קוד: קבה, ארה, קלל בתנ"ך
סוג: פרטים1
מאת: אבנר רמו
אל:
In the narrative about Balaam of the Book of Numbers we read:
לכה נא אקחך אל מקום אחר; אולי יישר בעיני האלהים, וקבתו לי משם. - -
“Come now, I will take thee to another place; peradventure it will please God that you may curse me them from thence” (Num 23:27).
Yet fourteen verses earlier we find: וקבנו לי משם - - “and curse me them from thence” (Num 23:13).
The comparison between these verses and the understanding of the Greek (and English) translators suggest that וקבנו (veqavno) is a letter-substitution error of וקבתו (veqavtho) - “and you will curse him.”
Similarly we read in the Book of Proverbs יקבהו לאום - “people shall curse him” (Pro 11:26; see also: Job 3:8; Pro 24:24). Yet in the Book of Numbers we find: גם קב לא תקבנו - - “Neither curse them at all” (Num 23:25). The comparison here suggests that תקבנו (thiqvenu) is a letter-substitution error of תקבהו (thiqvehu) - “you will curse him.”
There are several other Biblical Books that relate to the fact that Balak requested Balaam to curse the Israelites (Deu 23:5-6; Jos 24:9; Neh 13:2). In these accounts the Hebrew word used for “curse” is not קבה (qaveh) but קלל (qalel) - “curse” a word that does not appear in the Book of Numbers. Furthermore, it seems that the use of words from the root קבה (qbh) - “curse” was not widespread, and even the writer of the Book of Numbers (or a late scribe) inserted into the Balaam narrative several words (Num 22:6, 7, 12) from the root ארה (arh) - “curse” to ascertain that the reader will comprehend the content of this story.
In the Book of Leviticus we read:
ויקב בן האשה הישראלית את השם, ויקלל, ויביאו אתו, אל משה; ושם אמו שלמית בת- - - -
דברי למטה דן. -
ויניחהו, במשמר, לפרש להם על פי יהוה. -
וידבר יהוה אל משה לאמר. -
הוצא את המקלל אל מחוץ למחנה, וסמכו כל השמעים את ידיהם על ראשו; ורגמו אתו, - - - - -
כל העדה. -
ואל בני ישראל, תדבר לאמר: איש איש כי יקלל אלהיו, ונשא חטאו. - -
ונקב שם יהוה מות יומת, רגום ירגמו בו כל העדה: כגר כאזרח - -בנקבו שם, יומת. - - - -- -
“And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. And they put him in ward, that it might be declared to them at the mouth of YHWH. And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Bring forth him that had cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let the entire congregation stone him. And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: Whosoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemes the name of YHWH, he shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him; as well the stranger, as the home-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death” (Lev 24:11-16).
However, the comparison of these verses to those appearing in the Book of Numbers suggest that
ונקב שם יהוה - (veniqev shem-YHWH) is a misspelled וקבה שם יהוה - (veqveh shem-YHWH) - “and he who curse the name of YHWH.” Similarly בנקבו שם - (benaqvo shem [yhwh]) is a letter-insertion error of בקבו שם - (beqavo shem [yhwh]) - “if he cursed the name (of YHWH).”
Similarly to the writer of the Book of Numbers, it seems that the writer of the Book of Leviticus (or a late scribe) knew that words from the root קבה (qbh) - “curse”, were not well known, and he also inserted into his narrative words from the root קלל (qll) - “curse” (Lev 24:11, 14, 15, 23). It should also be noted that unlike the Book of Numbers, words from the root ארה (arh) - “curse” do not appear in the Book of Leviticus.
These variances suggest that the writing of the Books of Leviticus and Numbers occurred in two distinct historic periods and reflect the constant changes in the spoken language. It should also be noted that words from the root קלל (qll) and ארה (arh) are found in the Books of Genesis (Gen 12:3) and Exodus (Ex 22:27), yet words from the root קבה (qbh) are not found in these booksקבה, ארה, קלל