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The רע REA of Lev. 19:18 is not רע RA

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:46 pm
by Isaac Fried
The famous verse is
ואהבת לרעך כמוך
"thou shalt love thy neighbour (friend) as thyself"

It is from the uniliteral Hebrew root R, 'distinct'. Also from this root are:
ראה 'observe the details'
רעה 'move freely'
רעע 'flimsy, incoherent, insubstantial', as opposed to טוב TOB = COB, יציב 'stable, solid.'

ואהבת = W + AHAB + ATAH
לרעך = L + RE + AKAH, where אכה AKAH is an obsolete variant of אתה ATAH, preserved only in attachments.
כמוך = KA + MO + AKAH.

Isaac Fried, Boston University