Aron Pinker, «On the Meaning of Job 4,18», Vol. 93 (2012) 500-519
This paper argues that the terms wydb( and wyk)lm in Job 4,18 should be understood as referring to the set motions of the sun, moon, and stars as well as to sporadic meteorological events, respectively. Such understanding does not dilute the validity and force of the qal wahomer in 4,18-19. The comparison is between the inanimate but permanent (sun, moon, stars, meteorological phenomena) and the animate but impermanent (humans). The difficult hlht is assumed to have been originally hhflft;@ from hhl, «languish, faint». Taking hlht as having the meaning «weakness» provides a sense that eminently fits a natural event.
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of which hlfh/t%f is the feminine 29; and, (c) many believe that a form
of the root llh, “to be foolish,†is etymologically most probable 30.
Objection: (a) The parallelism to the preceding colon may have
guided the versions to guess from the context; (b) a word derived
from llh having the same form as lbet@e and smet@e would be llehe
and it is not obvious that it would have a feminine form, since a
feminine form is not attested for lbet@e and smet@e; (c) it is not obvious
how the peculiar form hlfh/t%f was derived from llh 31; the form
hlfh/t%f from llh is impossible, since the l has no dageš to com-
pensate for the missing l 32; the meaning “be deceived, fool, madâ€
is contextually untenable 33.
― Derive the meaning of hlht from Ethiopian tahala (“wander,
errorâ€).
Rationale: The meaning is based on a Semitic word that has sim-
ilar spelling.
Objection: The meaning has low likelihood since it is based on
a word occurring only in Ethiopian.
― Derive the meaning of hlht from an Arabic word with sim-
ilar spelling.
Rationale: (a) There are words in cognate languages which con-
tain the consonants hlht and have a meaning that fits the context
of 18b: in Arabic wahila “to go astray,†tahil “to be fetid,†thahlal
“vainâ€, tahwîl “threat, reproof†34.
DHORME, Job, 53.
29
BEUKEN, “Eliphazâ€, 301, n. 25.
30
GRABBE, Comparative, 42.
31
DRIVER – GRAY, Critical, 25. For instance, Dillmann (Hiob, 38) notes
32
that the translations of the Versions “kann grammatisch nicht mit llh
zusamengebracht werden, so dass es Torheit bedeuteteâ€. Cf. also CHAHAM,
bwy), 35, n. 27.
HABEL, Job, 116. Habel observes: “The significance of mad angels in
33
this context, however, remains obscureâ€.
TUR-SINAI, Job, 85. Tur-Sinai says that hlht “may also be a derivative
34
— originally perhaps pronounced hlfhut@@; — of the root lwh with the meaning
of the Arabic tahwîl “threat, reproofâ€. However, the root lwh is not attested
in biblical Hebrew (cf. JASTROW, 339a).
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