#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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| Rashi is Simple Version 2.0 |
| (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President |
| http://www.RashiYomi.Com |
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VERSE: Nu31-50d
RASHIS COVERED: Nu31-50a Nu31-50b Nu31-50c Nu31-50d
========================= WORDS FOR JEWELRY =====================
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Nu31-50 lists 4 pieces of jewelry: Earings, (hand)-bracelets,
(foot)-bracelets, and belly rings. The Hebrew words used are
rare. It is clear from the verse context that the words refer
to pieces of jewelry. The challenge before Rashi was to give
the exact Jewelry nature of each piece. Rashi used 3 methods
to infer the meanings of these words. The most powerful of
methods is to find other VERSES with the same piece of jewelry
(So e.g. BRACELETS ON HANDS implies they are worn on hands)
Rashi also inferred word meanings from the meanings of ROOTS
and ETYMOLOGIES.So this is a good Rashi on how to infer meanings
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TODAYS RASHI RULE: WORD MEANINGS
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE: INFERRING MEANING
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RULE and SUBRULE
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One of Rashis goals was to give the meaning of
words the same way a dictionary gives the meaning
of words. A fascinating sub-challenge was to infer
the meanings of words whose nuances are not well
known. Studies have shown that 50% of an adults
vocabulary comes from such inferences. Hence it
shouldnt surprise us that this is a major Rashi
method.
STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
A straightforward example occurs in todays
posting. The root Tz-Mem-Dalet means TO CLASP.
Thus Tz-Mem-Yud-Dalet is a piece of Jewelry
that CLASPS.
But I dont know WHICH piece of Jewelry it is.
I dont know which organ it clasps.
EXERCISE:
---------
Before reading the Rashi try looking
up the root Tz-Mem-Dalet in a
Konkordance or CD rom and see if you can find
the type of jewelry it is.
RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
Rashi could have cited Gn24-22
-----------------------------
and he placed the bracelets
on her hand
-----------------------------
This VERSE justifies the inference that
Tz-M-Y-D is a HAND BRACELET.
STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/means-32.htm
This wonderful posting presents the
- the 6 major methods of inferring meaning
- as well as the 13 particular methods
Many examples are given.
If you wish to read the whole means series
you can navigate to the old Rashi calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm
The MEANS series occured in JUNE 2001.
HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LIST below for school projects.
Here is how, if you are a teacher then you
can ask students to look up verses with similar
roots or usages of a word. You can ask the student
to perform the exercises mentioned above--you can
ask them to infer the meaning of the word
The students solution can then be compared with Rashis.
This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.
TODAYS EXAMPLE
--------------
Here is the list of 4 jewelry pieces and the 3 methods used
to infer meaning. The footnotes give further details.
=================================================================
VERSE JEWELRY MEANING Method of Proof
======== ======= =============== ================================
Nu31-50a Etzasa Foot-bracelets ROOTS*1
Nu31-50b Tzamid hand-bracelets VERSES with this word*2
Nu31-50c Agil Earings VERSES with this word*3
Nu31-50d Cumaz belly rings*4 ETYMOLOGY*4
NOTES
-----
*1 In the following verses the root Tzade-Ayin-Dalet means
FOOTSTEP. This justifies associatiing the jewelry TZAAD
with the FEET (FEET BRACELETS)
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VERSE TEXT OF VERSE with Tzaad TRANSLATED as TIP TOED
------- ----------------------------------------------------
Gn49-22 Girls tip-toed over the walls (to see Joseph)
Ps68-08 God when you went OUT when you STEPPED in the desert
2S6-13 When the ark bearers walked a few STEPS they offered
Ps37-23 The FOOTSTEPS of man come from God
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*2 The following verses explicitly associate the word BRACELET
with the HAND
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VERSE TEXT OF VERSE WITH bracelets ASSOCIATED WITH hands
------- --------------------------------------------------
Gn24-22 he placed two BRACELETS on her HAND
Ex16-11 ...BRACELETS on HANDS and NECKLACES on the NECK...
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As the following verse shows the root TZAAD means to CLASP
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Nu19-15 All OPEN utensils without a CLASP surrounding it
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*3 Ez16-11:12 contains a list of 5 pieces of jewelry
---------------------------------------
Jewelery Organ placed on
--------------- -----------------------
Bracelets on the hands
Necklaces on the neck
Nose Rings on the nose
Earings on the ears
Diadem/Tiara on the head
---------------------------------------
This justifies associating EARINGS with the EAR
*4 As Ez35-22 shows, the CUMAZ (Belly rings) was worn by
respectable people and was not eg jewelry only worn
by prostitutes.*11
We have numerous times defended Rashis 2-letter root theory
by positing that Rashi believed both
-- in a 3 letter root theory which governed FORM
-- in a 2 letter root theory with governed MEANING
That is the meaning of every 3 letter root may be obtained
by decomposing the 3 letter root into a 1 and 2 letter root.
In this particular case the letter CAPH means LIKE
For example the word KAV (PAIN) has an etymology
that PAIN is LIKE A DESIRE/WANTING
(The commonality being that they are both emotions that
drive; the difference being that PAIN drives AWAY
while dESIRE drives TOWARDS)
Here is a list of sample roots where KAPH means LIKE
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ROOT MEANS = Kaph=Like Meanings of 2 letter root
----- ------ - -------------- ----------------------------
K-A-V (Pain) = K (like) A-V(a wanting)
K-B-D (Heavy)= K (like) B-D(isolated)
K-D-R (Ball) = K (looks like) D-R(bundled bonfire sticks)
L-C-Sh(Deny) = K (Like) ChS(Silence)
K-M-Z (Belly)= K (Like) Z-M(Sexual heat)
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For further details see *11
---------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -------------------------
*10 To famous Biblical earing Chapters (that is Biblical chapters
with lists of earings) are
- Isa03-18:24 with a list of 24 jewelry pieces
- Ez16-11:12 Ear with a list of 5 jewelry pieces
*11 I would suggest the following hypothesis
- In the modern world we have TWO TYPES OF DRESS
-- Dress worn in public and private like fancy gowns
-- Dress only worn in intimate surroundings(e.g.lingerey)
- The Biblical world had TWO TYPES OF JEWELRY
-- Jewelry worn in both public and private
-- Jewelry only worn in intimate surroundings
The belly rings would probably fit into this category--
it was used the same way certain types of lingerey were used--
that is it was worn on intimate occasions but not in public.
*12
Some historical notes are worth mentioning.
- Rashi himself does not bring down the etymology of KZM
- The etymology is mentioned by the MIDRASH RABBAH
- The MIDRASH RABBAH explains KZM as
HERE(k) is SEXUAL HEATS (zayin) PLACE(M=Makom)
- Thus my suggested etymology LIKE(k) SEXUAL HEAT(ZMH)
is similar
- Note that the word is KMZ not KZM. But I would suggest
that a letter reversal took place -- KMZ vs KZM --
intentionally in the interests of modesty. Letter
reversal is quite common in Hebrew words---e.g.
Simlah=salmah; Keves=Kesev;
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RASHI RULE USED: WORD MEANINGS
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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 14 Number 15
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 14 Number 15