This brings up the question: have you lived or spent any length of time in a desert?aavichai wrote:I'll answer just for the meaning of מדבר=שממה
for the other stuff, there is no point we will go back and forth
everyone will study his own way and sometimes we'll see things differently
for the מדבר in the meaning of שממה deserted place
(first - when you translate מדבר to desert, it has a reason, no? But I'm no expert in English, so that was just a thought)
You need to be more careful with your roots.aavichai wrote:just a few examples:
The root listed for this verb is variously listed as שוש or שיש.aavichai wrote:Isiah 35:1
יששום מדבר וציה
I found out what I did wrong in my electronic search.aavichai wrote:Isiah 64:9
ציון מדבר היתה ירושלם שממה
Verses like this do not indicate that שממה and מדבר have the same meaning. Rather one is a noun, the other an adjective, and have different meanings.
Here שממה is an adjective, obviously then שממה ֹֹ≠ מדבר.aavichai wrote:Jeremiah 12:10
חלקת חמדתי למדבר שממה
Same as above.aavichai wrote:Joel 4:19
ואדום למדבר שממה
In this verse, the parallelism indicates that ארץ = מדבר. Is that what you intended?aavichai wrote:Job 38:26
מדבר לא אדם בו
The root for this verse is listed as שים.aavichai wrote:Psalms 107:33
ישם נהרות למדבר
One thing that typifies a desert is the presence of stinging and thorny plants. Goats can eat many of those plants. Sheep are little more picky. Cows and horses are also more picky.
There are two roots written as דבר, one meaning expression, the other refers to stinging or thorny. There are examples of מדבר that come from both roots.
Today there have been on and off showers all day, and yesterday. The winter rains have been pleasant. The ground is turning green as the grasses sprout between the cacti and under the trees. This afternoon we saw a rainbow. As the evening falls, there are still some clouds around, some of which are leaking water.
Before those of European descent came here, the Indians harvested fruits from the palms and saguaro cacti. The prickly pear will have pretty flowers later in the spring, but their fruits are full of seeds and have many tiny spines that are quite painful. The hawks and owls keep the populations of ground squirrels and rabbits under control. Packrats make their nests among the prickly pear, but they’re quite destructive, so we get rid of them. Quail with their tufted heads try to keep under trees and bushes as much as possible.
Before the white men came with their sheep and cattle, the grasses used to grow to a horse’s belly. Then in the winter the bison and antelope would come, and find good grazing. But the ranchers left their cattle on the land all year round, which killed the grasses. The grasses were replaced by sage and greasewood, which are not as edible.
Many of the trees and bushes have spines. The leaves on the ocotillos seldom grow larger than the spines that protect them. Some varieties of prickly pear grow stems, then the pads higher than what the javalinos (wild pigs) can reach don’t have as many spines. People don’t leave their pets out, because the bobcats, coyotes and occasional mountain lion like to eat them. At night, every now and then groups of coyotes get together to sing their choruses.
Cartoonists draw deserts as having a saguaro cactus next to a cow scull, but that’s not accurate. Saguaro usually start under a tree, usually a palo verde or mesquite (whose seeds are edible). There’s a 30 foot tall saguaro standing next to a 30 foot palo verde tree, just outside my window. The palo verde probably gave the saguaro its start.
The above is a picture of a desert. A real desert. Full of sharp things and thorns. People have lived there for thousands of years.
Karl W. Randolph.