APPENDIX D ON
HEBREW HOMONYMS
Hom´-o-nym, from the Greek ὁμός (homos), the same, and ὄνομα (onoma), name .
This term is given to words which are spelt exactly alike, but have different meanings.
The term is sometimes used for words which are not spelt alike, but only pronounced alike, as bear and bare . but this is properly Paronomasia (q.v. [Note: Which see.]), and not a Homonym . The essential peculiarity of Homonyms is that the spelling is precisely the same in each case though the meaning is quite different.
Neither is it the same word used in two different senses. The words sometimes are from entirely different roots.
For example, we have many in English, such as
Baste.
1. To beat.
2. To pour fat over meat.
3. To sew slightly.
Bid.
1. To pray.
2. To command.
3. To make an offer at a sale.
Blow.
1. To puff.
2. To bloom.
3. A stroke or hit.
Bray.
1. To bruise or pound.
2. To make a harsh noise as an ass.
Court.
1. A yard.
2. A royal palace.
3. A place of justice.
4. To woo or seek favour.
Lease.
1. To let tenements.
2. To glean.
3. To lie. * [Note: In Old English. See A.V., Psalms 4:2, Psalms 5:6 .]
Let.
1. To permit.
2. To hinder.
3. To give a house for hire.
Lie.
1. To rest.
2. To speak falsely.
Lighten.
1. To illuminate.
2. To alleviate.
3. To flash.
Like.
1. Similar.
2. To be pleased with.
Mail.
1. Steel net-work.
2. A letter-bag.
Repair.
1. To renew.
2. To resort.
Rest.
1. Repose.
2. To remain.
Tend.
1. To move towards.
2. To care for.
Tire.
1. To fatigue.
2. To deck or dress.
3. An iron hoop.
4. To tear a prey.
5. A train of a dress.
Well.
1. Excellently.
2. A spring or fountain.
3. To spring up as water.
Will.
1. To be willing.
2. Desire.
These are examples merely of English Homonyms; but the fact of the existence of similar Homonyms in Hebrew has not been sufficiently investigated. Very often, assuming the existence of only one word, great ingenuity has been exercised in endeavouring to explain how the same word can possibly have such different meanings; or, how it can be used in such opposite senses.
And, often, through not observing this difference, difficulties have been introduced into Translations and into Interpretations; and passages have been sometimes obscured by a forced accommodation of the context to the one sense through not seeing the Homonym, or word with another sense.
We give a few examples * [Note: Those who wish to study this subject further, may consult Die gegensinnigen Wörter im Alt-und Neuhebräischen, by Dr. E. Landau, Berlin, 1896.] :-
עָזַב (azav ).
1. To leave or forsake .
1. To help or restore; hence, to strengthen or fortify .
1. It means to leave or forsake
Genesis 2:24. -“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother.”
Genesis 39:6. -“And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand.”
Nehemiah 5:10. -“I pray you, let us leave off this usury.”
Psalms 49:10 (11). -They “leave their wealth to others.”
Malachi 4:1 (3:19). -“It shall leave them neither root nor branch.”
2. It means to restore, repair, or fortify
Nehemiah 3:8 is clear upon this point: and both versions agree in so rendering it in this verse. “They fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.” But, having thus rendered it fortify in the text, both versions suggest in the margin the word “ left ” as an alternative rendering.
Another similarly interesting example is
Exodus 23:5. -“If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.”
Both A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] take the right sense of the word “ help ” in the text; but, apparently repenting of it, the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] substitutes the sense of leave in the margin. They were compelled to render it “help” in the former clause (in the margin as well as in the text), for they could not well say “and wouldest forbear to forsake him.” But, having thus used “help,” the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] suggests (as one alternative) for the latter clause:
“ And wouldest cease to leave thy business for him: thou shalt surely leave it to join with him .”
Young’s “literal translation” is worse: “then thou hast ceased from leaving it to it : thou dost certainly leave it with him.” This renders the obscurity more obscure.
The R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] seeks to escape from the difficulty by using the neutral term “ release ” in the margin: “ And wouldest forbear to release it for him, thou shouldest surely release it with him .”
but the supposed difficulty does not really exist: for, when the Homonym is observed, the italics so plentifully suggested are wholly unnecessary.
The word here is עָזַב (azav) in the sense of to raise up or help; and the verse reads:-“If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear from helping him, thou shalt surely help him.”
That “help” is the real and only meaning of the word in the passages before us is evident from Deuteronomy 22:4, where we have the synonym הָקֵם תָּקִים עִמּוֹ (hakem takeem immo), * [Note: Here we have Paronomasia (q.v.), as well as Polyptoton (q.v.).] raising thou shalt raise it up with him. This is used in Deuteronomy 22:4 for עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב עִמּוֹ (azov tazov immo), * [Note: Here we have Paronomasia (q.v.), as well as Polyptoton (q.v.).] helping thou shalt help with him, as in Exodus 23:5 .
Having thus established the meaning of azav, to help, restore, strengthen, or fortify, we have now sufficient authoritative information to enable us to elucidate the otherwise unintelligible expression, “shut up and left” which really means shut in and fortified, or strengthened and defended . The following are the passages:-
Deuteronomy 32:36. -“For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut in or fortified”: i.e., sheltered or protected.
“Shut up or left” makes no sense whatever. Nor is the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] any better, “And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.”
1 Kings 14:10. -“I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam … him that is strengthened and fortified (i.e., all the men and the men in the strongholds), and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.” So chap. 21:21, and 2 Kings 9:8 .
2 Kings 14:26. -“For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.”
This yields no sense whatever! Nor is the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] any better. Not seeing the Homonym, they keep to the meaning left, and add “none shut up nor left at large”! but the sense is, “for there was not any strong man nor any fortified place,” or, “not any place strengthened, nor any fortified”: i.e., they were weak and defenceless.
In all these passages the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] seeks to avoid the difficulty by rendering עָזַב left at large; in spite of the fact that in Exodus 23:5, and Deuteronomy 22:4, it is rendered help, and not “and wouldest forbear to leave him at large”!
Jeremiah 49:25 is also spoiled in both versions. Damascus is mourned over because of its emptiness and desolation. And the lament is “How is the city of renown become unfortified?”: i.e., unprotected.
Whereas the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it, “How is the city of praise not left”; and the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “How is the city of praise not forsaken?” but this was the very thing that is the subject of the lamentation! It was left and forsaken, and had become defenceless.
חֶסֶד (chesed ).
1. Mercy, goodness, or grace .
2. Shame, disgrace, or blasphemy .
1. Mercy, kindness, goodness, or loving kindness
These are the common renderings given. See Genesis 24:12 2 Samuel 7:15 . 1 Chronicles 19:2 . 2 Chronicles 6:14, Job 37:13, Psalms 103:4, Psalms 103:8, Psalms 103:11, Psalms 103:17, etc.
but there is a Homonyn which means
2. Shame, disgrace, reproach, blasphemy, etc.
Leviticus 20:17. -Where the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it “a wicked thing,” and the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] “a shameful thing.”
Job 37:13. -“He causeth it to come (i.e., the thick cloud and lightning, verse 11, R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.TCTCT)C whether it be for correction (marg. [Note: arg. Margin.] a rod) or for his land, or for chastisement.” The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] here render this last word “mercy:” but “lightning” is not for mercy, but for judgment.
Both versions are compelled to recognise the Homonym in Leviticus 20:7, and in the passage to be next quoted, but they miss it in Jonah 2:8 .
Proverbs 25:10. -Where the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it, “put thee to shame,” and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] “revile thee.”
Jonah 2:8 (9). -“They that observe lying vanities do not heed their correction,” or chastisement. A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “forsake their own mercy.”
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נֶשֶׁף (nesheph ).
1. Darkness .
2. Daylight .
Not seeing the Homonym, the renderings are confused, and the difficulties are evaded by the rendering twilight .
1. Darkness
Job 24:15. -“The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the darkness”; not “twilight,” as in A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], which mars the sense and destroys the parallelism of the next verse. So
Proverbs 7:9 , where the whole context requires intense darkness; yet it is rendered “twilight.”
2 Kings 7:5 ; 2 Kings 7:7 ; where it is again rendered “twilight,” and should be darkness .
Isaiah 5:11. -The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] render it night .
Isaiah 21:4. -The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it “night”; and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “twilight.”
Isaiah 59:10. -The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it “night,” and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] renders it “twilight.”
Jeremiah 13:16. - The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it “dark”; and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “dark,” and gives in margin: “Heb. mountains of twilight .” So Job 3:9, etc.
2. Daylight
Job 7:4. -“I am full of tossings to and fro unto the daylight.” The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] render it, here, “dawning of the day.”
The introduction of the word “dawning” shortens the period of the tossings, which the context requires to be extended into the broad daylight.
1 Samuel 30:17. -“And David smote them from the daylight (or morning) unto the evening.” Here, the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] both say, “from the twilight to the evening of the next day.”
