גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)
Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:40 pm
We read there
וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת הַגְּזֵלָה אֲשֶׁר גָּזָל אוֹ אֶת הָעֹשֶׁק אֲשֶׁר עָשָׁק אוֹ אֶת הַפִּקָּדוֹן אֲשֶׁר הָפְקַד אִתּוֹ אוֹ אֶת הָאֲבֵדָה אֲשֶׁר מָצָא
KJV: "he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found"
NIV: "they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found"
גְּזֵלָה, 'theft, robbery, misappropriation, taking by force', is from the root גזל GZL, a member of the root family
גדל, גזל
התל
חדל, חסל, חשל, חתל
כסל, כשל, כתל
קטל
and provides for a good example to etymological principle that Hebrew words derived from one root need not have any "horizontal" semantic connection. Indeed, from the same root we also have גּוֹזָל GOZAL, 'chick', as in Dt. 32:11
כְּנֶשֶׁר יָעִיר קִנּוֹ עַל גּוֹזָלָיו יְרַחֵף
KJV: "s an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young"
Namely, a גּוֹזָל GOZAL is but a גּוֹדָל GODAL, a growing hatchling or fledgling, the same way that a גְּזֵלָה GZELAH is but a גְּדֵלָה GDELAH, a growing accumulation of loot.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
וְהֵשִׁיב אֶת הַגְּזֵלָה אֲשֶׁר גָּזָל אוֹ אֶת הָעֹשֶׁק אֲשֶׁר עָשָׁק אוֹ אֶת הַפִּקָּדוֹן אֲשֶׁר הָפְקַד אִתּוֹ אוֹ אֶת הָאֲבֵדָה אֲשֶׁר מָצָא
KJV: "he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found"
NIV: "they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found"
גְּזֵלָה, 'theft, robbery, misappropriation, taking by force', is from the root גזל GZL, a member of the root family
גדל, גזל
התל
חדל, חסל, חשל, חתל
כסל, כשל, כתל
קטל
and provides for a good example to etymological principle that Hebrew words derived from one root need not have any "horizontal" semantic connection. Indeed, from the same root we also have גּוֹזָל GOZAL, 'chick', as in Dt. 32:11
כְּנֶשֶׁר יָעִיר קִנּוֹ עַל גּוֹזָלָיו יְרַחֵף
KJV: "s an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young"
Namely, a גּוֹזָל GOZAL is but a גּוֹדָל GODAL, a growing hatchling or fledgling, the same way that a גְּזֵלָה GZELAH is but a גְּדֵלָה GDELAH, a growing accumulation of loot.
Isaac Fried, Boston University