Ibn Ezra's method in explaining unusual words in the Bible

This article is an attempt to examine the three types of descriptors of the abnormal words in the biblical text,as used by Rabbi Abraham Ibn-Ezra: מלה זרה (Fremdwort), 'hapax legomenon,' and שמות משתנים (variable nouns). Ibn-Ezra uses מלה זרה (or (משונה when there are exceptional differenc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Subtitles:דרכו של רבי אברהם אבן-עזרא בביאור מילים חריגות במקרא "מלה זרה," מילה יחידאית ו"שמות משתנים"
Main Author: Ḥarlap, Lubah Raḥel 1951- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:Hebrew
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Published: College 1997
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Judaism / Exegesis
RelBib Classification:BH Judaism
HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B Ibn-ʿEzra, Avraham Ben-Meʾir (1092-1167)
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Summary:This article is an attempt to examine the three types of descriptors of the abnormal words in the biblical text,as used by Rabbi Abraham Ibn-Ezra: מלה זרה (Fremdwort), 'hapax legomenon,' and שמות משתנים (variable nouns). Ibn-Ezra uses מלה זרה (or (משונה when there are exceptional differences in morphological point of view or in statistics point of view. The terms which serve the 'hapax legomenon' are used when a word appears only once in the biblical text, but if, in addition, there is also a morphological exception, the term מלה זרה is used too. Sometimes, when a noun differs from the major group, Ibn-Ezra prefers to use the third term, שמות משתנים. My research leads to the conclusion that using one of the definitions, מלה זרה or שמות משתנים, depends on the exegete's linguistic outlook. As we show, Ibn-Ezra was quite conservative, believing that he could deal only with the vocabulary existing in the biblical dictionary; therefore he rather preferred declaring a word as an exception than considering it as a new stem.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion