Questions tagged [language]
The language tag has no usage guidance.
239
questions
2
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3answers
169 views
Why Hebrew wasn't the spoken language in the Gemara times?
Why was Hebrew NOT the spoken language of the Jewish people after the Mishna? And why was a scholarly text, which was created for individuals who also obviously understood Hebrew, written in Aramaic?
...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
Why this common greeting: Tzom kal?
Tzom kal (easy fast) is a common greeting before the 9th of Av, but why? It runs counter to the adage, "No pain, no gain". The no pain adage seems similar to L'fum tzaara agra – according ...
1
vote
0answers
75 views
What is the difference between 'a minori ad majus' and 'a majori ad minus'
Good afternoon,
I'm attempting to understand the "Thirty-Two Rules of Elezer B. Jose Ha-Gelili" and have come to the 5th rule and have a question;
1. Summary of Problem
In reading the ...
0
votes
1answer
117 views
How can we say the Torah uses words of later-day languages? [duplicate]
My friend told me how the word das, which we use to mean halacha or religion, like k'das Moshe veYisroel, is actually a Persian word. If this is true, then how can commentators explain the word ...
2
votes
2answers
91 views
How many taamim/cantillation/trop marks are there?
I know there are different nusachot, but is there a maximal amount?
8
votes
1answer
318 views
Aramaic in a baraisa
I always understood a major difference between a mishna/baraisa and the text of the gemarra is the former is in Rabbinic Hebrew and the latter is in Aramaic.
The other day I chanced upon a gemarra in ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views
Sacred vs Holy: why the same word in Hebrew?
English and other languages (e.g., Russian & Greek) distinguish between "holy" ("святой", "άγιος") and "sacred" ("священный", "ιερός").
...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Does אנא ever connote thanking?
Does anyone know of an instance where אנא is interpreted as thanking as opposed to a plea or request?
0
votes
3answers
66 views
How often does the word “truth” appear n the Torah? [closed]
I am interested in knowing how often the word "truth" or "emet appears in the Torah
2
votes
0answers
81 views
Evolution of the Term “Ger”
According to Plaut ("The Torah a Modern Commentary", Revised Edition, p. 530) the term "ger" has changed over time.
Ger was the term applied to resident non-Israelites who could ...
2
votes
0answers
78 views
Origin of the use of “G-d”
I'm wondering about the earliest uses of the abbreviation "G-d". Obviously, it's used as an extension to avoiding saying Hashem's name in vain, but was this practice common from the ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
Is there any particular halachic reason why the Maccabean Martyrs would insist on speaking Hebrew?
I was reading 2 Maccabees chapter 7,
7 After the first brother died in this manner, they led forward the
second one with mockery. They ripped off the skin of his head along
with the hair and demanded,...
2
votes
0answers
40 views
What is the root/deeper meaning of ממילא? [closed]
I am trying to understand what the word means and what its root is. How it comes to translate into "automatically" or "by itself", etc. What words is it related to? What is the ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
How do you spell maila? [closed]
I've looked in the Jewish Languages dictionary and other places but I can't find anyone who gives a Hebrew spelling of the word maila, meaning positive quality, opposite of חסרון. I'm guessing that ...
1
vote
0answers
74 views
What is this text over the door?
I'm adding this post for Albert, who posted this in Biblical Hermeneutics. His question:
Hi i got some people rent a house, and they put this signs which i think is hebrew on the top of the entry ...
3
votes
0answers
110 views
Is there any evidence of a Jewish demon named Khoyzek?
The Yiddish term khoyzek refers a "mockery" of something else. According to Dov Sadan (cited here) this word derives from Khoyzek a demon in Jewish folklore. I looked high and low and could ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
What are the sources that the soul possesses the knowledge of a language?
@AvrohomYitzchok asked me this question to support the assertions for another question: "why-dont-newborns-speak-outright.
What are the sources that the knowledge of a language is a quality of ...
0
votes
1answer
221 views
Does the Hebrew word “Torah” originate from BOTH the words “Hora’ah” (meaning, Teaching) and “Orah” (meaning, Light)?
Does the Hebrew word "Torah" originate from BOTH the words “Hora’ah” (meaning, Teaching) and “Orah” (meaning, Light)?
The accurate meaning of “Torah” is twofold. Firstly it comes from the
...
-1
votes
1answer
78 views
Are there targums in other languages besides Aramaic?
