תַזְרִיעַ TAZRIYA, Lev. 12:2
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:12 pm
We read there
אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר
with תַזְרִיעַ = אתה-זר-היא-ע containing the pair of personal pronouns אתה-היא referring to the couple of actors participating in the act זרע, 'sow, scatter seed', resulting, בשעה טובה ובמזל טוב, in the birth of a healthy boy. But who are they? At first sight one may tend to see אתה-היא as 'you-her', the man to his wife. But this is not the accepted understanding:
Aramaic אונקלוס translation:אִתְּתָא אֲרֵי תְּעַדֵּי וּתְלִיד דְּכַר
NIV: "A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son"
KJV: "If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child"
Namely, אתה-היא refer both to the woman accepting the seed and forming the fetus.
It is of interest to note that the Targum puts סַפַּחַת, 'scab, growth, buildup, accumulation', of Lev. 13:2, as עֶדְיָא EDYA, of the same root עד, 'addition', as of תְּעַדֵּי = ת-עדי of Lev. 12:2, of pregnancy.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר
with תַזְרִיעַ = אתה-זר-היא-ע containing the pair of personal pronouns אתה-היא referring to the couple of actors participating in the act זרע, 'sow, scatter seed', resulting, בשעה טובה ובמזל טוב, in the birth of a healthy boy. But who are they? At first sight one may tend to see אתה-היא as 'you-her', the man to his wife. But this is not the accepted understanding:
Aramaic אונקלוס translation:אִתְּתָא אֲרֵי תְּעַדֵּי וּתְלִיד דְּכַר
NIV: "A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son"
KJV: "If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child"
Namely, אתה-היא refer both to the woman accepting the seed and forming the fetus.
It is of interest to note that the Targum puts סַפַּחַת, 'scab, growth, buildup, accumulation', of Lev. 13:2, as עֶדְיָא EDYA, of the same root עד, 'addition', as of תְּעַדֵּי = ת-עדי of Lev. 12:2, of pregnancy.
Isaac Fried, Boston University