{"id":88577,"date":"2021-02-09T16:01:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T14:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=88577"},"modified":"2021-02-09T16:01:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T14:01:35","slug":"of-ports-cities-boundaries-and-districts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-ports-cities-boundaries-and-districts\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Ports, Cities, Boundaries And Districts"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"88577","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64450,"related_cahpter":"674","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Another interesting hapax\r\n\r\n","content":"

Psalm 107 is a psalm of thanksgiving. It describes a number of scenarios where after a person was redeemed from them, they would give thanks to God: being lost in the desert, imprisonment, falling ill and those that made a sea voyage. The last of these scenarios is found in verses 23-31:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOthers go down to the sea in ships, ply their trade in the mighty waters; they have seen the works of the LORD and His wonders in the deep [\u2026] In their adversity they cried to the LORD, and He saved them from their troubles. He reduced the storm to a whisper; the waves were stilled. They rejoiced when all was quiet, and He brought them to the port they desired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the word for \u201cport.\u201d In the Hebrew it is <\/span>machoz<\/span><\/em>. It only appears once in the Bible, which leads to debate about the accurate translation. While modern translations offer \u201cport\u201d or \u201charbor\u201d (based on ancient translations as well as cognates in Semitic languages), other translations following the medieval commentaries suggest \u201cborder\u201d \u2013 \u201cHe guided them to their desired boundary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in modern Hebrew, <\/span>machoz<\/span><\/em> means neither \u201cport\u201d or \u201cborder.\u201d How did that meaning come to be?<\/span><\/p>\n

There are different theories about this as well. Some say that <\/span>machoz<\/span><\/em> derives from an Akkadian word meaning \u201ccity.\u201d The meaning of the word went from \u201ccity\u201d to \u201cport city\u201d to \u201cport\u201d (as in our verse in Psalms). Following this, some feel that the original sense of \u201ccity\u201d (or \u201cprovince\u201d) influenced the more recent meaning of \u201cdistrict.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others say that the sense of \u201cdistrict\u201d came from an expansion of the medieval understanding of the word as \u201cborder\u201d (i.e., the area inside the border).<\/span><\/p>\n

So if <\/span>machoz<\/span><\/em> means \u201cdistrict\u201d in Modern Hebrew, how do we say \u201cport\u201d? The word used now is <\/span>namel<\/em> <\/span>(the common pronunciation <\/span>namal\u00a0<\/span><\/em>is technically incorrect.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Namel<\/em> <\/span>actually has Greek origins. In Greek, <\/span>limen<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201charbor,\u201d and through the process called metathesis (where the order of sounds in a word is changed), it became <\/span>namel<\/span><\/em> in Hebrew. <\/span>Limen<\/span><\/em>, in turn, is related to the Greek <\/span>limne<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201clake\u201d or \u201cmarsh.\u201d In Latin we have the related <\/span>limus<\/span><\/em> meaning \u201cmud\u201d \u2013 which has relatives in many European languages, including the English \u201cslime.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Israel, you can visit the Tel Aviv port, <\/span>Nemal Tel Aviv<\/span><\/em>, and a different sort of port, Ben Gurion airport, is often known by its acronym \u2013 NaTBaG: <\/span>Nemal Teufa Ben Gurion<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While perhaps in our modern world we don\u2019t all experience the relief of returning from a dangerous sea voyage, most of us know how nice it feels to land at our desired airport, where we can \u201crejoice when all is quiet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":88578,"id":88578,"title":"ps107-borders boundaries districts","filename":"ps107-borders-boundaries-districts.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/ps107-borders-boundaries-districts.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-ports-cities-boundaries-and-districts\/ps107-borders-boundaries-districts\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps107-borders-boundaries-districts","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":88577,"date":"2021-02-09 14:01:21","modified":"2022-09-04 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