In early Biblical Hebrew, ssade/C canbe emphatic sin. Consider in this regard the Hebrew verb“to laugh” and the name “Isaac”. InGenesis, they’re both spelled with ssade/C: CXQ and YCXQ. [The west Semiticmeaning of “Isaac” is “He Laughs”, but since his mother’s birth name is notSemitic, his own name will have as its more profound meaning its non-Semiticmeaning: “He Sits Next to God”.] But in late books in the Bible, “helaughs” and “Isaac” are spelled not with a ssade/C, but rather with a sin/%: %XQ and Y%XQ. Here are some Biblical cites. “[He] laughed”, spelled YCXQ with a ssade/C,is at Genesis 17: 17. The name “Isaac”is likewise spelled YCXQ with a ssade/C two verses later at Genesis 17:19. By contrast, “[man is] laughed” isspelled %XWQ with a sin/% [not a ssade/C] at Job 12: 4, and “Isaac” is spelledY%XQ with a sin/% [not a ssade/C] at Amos 7: 9. That indicates that in early BiblicalHebrew, ssade could be an emphatic sin, having a sound quite similar to sin. Jim Stinehart Evanston, Ilinois
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