[Avodah] kesher

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Tue, Jul 07, 2015 at 03:21:39PM +0300, Eli Turkel via Avodah wrote:
: The word kesher in Hebrew has several meetings. Is there any deeper
: connection between them besides the more obvious which is a little
: farfetched

: 1) knot
: 2) connection
: 3) conspiracy

Interestingly, the noun doesn't show in chumash. As an adjective, we have
hamuqsharos/im, to describe which of the tzon Yaaqov received (30:41-42).
Rashi quotes the Targum, "habechiros" and cites two pesuqim in Shemuel
II pereq 15.

To round out the list:
About Yaaqov (again) and Yoseif, "venafsho qesurah benafsho." Also
the string tied on Zarach's hand, and tefillin (x2). Those are all the
occurances of the shoresh.

BDB http://www.greeklatin.narod.ru/bdb/_0923.htm says that the primary
meaning is to bind, citing Syriac and Ethiopic cognates.

Conspiracy comes up in #2, "league together, conspire". It would seem
they conjecture the word comes from the collaboration, and less so
what they're connecting to eachother to plan against something.

They also cite "vatiqasheir kol-hachimah" in Nechemiah 3:35, where one
would not readily picture "tying together" parts as a metaphor.

I understand why Rashi thought the translation in Bereishis 30 is
unique enough to require comment, but not how it fits altogether.
(Rashi says it does, not how.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

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