A Proposed New Etymology for in Northwest Semitic*

Abstract

The term, known from the Hebrew Bible, the Ugaritic corpus, and a sole example from Qumran, has frequently been glossed as \u27eyelids\u27 or \u27eyelashes\u27, and thought to be a reduplicated form of the hollow root, \u27to fly\u27 (the idea being that eyelashes and eyelids \u27flutter\u27 like wings). This interpretation has been criticized, however, for its unsuitability in a number of cases in which the term occurs, and some translators have offered alternatives that seem to fit the context better (e.g. \u27pupils\u27, \u27eyeballs\u27) or avoid the issue entirely through paraphrasing (such as the KJV\u27s \u27dawning\u27 in Job 3:9). Such translations, however, leave unanswered the question as to how they are related to the idea of \u27flight\u27. In this paper I propose that is derived not from the hollow root meaning \u27to fly\u27, but rather from the homograph meaning \u27to be dark, gloomy\u27 (and is thus similar to the other reduplicated roots related to colours, such as and ). The interpretation of as \u27pupils\u27 would then have an appropriate etymology connoting their \u27blackness\u27. This new reading solves a number of problems that scholars have identified with the traditional interpretation