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  |      (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000                          |
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VERSE: Dt32-10f


RASHIS COVERED: Dt32-10f Gn02-11a


RULE: The Hebrew letter NUN at the end of a word indicates
INTENSITY or MUCHNESS:

EXAMPLES
--------
(1) PaaMN(Bell Claver)=Alot of (Nun) Hammering(PAAM);
(2) GICHON(Raging rapids)=Alot of (NUN) Goring  noise (NGCH);
(3) PISHON(the Nile)=Produces Alot(NUN)of  Flax(PS);
(4) CHRN(A person during the FLOOD era)=Intense(N) Anger(CHR)*1
(5) KoRBN (Sacrifice)= Intense (Nun) Closeness to God (KRV)
(6) ShlChaN(Table)= Alot (Nun) left out (on it)(ShlCh)
(7) ZiChRN (Memorial)=Intense(Nun) Memory (ZCR)
(8) YERIVUN (Fist Fight) = Intense(Nun) Dispute (RV)

NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi

APPLICATION:
The Hebrew root Alpeh-Shin means FIRE.

Hence the root Aleph-Shin with a Nun at the end would mean
a big (NUN) fire (Aleph-Shin)--for example, a bonfire.

On a dark night a bonfire from a long distance would look almost
identical to the twinkle in the pupil of the eye.(When you look
into someones eyes you usually get a sense of distance)

Rashi in fact explicitly says  the Hebrew word EeeShun refers to
the star (ie twinkle) in the pupil of the eye .

Most other Rishonim and Acharonim(eg Radack and Sifsay Chachamim)
say that the word Eeeshun comes from the word Ish meaning PERSON
because when you look into the pupil you can see a small person.

There are 3 objections to this classical explanation.

OBJECTION 1: Rashi does not say it

OBJECTION 2: You don t always see a person in a pupil By
contrast you can always see a twinkle and the pupil is
always black(like a dark night)

OBJECTION 3: Radack explicitly says that such an explanation
would require the Nun to mean  SMALL  since the image of a
person in the pupil of the eye is a  SMALL PERSON . However
as the {LIST} above shows, a terminal NUN always means BIG.

To a certain degree there is a bit of fancy in each etymology--
 small person  vs  bonfire at a distance . Rashis etymology
however is consistent with the principle that Nun means ALOT.

There is also an overtone of humility---when you see the twinkle
in a persons eye you think you are  close  to them. But in reality
the twinkle or bonfire represents a soul that is distant from you

REFERENCE: The posting on Nun meaning ALOT was first posted in
Volume 3 Number 20.

RULE USED: WORD MEANINGS
---------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
The hyperlinks only work on the main website

Volume 7 Number 20


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