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Word Study 5.12.2011

The document analyzes the three occurrences of the Hebrew root קפא in the Hebrew Bible. Each occurrence has a distinct usage. In Exodus 15:8, it refers to the depths of the sea rising together. In Zephaniah 1:12, it describes men becoming complacent. In Job 10:10, it refers to a fetus developing and maturing in the womb. Despite the limited uses, the root likely had a broader semantic range relating to things coming together or changing state.

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59 views3 pages

Word Study 5.12.2011

The document analyzes the three occurrences of the Hebrew root קפא in the Hebrew Bible. Each occurrence has a distinct usage. In Exodus 15:8, it refers to the depths of the sea rising together. In Zephaniah 1:12, it describes men becoming complacent. In Job 10:10, it refers to a fetus developing and maturing in the womb. Despite the limited uses, the root likely had a broader semantic range relating to things coming together or changing state.

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nelder23
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The root occurs only four times in the Hebrew bible, one of which is in the form of a textual variant.

. Of interest is that each occurrence of has a very distinctive use. It occurs twice in a verbal form taking two disparate objects, and once in a participial form.1 This word study will review the uses of the root ,concluding that the root had a fairly broad semantic range, which is no longer attested because of the limited text of Hebrew witnesses available. The first occurrence of the root is found in the song of Moses in Exodus 15.8. Here the root occurs in the Qal perfect 3cs , with the object ( depths). The context is Moses praising YHWH for parting the sea and allowing Israel to flee to their safety. He praises, the depths were congealed2 in the heart of the sea.3 There are two parallel verbs in this verse, each concerning water: and which both have very clear rising/standing types of connotations. Here then the meaning of the root will naturally have a parallel nuance of the rising/standing connotation found in the two related verbs of the verse. Thus, the verse could be translated, the depths came rising together, in the heart of the sea. In this translation the nuance of congealed, or coming together, is maintained with the two other parallel verbal forms that have a rising connotation. The second use of in the Hebrew Bible comes in Zephaniah 1.12, this time in participial form, . The use here greatly differs from the use in Exodus 15. This portion of Zephaniah is an indictment of YHWH against (the men congealing upon the wine dregs). Here the text gives the sense that these men have become worthless or lazy, many English translations use the adjective complacent.4 The sense is that they have become sluggish; they are less viscous than before, changing from free, quick moving liquid and turning into slow, sludgy muck. This will be similar to the sense found in the last use of in the Hebrew Bible. The final, and perhaps most interesting, instance of occurs in Job 10.10, again in the verbal form as a Hitpael imperfect 2ms with a 1cs pronominial suffix . The object of the verb is clearly contained in the 1cs pronominal suffix with the The fourth form is also verbal, the qal imperfect 3ms but this is clearly a variant of what should another word related to the root of this study, , meaning frost. 2 All the major lexicons have congeal as a possible English equivalent for : HALOT, BDB, and Holladay. 3 All translations are mine based on BHS. 4 NIV, ESV
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Congealing and Curdling: A Word Study of the Root Nick Elder Hebrew Bible Exegesis The Iliff School of Theology

referent as the simile ( as cheese). The context of the two preceding verses concerns creation: ( ! v.8-your hands formed me and brought me together) ( as clay you formed me). The immediate context moves from creation to procreation, utilizing the root this study is concerned with: first Job is ( as milk you poured me out) and then ( and you caused to congeal me as cheese). The point here is describe the conception and maturation of the fetus, albeit in a grossly oversimplified manner. In typical Hebrew Bible fashion, aspects of child producing are presented in a way foreign to the modern reader. Of importance for this study, is that the root functions in yet another fashion: material comes together into a solid state-namely an infant. What has been presented through this study is the three (and only) disparate uses of the root .Based on these three differing uses of the root it can be safely posited that the root had a fairly wide semantic range, which is represented, but more difficult to demonstrate because of its lack of use in the literature of the Hebrew Bible.

Bibliography Baumgartner, Walter and Koehler, Ludwig. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. 4 vols. New York: E.J. Brill, 1996. Holladay, William L. A Conncise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: E.J. Brill, 1988. Brown, Francis, S.R. Driver, Charles Briggs. The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon. Peabody: 1979.

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