The Basic Meaning of the Term ערפל'Darkness'
The fifteen occurrences of ערפל in the Bible may be semantically divided according to the following four usages: a) a general usage of 'darkness' (without any specific connection to clouds); b) a specialized usage (sometimes cosmological) referring to God's heavenly presence or abode,...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The National Association of Professors of Hebrew
1995
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| In: |
Hebrew studies
Year: 1995, Volume: 36, Issue: 1, Pages: 7-12 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The fifteen occurrences of ערפל in the Bible may be semantically divided according to the following four usages: a) a general usage of 'darkness' (without any specific connection to clouds); b) a specialized usage (sometimes cosmological) referring to God's heavenly presence or abode, conceived in the form of a cloud (without any specific connection to darkness); c) a combination of the first two usages according to which the cloud in usage b is enveloped in darkness; d) a technical weather usage referring to a phenomenon which is apparent in the sky, involving thick clouds and inhibiting sight over a considerable distance, i.e. darkness in the sky or, in modern terminology, "fog." The fourth usage (only in Job 22:13-14) is the key for understanding the semantic connection between the first three usages as being derived from the basic meaning 'darkness'. Both biblical and Akkadian evidence is brought in support of this semantic development. Etymologically, the key evidence is the occurrence of this substantive several times in Ugaritic according to the form ģrpl, meaning 'dense fog', and the existence of the Akkadian verb erëpu 'to be dusky, dark'. A new etymological understanding is suggested here involving two distinct primary verbal roots: *ģrb/p 'to be dusky, dark' and 'rb/p 'to enter'; one primary noun *'erp/betu 'cloud' and its denominative verb *'rp/b 'to drip', which appears also in metathesis as *r'p. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-1681 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/hbr.1995.0006 |