Yigal, Obviously there are quite a few hapax legomena in the HB.
Precisely because the root is not found elsewhere in the HB, one reaches by way of elimination at the suggested 'heal' from Aramaic. Looking at it further, it could be an abbreviation from a longer name such as *ASAEL ( with a Samekh, not Sin ). It would the precise equivalent of the attested RefaeL in meaning. And yes, the root could be ASA or ASY in Aram. Nothing I say here is written in stone, but rather in ephemeral marks, almost like the biblical 'ruchut refaim'. Uri Hurwitz Uri, What is the evidence that the name Asa is derived from the same root as the Aramaic ASA? (BTW, are you sure that in Aramaic the root is ASA and not ASY?) Why would it be? The root ASA "health" is not attested in Hebrew from any period. Yigal Levin In the HB the root may be recognized in the name ASA ( Aleph Samekh Aleph). s _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
