אבק

אבק¹ dust

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: ʾāḇāq^[1]
• Samaritan reading tradition: ā̊båq^[2]

Forms

אָבָק (ʾāḇāq) noun, masculine^[1][3] Construct אֲבַק, with suffix אֲבָקָם.^[4][3]

Etymology

The dust is inherited from Proto-West Semitic *ʾabaq- (“dust, chaff”), a West Semitic noun from which a verb “to be dusty” was formed.^[5] The noun is shared by Aramaic אבקא (ʾaḇqā, “dust”) in the Targums and Classical Syriac ܐܲܒܩܵܐ (ʾaḇqā, “powder”).^[4][6][7] BDB, Gesenius–Buhl and Klein connect it with Arabic أَبَقَ (ʾabaqa, “to run away”), as “that which flies away”, while HALOT gives the Arabic verb with a question mark.^{[3][8][9][10]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is rare: six times, in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Nahum.^[1] In the sixth plague the soot of the kiln wəhāyâ ləʾāḇāq ʿal kol-ʾereṣ miṣrāyim “shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 9:9).^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

BDB distinguishes ʾāḇāq, the fine dust that flies up, from עָפָר (ʿāp̄ār), the dust on the ground.^[3][11] It is the dust thrown up by horses (Ezekiel 26:10) and by feet, the fine dust that the wind carries off (Isaiah 29:5), and the dust that will fall instead of rain in the curses of Deuteronomy 28:24; in Nahum 1:3 the clouds are the dust of God's feet.^[4][3] SDBH notes its association with what does not last.^[12] The Septuagint renders it by Ancient Greek κονιορτός (koniortós, “dust”).^[1]

In the Mishnah it is dust and powder, and ʾăḇaq dərāḵîm is the hot sand of the roads; a piel ʾibbēq “to dust (plants)” is formed from it.^[13][14] The saying of Avot 1:4, hĕwê miṯʾabbēq baʿăp̄ar raḡlêhem “cover yourself with the dust of their feet”, uses the hitpael.^[10][15] Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax, “counting board”), the source of Latin abacus, has been explained as a loan from ʾāḇāq, a board strewn with sand;^[4][9][5] Beekes finds the link semantically weak and the Greek word of unknown origin.^[16] Modern Hebrew אבק (avák) is dust and powder.^[17]

Timeline

• Classical Biblical Hebrew – Exodus 9:9 and Deuteronomy 28:24.^[1][4]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it by Ancient Greek κονιορτός (koniortós).^[18][1]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 11 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[19][20]
• Rabbinic Hebrew – dust and powder, and the verb ʾibbēq “to dust”.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. fine dust raised by wind, horses or feet.^[4][3]
2. soot, fine ash (Exodus 9:9).^[4][21]

Descendants

• Modern Hebrew אבק (avák)^[17]

אבק² to wrestle

Pronunciation

• Tiberian: niphal wayyēʾāḇēq, infinitive hēʾāḇəqô^[15][10]
• Samaritan reading tradition: yā̊bbəq^[2]

Forms

אָבַק (ʾāḇaq) verb, niphal only^[15][10] Imperfect וַיֵּאָבֵק, infinitive construct with suffix הֵאָבְקוֹ.^[10][15]

Etymology

The verb to wrestle has two explanations.^[22] BDB, after Lagarde, takes it as a denominative of אָבָק (ʾāḇāq, “dust”), “to get dusty”, as Ancient Greek κονίω (koníō, “to cover with dust”) is used of wrestlers.^[15][8][22] HALOT lists it as a separate root and compares the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud, אבק (ʾăḇaq, “to attach, intertwine”);^[6][22] Klein thinks it probably related to חָבַק (ḥāḇaq, “to embrace”), a link that BDB also reports.^{[10][6][22][15]} Klein notes that Joshua ben Levi already gave both derivations, and that Rashi connected it with the Aramaic verb.^[22]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb occurs only in the story of Jacob's struggle: wayyēʾāḇēq ʾîš ʿimmô ʿaḏ ʿălôṯ haššāḥar “and a man wrestled with him until daybreak” (Genesis 32:25), and again in the next verse.^[1][10]

Semantic evolution

The Septuagint renders it by Ancient Greek παλαίω (palaíō, “to wrestle”).^[1] The Genesis passage is retold in a Qumran paraphrase of the Pentateuch (4Q158), which uses the verb twice.^[20] In Modern Hebrew the reflexive hiṯʾabbēq means “to struggle”.^[22]

Timeline

• Classical Biblical Hebrew – Genesis 32:25–26 only.^[1][10]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it by Ancient Greek παλαίω (palaíō).^[18][1]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – twice in the Qumran paraphrase 4Q158.^[19][20]

Meanings

Verb

1. niphal: to wrestle with someone (עִם).^[10][15]