tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 14 09:04:58 2006
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Re: ben vs. ben
Igor=Aryeh:
> > ...ben jIboghpu'
> > "I was born ... years ago"
> >
> > 'Ani ben ... Hu' ben ... (in regard to males)
> > "I am ... [years] old", "He is ... [years] old".
> >
> >Has the Hebrew parallel already been noticed?
Voragh:
>I don't believe anyone's ever suggested it before, but you may be on to
>something. If it's not an intentional pun, Okrand may well have remembered
>it (unconsciously) from his Hebrew.
I was cataloging a reprint of Shabbetai Sheftel ben Akiva Horowitz's _Sefer
Shefa' tal_ (Hanau [Germany], 1611) today when I saw the running
title: *haqdamah ben me'ah shanah* ("hundred year-old introduction") and
was reminded that in Hebrew *ben* can also be used for dates of non-human
things. A (very) quick search of the Internet found:
Leviticus 12:6 - *tavi' kevesh ben-shenato le-'olah*
"she shall bring a lamb of the FIRST YEAR for a burnt offering."
The NASB reads "a ONE year old lamb" while the NIV has "A year old
lamb."
Exodus 29:38 - *kevashim benei-shanah shenayim la-yom tamid*
"two lambs of the FIRST YEAR day by day continually." The NASB reads
"a lamb of the FIRST year" while the NIV has "she is to bring A year
old lamb."
This usage parallels {cha'vatlh ben HIq} "Two Century Old Ale/Wine" nicely.
Of course, Okrand then expanded Klingon {ben} to translate time stamps:
vagh SanID ben buDbe' wamwI'pu'
5,000 years ago, hunters were not lazy. (st.klingon 11/99)
which is quite different from time stamps in Hebrew.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons