The Root ZBL/SBL in Akkadian, Ugaritic and Biblical Hebrew

Abstract

THIS PAPER CONTAINS a lexicographical study of the Hebrew root zbl/sbl in the light of Akkadian zabdltu, Ugaritic zbl and other related materials. It should be stressed at the outset that not all of the material herein presented is entirely new. However, almost none of it is be found in the standard Hebrew lexicons and commentaries, the most recent ones being no exception. We shall first briefly turn Hebrew zbl which is attested only six times in the Hebrew Bible.' It is not surprising note, therefore, that the exact meaning and derivation of this rare and poetic root have been a problem ancient and modern scholars alike. As a verb zbl is a hapatx occurring only in Genesis 30: 20 where the MT reads as follows: hp'm yzblny 'ySy ky yldty 1w s'sh bnym. The problematic idiom yzblny 'ysy has most recently been studied by the late E. A. Speiser in his translation and commentary on the Book of Genesis.2 While such an interpretation as husband will tolerate 3 needs no refutation, the widely accepted renderings husband will dwell with me 4 or the more recent rendering My husband will recognize me as his lawful wife, 5 are equally difficult. Indeed, Speiser rightly rejects such interpretations, and offers instead the following translation: This time my husband will bring me presents. 6 Such a rendering is of course based oil Akkadian zubulli2,7 well known in the idiom zubulla zabdlu 8 to bring marriage gifts rarely attested in OB,9 but common in Assyrian 10 where it is essentially a synonym of Babylonian bibla wabdlu (zabdlu).1 Speiser's rendering, tempting as it may be, is difficult on several counts. First, our biblical verse has yzblny alone, not *zbI yzblny or *yzblny zbl. Secondly, such an interpretation isolates our word from the other occurrences of zbl in biblical Hebrew; for while there is no denial of the fact that zbl in Ps. 49: 15 is obscure,'2 surely zbl in the idioms 'md [b]zblh,'3 byt zbl 14 and zbl qd? 15 must denote princeship, royalty, as noted by Albright years ago.16