As far as I can tell, GLGL גלגל is used only as a place name, never referring to an object in Tanakh. The word for “wheel” is )PN אפן found in places like Exodus 15:25. The word for “circle”, “circular” or “sphere” is KhWG חוג found in places like Isaiah 40:22 and Proverbs 8:27.
By the way, Gilgal, the camping place, was down in the valley near Jericho, not up in the nearby hills. Karl W. Randolph. On Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 9:10 AM, Isaac Fried <[email protected]> wrote: > What is good about GALGAL, 'wheel', is that unlike the SALSAL-AH of > Jer. 6:9, > and the CICEN-ET of Ex. 16:33, it is crystal clear what it is. It is > one of the > greatest technical inventions ever, and a triumph of the human > ingenuity. > I was once told by a man, a carpenter and wheelwright, who during > world war 2, > was deported by the Russians from Poland to a remote village in > Kazakhstan, > that he was revered there for his ability to build cart wheels by the > simplest of tools > and from wood cut directly in the forest. > > The success of the wheel rests on the geometrical fact that it is > symmetrical > with respect to any line through the hub, namely, that it consists > of exactly > the same half mounds, GALIYM, on both sides of any such line. If this > is what > motivated the ancient Hebrews to call it GALGAL is, of course, just a > mere possibility. > They were also possibly impressed by the bottom coming up over and over, > or they may have been impressed by its turning over and coming again > and again > upon the ground, or by the fact that the rim comes up-and-up from the > hub. > > As GALGAL comes from גל GAL, so תלתל TALTAL, 'tuft of hair, > curl', as in Songs 5:11, > comes from תל TEL, 'mound, hillock' (which is תלול TALUL, > 'lofty', as in Ez. 17:22), > which is a variant of TLIY, 'hanging bag, quiver', as in Gen. 27:3, > which is but a variant of DLIY, 'pail'. > > Needless to say that the concept of "circle" is not in the Hebrew > bible, and that לב LEB is certainly not "center". > > Isaac Fried, Boston University > > On Aug 16, 2012, at 11:41 AM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote: > > > the phonetic repetition hints at an etymological repetition (but > > not doubling!) of the action. few of them, if at > > all, are biblical. > > _______________________________________________ > b-hebrew mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew > _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
