Etymologically
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קצע

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Forms

קָצַע (qāṣaʿ) verb[1] Hiphil imperfect יַקְצִעַ “he shall scrape” (Leviticus 14:41).[2][3] Pual participle, feminine plural construct, מְקֻצְעוֹת (Exodus 26:23, 36:28), and hophal participle מְהֻקְצָעוֹת (Ezekiel 46:22), both of the corners of a structure.[4][5]

Etymology

HALOT, BDB and Klein give two roots of this spelling.[2][4][6] The verb “to scrape” is compared with Arabic قُضَاع (quḍāʿ, “fine dust”).[2][3][6] The participles meaning “cornered” belong to a root “to cut off”, compared with Aramaic קְטַע (qəṭaʿ), Classical Syriac ܩܛܰܥ (qəṭaʿ), Sabaean qṣʿ and Arabic قَطَعَ (qaṭaʿa), all meaning “to cut off”.[4][7] BDB accepts the Arabic word only if it stands for an older form with /ẓ/.[7] Klein reports that most lexicographers keep the two roots apart while some reduce them to one.[8] The participles may also be denominatives of מִקְצוֹעַ (miqṣôaʿ, “corner”).[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is only in the Priestly texts and Ezekiel.[1] In the law of a house with a fungous growth the priest commands wəʾeṯ-habbayiṯ yaqṣiaʿ mibbayiṯ sāḇîḇ “and he shall have the house scraped inside all round” (Leviticus 14:41), and the tabernacle has two boards liməquṣʿōṯ hammiškān “for the corners of the tabernacle” (Exodus 26:23).[1][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The Ezekiel participle מְהֻקְצָעוֹת (46:22) is marked with extraordinary points in the Masoretic text and is missing in the versions;[9][5] HALOT calls its meaning uncertain, and BDB and Gesenius–Buhl report scholars who delete it.[4][9][5] For Exodus 26:23 HALOT, with Gesenius–Buhl, would perhaps read the noun miqṣəʿōṯ “corners”, as in the next verse.[4][5] The Septuagint has Ancient Greek γωνία (gōnía) “corner” in Exodus 26:23.[1] In Rabbinic Hebrew the verb means to scrape, and to remove the stalks from figs.[2]

Timeline

  • Classical Biblical Hebrew – hiphil yaqṣiaʿ in the Priestly law of Leviticus 14:41, pual məquṣʿōṯ in Exodus 26:23 and 36:28.[2][4][1]
  • Prophetic books – hophal məhuqṣāʿôṯ in Ezekiel 46:22.[4][1]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders the corners of Exodus 26:23 by Ancient Greek γωνία (gōnía).[10][1]

Meanings

Verb

  1. hiphil to scrape, to have scraped off (the plaster of a house).[2][3]
  2. pual participle made with corners, forming the corners.[4][5]
  3. hophal participle (uncertain) set in the corners, or cornered.[4][9]

Word family

  • מִקְצוֹעַ (miqṣôaʿ)
  • מַקְצֻעָה (maqṣuʿâ)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
  2. ^ 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. קצע I
  3. ^ a b c 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. קָצַע
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. קצע II
  5. ^ a b c d e Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. קצע
  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. קצע I
  7. ^ a b 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. קצע
  8. ^ Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. קצע II
  9. ^ a b c d 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. קָצַע²
  10. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93