101 Bible Oddities

[Koichos]

The name of the Babylonian king 'Nebuchadnezzar' occurs 91 times across five different spelling variations:

נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר - 13
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר - 31
נְבֻכַדְנֶאצַּר - 8
נְבֻכַדְנֶצַּר - 6
נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר - 33​

Ignoring the parallel uses of ־בֻ־ and ־בוּ־, as well as the silent א, we are still left with two spelling variations.

 

[Koichos]

The book Danîyyél begins in Hebrew, but switches abruptly into Aramaic partway through chapter 2, verse 4

וַיְדַבְּרוּ הַכַּשְׂדִּים לַמֶּלֶךְ אֲרָמִית 'מַלְכָּא, לְעָלְמִין חֱיִי! אֱמַר חֶלְמָא לְעַבְדָךְ וּפִשְׁרָא נְחַוֵּא'׃​

Then the Chaldeans replied to the king in Aramaic: 'Your Majesty, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream and we will reveal its explanation.'

The text then remains in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7, reverting to Hebrew at the beginning of chapter 8.

 

[MMS]

The book Danîyyél begins in Hebrew, but switches abruptly into Aramaic partway through chapter 2, verse 4

The text then remains in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7, reverting to Hebrew at the beginning of chapter 8.

that isnt just odd, its quite significant

Ur of the Chaldees - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Koichos]

that isnt just odd, its quite significant

Ur of the Chaldees - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Quite so.

The 11th verse in Yîrm'yahu's 10th chapter is also written (entirely) in Aramaic as a response to the Chaldeans.

כִּדְנָה תֵּאמְרוּן לְהוֹם אֱלָהַיָּא דִּי־שְׁמַיָּא וְאַרְקָא לָא עֲבַֽדוּ יֵאבַֽדוּ מֵאַרְעָא וּמִן־תְּחוֹת שְׁמַיָּא אֵֽלֶּה׃​

This is what you are to tell them: 'The gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will be destroyed from the earth and from below those heavens.'

 

[MMS]

Quite so.

The 11th verse in Yîrm'yahu's 10th chapter is also written (entirely) in Aramaic as a response to the Chaldeans.

Genesis 18:28 Hebrew Text Analysis

 

[Koichos]

The express command against having 'other gods' laid out in Sh'môt 20:3 uses the form לֹא יִהְיֶה ('will not have [sg.]') as opposed to לֹא יִהְיוּ ('will not have [pl.]), even though the following noun (אֱלֹהִים 'gods') and adjective (אֲחֵרִים 'other') are both plural. I see the use of the peculiar, singular verb יִהְיֶה as prohibiting the possession of even just one 'other god'—otherwise one might think infringement only occurs if a person has more than one.

 

[MMS]

The express command against having 'other gods' laid out in Sh'môt 20:3 uses the form לֹא יִהְיֶה ('will not have [sg.]') as opposed to לֹא יִהְיוּ ('will not have [pl.]), even though the following noun (אֱלֹהִים 'gods') and adjective (אֲחֵרִים 'other') are both plural. I see the use of the peculiar, singular verb יִהְיֶה as prohibiting the possession of even just one 'other god'—otherwise one might think infringement only occurs if a person has more than one.

with that as context, interpret Genesis 31 for me

Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 31 - King James Version

And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto...

www.biblegateway.com

 

[Koichos]

The anomalous phrase כָּל רַבִּים עַמִּים, which is the REVERSAL of the normal Hebrew word-order placing the adjective רַבִּים before the noun עַמִּים rather than after it (as in proper Hebrew syntax), occurs in T'hîllîm 89:51.

The Ba'al M'tzudot in his 18th-century Biblical commentary מְצוּדַת צִיּוֹן M'tzudat Tziyyon (which is really just a glossary of difficult words) explains כָּל רַבִּים עַמִּים as being "כְּמוֹ כָּל עַמִּים רַבִּים" (i.e., "like כָּל עַמִּים רַבִּים").

This is just one of many scribal oddities that exist throughout the twenty-four books, such as the bisected ו vav in B'mîdbar 25:12, the terminal מ mem (ם) at the beginning of the first word in Y'sha'yahu 9:6, the raised נ nun in Shōfṭîm 18:30, the reversed נ nun (׆) before and after B'mîdbar 10:35-36 (and between verses 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 & 28 and before verse 40 in T'hîllîm 107), the raised ע 'ayin's in Thîllîm 80:14 and Îyyōv 38:13 & 38:15.

There are also hundreds of enlarged and shrunken letters peppered throughout the text... too many to list here.

 

[Koichos]

with that as context, interpret Genesis 31 for me

Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 31 - King James Version

And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto...

www.biblegateway.com

Chapter 31 of B'réshît is perhaps the earliest Biblical reference to a distinct idol, in which we are introduced to Lavan's תְּרָפִים t'rafîm (household idols) that his daughter Râḥél purloins in order to separate him from idolatry (see verse 19). Nevertheless, it became common to call idols by God's 'Divine Title' shortly after Ênōsh's birth:

וּלְשֵׁת גַּם־הוּא יֻלַּד־בֵּן וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ אֱנוֹשׁ אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְדֹוָה׃​

And a son was also born to Shét - to him, too - and he named him Ênōsh; it was then that [man] began calling idols by Adonay's Name [literally, 'then calling by Adonay's Name became desecrated']. (ibid., 4:26)

Some key points in chapter 31:

תְּרָפִים (household idols) in verse 19, also common in the northern province, Yîsra'él (as in Shōfṭîm 17:5);
לֹא יִחְיֶה in verse 32, where Râḥél's death was inadvertently spoken as she was in possession of the idols;
דֶּֽרֶךְ נָשִׁים (literally 'way of [the] women') in verse 35, euphemistically applied to a woman's menstruation;
בְּרִית ('agreement', 'pact', 'treaty') in verse 44, formalized between Ya'akov and Lavan upon a shared meal;
יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא (*Aramît) in verse 47, corresponding to Hebrew גַּלְעֵד (same verse) for the 'testimonial heap'.

 

[Koichos]

The entire book Îyyōv is odd...

Once upon a time, there lived a man in the land of 'Utz. His name was Îyyōv... (1:1)
...
...
...
...and they lived happily ever after. (42:16-17)

Okay, I took a slight liberty with the translation there, but what more needs to be said?

As a matter of fact, when children's author Y'mimah Avidar-Tshernowitz was translating L. Frank Baum's story The Wizard of Oz into Hebrew, she insisted on using אֶרֶץ עוּץ êrêtz 'utz ('land of 'Utz') for Baum's 'land of Oz'!

 

[MMS]

The entire book Îyyōv is odd...

Okay, I took a slight liberty with the translation there, but what more needs to be said?

As a matter of fact, when children's author Y'mimah Avidar-Tshernowitz was translating L. Frank Baum's story The Wizard of Oz into Hebrew, she insisted on using אֶרֶץ עוּץ êrêtz 'utz ('land of 'Utz') for Baum's 'land of Oz'!

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/we-are-living-in-a-world-of-illusion.824646/page-41#post-45233390

Farmers Market Fresh fried potato snack