----- Original Message ----- From: "George Athas" <[email protected]> To: "B-Hebrew" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 10:34 PM Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ecles 10:2
> Doug, > > The term 'hand' (יד) is not actually there in the Hebrew text. This is not > a political statement (they wouldn't have had the right-left political > spectrum we refer to today). Instead, it is a reference to the generic > ancient belief that the right hand side was proper and 'right' (we even > preserve this notion in our English term), while the left was improper, > weak, or sinister. This notion of the 'sinister' is still preserved in > some Latin-based languages like Italian, in which 'left' is 'la sinistra'. Indeed, the Latin word for "left" is 'sinister' and carries precisely that range of meaning -- it can mean literally "left-handed" or "on the left side," or it can mean what we mean by "improper, weak, or sinister." N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat... Classics and Bible Instructor, TAA http://www.theamericanacademy.net (2010 Salvatori Excellence in Education Winner) V-P of Academic Affairs, TNARS [email protected] http://www.tnars.net http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
