Dictionary:Cognates and Loanwords/0

Lexical: Cognates and Loanwords

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Akkadian Cognates

•  אַדְמָתוֹ – The phrase "וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ" in Devarim 32:43 is difficult from a syntactic perspective. Who is the subject of the verb "כִפֶּר" – Hashem, the nation, or the land?  Who or what is the object?  How do the words "אַדְמָתוֹ" and "עַמּוֹ" relate to each other?
• While RashiDevarim 32:43About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki¹ suggests that the verse should be read as if written, "וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ ועַמּוֹ", that Hashem will make expiation for both the land and people, RalbagDevarim Beur HaMilot 32:43About R. Levi b. Gershom suggests that it be understood as if written "וְכִפֶּר אדמת עַמּוֹ",‎² that Hashem will purify the land of His nation.  Ibn EzraDevarim 32:43About R. Avraham ibn Ezra offers a third possibility, "וכפר עמו [על] אדמתו",‎³ that the nation itself will expiate the land.
• Tur Sinai⁴ has suggested that the word "אַדְמָתוֹ" is related to the Akkadian, "adamaֿtu", used in poetic passages to mean "red blood". Hashem will expiate not the land of His nation (which is not mentioned in the verse), but their blood that has been spilled.  The second half of the verse is thus intrinsically tied to the earlier clause, "דַם עֲבָדָיו יִקּוֹם". 
• In contrast to all the above explanations, Y. Avishur⁵ suggests a reading that does not entail adding or deleting letters/words from the verse, proposing that the phrase means "וכפר דמעות עמו,"‎⁶ similar to the Akkadian, "dimtassa ikkapar".  After avenging the nation's blood, Hashem will wipe away (כפר = מחה), the nation's tears.
• אֱלִיל – All agree that the noun "אֱלִיל" means idol, but the etymology of the word is unclear. Rashi and R"Y Kara suggest that it might come from the word "אַל" meaning nought. V. Hurwitz and H. Tawil propose that it might be related to the Akkadian, with Hurwitz connecting it to Enlil, head god of the Sumerian pantheon and Tawil relating it to the Akkadian "ulalu", meaning worthless. The latter possibility might explain various verses in which the normal translation of idol is less fitting:
• See, for instance, Yirmeyahu 14:14, "שֶׁקֶר הַנְּבִאִים נִבְּאִים בִּשְׁמִי.. וְלֹא דִבַּרְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם חֲזוֹן שֶׁקֶר וְקֶסֶם [וֶאֱלִיל] (ואלול)".
• See also cases where the word serves as an adjective: Zecharya 11:17, " הוֹי רֹעִי הָאֱלִיל עֹזְבִי הַצֹּאן", Iyyov 13:4, "אַתֶּם טֹפְלֵי שָׁקֶר רֹפְאֵי אֱלִל כֻּלְּכֶם", and Tehillim 96:5, " כִּי כׇּל אֱלֹהֵי הָעַמִּים אֱלִילִים".‎⁷
• כַּוָּנִים – This word appears in both Yirmeyahu 7:18 and 44:19⁸ and, due to the context of idolatry in both verses, is understood by RadakYirmeyahu 7:18Amos 5:26About R. David Kimchi and ShadalYirmeyahu 7:18Yirmeyahu 8:18About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto to refer to some type of food/cake offering.⁹  This meaning is supported by the Akkadian cognate, kamaֿnu, which refers to sweet cakes which were used in the worship of Ishtar.¹⁰   This fits well with the full phrase "לַעֲשׂוֹת כַּוָּנִים לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם‎"¹¹ as Ishtar is also known as Innana, or "queen of the heavens" and is associated with the star Venus.
