This file, listing all the words in Classical Hebrew beginning with the letters Aleph to Teth, ar... more This file, listing all the words in Classical Hebrew beginning with the letters Aleph to Teth, arranged according to the semantic field to which each belongs, is a supplement to the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR). Another relevant file is my paper on the theory and practice of Semantic Fields, also posted on academia.edu, Mapping Semantic Fields in Classical Hebrew. Users of DCHR will be aware that at the end of each article there is a section beginning <SEM>, which shows the semantic field(s) to which the word belongs. Each such section contains one or more paragraphs with a format like §1.1.1.1 Objects > Beings > Non-Human Animals > Wild Animals. That information is the basis for the list you are seeing here, which shows all the words in each of the semantic fields-but only for the present as far as the letter Teth. Now that Volume III of DCHR (Zayin-Teth) is being completed, it becomes the value of analysing the semantic fields becomes apparent.
In his vision of the eschatological future, the poet of Isaiah 30 offers a glimpse of life on the... more In his vision of the eschatological future, the poet of Isaiah 30 offers a glimpse of life on the Israelite farm in the latter days (bayyôm hahû', v. 23): w e hā' a lāpîm w e hā' a yārîm 'ōb e dê hā' a dāmâ b e lîl ḥāmîṣ yō'kēlû ' a šer-zōreh bāraḥat ûbammizreh. The oxen and the donkeys, who work the soil, will eat ḥāmîṣ as fodder, winnowed 1 with shovel and pitchfork (v. 24). No one knows for sure what ḥāmîṣ is (see below), but the striking thing about it is that this animal feed has been 'winnowed' (zārâ) with the agricultural implements known as the 'shovel' (raḥat) 2 and the 'fork, pitchfork' (mizreh). 3 Now the process of winnowing, which takes place after threshing (dûš, ḥbṭ), is the separating of the edible grains from the harvested stalks and husks of wheat, barley and similar crops. Winnowing is typically done in the late afternoon or the early evening, when a breeze may be expected. The threshed stalks of grain lie loose on the threshing floor, and the winnower 4 picks up with his pronged fork (mizreh) the mixture of grains and husks and chaff, and repeatedly throws it into the air. The wind carries the lighter husks and chaff some distance away, while the grains, which are heavier, fall in a pile at his foot; then the winnower scoops up with his shovel (raḥat) the contents of the pile, which now is more grain than chaff, and throws it into the air against the wind; the resultant pile has fewer impurities, but a final stage of sieving with a sieve (nāpâ I, kebārā or ḥašrâ) may be needed. 5 We notice that the two implements are mentioned in our verse in what appears to be the reverse order of their use-the fork will be needed first for throwing the stalks in the air, and the shovel afterwards for throwing upwards the contents of the pile that is mostly grain-but the sequence of their use is of little consequence. 6
In this paper I discuss the translations of Psalm 23 in a number of Bible versions in English, In... more In this paper I discuss the translations of Psalm 23 in a number of Bible versions in English, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese, with allusion also to some other European languages. I suggest that this psalm, though it is perhaps the best known chapter of the Bible, may also be the worst translated. At 15 different points in the psalm, I have reason to dispute traditional translations of such familiar phrases as ”he leads me beside still waters,” ”in paths of righteousness,” ”for his name' sake,” and ”the valley of the shadow of death.” At the end, I offer my own translation of the psalm.
Most Hebraists are familiar with the claim that the “basic meaning” of the Hebrew verb qdš is “to... more Most Hebraists are familiar with the claim that the “basic meaning” of the Hebrew verb qdš is “to separate.” It was adopted by BDB, and is referred to by HALOT. This paper argues that the claim is unlikely to be correct. In searching for the origins and rationale for this claim, which goes back at least to Reuchlin (1505), I encountered some other views propounded by Hebrew lexica of the past 500 years about the “basic meaning” of the root, including “be clean” (e.g., Gesenius, 1833), “begin” (e.g., Buxtorf, 1615) and (surprisingly) “be unclean” (e.g., Pagninus, 1529). These proposals also will be shown to lack adequate support. I will argue that the verb qdš “be holy” and its derivatives have no underlying meaning apart from their denotation of the deity personally and of what belongs to the deity, such as his temple, his priests, his sabbaths, etc.
Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-... more Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-dollar bill, the infrastructure of biblical research has fallen into disrepair. Most biblical scholars have not noticed the decay since they they do not even realize that their research is supported by any infrastructure at all. Obviously, if few are aware of the infrastructure even fewer will be taking care for it, and it will only have been attended to accidentally, in the course of some other concern. This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them. The ten elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements. The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-... more Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-dollar bill, the infrastructure of biblical research has fallen into disrepair. Most biblical scholars have not noticed the decay since they they do not even realize that their research is supported by any infrastructure at all. Obviously, if few are aware of the infrastructure even fewer will be taking care for it, and it will only have been attended to accidentally, in the course of some other concern. This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them. The nine elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars, a who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements. The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect. This paper seeks to create an awareness of some underpinning elements for biblical research, and to propose in each case improvements that may be made.
This file, listing all the words in Classical Hebrew beginning with the letters Aleph to Teth, ar... more This file, listing all the words in Classical Hebrew beginning with the letters Aleph to Teth, arranged according to the semantic field to which each belongs, is a supplement to the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR). Another relevant file is my paper on the theory and practice of Semantic Fields, also posted on academia.edu, Mapping Semantic Fields in Classical Hebrew. Users of DCHR will be aware that at the end of each article there is a section beginning <SEM>, which shows the semantic field(s) to which the word belongs. Each such section contains one or more paragraphs with a format like §1.1.1.1 Objects > Beings > Non-Human Animals > Wild Animals. That information is the basis for the list you are seeing here, which shows all the words in each of the semantic fields-but only for the present as far as the letter Teth. Now that Volume III of DCHR (Zayin-Teth) is being completed, it becomes the value of analysing the semantic fields becomes apparent.
In his vision of the eschatological future, the poet of Isaiah 30 offers a glimpse of life on the... more In his vision of the eschatological future, the poet of Isaiah 30 offers a glimpse of life on the Israelite farm in the latter days (bayyôm hahû', v. 23): w e hā' a lāpîm w e hā' a yārîm 'ōb e dê hā' a dāmâ b e lîl ḥāmîṣ yō'kēlû ' a šer-zōreh bāraḥat ûbammizreh. The oxen and the donkeys, who work the soil, will eat ḥāmîṣ as fodder, winnowed 1 with shovel and pitchfork (v. 24). No one knows for sure what ḥāmîṣ is (see below), but the striking thing about it is that this animal feed has been 'winnowed' (zārâ) with the agricultural implements known as the 'shovel' (raḥat) 2 and the 'fork, pitchfork' (mizreh). 3 Now the process of winnowing, which takes place after threshing (dûš, ḥbṭ), is the separating of the edible grains from the harvested stalks and husks of wheat, barley and similar crops. Winnowing is typically done in the late afternoon or the early evening, when a breeze may be expected. The threshed stalks of grain lie loose on the threshing floor, and the winnower 4 picks up with his pronged fork (mizreh) the mixture of grains and husks and chaff, and repeatedly throws it into the air. The wind carries the lighter husks and chaff some distance away, while the grains, which are heavier, fall in a pile at his foot; then the winnower scoops up with his shovel (raḥat) the contents of the pile, which now is more grain than chaff, and throws it into the air against the wind; the resultant pile has fewer impurities, but a final stage of sieving with a sieve (nāpâ I, kebārā or ḥašrâ) may be needed. 5 We notice that the two implements are mentioned in our verse in what appears to be the reverse order of their use-the fork will be needed first for throwing the stalks in the air, and the shovel afterwards for throwing upwards the contents of the pile that is mostly grain-but the sequence of their use is of little consequence. 6
In this paper I discuss the translations of Psalm 23 in a number of Bible versions in English, In... more In this paper I discuss the translations of Psalm 23 in a number of Bible versions in English, Indonesian, Korean, and Chinese, with allusion also to some other European languages. I suggest that this psalm, though it is perhaps the best known chapter of the Bible, may also be the worst translated. At 15 different points in the psalm, I have reason to dispute traditional translations of such familiar phrases as ”he leads me beside still waters,” ”in paths of righteousness,” ”for his name' sake,” and ”the valley of the shadow of death.” At the end, I offer my own translation of the psalm.
