[Avodah] honey

[T613K at aol.com]

>>Probably the "yaarot".  A thicket of sugar canes could be  called a
"forest", but it's hard to see the connection between a  honeycomb
and a forest.  <<
 
.
>>>>>
Actually when you think about it there is a likely connection.  What  is a 
ya'ar?  It is a forest, not one tree but a lot of trees  together.  Similarly a 
honeycomb is not one cell, but a lot of cells  together.  Referring to a 
honeycomb as a "honey forest" would be using the  word "forest" in a poetic, 
metaphorical way.
 
Reminds me of a monkey trained in sign language who referred to ketchup by  
the signs for "tomato" and "toothpaste."  It would not be so rare at all to  
find words in Tanach used metaphorically for more than one purpose (if it's not  
a stretch to call a honeycomb a forest). One example is in this past week's  
parsha, Noach, where an animal and its mate are called "ish ve'ishto" -- "a 
man  and his wife" -- the words "man and wife" being used metaphorically to  
refer to a bonded pair.
 



--Toby  Katz
=============
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20061031/0a922423/attachment-0001.htm>