22 ^ George Dahl, 



whether spear or offering, was held 07i high in the act of brandish- 

 ing or waving it. Related to the sense of the verb is the meaning 

 of the noun ilfi^ « "sieve", which is a "brandishing instrument", 

 being held high and waved to and fro. Thus in the Hebrew two 

 distinct meanings of the root fl^J developed together, one contain- 

 ing the idea of height, the other that of brandishing. 



In the Aramaic' the verb comes to mean "wave, blow, fan", 

 corresponding to the "brandish" of the Hebrew. The Aramaic 

 noun rii^ denotes "tree-top" "bough". There is here an evident 

 fusion of the two meanings of the Hebrew, for the ideas of height 

 and moving to and fro are both applicable to the top branches of a 

 tree. But of the noun CY)^ in the direct sense of " height" we find 

 no trace in the Aramaic language. 



The Syriac ^aJ has in like manner partially obscured the direct 

 sense of "height," though it has retained suggestions of the idea. 

 Thus in the Syriac of Ex. 20:25; Deut. 23:26, etc., the Afel of 

 the verb signifies "lift up". The Ethpeel is used in the sense "to 

 be brandished ". The Ettafal form is evidently to be interpreted 

 with the idea of elevation in the passage': "The hammers of the 

 Evil One, which were lifted up (oa^ZZJ) against them, did not 

 shatter them". Brockelmann also cites P. Lagarde's Analecta 

 Syriaca 2:146, 24 for the use of the Ettafal to mean "surrexit" 



(rose)'. The noun l«QJ has among other meanings that of " nutus 

 manus". This beckoning with the hand is a motion evidently con- 

 nected with the verb idea "to brandish". All this evidence shows 

 that the Syriac has partially retained the idea of "height" origi- 

 nally contained in the word. 



From the foregoing discussion it is evident that the primitive 

 sense of the root fll^ contained in the Arabic, viz., " be high ", has 

 been partially retained in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac. In the 

 North Semitic dialect used at Dor, however, this original signifi- 

 cance of the root seems to have been preserved, at least so far as 

 the name of the heights inland from the coast city is concerned. 

 A feminine nominal form T^^y from the middle weak root fllJ 



^ Levy, Neuhehr. u. Chald. Worterbvch. 

 ' Ephraemi Syri (Overbeck), 115, 19 f. 



2 1 have not the volume at hand to verify this reference. Payne Smith 

 has failed to mention this passage. 

 ^B.D.B., JETeb. Lea;., p. 632. 