There are various definitions of Targum. I'm interested in editions, translations, paraphrases, or retellings of the Tanakh in languages besides Aramaic which incorporate commentary and other ...
0
votes
1answer
119 views
inscription on Chagall's “White Crucifixion”? [closed]
What does the inscription on Chagall's painting White Crucifixion say?
Isn't John 19:19 ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") written ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים in Hebrew?
1
vote
1answer
496 views
Looking for the Lost tribes : Are Bantus speaking Ancient Hebrew? [closed]
On YouTube many videos link the Bantu languages to the ancient Hebrew. Would you know if any scholar ever studied the link between both languages do understand how they influence each other? Could the ...
4
votes
0answers
91 views
Foreign language words similar to Hebrew words [closed]
I started compiling a list about a year ago of all of the times I noticed that an English word was very linguistically similar to a Hebrew word phonetically and semantically (i.e. in meaning). Many ...
1
vote
0answers
69 views
Is there a list of non-Hebrew words and names in the Torah?
Not all words in the Torah are in Hebrew. A famous example is Lavan calling the Gal-Ed "Yigar Sahadutah" which is the Aramaic version of Gal-Ed. Another example is what the gemara says about ...
0
votes
3answers
82 views
The panav of HaShem [duplicate]
Exodus 33:28 and 23:
לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת-פָּנָי: כִּי לֹא-יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם, וָחָי.
וְרָאִיתָ, אֶת-אֲחֹרָי; וּפָנַי, לֹא יֵרָאוּ.
Looking at these verses G-d clearly says that no one can see ...
-1
votes
1answer
90 views
How does one say Pesach in a foreign language? [closed]
It is debatable whether Pesach means Passover, as it is called in English, or "hover over" like in Isaiah 31:5.
I am wondering if other languages besides for English use the term Pesach (in their ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
Tzitzit an appearance in visible form
Rabbi Hirsch seems to have written something like: “tzitzit; indeed it is called tzitzit from the Hebrew root meaning “to appear in physical form.”
Which root is that? And what does this mean in ...
3
votes
2answers
273 views
What is the origin of the “divine name” of דיקרנוסא
I noticed this kabbalistic holy name "דיקרנוסא" mentioned in the Amidah of a Edot haMizrach siddur in the extra supplications, and apparently it is not allowed to be pronounced. It sounds like it is ...
1
vote
0answers
58 views
Overly broad definition of Chametz in sale contract
I was reviewing the language of a mechirat chametz contract I had been sent and noticed some unusual specific language defining the parameters of the sale:
...The term 'Chometz' shall refer to any ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views
Where can I find how many roots the author needs to compose for each book of the Tenach
For example: I am reading now the book of Joshua in Hebrew. It looks to me quite simple language. The author uses often the same terms. Poetry and wisdom-litterature is much more complex. My ...
0
votes
2answers
157 views
Genesis 18:21 then I will know?
I find it strange that Genesis/Bereshit 18:21 seems to imply that G-d has limited knowledge of what's going on in Sodom and Amorah, so I wondered if the word eda'ah (אֵדָעָה) could be translated as: ...
2
votes
0answers
34 views
May you live until one hundred and twenty [duplicate]
The phrase: May you live until one hundred and twenty (עד מאה ועשרים) is a famous one derived from different verses of the Tenach.
But I would like to know if there is any deeper (gematrial) meaning ...
-3
votes
1answer
53 views
Does Avraham invite one of his visitors inside?
I've a question regards the following phrase from Genesis 18:10: "וְשָׂרָה שֹׁמַעַת פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וְהוּא אַחֲרָיו".
"And Sarah was listening at the opening of the tent, and it was behind him."
"And ...
0
votes
1answer
61 views
Awesome or aweful - נורא
Looking at verses such as Devarim (Deuteronomy) 7:21 and 10:17 those seem to talk about a awe-inspiring and awesome G-d. Yet the word נורא also means aweful or terrible or dreadful.
So how should I ...
2
votes
2answers
289 views
To find favor in one’s eye?
What does the idiom: מצא חן בעיני (to find favor/grace in one’s eyes) express, what does it really mean and when is it used in the Tenach?
I noticed it’s almost always connected to a request of some ...
5
votes
3answers
215 views
Were the Jews aware of their fate?
