In Num. 2:2 we read אִישׁ עַל דִּגְלוֹ בְאֹתֹת לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם יַחֲנוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
"Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house." The root דגל DGL is a member of the family of roots דגל, סגל, שגל צהל זחל, שחל, סכל, שכל דקל, סקל, שקל, תקל DGL, SGL, $GL CHL ZXL, $XL SKL, $KL *DQL, SQL, $QL, *TQL all referring to a lofty state, as indicated by the letter L present in all of these roots. So, I think that דֶגֶל DEGEL refers to the entire system of a painted sign, an אות OT, lifted upon a tall pole (Hebrew: תורן TOREN = T-OREN, a variant of the tree name אורן OREN.) The extra-biblical דֶקֶל DEQEL, 'palm tree', is in shape a kind of a דֶגֶל DEGEL: a tall trunk capped by a shock of long fronds. In Song 5:10 we find דגוּל DAGUL in the sense of 'outstanding, over-towering'. In Song 2:4 we find דִגְלוֹ DIGL-O, which I doubt means 'his banner'. Isaac Fried, Boston University _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
