Hi David! There are many issues with your proposal for פרדס.
1. If the underlying root is פרד, where did the samekh come from? This is completely irregular in Hebrew. 2. The concept of פרד usually indicates division into dispersion or spreading out. How does this fit your proposed etymology? And again, whence the samekh? 3. I think you'll find that פרדס is unattested in any other Semitic language before a late date. 4. It's much easier to explain the vocalisation shifts from Persian into Aramaic and then into Hebrew, than to propose a Hebrew original that moves into the other languages. 5. If the word is originally Hebrew, how did it disseminate into Persian? What's the connection there? As for your proposal on ברזל: 1. The root ברז means to make a hole. I'm not sure how this is explicitly related to iron. I'm guessing you're seeing iron as a tool for making holes, but this is somewhat oblique in my opinion. But that's just my opinion. 2. The ברז theory does not have many subscribers in the scholarly world, probably because the word just doesn't look Semitic. And if it doesn't look Semitic, and it can be explained as a loanword, then we have to consider seriously the likelihood that it's actually a loanword. 3. It has been argued (thought I can't remember by whom) that there is an underlying Hittite word. This would make sense historically, since knowledge of working iron probably came from the northern regions where the Hittites were. GEORGE ATHAS Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia) www.moore.edu.au _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
