דת and עין: Two verbs masquerading as nouns in Moses' blessing (Deuteronomy 33:2, 28).

Date

1996

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Journal of Biblical Literature

Abstract

Irregular spelling is not normally an obstacle to understanding the biblical text. Nevertheless, when the deviant spelling of a rare word coincides with the normal spelling of a common word, exegetes can be misled. I submit that there are two irregular spellings in Moses' Blessing: דת for דאת (Deut 33:2,מימינו אשדת למו) andעין for ען (Deut 33:28, וישכן ישראל בטח בדד עין יעקב). These spellings have disguised the identity of the forms in question, leading many exegetes to assume that they are nouns or simply scribal errors. I shall argue that they are, in reality, verbs and not in need of emendation.

Description

scholarly article

Keywords

verbs, blessings, words, Torah, poetry, grammatical gender, abstract nouns, Pentateuch

Citation

Steiner, Richard C. (1996, Winter). דת and עין: Two verbs masquerading as nouns in Moses' blessing (Deuteronomy 33:2, 28). Journal of Biblical Literature 115(4), 693-717.