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תּוּגָה TUGAH, Proverbs 10:1

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 11:16 pm
by Isaac Fried
We read there
בֵּן חָכָם יְשַׂמַּח אָב וּבֵן כְּסִיל תּוּגַת אִמּוֹ
NIV: "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother."
KJV: "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother."
It is from the root עוּג of the single radical letter ג G, of which we have also עוּג UG, 'heap', גאה GAAH, 'rise', and גיא GAY, 'valley'. The rest of the letters in תּוּגַת = את-הוּא-ג-את are personal pronouns. Thus, תּוּגַת = תעוּגת, which is but a slight variant of תעוּקת of the root עוּק UK, 'mount, oppress, depress', as in Am. 2:13
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מֵעִיק תַּחְתֵּיכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר תָּעִיק הָעֲגָלָה הַמְלֵאָה לָהּ עָמִיר
KJV: Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves."
From this root we have also the עקה AKAH of Ps. 55:4(3)
מִקּוֹל אוֹיֵב מִפְּנֵי עָקַת רָשָׁע
KJV: "Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked."
Also מוּעָקָה = מה-הוּא-עקה as in Ps. 66:11
שַׂמְתָּ מוּעָקָה בְמָתְנֵינוּ
NIV: "and laid burdens on our backs."
Also מעקה = מה-עקה MA-AKEH, 'parapet', as in Dt. 22:8
כִּי תִבְנֶה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ וְעָשִׂיתָ מַעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ כִּי יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּנּוּ
NIV: "When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof."

The Etymology dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com) says on grief: from Latin gravare "make heavy; cause grief," from gravis "weighty" Meaning "mental pain, sorrow".

Isaac Fried, Boston University