[Mesorah] Translation of the verb "yiv'al"

[Mandel, Seth]

Now that it has been established that the verb has both meanings long before Chazal Hebrew, we are free to speculate about what the original meaning of the root might have been

The root is well attested in Akkadian, where beelu is both the name of a god, and a noun referring to gods and important people.  That meaning would have been known in Biblical times from its usage in names like בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר מַלְכָּא.

The word is common in Aramaic, but the sources are not older than the T'NaKh.

It is interesting that in classical Arabic the noun is attested in three meanings:

a) the name of the Canaanite god;

b) a noun meaning "spouse," masc. ba‘lu and fem. ba‘latu,

c) in the same sense as שדה בעל is used in the Mishna, meaning a field that does not need artificial irrigation, but gets enough water from rain and springs.

However, finding a cognate in Arabic is not always evidence of an ancient source.  It is well known that many Arabic terms come from usages in other languages, particularly Aramaic and also Hebrew. If the meaning is different enough, we assume that the word in Arabic is not borrowed.  But if the terms are identical, it becomes problematic.  Since the word was used as the name of a god in the region, as is attested in Ugaritic, Arabs who came to the area from their home in the Arabian Peninsula would have known that usage well.

The Lebanese city called Baalbek (ba‘albek) certainly preserves the meaning as a god, but not from Arabic, but from Phoenician or Canaanite origins.  The ending bek has no meaning in Arabic.  The name B‘lbk is already attested in the Mishna, Ma'asrot 5:8.  Some German authorities debated whether it referred to the sun god (since in Greek/Latin the name is Heliopolis), or maybe the god of Beka.  However, personally I think that Dr. Richard Steiner's suggestion that it refers to the god Bacchus has a lot going for it, since the place was known as a center of the cult of Bacchus, and the ruins of a massive temple to Bacchus still remain there right outside the city, as well as temples to Venus and Jupiter.  It may also be connected to the Ugaritic reference to mbq nhrm as the abode of the Ugaritic god 'el.

(I have included a picture of the temple to Bacchus here, but it will not get through what the list receives.  However, you can find the picture at the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Bacchus

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Baalbek%28js%29_5.jpg/1200px-Baalbek%28js%29_5.jpg]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Bacchus>

Temple of Bacchus - Wikipedia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Bacchus>
en.wikipedia.org
Temple of Bacchus may refer to any temple to the Roman wine god Bacchus or to temples of other gods with which he was equated in antiquity, such as the Greek Dionysus.



[The Temple of Bacchus]


Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel

________________________________
From: Mandel, Seth
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 2:47 PM
To: Micha Berger; mesorah at aishdas.org
Subject: Re: [Mesorah] Translation of the verb "yiv'al"


The answer is yes.

First of all, it is crystal clear that in theT'NaKh, the noun ba‘al can refer to both husband and owner.  I should not have to bring examples, but see in Gen. 33:19 about ba‘al hah.alomot, and see Ge.20:3 about a woman who is married  called b‘ulat ba‘al, that clearly is not about whether she had intimate relations.

If the noun had both meanings (and it still does in L'shon Chazal), it is only natural to assume that the verb would be used in both meanings, even if one could prove (I do not know how) that one meaning is the original and the other denominative.

But, in point of fact, the verb is clearly used at least in some instances in the meaning of "owner, one who possesses.  See the following two verses from Y'sha‘yah and their Targum:

כו:יג יְיָ אֱלֹקֵינוּ בְּעָלוּנוּ אֲדֹנִים זוּלָתֶךָ, לְבַד-בְּךָ נַזְכִּיר שְׁמֶךָ.

תרגום: שליטו בנא עממיא למהוי רבונין בר מנך...



נד:ה כִּי בֹעֲלַיִךְ עֹשַׂיִךְ, יְיָ צְבָקוֹת שְׁמוֹ, וְגֹאֲלֵךְ קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֱלֹקֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ יִקָּרֵא.

תרגום: ארי מריך דעבדיך...

In both verses it is clear that there is not any sexual imagery intended.


Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel



________________________________
From: Mesorah <mesorah-bounces at lists.aishdas.org> on behalf of Micha Berger via Mesorah <mesorah at lists.aishdas.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 12:17 PM
To: mesorah at lists.aishdas.org
Subject: Re: [Mesorah] Translation of the verb "yiv'al"

I started by asking was Chazal's usage of \בעל\ as old as Yeshaiah.
Answer: yes. RSM cited eishes yefas to'ar and ואחר כן תבוא אליה ובעלתה
והיתה לך לאשה.

Now I want to ask the reverse question: Is this shoresh used as a verb
ever to mean anything else?

If the answer is "no", then we'd have to assume TY and the peirushim
are not giving precise translations, no?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

--
Micha Berger             The same boiling water
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