ṭwfy => heb. סוּף doesn't work (eg. aw <≠> heb. וּ; cf. e.g. Ward 1976: The Semitic Biconsonantal Root sp and the common origin of Egyptian čwf and Hebrew sûp: „marsh(-plant)“, S. 346f.).
- סוּף is used in Ex 2:3,5; Is 19:6 und Jon 2:6. In Jon 2:6 it is located at the ocean floor, so "reed" doesn't make sense here. Also, none of the versions took סוּף as botanical expression.
- Hebrew already has קָנֶה="reeds".
This makes sense: In Ex 2:3,5; Is 19,6; Jon 2:6 סוּף is located (1) on the ground and (2) near/in the water.
Cf. also Midrash Exodus on Ex 2:3,5: "R. Samuel bar Nachman said: This is to be understood as "swamp" [...]."; Syr (Jon 2:6): "ocean floor"; 8HevXIIgr Jon 2:6: "marshy ground".
קמל="dried up"?:
So, let's assume that סוּף means "swamp" and go on to קמל
קמל is used in
- Is 19:6: "The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and סוּף will קמל..." (NIV)
- Is 33:9: "The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and קמל; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves." (NIV (changed slightly))
"To wither" hardly matches this context. So I wonder whether one could associate heb. קמל with acc. qamû, interpret it as "to dry up" and translate:
- Is 19:6: "The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and the Nile mud will dry up..." (NIV)
- Is 33:9: "The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and dries up; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves."
Sebastian