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מוֹרג MORAG, Isaiah 41:15

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:06 pm
by Isaac Fried
We read there
הִנֵּה שַׂמְתִּיךְ לְמוֹרַג חָרוּץ חָדָשׁ בַּעַל פִּיפִיּוֹת תָּדוּשׁ הָרִים וְתָדֹק וּגְבָעוֹת כַּמֹּץ תָּשִׂים
KJV: "Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff."
If the letter מ M of מוֹרַג MORAG is radical, then the word is of the root מרג, a member of the close root family
מרג, מרח, מרך, מרק
The act מרח, 'spread, smear, daub', appears in Isaiah 38:21. The act מרק, 'burnish, rub, scrape, polish', appears in Jer. 46:4. There is also מָרָק in the sense of 'a dish of squashed or chopped vegetables and meat'.
This family is further related to the Hebrew root string
מרד, מרט, מרס, מרץ, מרש

Otherwise, מוֹרַג is of the root RG or RGG, related to
רכך, רקק
further related to
רדד, רטט, רסס, רצץ, רשש, רתת

Isaac Fried, Boston University