E.D. Reymond, «The Hebrew Word hmmd and the Root d-m-m I ('To Be Silent')», Vol. 90 (2009) 374-388
The definition of the Hebrew word hmmd (found in Biblical as well as in Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew) has been debated for many years. Recent dictionaries and studies of the word have proposed defining it as “sighing” or “whisper” and deriving it
from the root d-m-m II associated with mourning and/or moaning. This study considers how the word is used in the Bible, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as how similar words are used in other post-biblical Hebrew and Aramaic texts; it
concludes that the word hmmd is more likely to mean “silence, quiet” or the absence of loud sound and motion in both the Hebrew of the Bible and that of the Dead Sea Scrolls and should be derived from the root d-m-m I (“to be silent”).
The Hebrew Word hmmd and the Root d-m-m I 383
yawbw hmmd ybç 5. . . .
twklmm trwbg ˚l warqw ypyswt awl ayk μyydçk tb ˚çwjb
Sit quietly, and go
into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans,
for you will no longer (hear) that they call you the might of kingdoms
(1QIsaa XXXIX, 23 [Isa 47,5]) (26).
Understanding hmmd to mean “whisper†or “sighing†again does
not make sense in this passage. The other attestation in the Isaiah scroll
(1QIsaa XXVII, 3 [Isa 33,3]) results perhaps from scribal error, rather
than from lexical obscurity. The Masoretic text has Ëštmmwrm and the
1QIsaiah version has Ëštmmdm; the versions support the reading of the
Masoretic text (27).
In two other cases (4Q401 16, 2 = 4Q402 9, 3 [4QShirSabb] and
4Q417 2 I, 3 [formerly labeled 4Q417 1, I; 4QInstruction]) the word
occurs in a prepositional phrase modifying a verb of speech.
] / tmmdb w[ymç[y] and [tm]mdb w[ymç[y]
they announce in the stillness of (4Q401 16, 2) . . .
They announce in the sti[llness of] (4Q402 9, 3) (28).
[h]trbd hmmdb ayk [lbt al wjwr ta μgw
Also, do not confuse (lit., swallow) his spirit,
because yo[u] speak quietly (hmmdb) (4Q417 2 I, 3) (29).
It is important that this phrasing is found in two unrelated texts,
since, as will be emphasized below, the language of the Songs of the
Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q400-407, Mas1k, 11Q17) contains many peculia-
(both of which translate with a word meaning “silenceâ€), he suggests the word is
perhaps a defective spelling of the word hmmwd (ibid.).
(26) The Hebrew text is from D.W. PARRY – E. QIMRON, The Great Isaiah
Scroll (1QIsaa). A New Edition (STDJ 32; Leiden 1999) 79.
(27) See KUTSCHER, Isaiah Scroll, 228.The Hebrew text to this passage reads
in D.W. PARRY – E. QIMRON, The Great Isaiah Scroll, 55: μywg wxpn ˚tmmdm μym[
wddn ˆwmh lwqm.
(28) The texts and translations are from C.A. NEWSOM, “Shirot ‘Olat
Hashabbatâ€, Qumran Cave 4, VI. Poetic and Liturgical Texts, Part 1 (eds. E.
ESHEL et al.) (DJD 11; Oxford 1998) 210, 235. The same author has also
presented her transcriptions (as well as translations and commentary) in C.A.
NEWSOM, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice. A Critical Edition (HSS 27; Atlanta, GA
1985) and in C.A. NEWSOM, Angelic Liturgy. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (The
Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Texts with English Translations
4B; Tübingen – Louisville, KY 1999).
(29) Text from J. STRUGNELL –D.J. HARRINGTON, Qumran Cave 4, XXIV.
Sapiential Texts, Part 2, 4QInstruction (MûsËr le Mˇvîn): 4Q415 ff. (DJD 34;
˘
Oxford 1999) 172.
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