Hebrew In Israel | Hebrew and Aramaic In Contact #1 – Learn Torah

Hebrew In Israel | Hebrew and Aramaic In Contact #1 – Learn Torah

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It is very cold at the moment here in Israel, and I was thinking of a small anecdote for today:
The word for cold in Hebrew is קר-Qar.  What is interesting is that another word for cold in Biblical Hebrew is קרח-Qerach (ice) as Ya’akov states:

-הָיִיתִי בַיּוֹם אֲכָלַנִי חֹרֶב, וְקֶרַח בַּלָּיְלָה
“Here’s how it was for me: during the day thirst consumed me, and at night the cold” (Gen 31:40).
And now for another twist:  The word used in the Aramaic Targum know as Onkelos to describe the Cold/Ice is  גלידא
הֲוֵיתִי בִּימָמָא אַכְלַנִי שַׁרְבָּא,וּגְלִידָאנְחַת עֲלַי בְּלֵילְיָא
(Gen 31:40)
Later in time, the form גלידא was adapted to Mishnaic Hebrew in the form of גליד which means a piece of ice, and later in Modern Hebrew it became גלידה, and with that Ice/Cold became the word for Ice cream.

One last word about the Onkelos Targum.  Though it is called Onkelos, it was probably written in the 4th century in Babylon by R. Yosseph and not the Onkelos of the first century Israel.

Keep warm my friends.
Originally Published:  6 December 2015

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