![]() ![]() The Septuagint reads "my heart saw," while the King James has "my heart declares". It occurs only in Ecclesiastes 9:1, and over the centuries several proper translations have been proposed. The verb בור ( bur) is "possibly a by-form of באר ( ba'ar)" according to HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Note that this word occurs also as synonym for Sheol (Isaiah 38:18). The masculine noun בור ( bor), a much more common variant of the previous also meaning cistern, well or pit (Deuteronomy 6:11, Jeremiah 6:7, Proverbs 28:17).The masculine noun באר ( bo'r), meaning cistern, well or pit (2 Samuel 23:15, Jeremiah 2:13).HAW states that the derivation is uncertain, but the many obvious relations between springs of water and springs of revelation may provide hints of clarity. This word also occurs frequently as part of names. The feminine noun באר ( be'er), meaning well (Genesis 21:25, Numbers 21:18) or pit (of bitumen: Genesis 14:10 of the grave Psalm 55:23).Much more frequently occurring are this root's derivations: As verb this root occurs three times in the Bible: Deuteronomy 1:5, 27:8 and Habakkuk 2:2. The verb באר ( ba'ar) "describes writing on tablets of stone made clear and distinct" (in the words of HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). It appears that the most basic idea that lies beneath all these verbal actions is a cutting, breaking or breaching, whether graving letters in stone, wells in the earth's surface, metals from ore, grain from stalks, the whole of creation in the expanse of nothingness, or a covenant between parties: But, curiously, each root ברא ( br') seems to be somewhat reflected in one of the roots ברה ( brh), and both couples can be loosely linked to the באר ( b'r)-cluster: ![]() And then there are two different roots of the adjacent form ברה ( brh), which also don't seem to be related in meaning. Scholars also identify two or three different verbs of the form ברא ( br'), which seem to have nothing or very little to do with each other. For some curious reason, the verbs deal with either clearly declaring statements or else purifying items, while the derived nouns all have to do with water wells and pits and such. The small cluster of roots באר ( b'r) and בור ( bwr) and ברר ( brr) are obviously related in form and meaning. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |