The recovery of the Aramaic root br' 'to cleanse' and another possible aramaising rendering in the Septuagint

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Abstract

One source of our knowledge of the Aramaic used in Hellenistic Egypt is the Septuagint, whose translators at times resorted to Aramaic when rendering their Hebrew Vorlage. The present article proposes one such 'Aramaising rendering', in which the Hebrew verb br' pi''el 'to cut down (wood)' was translated as if derived from the Aramaic homonymous root meaning 'to cleanse'. This root, attested in Nabataean, Samaritan, and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and mistakenly seen as an Arabism in these dialects, is recovered as Aramaic.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)155-162
Number of pages8
JournalAramaic Studies
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ARAMAIC IN HELLENISTIC EGYPT
  • ARAMAIC LEXICOGRAPHY
  • SEPTUAGINT

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Religious studies
  • Linguistics and Language

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