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VERSE: Gn45-16a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn45-16a Dt32-14j

============== CH-L-V means THE BEST ========================

BACKGROUND
----------
Hebrew is composed of 3 letter roots, each of which is
assigned a meaning. These Hebrew roots may undergo
grammatical conjugations which add nuances to the meanings

THE TEXT
--------
We deal with the root Chet-Lamed-Beth. It has 4 meanings
- FAT
- MILK
- BEST
- CHELBENA (A type of Perfume)

Clearly the meaning BEST is a metaphoric meaning derived
from FAT: FAT in all languages refers to the FAT OF THE
LAND or the BEST.


THE LIST
--------
The LIST below presents the 4 meanings. The footnotes
enrich the discussion by bringing in 2 extra verses
which may have extra meanings. This affords insights
into controversies of Rishonim on Biblical meaning
=============================================================
VERSE    MEANING    TEXT OF VERSE WITH Hebrew root CHALAYV
======== ========== =========================================
Ex34-26  MILK       Dont cook a kid in its mothers MILK
Lv03-17  FAT        Dont eat ..the Blood or the FAT
Ex30-34  A PERFUME  Take...NaTaF ShChayLeth & CHELBENAH*10
Gn45-16b THE BEST   ...and eat the BEST of the land*1 *2


NOTES
-----
*1 The parallelism in the verse helps justify this translation
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   And I (Pharoh) will give you THE BEST of Egypt
   and --------------- you-ll eat THE FAT of the land
   -----------------------------------------------------------

   The alignment suggests that FAT(CHAYLEV) can metaphorically
   refer to the BEST

*2 The above 4 meanings are basic and agreed to by all
   commentators. Two other possible meanings to CHAYLEV are
   connected to Dt32-14j *11 and Ez27-18 *12.See the footnotes

------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES --------------------

*10 We know this word refers to some type of perfume but we
    dont know which one. We have a tradition that it was a bad
    smelling perfume.

    I would conjecture that perhaps it had a waxy glossed
    appearance so it LOOKED LIKE fat. There are some scholarly
    works on what this perfume may be but I have not reviewed
    them yet.

*11 Dt32-14j The verse says
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    God gave you the CREAM of CATTLE, and the FATTEST OF SHEEP
    .... and the BEST OF KIDNEY WHEAT; with BLOODY GRAPES
    giving rise to beer
    -----------------------------------------------------------

    Both RADACK and RASHI agree that KIDNEY WHEAT refers
    to the SHAPE of WHEAT (GERM). The wheat Kernel has a
    football like shape (narrow, elongated and thick in
    the middle).

    RADACK therefore interprets the word CHLAV as meaning the
    BEST OF KIDNEY WHEAT.

    Rashi however CONTINUES the LOOK-ALIKE analogy. In other
    words Rashi interprets
    - Wheat that look like KIDNEYS
    - Wheat Kernels that are covered the way FAT covers the
      Kidneys

    Thus Rashi introduces the idea of SOMETHING that LOOKS
    like FAT COVERING.

    However I think it more reasonable to say that Rashi
    complements Radack.

    In other words both Rashi and Radack would interpret
    the Biblical phrase as meaning THE BEST OF KIDNEY WHEAT
    Rashi simply points out that good wheat is covered the
    same way Kidneys are covered with fat. Thus
    the meaning of the word is dependent BOTH on APPEARANCE
    (looks like a fat covering) and ATTRIBUTE (BEST).

    These are both normal methods of naming concepts. For
    a list of how concepts are named see
    http://www.RashiYomi.Com/naming-8.htm

    (Technically the Hebrew CLAYOTH refers to
    the ADRENAL glands that sit on the Kidneys. But both
    the Kidneys and Adrenals have the same shape).


*12 Ex27-18 speaks about the CHELBON WINE. We have 3
    suggested meanings for this phrase
    - the BEST OF WINE (Menachem cited by Rashi)
    - Wine of the place named CHELBON (Radack on Ez)
    - COOKED wine (Radack in Roots citing YONATHAN)

    In light of the above I think the best approach is
    that CHELBON WINE means THE BEST WINE -- probably
    referring to AGED WINE

    The terminal NUN would indicate MUCHNESS and hence
    could refer to the AGING of wine. See the following
    reference for a LIST of words where NUN refers to
    muchness: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn02-11a.htm
    It would be consistent with this to say that CHELBON
    is the name of a place where wine was made.
===============================================================

RASHI RULE USED: UNIFIED MEANING
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 12 Number 12


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