(Bada) בָּדָ֣א

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MGWB
Posts: 60
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:21 pm

(Bada) בָּדָ֣א

Post by MGWB »

Strong's Lexicon defines this as "A primitive root; (figuratively) to invent -- devise, feign," and Brwn, Driver, Briggs reads as follows "בָּדָא verb devise, invent (bad sense) (Mishna id., Aramaic בְּדָא, invent; compare Arabic begin, make a beginning —

Qal Perfect בָּדָא 1 Kings 12:33; Participle suffix בּוֺדָאם (instead of בּוֺדְאָם) Nehemiah 6:8 — Jeroboam devised a feast in 8th month 1 Kings 12:33; invent accusation Nehemiah 6:8."

But is it only used in a bad sense, and is this sense part of the word?

(I ask because "make a beginning" doesn't seem to carry any bad sense.)
Michael Gerard Burke
kwrandolph
Posts: 1531
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:51 am

Re: (Bada) בָּדָ֣א

Post by kwrandolph »

MGWB wrote:Strong's Lexicon …
Strong’s Lexicon doesn’t have a good reputation in this group.
MGWB wrote:… defines this as "A primitive root; (figuratively) to invent -- devise, feign," and Brwn, Driver, Briggs reads as follows "בָּדָא verb devise, invent (bad sense) (Mishna id., Aramaic בְּדָא, invent; compare Arabic begin, make a beginning —

Qal Perfect בָּדָא 1 Kings 12:33; Participle suffix בּוֺדָאם (instead of בּוֺדְאָם) Nehemiah 6:8 — Jeroboam devised a feast in 8th month 1 Kings 12:33; invent accusation Nehemiah 6:8."

But is it only used in a bad sense, and is this sense part of the word?
A word that is used only twice makes it impossible for us to insist that it had only a negative sense in its day-to-day usage. While both its uses in Tanakh are in a negative context, the way it’s used is not necessarily negative.
MGWB wrote:(I ask because "make a beginning" doesn't seem to carry any bad sense.)
One example of one of the dangers of relying on cognate languages.

Karl W. Randolph.
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