Most Hebraists are familiar with the claim that the “basic meaning” of the Hebrew verb qdš is “to... more Most Hebraists are familiar with the claim that the “basic meaning” of the Hebrew verb qdš is “to separate.” It was adopted by BDB, and is referred to by HALOT. This paper argues that the claim is unlikely to be correct. In searching for the origins and rationale for this claim, which goes back at least to Reuchlin (1505), I encountered some other views propounded by Hebrew lexica of the past 500 years about the “basic meaning” of the root, including “be clean” (e.g., Gesenius, 1833), “begin” (e.g., Buxtorf, 1615) and (surprisingly) “be unclean” (e.g., Pagninus, 1529). These proposals also will be shown to lack adequate support. I will argue that the verb qdš “be holy” and its derivatives have no underlying meaning apart from their denotation of the deity personally and of what belongs to the deity, such as his temple, his priests, his sabbaths, etc.
Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-... more Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-dollar bill, the infrastructure of biblical research has fallen into disrepair. Most biblical scholars have not noticed the decay since they they do not even realize that their research is supported by any infrastructure at all. Obviously, if few are aware of the infrastructure even fewer will be taking care for it, and it will only have been attended to accidentally, in the course of some other concern. This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them. The ten elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements. The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-... more Like the infrastructure of the USA, which President Biden is hoping to improve with his trillion-dollar bill, the infrastructure of biblical research has fallen into disrepair. Most biblical scholars have not noticed the decay since they they do not even realize that their research is supported by any infrastructure at all. Obviously, if few are aware of the infrastructure even fewer will be taking care for it, and it will only have been attended to accidentally, in the course of some other concern. This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them. The nine elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars, a who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements. The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect. This paper seeks to create an awareness of some underpinning elements for biblical research, and to propose in each case improvements that may be made.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. I. Aleph, 2018
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. I. Aleph. This file contains 125 pp. of the 764 pp. o... more The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. I. Aleph. This file contains 125 pp. of the 764 pp. of DCHR 1, released July 2018. It includes the Introduction, outlining the unique features of the Dictionary.
Volume IX offers a valuable enhancement of the 8-volume Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2011... more Volume IX offers a valuable enhancement of the 8-volume Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2011).
In DCH I–VIII, each volume had its own English–Hebrew Index, but this volume presents a much improved gathering together of all those indexes. The Index here contains every word used as a translation (gloss) in the Dictionary, that is, all the words printed in bold. In addition—a feature not seen before in Hebrew dictionaries—beneath each listed word are noted all the Hebrew words it translates, together with the volume and page reference of the relevant article.
The second element in this volume is the Word Frequency Table. This is a combination of the Word Frequency Tables in the various volumes of DCH. There, the lists of word frequencies were arranged under each letter of the alphabet. In the present publication, all the words in the Dictionary are combined in a single list arranged in order of frequency of occurrence.
Unlike all previous lists of occurrences of Hebrew words, the present list includes the occurrences not only in the Hebrew Bible but also in the whole scope of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, which is to say, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Inscriptions as well as the Hebrew Bible itself.
To be true to its name, biblical criticism must be critical, not just of the Bible’s historicity,... more To be true to its name, biblical criticism must be critical, not just of the Bible’s historicity, etc., but also of its theological assertions (its philosophy). An iconic text like Genesis 1 cries out for a critical response, among which the following topics emerge. (1) God saw it was good. So he looks on outward appearances? Is not tôb an aesthetic judgment, i.e. beautiful, perhaps merely pretty? (2) Sustainability. Does the creation remain ‘good’? Is the world not what was designed, or is what we have as good as it gets? (3) God’s ‘work’. What actual ‘work’ was done in Genesis 1? Mostly it was a matter of issuing commands. Is not the God of Genesis 1 a pharaonic ruler? (4) Humanity as the image of God. An aberrant idea, from the point of view of the Hebrew Bible generally. (5) Humans as the pinnacle of creation. Why should creation be thought as having a pinnacle? Are humans perhaps the nadir of creation? (6) Human dominion over the animals. Apart from half a dozen animals that humans use, is this not unrealistic? Fish and birds are mostly beyond human reach, and wild animals more likely to exercise dominion over humans than vice versa. (7) Be fruitful. In a world already suffering from overpopulation this command is a curse, or at least more than thoroughly fulfilled. (8) Male and female. Is sexuality exclusively for the purpose of reproduction? (9) The almost sabbath. Despite strong hints, this is not really a sabbath, since it is observed by the deity, not humans, and it is not repeated. (10) The seventh day the climax of creation? Can lack of activity be the climax of creation? (11) Separation, differentiation, order. The principle of order is fundamental in Genesis 1, but it is a value regarded ambivalently in the modern world, with overtones of authoritarianism, oppression. (12) The missing dimension. Genesis 1 is austere, spare, grand, but lacks empathy, emotion, at least by comparison with Psalm 104, its most important intertext.
