גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

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Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

Post by Isaac Fried »

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
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

Post by Isaac Fried »

Note that כֹּתֶל KOTEL, 'wall', as in songs 2:9
הִנֵּה זֶה עוֹמֵד אַחַר כָּתְלֵנוּ מַשְׁגִּיחַ מִן הַחֲלּנוֹת מֵצִיץ מִן הַחֲרַכִּים
NIV: "Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows,  peering through the lattice."
is also a גֹּדֶל GODEL, 'tall'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

Post by Isaac Fried »

It is possible that גֶזֶל is גֶדֶל also in the sense of 'strong-arm act' performed by the large and threatening, גדול, against the weaker. Indeed, in Ps. 35:10 we find
מַצִּיל עָנִי מֵחָזָק מִמֶּנּוּ וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מִגֹּזְלוֹ
NIV: "You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
Then in Ps. 35:26
יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ יַחְדָּו שְׂמֵחֵי רָעָתִי יִלְבְּשׁוּ בֹשֶׁת וּכְלִמָּה הַמַּגְדִּילִים עָלָי
KJV: "Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me."

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

Post by Isaac Fried »

יְרַחֵף היא-רחף of Dt. 32:11 is of the root רחף RXP of the root family רגב, רהב, רחב, רכב, רקב
Out of this root we have the utterly new רחפן = רחפ-אן, 'tiny multirotor air borne hovering drone.' The attached ending אן AN of רחפן is a personal pronoun (as in אני ANIY, 'I') placed to turn the root into the noun 'it is a thing capable of performing the act רחף, hover', and is but one of the possibilities
אך, מה, אן, את
Indeed, from the kindred root רכב RKB, 'ride', we have the recent רַכֶּבֶת = רכב-את, 'train', and the biblical
מַרְכְּבֹת = מה-רכב-וֹת, 'chariots', of Ex. 15:4.
Possibly, בן = בא-אן, בת = בא-את, צאן = צא-אן
In Ps. 118:26 we find בֵּרַכְנוּכֶם = ברך-אנוּ-אכם in which אכם is for אתם. In Ps. 118:21 we have אוֹדְךָ = אוֹד-אכה with אכה for אתה.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Isaac Fried
Posts: 1783
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:32 pm

Re: גְּזֵלָה GZELAH, Lev. 5:23 (6:4)

Post by Isaac Fried »

We also note with interest the relationship between רקב RQB , 'rot', and רגב RGB, 'breakup', referred usually to the breaking up of the soil by a hoe or a plough. See Job 38:38
בְּצֶקֶת עָפָר לַמּוּצָק וּרְגָבִים יְדֻבָּקוּ
NIV: "when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together"
Then Isaiah 40:20
עֵץ לֹא יִרְקַב יִבְחָר חָרָשׁ חָכָם יְבַקֶּשׁ לוֹ לְהָכִין פֶּסֶל לֹא יִמּוֹט
KJV: "He ... chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved."

Isaac Fried, Boston University
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