• למד – This root generally refers to learning or teaching.  The verb appears in Shir HaShirim 8:2, "אֶנְהָגְךָ אֲבִיאֲךָ אֶל בֵּית אִמִּי תְּלַמְּדֵנִי" where it is commonly understood within the metaphoric understanding of the book to refer to instruction in Torah and mitzvot.¹² It is less clear, though, what it would mean according to the simple sense of the verse.  S.M. Paul¹³ notes that in Akkadian, lamadu can refer to sexual knowledge.¹⁴ Accordingly, the beloved would be speaking of her hopes to engage in relations with her lover.
• מַבְלִיגִיתִי – This word is a hapax legomenon, appearing only in Yirmeyahu 8:18: "מַבְלִיגִיתִי עֲלֵי יָגוֹן עָלַי לִבִּי דַוָּי".  Many commentators¹⁵ connect it to the verb "בלג", and from context, understand it to be a noun meaning strength or restraint.¹⁶  In contrast, Y. Avishur suggests that it is the feminine form of "מבליג" which is parallel to the Akkadian balaggu, referring to either a musical instrument or song.  The verse would mean "and my instrument turned for me into grief", similar to Iyyov 30:31, "וַיְהִי לְאֵבֶל כִּנֹּרִי".
• נהה – In both Yechezkel 32:8 and Mikhah 2:4, this root means wail or lament.¹⁷  However, this definition is more difficult to apply to Shemuel I 7:2, "וַיִּנָּהוּ כׇּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי י״י".  What would it mean that the nation "lamented after Hashem"? RadakYirmeyahu 7:18Yirmeyahu 8:18Amos 5:26About R. David Kimchi suggests that the verse might mean that the nation cried as they repented of their ways. Alternatively, נהה takes a totally different meaning in this verse and refers to gathering, similar to the word  נקוו‎¹⁸ which Targum Yonatan translates as "וְיִתְנְהוֹן". M. Weinfeld¹⁹ offers a different explanation in light of Akkadian, suggesting that "נהה" is related to the Akkadian ne'u, meaning "to turn to": The verse states simply that the nation turned back to Hashem.
• נְחֹשֶׁת – Throughout Tanakh, "נְחֹשֶׁת" means copper, yet this meaning is difficult in Yechezkel 16:36 "יַעַן הִשָּׁפֵךְ נְחֻשְׁתֵּךְ וַתִּגָּלֶה עֶרְוָתֵךְ".  From context, most commentators understand the phrase "הִשָּׁפֵךְ נְחֻשְׁתֵּךְ" to be parallel to "וַתִּגָּלֶה עֶרְוָתֵךְ." Thus, Rashi and Radak suggest that "נְחֻשְׁתֵּךְ" means the women's edge or bottom, pointing as evidence to the verse "וְחָרָה נְחֻשְׁתָּהּ" (Yechezkel 24:11) and the Mishnaic phrase²⁰ "נחשתו של תנור" which speak of the bottom of a vessel.²¹ I. Gluska agrees that the two halves of the verse are parallel, but suggests that the word "נְחֻשְׁתֵּךְ" should be understood in light of its Akkadain cognate, nahsati/u, meaning a women's menstrual flow.
• פֹּת – Yeshayahu 3:17 reads, "וְשִׂפַּח אֲדֹנָי קׇדְקֹד בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן וַי״י פׇּתְהֵן יְעָרֶה".  The meaning of the word "פׇּתְהֵן" is unclear. Ibn Ezra²² and Radak suggests that it refers to a woman's private parts, which Hashem is to unveil.²³ Ibn Ezra and Shada also brings an alternative possibility that the word פֹּת is somewhat parallel to "קׇדְקֹד", with Ibn Ezra relating it the word "פאה" (head of hair) and Shadal to the Aramaic "אפותא," meaning forehead. A closer cognate might be the Akkadian "putu", also meaning forehead.²⁴

