לויה

Forms

לִוְיָה (liwyâ) noun, feminine^[2][3] Only in the construct לִוְיַת, in the phrase לִוְיַת חֵן.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is formed on the root לָוָה (lāwâ) with the feminine ending ־ָה (-â).^[6][5] Gesenius–Buhl and Huehnergard give that root the sense “to wind, twist”, as in Arabic لَوَى (lawā, “to twist”), and Akkadian lawû (“to surround”), so that a wreath is something wound.^[7][8][9] HALOT files it under the verb “to accompany, join”, whose Aramaic and Syriac relatives give nouns for an escort, such as Classical Syriac ܠܸܘܝܼܬܵܐ (lewītā).^[5][10] Klein derives the name of the sea monster לִוְיָתָן (liwyāṯān) from it.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It occurs twice, in the opening chapters of Proverbs, both times as liwyaṯ ḥēn, “a graceful wreath”: the father's teaching liwyaṯ ḥēn hēm ləroʾšeḵā, “is a graceful wreath for your head, and necklaces for your neck” (Proverbs 1:9), and Wisdom will place one on the head of the one who prizes her (4:9).^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Both uses are figurative, parallel with necklaces in 1:9 and with a crown of glory in 4:9.^[4] The Septuagint renders it Ancient Greek στέφανος (stéphanos).^[2] In Rabbinic Hebrew the same spelling means an escort, from the verb “to accompany”, and Klein gives the post-biblical noun לְוָיָה the senses “escort” and “funeral”.^[5][11]

Timeline

• Biblical Hebrew poetry – twice in Proverbs (1:9, 4:9).^[2][4]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it as στέφανος.^[12][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. a wreath, garland;^[5][4] (figurative) an ornament of grace.^[5][4]

Word family

• לִוְיָתָן (liwyāṯān)

Usage notes

HALOT also proposes the word by conjecture in Proverbs 14:24 and asks whether the plural לֹיוֹת of the bronze stands in 1 Kings 7:29, usually taken as wreaths of ornament, belongs here.^[5]

References

1. ^ Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (2021), BHSA: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2021, github.com/ETCBC/bhsa
2. ^ a b c d e Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
3. ^ Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. לִוְיָה
5. ^ a b c d e f g Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. לִוְיָה
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. לִוְיָה ᴵ
7. ^ Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. לוה
8. ^ Huehnergard, John (2011), "Proto-Semitic Language and Culture" and "Semitic Roots", in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. s.v. lwy
9. ^ Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. לוה I
10. ^ Sokoloff, Michael (2009), A Syriac Lexicon, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns; Piscataway: Gorgias Press, p. 678
11. ^ Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. לְוָיָה
12. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93