{"id":79475,"date":"2020-08-31T21:56:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T18:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79475"},"modified":"2020-08-31T21:56:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T18:56:52","slug":"squares-and-streets-roads-and-pickles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/squares-and-streets-roads-and-pickles\/","title":{"rendered":"Squares And Streets; Roads And\u00a0 – Pickles?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In chapter 8, Zechariah describes what will happen when the people return to their land, after years of exile: \u201cThus said the LORD of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age\u201d (8:4).<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a beautiful image, but looking at the Hebrew, something seems a bit strange. The prophet says the people will sit in the <\/span>rechovot<\/span><\/em>\u00a0of Jerusalem. We\u2019ve translated it above as \u201csquares,\u201d but in the Hebrew spoken today, <\/span>rechov<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cstreet.\u201d So were they sitting in the streets or in the squares?<\/span><\/p>\n

In Biblical Hebrew, this was not confusing. <\/span>Rechov<\/span><\/em>\u00a0always meant a broad open place (in a city), like the town square. The angels tell Lot that they will \u201cspend the night in the square\u201d (Genesis 19:2) and Haman paraded Mordechai \u201cthrough the city square\u201d (Esther 6:11). Both verses use the word <\/span>rechov<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Only in Medieval Hebrew did the word come to mean \u201cstreet.\u201d Today the city square, once called <\/span>rechov<\/span><\/em>, is called a <\/span>rechava<\/span><\/em>. The word <\/span>rachav<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cbroad, wide,\u201d derives from the same root.<\/span><\/p>\n

What about the Hebrew word for \u201croad\u201d \u2013 <\/span>kvish<\/span><\/em>? That is an entirely new word, coined by the author and historian Zeev Yaavetz at the end of the 19<\/span>th<\/span> century. He wanted to coin a word to refer to a \u201cpaved\u201d road, and therefore used the root <\/span>kavash<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto tread down, subdue, press.\u201d It also gives us such words as <\/span>kibush<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013<\/span><\/i> \u201cconquest,\u201d <\/span>kavush<\/span><\/em>\u00ad <\/span><\/i>\u2013 \u201cpickled,\u201d and <\/span>kevesh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cramp.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another root with the same meaning is <\/span>darach<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cto tread.\u201d This finally gives us a biblical word for a kind of root: <\/span>derech<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>Today it means \u201cpath\u201d or in a more metaphorical sense, \u201cway\u201d, but in the Bible it could refer to a road, like the king\u2019s highway, <\/span>derech hamelech<\/span><\/em>, as in Numbers 20:17.<\/span><\/p>\n

That root has given us many words. In the causative form, <\/span>hidrich<\/span><\/em>, it means to \u201clead (literally to cause someone to tread).\u201d This gives us the word for training \u2013 <\/span>hadracha<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>and trainer (or counselor) \u2013 <\/span>madrich<\/span><\/em>. A modern word relating to travel with the same root is <\/span>darkon<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 \u201cpassport.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So just as Zechariah\u2019s words might seem strange to us today, our Hebrew probably at times would seem odd to him. But I\u2019m sure if he saw the daily sight of \u201cold men and women in the squares of Jerusalem\u201d, he would be comforted.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79476,"id":79476,"title":"zech8-roads","filename":"zech8-roads.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/squares-and-streets-roads-and-pickles\/zech8-roads\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech8-roads","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79475,"date":"2020-08-31 18:54:24","modified":"2020-08-31 18:54:40","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":4000,"height":2250,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1152,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech8-roads-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Squares And Streets; 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