When Haman hatches his plot to kill the Jews, and get Achashverosh to sign on, a message is sent out to all people, (Esther 3:12)
מְדִינָ֤ה וּמְדִינָה֙ כִּכְתָבָ֔הּ וְעַ֥ם וָעָ֖ם כִּלְשׁוֹנ֑וֹ
In ...
0
votes
0answers
61 views
Why is a side of a Talmudic page called “amud”?
On some occasions, I have heard one side of a Talmudic page called tzad meaning "side".
The more common term I have heard is amud meaning "pillar". Why is that term used, and when did this term first ...
-2
votes
2answers
80 views
Old French in commentaries
Why are there references to "Old French" in some commentaries? I don't have any examples to show but if that is required I could research.
5
votes
1answer
101 views
How should Rashi's comment about Noah's belief be parsed?
Rashi in his commentary to Genesis 7:7 writes:
אף נח מקטני אמנה היה מאמין ואינו מאמין שיבא המבול ולא נכנס לתיבה עד שדחקוהו המים
I see (at least) two ways to read this:
Noah believed in general (in ...
5
votes
2answers
925 views
What is “okinta”?
A friend of mine, a professional translator and interpreter, was stymied in her work by a word that some rabbis keep using when quoting Talmud, baraitot, Rambam, even Rav Kook. To her ear (she is a ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
What does it mean that G-d calls names to things?
In the process of Creation G-d eventually calls names of different things:
וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה ...׃
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called ...
2
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0answers
53 views
Question about the comma in Psalm 82:1
I've a short question about Psalm 82, verse 1.
The hebrew reads: מִזְמוֹר לְאָסָף אֱלֹהִים נִצָּב בַּעֲדַת־אֵל בְּקֶרֶב אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁפֹּט
So how should one read these verse?
1. Is it that G-d will ...
2
votes
0answers
48 views
Where does HaShem stands and in which council?
Psalm 82 teaches that Elohim (אלהים) stands (נצב to position oneself) within the council/congregation (עדת-אל) of El, among/amidst (בקרב) elohiem (אלהים) He judge (ישפט).
Someone told me to look at ...
3
votes
0answers
31 views
Does language change affect what hyssop is valid for the ḥatat ritual?
In Parah 11:7, we learn that hyssop that is called simply "hyssop" (אזוב) is valid for use in sprinkling mei ḥatat, but hyssop that has an accompanying name (such as "blue hyssop", etc.) is unfit.
Is ...
6
votes
1answer
180 views
How is it “well-known” that Esav hates Ya'akov?
Rash"i in Breishit 33:4 cites Sifrei, by stating:
הֲלָכָה הִיא בְּיָדוּעַ שֶׁעֵשָׂו שׂוֹנֵא לְיַעֲקֹב
It is a well-known halacha that Esav hates Ya'akov
How is this "well-known"? Based on ...
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vote
0answers
1k views
What is the true definition of the word Kadosh in Hebrew? [duplicate]
This question may be simple but I was curious if we have a true definition for it.
People talk about living in a (Kadosh) or holy way. The word gets used a lot but I don't necessarily think I've ...
0
votes
1answer
115 views
Origin of the word dati (דָּתִי) [duplicate]
Is there any Talmudic sources that claim the origin of the Hebrew word “dati” (דָּתִי) comes from the Avestan word daena?
2
votes
1answer
686 views
Plural form of shabbat - is it ever shabbatim?
I am curious if the word shabbat שבת has ever taken the plural form of shabbatim? I had a dream about this word. In this dream, it was used in a spoken two word phrase with "shabbatim" being the ...
4
votes
2answers
105 views
'Alcoholic drinks' and 'reward' are both “שכר”
Alcoholic drinks (and drunkenness) and reward seem like rather disparate ideas! Is there a reason why they might imply one another and do any commentaries interchange between the two to bring some ...
1
vote
0answers
30 views
Does the verse וארשתיך… count as the language of Kiddushin?
Following the discussion about different formulations of non-Orthodox Ketubahs on this site.
A couple wishes to find a milder non-Orthodox formulation of the Kiddushin. So they chose that the groom ...
3
votes
0answers
42 views
What's the basis for “דברה התורה כלשון בני”א" (Torah used common language)?
The Sages used the "דברה התורה כלשון בני אדם" excuse (acc. to the WIKI page) in two ways - in the Gemmorah to resolve [the problem of] repeating languages in the Torah (like עלה נעלה or פדה תפדה) and ...
