B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

In 1Sam. 20:30 King Saul made a remarkable, everlasting contribution to the Hebrew language for the rarest of all Biblical expressions ––– the personal deprecation:
וַיִּחַר אַף שָׁאוּל בִּיהוֹנָתָן וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ בֶּן נַעֲוַת הַמַּרְדּוּת הֲלוֹא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי בֹחֵר אַתָּה לְבֶן יִשַׁי לְבָשְׁתְּךָ וּלְבֹשֶׁת עֶרְוַת אִמֶּךָ
KJV: "Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?"

Having recited this recently it occurred to me that נעוה NAWA, 'devious, duplicitous', and נאוה NAWA, 'comely, wholesome, well curved, well rounded' (as in Song 6:4), are in essence but one and the same.

Both come from the roots of W, that are but slight variants of עב AB, 'full, thick, well formed', closely related to אב AB, 'father, the big one'. What is bent, humped, or convex, is thick, and what is flat is thin.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

We should also mention here the act אוה AWAH, 'desire, swelling of the heart, repletion of the heart, inclination of the heart', as in Nu. 11:4
וְהָאסַפְסֻף אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבּוֹ הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה
NIV: "The rabble with them began to crave other food"
KJV: "And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting"
where
ASAPSUP = ASAP + ASUP אסַפְסֻף = אסף + ֹאסוּף, and
TAWAH = ATAH + AWAH תַּאֲוָה = אתה + אוה

We recall once more the bane of the Hebrew speaking family, in constant confrontation with the בא לי ( or the doubly irritating לא בא לי) BA - LIY, 'I so want', of their children. See the laments here:
http://www.mako.co.il/ninemonth-birth/l ... 341006.htm

Isaac Fried, Boston University