[Avodah] Leshon haKodesh

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 06:06:02AM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:

>> And therefore?  The root TKN has the same double meaning as the English
>> word "fix"...
> 
> You said that on Avodah too. I don't know of an instance of "letaqein"
> meaning to establish (as in leyaseid or in leqayeim).

Did you miss the searches for "tiken" and "Moshe tiken"?  That shows
many examples of "takanos", including many that are clearly not
"repairs" of a broken situation, so you can't explain them that way.



> Even so, the world was established already. It would be a little late
> to discuss establishing the world at this point in its existence.

Aleinu doesn't say that Hashem will establish the world, it says that
He will establish it under his sovereignty.  That hasn't happened yet;
He's still only our King, not the world's.


> The BDB does refer to a translation of "to establish" -- but only when
> mentioning the Aramaic cognate. Not the Hebrew word.

How about Koheles 12:9?


>>                    .  In Aleinu, the most straightforward translation,
>> indeed ISTM the only translation that doesn't require any stretching, is
>> "to establish the world under Hashem's sovereignty"....

> I think you're stuck on the notion that "be-" means in. However, it
> equally means "through the aegis of". E.g. "qadsheinu bemitzvosekha,
> vesein chelqeinu beSorasekha... vesamcheinu biyshuasekha".

"vesein chelkeinu besorasecha", at least, means "in", not "through".
As in "chavalim naflu li ban`imim".


> I don't think there is an appropriate translation for Malkhus here. It's
> clear from how the tefillah continues that the connotation of "ein
> melekh belo am" is central to what's being said. "Sovereignty", "rule"
> and "kingship" do not carry that meaning.

Don't they?  "Sovereignty", at least, means that it's acknowledged,
that, as it continues immediately, "kol benei vasar yikre'u vishmecha".

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher