{"id":38182,"date":"2018-08-20T08:08:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T05:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38182"},"modified":"2022-03-14T12:03:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T10:03:48","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-28\/","title":{"rendered":"MiliMiliM – The Hebrew Corner – Gen 28"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[507,508,361],"acf":{"old_id":"38182","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34011,"related_cahpter":"28","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"\u05e1\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd - Sulam - Ladder","content":"

The image of <\/span>sulam Ya\u2019akov,<\/span><\/em> \u201cJacob\u2019s Ladder\u201d is a striking one, firing imaginations of readers for generations. To the modern reader, familiar with Hebrew, there is nothing extraordinary about the word <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em>, \u201cladder.\u201d It\u2019s a common household item, and seems natural enough. <\/span><\/p>\n

But this word does have something special about it. It is a Biblical leprechaun, a one-hit wonder. It is what is known in the trade as a <\/span>hapax legomenon<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>which is Greek for \u201csomething having only been said once.\u201d In other words, it appears only once in the entire Tanakh – i.e., here. A \u201chapax\u201d always raises the question: with no other uses of the word, no other contexts to compare – how are we sure we know what it means?<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we answer that, how common is this? How many of these unique words are there in the Tanakh? Well, it depends how you count. Because Hebrew is a language based on roots, if something is a unique use but of a known root – does that count or not? There are about 1100 of those – that is words only used once, but clearly connected to a root that is used in different forms, so we\u2019re more sure of what those words mean. But that leaves 400 words in the Tanakh which are truly unique, and no clear connections to anything else in Hebrew. <\/span><\/p>\n

These not only invite a range of interpretations, but also end up being good fodder for modern coinages. For instance the words <\/span>gvinah, zechuchit<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>tzlil<\/span><\/em> (the first two from the Book of Job, the third from Judges) are words whose meaning in their original context was not agreed upon, but were pressed into service to mean things that modern Hebrew did not have a usable word for: \u201ccheese,\u201d \u201cglass,\u201d and \u201csound\u201d (or \u201cnote\u201d), respectively. <\/span><\/p>\n

The same is true of the word <\/span>chashmal<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>which technically is not a hapax since it appears three times (in Ezekiel), but that doesn\u2019t make its mystical meaning any clearer. Translated as <\/span>electra<\/span><\/em> (\u201camber\u201d) in the Septuagint, it was adopted to mean \u201celectricity\u201d in modern Hebrew.<\/span><\/p>\n

So back to our <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em>. We use the term \u201cladder\u201d but it may have been more of a staircase or even ramp (which would be more accessible in case there were differently abled angels). It could be connected to the Akkadian <\/span>simmiltu<\/span><\/em>, meaning “steps,\u201d which is indeed one way of parsing these words, by looking at cognates in related Semitic languages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now common in modern Hebrew, <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em> has given us two other uses. One is the use of the word to mean \u201cmusical scale\u201d (e.g., the <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em> of <\/span>si bemol<\/span><\/em>, b-flat). The other is that the consonants of the word, <\/span>s-l-m<\/span><\/em>, have been turned into a root themselves, and are the basis of the term <\/span>haslama<\/span><\/em>, \u201cescalation,\u201d a word unfortunately seen often in the news of the region in the context of increasing tension or violence.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":102973,"id":102973,"title":"-622f116528a28--622f116528a2agen28- milim sulam.jpg","filename":"622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-28\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38182,"date":"2022-03-14 09:56:53","modified":"2022-03-14 09:57:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":"

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>\n"},"tile":{"top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","main_caption":"Chapter 28: \u05e1\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd - Sulam - Ladder","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":102973,"id":102973,"title":"-622f116528a28--622f116528a2agen28- milim sulam.jpg","filename":"622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-28\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam-jpg\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam-jpg","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38182,"date":"2022-03-14 09:56:53","modified":"2022-03-14 09:57:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":"Robert Kneschke (shutterstock 161025986)"},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38182"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102974,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38182\/revisions\/102974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}