Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Vayishlach #1: A Hebrew cognate in Amharic for Vayishlach

While I'm going on about Hebrew cognates in Amharic, I may as well list a parasha appropriate one. From page 50 in "Hebrew Cognates in Amharic" by Wolf Leslau:

lakä ‘send’:
[mälak ‘angel’, originally ‘messenger’;
mäl`ekt, mälekt ‘message’;
mälaktaňňa ‘messenger, envoy;]
G. lä`akä ‘send’;
In Hebrew the root l`k is preserved in מלאך mal`åk ‘angel, messenger’.

We encountered the word מלאך in the second to last pasuk in last week's parsha, Vayeitzei, in Bereishit 32:2:
וְיַעֲקֹב, הָלַךְ לְדַרְכּוֹ; וַיִּפְגְּעוּ-בוֹ, מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹקִים.
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

and in the first pasuk of this week's parsha, Vayishlach, in Bereishit 32:4:
וַיִּשְׁלַח יַעֲקֹב מַלְאָכִים לְפָנָיו, אֶל-עֵשָׂו אָחִיו, אַרְצָה
שֵׂעִיר, שְׂדֵה אֱדוֹם.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of
Seir, the field of Edom.


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