נְבֵלָה וּטְרֵפָה NEBELAH UTREPAH, Lev. 17:15

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

נְבֵלָה וּטְרֵפָה NEBELAH UTREPAH, Lev. 17:15

Post by Isaac Fried »

We read there
וְכָל נֶפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכַל נְבֵלָה וּטְרֵפָה בָּאֶזְרָח וּבַגֵּר וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם וְטָמֵא עַד הָעֶרֶב וְטָהֵר
KJV: "And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean."
נְבֵלָה is from the root נבל a close relative of נפל, 'fall, fall down, drop', and hence נְבֵלָה is factually a נְפֵלָה, a collapsed animal, by illness, exhaustion or age; "died of itself", as KJV puts it.
טְרֵפָה is from the root טרף, a member of the root family
זרב, סרב, צרב, שרב
זרף, טרף, צרף, שרף

and meaning 'torn apart', as by an attack of a predatory animal.
As I see it, the existence of the uniliteral root ר R in טרף implies that the root refers to a fractured material state.

Isaac Fried, Boston University
Mark Lightman
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 12:33 pm

Re: נְבֵלָה וּטְרֵפָה NEBELAH UTREPAH, Lev. 17:15

Post by Mark Lightman »

Isaac Fried wrote:As I see it, the existence of the uniliteral root ר R in טרף implies that the root refers to a fractured material state.
Hi, Isaac:

Supporting your idea is the ρ in LXX Gen 37:33 θηρίον ἥρπασεν τὸν Ἰωσηφ. cf the Graecus Venetus, which picks up the טָרֹף טֹרַף יוֹסֵף with τῷ ἁρπάζεσθαι ἥρπακται Ἰωξέφης.
Mark Lightman
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