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Papers by David Clines
This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them.
The ten elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements.
The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them.
The nine elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars, a who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements.
The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
This paper seeks to create an awareness of some underpinning elements for biblical research, and to propose in each case improvements that may be made.
This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them.
The ten elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements.
The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
This paper considers ten infrastructural elements of our research, analysing present weaknesses as I see them, and in each case presenting a practical proposal for addressing them.
The nine elements are: book publication, journal publication, informal publication, subject indexes, biblical languages indexes, access by international scholars, publication by international scholars, a who’s who in biblical studies, societies, congresses. The proposals range from actions that learned societies could take, to initiatives that publishers could adopt, to conversations that need to be held by biblical scholars among themselves about the effectiveness of many of our current arrangements.
The pandemic has given us cause to ask some searching questions about the future of our congresses, and at the same time we may well turn to a critique of some of the venerable institutions, often invisible, that have served our research but have fallen into neglect.
This paper seeks to create an awareness of some underpinning elements for biblical research, and to propose in each case improvements that may be made.
In DCH I–VIII, each volume had its own English–Hebrew Index, but this volume presents a much improved gathering together of all those indexes. The Index here contains every word used as a translation (gloss) in the Dictionary, that is, all the words printed in bold. In addition—a feature not seen before in Hebrew dictionaries—beneath each listed word are noted all the Hebrew words it translates, together with the volume and page reference of the relevant article.
The second element in this volume is the Word Frequency Table. This is a combination of the Word Frequency Tables in the various volumes of DCH. There, the lists of word frequencies were arranged under each letter of the alphabet. In the present publication, all the words in the Dictionary are combined in a single list arranged in order of frequency of occurrence.
Unlike all previous lists of occurrences of Hebrew words, the present list includes the occurrences not only in the Hebrew Bible but also in the whole scope of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, which is to say, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Inscriptions as well as the Hebrew Bible itself.
Available from Sheffiiel Phoenix Press; details and order www.sheffieldphoenix.com/showbook.asp?bkid=283.
(1) God saw it was good. So he looks on outward appearances? Is not tôb an aesthetic judgment, i.e. beautiful, perhaps merely pretty?
(2) Sustainability. Does the creation remain ‘good’? Is the world not what was designed, or is what we have as good as it gets?
(3) God’s ‘work’. What actual ‘work’ was done in Genesis 1? Mostly it was a matter of issuing commands. Is not the God of Genesis 1 a pharaonic ruler?
(4) Humanity as the image of God. An aberrant idea, from the point of view of the Hebrew Bible generally.
(5) Humans as the pinnacle of creation. Why should creation be thought as having a pinnacle? Are humans perhaps the nadir of creation?
(6) Human dominion over the animals. Apart from half a dozen animals that humans use, is this not unrealistic? Fish and birds are mostly beyond human reach, and wild animals more likely to exercise dominion over humans than vice versa.
(7) Be fruitful. In a world already suffering from overpopulation this command is a curse, or at least more than thoroughly fulfilled.
(8) Male and female. Is sexuality exclusively for the purpose of reproduction?
(9) The almost sabbath. Despite strong hints, this is not really a sabbath, since it is observed by the deity, not humans, and it is not repeated.
(10) The seventh day the climax of creation? Can lack of activity be the climax of creation?
(11) Separation, differentiation, order. The principle of order is fundamental in Genesis 1, but it is a value regarded ambivalently in the modern world, with overtones of authoritarianism, oppression.
(12) The missing dimension. Genesis 1 is austere, spare, grand, but lacks empathy, emotion, at least by comparison with Psalm 104, its most important intertext.