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What do these Hebrew words mean?
"Be" as in beruach, from the line in the song Jerusalem of Gold, when lyric websites translate beruach into English it means "wind" or "breeze", but I want to know what it really means, what it literally translates as. To do that, I figured I would have to know what "be" means when it is connected to the word "ruach." I know what "ruach" means by itself, now I just need to know what "be" means by itself when used for the word "ruach." I know "be" means "in", but can it also mean "on" and "by"?
What does ha'arabayim mean? The lyric websites say it means twilight, sunset, dusk, or nightfall. But is this the literal translation? If not, then what is the literal translation?
What does kore or koreh mean? I'm getting mixed information. Does it mean "happens" or "sound" as in "the sound of the shofar" or "the sounding of the shofar"? If it means neither of these, then what does it really mean? What is its literal translation?
1 Answer
- MercLv 67 years agoFavorite Answer
/beruach/ means "in [the] wind". The sentence says that the air/smell/voice is "carried in the [dusk] wind". In English you'd probably say "carried on" or "carried by", but in Hebrew it's "in". Different languages use different prepositions for the same situations (something which greatly complicates matters for learners!). When I hear this sentence I have a mental image of the smell/voice intertwines/mingles with the wind, "in". It shows the harmony between these entities.
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/arabayim/ means dusk.
/erev/ means "evening". /aravim/ (not in the song) is the plural form, which means "evenings". In Hebrew the /im/ suffix denotes plurals.
/arbayim/ is a plural form used for a pair. In Hebrew the /ayim/ suffix (seldom used) denotes two objects. /arbayim/ doesn't really mean "two evenings" but "two falls". First the day falls (goes out), and some time later the night falls (comes down). Or you could say that first the sun falls, then its light. Anyway, the time in-between is called /ben ha'arbayim/ (literally "between the falls"), but often shortened to just "arbayim". It's the time starting with the sun's circle going down the horizon to the first stars coming out. (Another opinion says /arbayim/ starts at noon already; but that's not the meaning in this song. Yet another opinion says the suffix doesn't signify any pair.)
A similar phrase for dusk is /ben hashmashot/, literally "between the suns".
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/kore/ means "calls", "calls out", "shouts", "heralds". (In a paper dictionary you'd look for the past tense, /kara/, קרא). The whole sentence says "A shofar calls out on the Temple Mount; in the old city."
http://www.morfix.co.il/%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90
The song doesn't say "the shofar is sounded", in passive voice. The active voice is used instead: the objects in this song have personality/life of their own (anthropomorphism), like the wind/smell/voice at the start, and the city herself. It's part of the charm of the song. I don't know if this carries into the English translation.
(BTW, the word "happens" is a different word spelled differently (קורה vs קורא).)
Some background: since 1931 it was forbidden for Jews to sound the shofar (an integral part of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana prayers) near the Western Wall. Whoever tried to sound it on Yom Kippur was arrested by the Brits and sent to prison for 6 months, sometimes with forced labor. This was one of the many restrictions on Jewish worship there (restrictions formerly set by violence, now by laws).
After 1967, when Israel captured the area, it was possible to use the shofar again at the Western Wall. The last two stanzas were then added to the song. Note that the song says "Temple Mount", not "Western Wall". (It's not really possible to sound the shofar on the Temple Mount, not today at least, as Jewish prayer is forbidden there.) It could also be a symbolism of freedom (in the daily prayer Jews beseech God to "sound the great shofar for our freedom and raise a banner to gather our exiles and unite us together from the four corners of the earth"), or a symbolism of a heavenly voice, whatever.
