B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

Here is the next exercise:
Good luck!

This one is much shorter. Here’s my contribution for this week:

Hidden Hebrew Text

הֲרִימ֫וֹתִי אֶת־יָדִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי וָאֶשָּׁבַע אִם אֶקַּח מִמְּךָ דָּבָר׃

I’ve adjusted this according to the following conversation. The later form that corresponds to הֲרִימ֫וֹתִי hărîmốṯî is הֵרַ֫מְתִּי hērámtî, which is what we still use in modern Hebrew. This corresponds also to the simplification of הֲקִימ֫וֹתִי hăqîmốṯî to the later הֵקַ֫מְתִּי hēqámtî.

I agree completely with Jason, so I will be lazy and not type my response.

Jonathan

Jason Hare wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:33 pm Here is the next exercise:

(8) I have lifted up my hand to the Lord my God and I have sworn that I will not take^b a thing from you.

⟦ ^b In Hebrew ‘I have sworn if I shall take’, see p. 176, footnote b. ⟧

Good luck!

That’s a weird sentence. “Lifting one’s hand to the Lord” sounds like an act of war against God. What action do you think that Weingreen meant by this? Use that word instead?

Karl W. Randolph.

Jason Hare wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:04 am “And I have sworn.” It’s obviously talking about an oath.

Are there any examples in Tanakh of lifting one’s hand to the Lord as a symbol of making an oath? I don’t remember any.

This sounds like Weingreen taking a modern American practice and asking us to put it into Hebrew.

Karl W. Randolph.

kwrandolph wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 10:10 am

Jason Hare wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:04 am “And I have sworn.” It’s obviously talking about an oath.

Are there any examples in Tanakh of lifting one’s hand to the Lord as a symbol of making an oath? I don’t remember any.

This sounds like Weingreen taking a modern American practice and asking us to put it into Hebrew.

Karl W. Randolph.

Actually, we have Genesis 14:22:
I guess even the biblical way of expressing it is to use לְהָרִים rather than לָשֵׂאת. The verse that comes after this follows an oath formula:
So, we can be sure that this raising of the hand is for the purpose of making an oath. I remember something similar from the book of Revelation, which we see at 10:5–6:

Καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος, ὃν εἶδον ἑστῶτα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἦρεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ τὴν δεξιὰν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ὤμοσεν ἐν τῷ ζῶντι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων...
And the angel, which I had seen standing upon the sea and upon the earth, raised his right hand to heaven and swore by the one who lives forever and ever...

This expression seems to have been lifted from the book of Daniel, as the Revelation is so apt to pull word pictures from the Prophets. Daniel 12:7:
Weingreen probably gave לְהָרִים יָד as a specific expression, but I don’t really read his text. I just do the translations directly. It was probably my own slip.

Jason:

Thanks for the response.

Jason Hare wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 2:21 pm This expression seems to have been lifted from the book of Daniel, as the Revelation is so apt to pull word pictures from the Prophets. Daniel 12:7:

וָֽאֶשְׁמַ֞ע אֶת־הָאִ֣ישׁ ׀ לְב֣וּשׁ הַבַּדִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר מִמַּעַל֮ לְמֵימֵ֣י הַיְאֹר֒ וַיָּ֨רֶם יְמִינ֤וֹ וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ֙ אֶל־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖ע בְּחֵ֣י הָֽעוֹלָ֑ם כִּי֩ לְמוֹעֵ֨ד מֽוֹעֲדִ֜ים וָחֵ֗צִי וּכְכַלּ֛וֹת נַפֵּ֥ץ יַד־עַם־קֹ֖דֶשׁ תִּכְלֶ֥ינָה כָל־אֵֽלֶּה׃

While I had read this many times, I never connected the action with making an oath as an oath in court. Rather I saw the action as a reference to the presence of God in the action of prayer.

Jason Hare wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 2:21 pm Actually, we have Genesis 14:22:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָ֖ם אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֑ם הֲרִימֹ֨תִי יָדִ֤י אֶל־יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃

I guess even the biblical way of expressing it is to use לְהָרִים rather than לָשֵׂאת. The verse that comes after this follows an oath formula:

אִם־מִחוּט֙ וְעַ֣ד שְׂרֽוֹךְ־נַ֔עַל וְאִם־אֶקַּ֖ח מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לָ֑ךְ וְלֹ֣א תֹאמַ֔ר אֲנִ֖י הֶעֱשַׁ֥רְתִּי אֶת־אַבְרָֽם׃

Is this a literal causing his hand to be high physically, or is it more figurative, as in how Elisha “before whom I stand” in 2 Kings 3:14? Seeing as Abraham had to tell that to the king of Sodom, indicates that this was not something done in the presence of the king of Sodom.

Karl W. Randolph.

Jonathan Beck wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:46 pm I agree completely with Jason, so I will be lazy and not type my response.

Jonathan

To encourage other people to post, maybe I’ll delay posting my own work. I want your participation.