קוד: נקבצו = נקוו = נקבו בתנ"ך
סוג: פרטים1
מאת: אבנר רמו
אל:
In the Book of Ezra we read about: נהר אהוא - “the river of Ahava” (Ezr 8:31; see also: Ezr 8:21). Yet, few verses earlier we read:
ואקבצם אל-הנהר הבא אל-אהוא, ונחנה שם ימים שלשה;
“And I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava; and there we encamped three days” (Ezr 8:15).
However, it is possible that the name of this foreign (and unknown) river was originally spelled here as: הבא (hava), and that a later scribe who noticed this variant spelling inserted here a “correction” indicating that the proper spelling of this river’s name is אהוא (ahava) - “Ahava.” This suggestion is based on the similarity in sound between ב (b) and ו (v), and the fact that in the translation of a foreign name one has to transmit the sounds, without regard to a specific spelling.
In the Book of Jeremiah we read:
בעת ההיא יקראו לירושלם כסא יהוה, ונקוו אליה כל-הגוים לשם יהוה, לירושלם;
“At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of YHWH; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of YHWH, to Jerusalem” (Jer 3:17).
However, the comparison between these verses suggests the נקוו (niqvu) has the same meaning as נקבצו (niqbetsu) - “were gathered.”
Similarly, we read in the Book of Genesis:
ויאמר אלהים, יקוו המים מתחת השמים אל-מקום אחד, ותראה, היבשה; ויהי-כן.
ויקרא אלהים ליבשה ארץ, ולמקוה המים קרא ימים;
“And God said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas” (Gen 1:9-10).
Yet in the Book of Isaiah we find:
ותקבצו את-מי הברכה התחתונה.
“And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool” (Is 22:9).
ומקוה עשיתם בין החמתים, למי הברכה הישנה;
“You made also a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool” (Is 22:11).
However, the comparison between these verses suggests that תקבצו (theqabtsu) has the same meaning as תקוו (theqvu).
In the Book of Ezra we find:
ומן-הנתינים שנתן דויד והשרים לעבדת הלוים-נתינים מאתים ועשרים: כלם נקבו בשמות.
“And of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim; all of them were mentioned by name” (Ezr 8:20).
The Greek translator wrote here “were all gathered together” which suggests that he believed that נקבו (niqvu) is a misspelled נקוו (niqvu) - “were gathered.”