{"id":65784,"date":"2019-11-18T23:14:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T21:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=65784"},"modified":"2023-06-13T09:40:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T06:40:30","slug":"the-high-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-high-way\/","title":{"rendered":"The High Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In chapter 19, Isaiah portrays a time in the future when Egypt, Assyria and Israel will reconcile. Instead of the two great empires on the Nile and the Euphrates fighting each other for influence over the region, with the Land of Israel serving as a common battlefield, they will cooperate with each other and worship God together with Israel. Verse 23 describes this union as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

In that day, there shall be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians shall join with the Egyptians and Egyptians with the Assyrians, and then the Egyptians together with the Assyrians shall serve [the LORD].<\/span><\/p>\n

The word for highway here, in Hebrew, is \u201cmesila<\/em>.\u201d What is its origin?<\/span><\/p>\n

It derives from the root SLL \u2013 in this case meaning \u201cto pave a road.\u201d A connected word, found frequently in Hebrew today is \u201cmaslul<\/em>\u201d, meaning \u201cpath, track, orbit.\u201d And when referring to a paved road, we say it is \u201csalul<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the original meaning of the root SLL is \u201cto lift up, cast up.\u201d This meaning gives us a number of words in Hebrew. For example, \u201csulam<\/em>\u201d. In modern Hebrew it only means \u201cladder.\u201d But if we go back to the Bible, the meaning is less certain. It only appears once, in Jacob\u2019s famous dream (Genesis 28:12). Some do translate that sulam<\/em> as ladder, but others think it might be better understood as a stairway or ramp. From sulam<\/em>, we get the word haslama<\/em> \u2013 \u201cescalation\u201d, as in the escalation of a conflict. For more on\u00a0sulam<\/em>\u00a0 – see here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So how did we get from the meaning \u201cto lift up\u201d to the meaning \u201cto pave a road\u201d? The answer can be found in the English translation of mesila<\/em> \u2013 \u201chighway.\u201d Why is a main road called a highway? One theory is that it goes back to the Romans, who built elevated roads with ditches for drainage on each side. These roads were therefore higher than the surrounding land. Presumably, the mesila<\/em> was also elevated in a similar way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A related word is \u201csolela<\/em>\u201d. It originally meant \u201ca raised mound of earth,\u201d and was placed around the walls of a city for defensive purposes (for example in Isaiah 37:33). In medieval times, solela<\/em> began to refer to a catapult (which lifted large stones), and then to artillery. And then, just like the English word \u201cbattery\u201d, the meaning shifted from \u201ca unit of artillery\u201d to \u201can electrical cell\u201d (which sends out charges of electricity).<\/span><\/p>\n

One last biblical word with a connection to the root SLL is \u201cselah<\/em>.\u201d It frequently ends verses in the book of Psalms. The meaning is debated, but one explanation is that it derived from the meaning \u201cto lift up,\u201d and was a musical direction intended to instruct the singer to raise the voice.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65787,"id":65787,"title":"is19-highway","filename":"is19-highway.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is19-highway.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-high-way\/is19-highway\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is19-highway","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65784,"date":"2019-11-18 21:13:54","modified":"2019-11-18 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