Egyptian

¹ See also Onkelos and the first opinion brought by Ibn Ezra

² He writes, "רוצה לומר: וטהר אדמתו, אדמת עמו". See also Shadal who cites Rosenmüller and Gesenius as explaining similarly, "אדמתו של עמו, אדמת עמו". If so, the verse might be compared to others which similarly have an extra vav, such as Tehillim 50:10, "כִּי לִי כׇל חַיְתוֹ יָעַר" (meaning חית יער) or Bemidbar 24:3, "נְאֻם בִּלְעָם בְּנוֹ בְעֹר" (meaning בן בעור).

³ According to him, the subject of "אַדְמָתוֹ" is not Hashem but the nation itself.

⁴ See Tur Sinai, "כפר אדמתו עמו (דברים לב, מג)", Tarbiz 24:2 (1955): 232.

⁵ See: י. אבישור, "מלים וצירופים מהמקרא לאור מקביליהם באכדית", שנתון לחקר המקרא והמזרח הקדום ב' (תשל"ז): 11-16.

⁶ In this he follows H. L. Ginsburg, "סיום שירת האזינו (דברים לב, לד—מג)", Tarbiz 24:1 (1955): 1-3, who connects "אדמתו" to the Ugaritic "אדמעת", meaning tears.

⁷ This would be translated "and all the nations' gods are worthless" (rather than "all the nation's gods are idols").

⁸ Radak suggests that the word " כִּיּוּן" in Amos 5:26  ("וְאֵת כִּיּוּן צַלְמֵיכֶם") might be related as well.

⁹ RadakAmos 5:26About R. David Kimchi raises the possibility that the word stems from the root כון, meaning to prepare.

¹⁰ See M. Held, "עיונים בלקסיקוגרפיה המקראית לאור האכדית", Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies 16 (1982): 76-85.

¹¹ The phrase "מְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם" appears in both verses in Yirmeyahu, and in each is spelled without the expected aleph (מלאכת השמים).  This allows for the possibility that it should be related to the root "מלך" and might even be translated as "queen of the heavens".  Cf. Rashi who writes that the phrase refers to "כוכב הגדול היו קורין מלכת השמים ל׳ מלוכה". According to him, the verse likely refers to Venus, also associated with Ishtar.

¹² See RashiShir HaShirim 8:2About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Ibn EzraShir HaShirim First Commentary Midrash 8:2About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, and MalbimShir HaShirim 8:2About R. Meir Leibush Weiser.

¹³ See S. M. Paul, "Gleanings from the Biblical and Talmudic Lexica in Light of Akkadian", Minhah le-aNahum ed. M. Brettler and M. Fishbane (Sheffield, 1993): 242-256.

¹⁴ He compares it to the root "ידע" (and the Akkadian equivalent idu) which can also connote both intellectual and sexual knowledge, noting the relationship between learning/teaching (למד) and knowing (ידע).

¹⁵ See RashiYirmeyahu 8:18About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef KaraYirmeyahu 8:18About R. Yosef Kara, RadakYirmeyahu 8:18About R. David Kimchi, R. Yosef ibn KaspiYirmeyahu 8:18About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi.

¹⁶ ShadalYirmeyahu 8:18About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto brings another possibility, "cheerfulness".

¹⁷ See also the noun forms, נהי and הי, which consistently mean lamentation.

¹⁸ See Yirmeyahu 3:17, "וְנִקְווּ אֵלֶיהָ כׇל הַגּוֹיִם לְשֵׁם י"י" and Targum Yonatan there who explains, "וְיִתְנְהוֹן לְמִפְלַח בָּהּ כָּל עַמְמַיָא לִשְׁמָא דַייָ"

¹⁹ See M. Weinfeld, "Jeremiah and the Spiritual Metamorphosis of Israel", ZAW 88:1 (1976): 17-56.  See also the discussion in I. Gluska, "מקראות סתומים לאור האכדית", Beit MIkra 34:4 (1989): 357-359.

²⁰ See Mishna Keilim 8:3, 9:1, and 9:3.

²¹ In these cases, however, the connection to "נחושת" is still very evident, as the pot and oven are made of the metal.

²² See his second explanation.

²³ Ibn Ezra connects it to the word "הַפֹּתוֹת" in Melakhim I 7:50, but the word's meaning there is ambiguous as well.

²⁴ See H. Tawil, An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents with Supplement on Biblical Aramaic (New Jersey, 2009).