Aantekeningen bij de Bijbel: Numeri 6:3

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Numeri 6:3

- -, B-Hebrew, [], 22 Mar 2007 Yohanan bin-Dawidh: Since Pesakh and Hag HaMatsoth are soon to be upon us, I wanted to discuss the Hebrew word "yayin" as found in Sefer Shemoth (Exodus) 29:40. And then the use of the same word found in Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:3, which uses "yayin" alone and then with the Hebrew "khomets" to form "khomets yayin".
According to the medieval-Karaite scholar, Dawidh bin-Avraham al-Fasi , in his Kitab Jami' al-Alfaz, we find that "khomets" is anything that has soured. Items that have soured would be things such as leaven (itself), wine, vinegar, and a few oats such as wheat, spelt, barley, oats, rye, millet (which can readily become sour). We also have the term "se'or" to deal with, which al-Fasi defines as being any mixture that has become fermented, such sourdough starter. And then we contend with the word "mahmeset" which according al-Fasi is a mixture of "khomets" or "se'or" with another item.
My interest in this study, and your opinios truly lies with "yayin", for traditionally this word has been understood to be wine; however, in Sefer Bamidbar 6:3 we see the use of "khomets yayin", which some translate as "vinegar of wine", but could easily be seen as "soured yayin", i.e. "wine", especially if we look at other Semitic variants of the Hebrew word "yayin" such as "yin" (in Ugaritic); "wayin" (in Arabic); and "inu" (in Akkadian).The Arabic variant holds the meaning of "black grape, which could suggest that "yayin" is merely a type of grape. But then there is the argument that "yayin" stems from the Hebrew verb "yayan" which means "to boil up" or "to ferment"
- -, B-Hebrew, [], 22 Mar 2007 Lewis Reich: In English, "wine" means grape juice that has fermented. In the Talmud, at least "yayin" does not appear to carry that meaning; according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica (16:538) newly pressed wine, prior to fermentation, was known as "yayin mi-gat" ("wine from the vat" Sanhedrin 70a); wine from the previous year was "yayin yashan" ("old wine'), and that from earlier vintages, "yayin noshan" ("old, very old"), the last being usually diluted by one third with water in order to reduce its potency. Rashi, in commenting on Num 6:3, notes that it is specifically yayin when it is yashan that is m'shakayr (related to the term shaykhor-in v. 3) - causes intoxication.
These usages suggest that (by the time of the Talmud, anyhow) "yayin" was not necessarily what we think of as wine, that is, fermented grape juice. That might explain the use of the term "khomets yayin" to specify that it was the fermented type of yayin that was being referred to rather than that which had not yet fermented.
- -, B-Hebrew, [], 24 Mar 2007 Yitzhak Sapir: Ugaritic probably has "yen", where *ay > e, so *yayn > yen. This is probably the situation in Israelite too which has "yn rxc" in the Samaritan ostraca. The root would appear to be Semitic *wayn. Joshua Fox does not list Akkadian amongst the cognates for this root, listing only Arab wayn, Geez wayn, Heb yayin, Sab wyn, yyn "vineyard", Ug yn. He also identifies gapn "grape vine" (here with an Akkadian cognate), karm "vineyard, vine" (no Akkadian here too). Probably also of interest is xamr, which my guess would also be attested in Semitic, but Joshua Fox does not list it because it has a related verb ("to ferment"). See Ps 75:9. Incidentally, the words wine, vine, vineyard, and vinegar are also probably all related to this word:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wine
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vine
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vineyard
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vinegar
Perhaps it is more directly related to grapes (ie, vine, vineyard in English). However, it appears that in many languages it has taken on the meaning "wine," even if so. Remember, that it could also go the other way around and have come to mean "grape" from an original "wine".
Vertaling Bijbel, Kanttekeningen SV, [], Van wijn en sterken drank zal hij zich afzonderen; wijnedik, en edik van sterken [2]drank zal hij niet drinken, noch enige [3]vochtigheid van druiven zal hij drinken, noch verse of gedroogde druiven eten.
2. Zie Lev.10:9.
3. Of, sap.