Tuesday 5 January 2021

Would it be useful to have a list of pairs of roots? - a thought experiment

This is part of my learning how to read more fluently. [Note - root pairs now implemented in the new concordance].

I'll start with an image that I saw on the web recently. Where is this in the Bible? I wondered. This is a really easy example. The text is clear and the words, if you read Hebrew, are a giveaway. If you found a manuscript with these words on it, you would know right away where it is located in the Scripture. Though it is initially hard to separate the words on the page, it didn't take me long to figure out.
Unidentified ms #1
My approach was to look up some consecutive words by root using my software. So what is the verse?
----------------------------------------------------
Let's try a slightly harder one.
Unidentified ms #2

So in this second one, which I have picked at random (I am not kidding), I ask myself what words are easy to read and determine the root? What about the one at the end of the second row? wb't shin-bet-tet - there are 192 of these in the canon. (And, hint, I am only looking at canonical texts here.) What is it preceded by? This is not so obvious. It looks like a form of kx, arrow. But where does one word begin and end? The form vlkxi does not occur in the canon for kx. In fact wb't is never preceded by the root kx. When I see this sort of conundrum, I try another tack, and then back up to the place I have not understood to see how to read it.

I see a set of words that are common to both examples: words 4, 5, and 6 of the first example and words 2, 3, and 4 of the last line of the second example. Words 3 and 4 are the phrase ybd ihvh, servant of Yahweh. That should be a breeze! There are only 34 verses where this phrase occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures. (I can tell this from my search for sequential words with the software I use.) 

So if I had just a list of pairs of words (even without the software I use) containing everywhere that this pair occurs, I would immediately be able with a search to narrow down where this passage is to one of those 34 places.

But in the prior post, I excluded names and I excluded multiple occurrences to reduce the volume from 280K to about 50K. That leaves out ihvh as a possible pairing and also the other (famous) name that is in this text. Wait a minute, if I excluded names, then I would also change the adjacent words. So amr in the last line would be preceded by ybd. This is potentially very confusing. So excluding names is not an option for a useful set of pairs. Names will often be the most easily recognizable words in the manuscript. In fact they are pervasive in this section. So read the names.

Now if you are more or less at my stage of reading, and you have stared at these texts, you will have guessed where both are from. And you can see how tricky it is to guess the root of a word. The form vlkxi is not a form of kx, arrow, but a form of kxh, half.  This word half is often used with wb't the band (traditionally tribe), in reference to Manasseh. And of course, Moses is also evident in both ms images. At random, I happened to pick a text that was from the same chapter as the one I found on the web. (Facebook actually, a friend's post.) 

The exercise for the eye and the brain is a good one. Are you ready for the answer? Here is the section. If you compare the SimHebrew with the Hebrew of the ms, you will see how the Latin abbreviation for Hebrew is about as accurate as one can get with the two alphabets. 