Psalms 119:147. -Here, both A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] are compelled to recognise the Homonym, and render it “morning.” “I anticipated the advent of the daylight.”
גָּאַל (gaal ).
1. To redeem or save .
2. To reject or defile .
1. To redeem or save
Exodus 6:6. -“I will redeem you with a stretched out arm.” So Isaiah 48:17 . Psalms 72:14, etc.
2. To reject or defile
Ezra 2:62. -“Therefore were they rejected from the priesthood.” The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders this: “Therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.” The R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “deemed polluted and put from.” They have, to make sense, mixed up גָּעַל (gaal) which sometimes does mean polluted . The context clearly shows that the simple meaning is rejected .
So also Nehemiah 7:64, Nehemiah 13:29 . Isaiah 59:3, Lamentations 4:14, Zephaniah 3:1, Malachi 1:7 .
תָּאַב (taav ).
1. To desire or long for .
2. To abhor
1. To desire or long for
Psalms 119:20, Psalms 119:40, Psalms 119:174 .
2. To abhor
Amos 6:8, where the parallelism of the two lines is noticeable: “I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces.”
Both versions recognize this Homonym .
נָכר (nachar ).
1. To mistake
2. To acknowledge .
3. To deliver .
1. To mistake
Deuteronomy 32:27. -“Lest their adversaries mistake it, lest they say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.” Here, the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders it “should behave themselves strangely”; and the R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “misdeem.”
2. To acknowledge
Job 34:19. -“Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor.” So R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] thus admitting the Homonym .
3. To deliver
1 Samuel 23:7. -“And Saul said, God hath delivered him (David) into mine hand.”
R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] margin: “Heb. alienated him ”!
אָסַף (asaph ).
1. To protect, or heal, or recover .
2. To snatch away or destroy .
1. To protect or heal
Numbers 1:12-15. -“Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be recovered again.” A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.], “received in,” and “brought in”; R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “brought in.” So verse 15.
2 Kings 5:6. -“To recover him of his leprosy.” So A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.]
Psalms 27:10. -“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] margin: “Heb. will gather me .” but the Homonym is: “Then Jehovah will become my protector.”
2. To snatch away, or destroy
Psalms 26:9. -“Snatch me not away with sinners”; i.e., destroy me not with them. Here, the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] render it, by the neutral term, “gather not”; and margin, “Or, Take not away .”
Jeremiah 16:5. -“I have snatched away my peace from this People.” Here, both A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] recognize the Homonym, and render it “taken away.”
פָּחַד (pachad ).
1. To fear .
2. To rejoice .
1. To fear
Deuteronomy 28:66. -“Thou shalt fear day and night.” So A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.]
Job 23:15. -“When I consider, I am afraid of him.”
2. To rejoice, or praise
Isaiah 60:5. -“Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall rejoice and be enlarged.”
A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.], “Thine heart shall fear”!
R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “Thine heart shall tremble”!
Hosea 3:5. -“Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall praise the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”
The A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] renders this, “And shall fear the Lord and His goodness.” (R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “come with fear unto.”) but the context leaves us in no doubt as to the Homonym .
אָוֹן (avôn ).
1. Might, strength .
2. Suffering, pain .
1. Might, strength
Genesis 49:3. -“Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength.”
Deuteronomy 21:17. -“He is the beginning of thy strength.”
Job 31:25. -“My wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much.
2. Suffering, pain, and sorrow
Genesis 35:18. -“She called his name Ben-oni”: i.e., according to the margin of A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.], “ The son of my sorrow .” Thus both versions recognise this Homonym, as they do also in the other two passages:-
Deuteronomy 26:14. -“I have not eaten thereof in my mourning.”
Hosea 9:4. -“The bread of mourners.” So A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.]
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צִוָּה (tzivvah ).
1. To command .
2. To forbid .
1. To command
This is the general rendering of the verb; but, in two other places, we have the Homonym .
2. To forbid
Deuteronomy 4:23. -“Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he hath made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.” So A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.]; but, in
Judges 13:14 where the same Homonym occurs, both Versions translate it “commanded” instead of forbidden .
פָּדַץ (paratz ).
1. To increase or enlarge .
2. To break up .
1. To increase or enlarge
Genesis 30:43. -“And the man increased exceedingly.” * [Note: See this passage under Epizeuxis.]
Exodus 1:12. -“The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew”: i.e., increased.
2. To break up
2 Chronicles 20:37. -“Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.” Both the A.V. [Note: The Authorized Version, or current Text of our English Bible, 1611.] and R.V. [Note: The Revised Version, 1881.] recognise the Homonym in this verse, and do not render it “increase.”