Benjamin J. Noonan, «Hide or Hue? Defining Hebrew #x$ At%A», Vol. 93 (2012) 580-589
The word #$xAtA% has long puzzled Hebrew lexicographers. The present paper evaluates the most common definitions for this elusive Hebrew word, focusing particularly on Stephanie Dalley’s recent consideration of this term. Dalley’s proposal that #$xAtA%A% is derived from Akkadian dušû and means «faience beadwork» falls short linguistically as well as contextually. More plausibly, Hebrew #$xAtA% originates with Egyptian ths, a term used with reference to leather. This well suits the contexts in which #$xAtA% occurs and reflects Egyptian influence on the tabernacle and its terminology.
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HIDE OR HUE?
occurs in conjunction with the logogram KUÅ , “leatherâ€, perhaps akin to
the construction #xt rw( or My#xt twrw( in biblical Hebrew.
This view has much to commend itself. It takes into account the frequent
association of Hebrew #$xA tA% with color-related descriptions (cf. Exod 25,5;
26,14; 35,7.23; 36,19; 39,34; Num 4,6.8.11-12) and has good support from
the ancient versions. However, despite its association with color and the early
testimony of the ancient versions, it is not at all certain that #$xAtA % is indeed a
color word. Moreover, this understanding faces at least two phonological
difficulties. First and most importantly, Hebrew #$xA tA% does not exhibit the
final –û vowel of Akkadian dušû as would be expected if it were a loan from
Akkadian. Evidence from Akkadian loanwords into Hebrew and Aramaic
indicates that final long (circumflexed) vowels were still pronounced and
represented orthographically by Northwest Semitic speakers as late as the
Neo-Babylonian period 4. Second, the representation of Akkadian d with
Hebrew t is anomalous unless one postulates a culture word 5 or a loan prior
to the first millennium BCE since Akkadian d appears as d, not t, in loans
into Northwest Semitic during the first millennium BCE 6.
II. Hebrew #$xAtA% as “Unicornâ€
Rabbinic tradition commonly identifies Hebrew #$xAtA % with the mytho-
logical unicorn, often combining it with the above idea that this word re-
lates to color. The Jerusalem Talmud describes a dispute over the meaning
of Hebrew #$xAtA%%, concluding that it denotes a kosher animal with one horn
(Nrq )dhd) (y. Å abb. 2,3), and the Babylonian Talmud also mentions this
notion (b. Šabb. 28b). Rashi and Midrash Tanḥuma (Tanḥ. Terumah 6),
Ezechielico-Babyloniciâ€, Liber Ezechielis. Textum Masoreticum accuratis-
sime expressit, e fontibus Masorae varie illustravit, notis criticis confirmavit
[Leipzig 1884] xvi-xvii).
S.A. KAUFMAN, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological
4
Studies 19; Chicago, IL 1974) 149; cf. J.P. HYATT, The Treatment of Final
Vowels in Early Neo-Babylonian (YOSR 23; New Haven, CT 1941) 56-57.
The evidence for the treatment of final long vowels in Akkadian loans in bib-
lical Hebrew is much sparser than the Aramaic evidence, based only on hapax
and dis legomena, and is somewhat uncertain. However, it nevertheless indi-
cates that final long vowels were still represented (P.V. MANKOWSKI, Akkadian
Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew [HSS 47; Winona Lake, IN 2000] 162-163).
Cf. G. RUBIO, “Eblaite, Akkadian, and East Semiticâ€, The Akkadian Lan-
5
guage in Its Semitic Context. Studies in the Akkadian of the Third and Second
Millennium BC (eds. G. DEUTSCHER ‒ N.J.C. KOUWENBERG) (Uitgaven van het
Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden 106; Leiden 2006) 132.
MANKOWSKI, Akkadian Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew, 154-155; KAUF-
6
MAN, Akkadian Influences, 138-139.
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