spr ihvwy

Book of Joshua

a

1

avihi akri mot mwh ybd ihvh,
viamr ihvh al-ihowuy bn-nun mwrt mwh lamor,
1And it was after the death of Moses, the servant of Yahweh,
and Yahweh said to Joshua, child of Nun, minister of Moses, saying,
bmwh ybdi mt.
vyth qum ybor at-hirdn hzh ath vcl-hym hzh al-harx awr anoci notn lhm lbni iwral.
2Moses, my servant, has died.
So now, arise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.
gcl-mqom awr tdroç cf-rglcm bo lcm nttiv,
cawr dibrti al-mwh.
3Every place on which the sole of your foot will tread, to you I have given it,
as I spoke to Moses.
dmhmdbr vhlbnon hzh vyd-hnhr hgdol nhr-prt col arx hkitim vyd-him hgdol mboa hwmw,
ihih gbulcm.
4From the wilderness to this Lebanon and until the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, from the going down of the sun,
will be your border.
hla-itiixb aiw lpniç col imi kiiç.
cawr hiiti ym-mwh ahih yimç la arpç vla ayzbç.
5No person will be stationed before you all the days of your life.
As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will not slacken with you, and I will not forsake you.
vkzq vamx,
ci ath tnkil at-hym hzh at-harx awr-nwbyti labotm ltt lhm.
6Be encouraged and be assured,
because you will make this people inherit the land that I swore to their ancestors to give to them.
zrq kzq vamx maod lwmor lywot ccl-htorh awr xivvç mwh ybdi al-tsur mmnu imin uwmal,
lmyn twcil bcol awr tlç.
7Certainly you be encouraged and be very assured, to keep and to do according to all the instruction that Moses, my servant, is commanding you. Do not turn aside from it on the right hand or on the left,
so that you may have insight everywhere that you walk.
kla-imuw spr htorh hzh mpiç vhgit bo iomm vlilh lmyn twmor lywot ccl-hctub bo,
ci-az txlik at-drciç vaz twcil.
8The record of this instruction will not deviate from your mouth, but you will mutter on it day and night so that you keep and do according to all the writing in it,
for then you will thrive in your way, and then you will have insight.
'thloa xivvitiç kzq vamx al-tyrox val-tikt,
ci yimç ihvh alohiç bcol awr tlç. {p}
9Have not I commanded you? Be encouraged and be assured. Do not panic, and do not be in disarray,
for Yahweh is with you, your God, everywhere that you walk. P
ivixv ihowuy at-wo'tri hym lamor, 10Then Joshua commanded the overseers of the people, saying,
iaybru bqrb hmknh vxvu at-hym lamor hcinu lcm xidh,
ci byod wlowt imim atm yobrim at-hirdn hzh lboa lrwt at-harx awr ihvh alohicm notn lcm lrwth. {s}
11Pass through within the camp and command the people, saying, Prepare for yourselves provender,
because before three days has past you will cross over this Jordan to enter, to possess the land that Yahweh your God is giving for you to possess it. S
ibvlraubni vlgdi vlkxi wb't hmnwh,
amr ihowuy lamor,
12And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half band of Manasseh,
said Joshua, saying,
igzcor at-hdbr awr xivvh atcm mwh ybd-ihvh lamor,
ihvh alohicm mnik lcm vntn lcm at-harx hzat.
13Remember the word that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying,
Yahweh your God has given rest for you and gave to you this land.
idnwicm 'tpcm umqnicm iiwbu barx awr ntn lcm mwh bybr hirdn,
vatm tybru kmuwim lpni akicm col gibori hkil vyzrtm aotm.
14Your wives, your little ones, your livestock, will settle in the land that Moses gave to you across the Jordan,
but you, you will cross over in fifties before your kin, all the valiant of force, and you will help them.
'tvyd awr-inik ihvh lakicm ccm virwu gm-hmh at-harx awr-ihvh alohicm notn lhm.
vwbtm larx iruwtcm virwtm aoth awr ntn lcm mwh ybd ihvh bybr hirdn mzrk hwmw.
15Until Yahweh has given rest to your kin as you, and they will possess also themselves the land that Yahweh your God is giving to them.
Then you will return to the land of your possession and you will possess it that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, gave to you across the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.
'tzviynu at-ihowuy lamor,
col awr-xivvitnu nywh val-cl-awr twlknu nlç.
16And they answered Joshua, saying,
All that you have commanded us, we will do, and to wherever you send us, we will walk.
izccol awr-wmynu al-mwh cn nwmy aliç,
rq ihih ihvh alohiç yimç cawr hih ym-mwh.
17As in everything we have paid heed to Moses, so we will pay heed to you,
but let Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses.
ikcl-aiw awr-imrh at-piç vla-iwmy at-dbriç lcol awr-txvvnu iumt.
rq kzq vamx. {p}
18Everyone who is provocative of your mandate and will not heed your words in all that you command, will die.
But you be encouraged and be assured. P


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