Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Anakim / Original Intention Gone Wrong

Exploring the origin of the word anak ענק, as found in Devarim 1:28 regarding the bnei Anakim (giants), Balashon writes:

In modern Hebrew, a ma'anak מענק is a grant.

One of the cognate meanings [1] of the root [2] ענן is grant/bestow (חנן) . So, perhaps it is possible that a primary root of anakim is not ענק at all, but rather is ענן, and then even more primary than that root, would be the original root חנן. This would mean maybe that the one נ was absorbed by the other נ (somewhat similarly to the concept of chasrei peh-nun) and that in doing this, the "k" sound fell from the beginning (ח) of the word to the end (ק) of the word.

I don't know if this makes grammatical sense, but it certainly makes sense in terms of meaning. The anakim were seen as giants or noblemen, yet "skewed" in some manner. The de-evolution of purpose (to bestow, חנן) in this manner (חנן to ענן to ענק) hints at an "original intention" gone wrong.

Importantly, this also hints as to the tikkun of the bnei Anakim.

Footnotes:

[1] "Cognate roots generally share consonants which originate in a common vocal organ. Each of the 3 consonants of a cognate must have its 'partner' in the other roots in order to be part of the cognate family. Cognate roots share a general meaning." Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark.

[2] The root ענן carries the meaning to 'fructify through rain clouds'. Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark.

JBlog Me

technorati tags:

No comments:

Dare to be true to yourself.