Job 17:2 המרות

[kwrandolph]

Dear All:

This appears to be a noun, maybe connected to a similar word found in Psalm 140:11.

Any clues from cognate languages?

Karl W. Randolph.

[S_Walch]

From HALOT:

מרה
Masoretic Hebrew: hif. to be recalcitrant
Jewish Aramaic b(g?) af. to be recalcitrant
Masoretic Hebrew and Syriac to rival
Arabic mry to incite, III to wrangle (Wehr-Cowan 905b).
qal: pf. מָרָה, מָרָֽתָה, מָרִיתָ, מָרוּ, מָרִינוּ; inf. abs. מָרוֹ; pt. מֹ‍(וֹ)רֶה, מֹרִים: to be recalcitrant, rebellious (:: שׁמע, cf. Jepsen Fschr. vRad 179f; THAT 1:928ff) Nu 2010 Is 120 505 6310, cj. מֹרֶה Ezk 28 Lam 120 342 Sir 167; סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה Dt 2118.20, cj. Is 652 (1QIsa סורה for סוֹרֵר) Jr 523 Ps 788, with בְּ against Hos 141 Ps 511 Sir 3012, with אֶת־ against Jr 417, with אֶת־פִּי against the commandment Nu 2024 2714 1S 1215 1K 1321.26 Lam 118 Sir 3931; Ex 2321 and Ps 10643 → hif.; —2K 1426 rd. הַמַּר, Ps 10528 rd. שָֽׁמְרוּ. †
hif: pf. הִמְרוּ; impf. יַמְרֶה, וַתֶּמֶר, תַּמְרוּ, יַמְרוּהוּ; inf. לַמְרוֹת (< *לְהַמְרוֹת, Bauer-L. Heb. 228a), הַמְּרוֹתָם (dagesh dirimens, Bauer-L. Heb. 212k); pt. מַמְרִים: to behave rebelliously (Bergsträsser 2:102d, b) Jb 172 Neh 926 cj. Ezk 57 (rd. הַמְרֹתְכֶם); with בְּ Ezk 208.13.21, Sir 323 תמר, ? Ex 2321 and Ps 10643 rd. qal for hif.; with לְ cj. Est 118 (rd. תַּמְרֶינָה); with עִם with respect to Dt 97.24 3127, with acc. against Ezk 56 Ps 7817.40.56 1067 (rd. עֶלְיוֹן) 10711, cj. 13920 (יַמְרוּךָ), with אֶת־פִּי against the commandment Dt 126.43 923 Jos 118 1S 1214, with עֵינֵי Is 38 (1QIsa, ? לְעֵינֵי in view of); —Ps 10633 rd. הֵמֵרוּ (מרר). †
Der. מְרִי, מְרָתַיִם; n.m. יִמְרָה (?).

[kwrandolph]

Well, now that you have my dictionary, you can see “ ‎מרה to defy, openly resist, oppose (⇒ to dare, as “I’ll go my way, now what are you going to do about it?” as said in rebellion against God) Dt 9:23, 1S 12:15, 1K 15:21, Ne 9:26”

Yeah, I can see that this is a noun derivative connected to the idea of defiance. Does that make sense to you?

Meaning wise it fits, but the form made me think it might be connected to המר which I can’t find.

Karl W. Randolph.

[S_Walch]

From HALOT:

מַהֲמֹר -> המר, Bauer-L. Heb. 493e;
Masoretic Hebrew makeshift grave (Liebermann Tosefta Ki-Fshuṭah 5:1234-5); Sir 12:16 מהמרות pit (metaph.),
Jewish Aramaic מהמרין (so also Tg., Symm., Jerome, Kimchi)
Ugaritic mhmrt chasm, abyss, parallel with npš; hmry name of the city of Mot, the city of death (Gordon Textbook §19:779; Aistleitner 847; WbMy. 1:300f; UOldenburg The Conflict between El and Baal in Canaanite Religion (1969):367); 1;
Old South Arabian hmr (Conti 132b) downpour;
Arabic hamrat shower of rain: מַהֲמֹרוֹת: bottomless pit Ps 140:11 (:: Delekat VT 14:25f).

The interesting ones here are the Old South Arabian ('downpour') and the Ugaritic (specifically the hmry) - meaning "death". Possibly "death pit/pit of death"?

Nevertheless, "rebellion", "insurrection", "defiance", "dissent", or possibly "disregard", "contempt" would fit the context, imho*


*in my honest opinion

[kwrandolph]

Meaning wise it fits, but the form made me think it might be connected to המר which I can’t find.

From HALOT:

מַהֲמֹר -> המר, Bauer-L. Heb. 493e; …

I should have looked up in the dictionary, are there nouns derived from roots by adding a prefixed Heh? There are a few listed:

‎הדה person who is a royal, majesty ?? Jr 22:18 αλ ← ידה
‎הדור obstacle, causing one to go in circles ?? Is 45:2 αλ ← דור
‎הפגות stopping La 3:49 αλ ← פוג
‎הצלה deliverance (taking away from danger) Es 4:14 αλ ← נצל
‎השׁמעות communication Ez 24:26 αλ ← שׁמע
‎התוך melting Ez 22:22 αλ ← נתך

Notice, every one is used only once. And I find myself questioning if they all exist.

But that makes it possible that המרות and possibly מהמרות come from the same root as מרה.

Karl W. Randolph.