רשת

Forms

רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ) noun, feminine^[1][4] Pausal רָשֶׁת, with suffix רִשְׁתִּי, רִשְׁתּוֹ, רִשְׁתָּם.^[2][4] The second column of Origen's Hexapla transliterates the form with min- as μερεσθ (Psalms 31:5).^[2]

Etymology

Its only close cognate is Ugaritic rṯt (“net”), found once, in KTU 1.4.^[5][6] HALOT and DULAT tentatively derive both from the verb יָרַשׁ (yāraš, “to take possession of”), Klein supposing that the verb first meant “to seize, catch”.^[2][5][7] HALOT also allows that it may be a primary noun, and Kogan finds the derivation from Proto-Semitic *wrṯ (“to inherit, possess”) semantically weak and the origin uncertain.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is not in the archaic poems.^[1] It is first found, in the canon, in the Priestly description of the altar of the tabernacle, which has maʿăśê rešeṯ nəḥōšeṯ, “a network of bronze” (Exodus 27:4).^[1][2] The plain sense is in Proverbs 1:17, ḥinnām məzōrâ hārāšeṯ bəʿênê kol-baʿal kānāp̄, “in vain is the net spread before the eyes of any bird”.^[1][4]

Semantic evolution

The fowler's net of Proverbs 1:17 is the only literal use; elsewhere the net is a figure.^[2] In Ezekiel and Hosea it is God who spreads his net (Ezekiel 12:13, 17:20, 32:3, Hosea 7:12), and the wicked hide nets for the righteous in the Psalms (Psalms 9:16, 31:5, 140:6).^[2][4] The psalmist trusts God to “bring my feet out of the net” (Psalms 25:15), and the wicked man is thrust into a net by his own feet (Job 18:8).^[2][1] In the tabernacle the word names the bronze grating of the altar.^[2]

The Septuagint renders the figurative net mostly by Ancient Greek παγίς (pagís, “snare”), and the literal by δίκτυον (díktuon, “net”).^[1] The Dead Sea Scrolls have it 20 times, three of them in the Hodayot.^[8] Modern Hebrew רשת (réshet) adds “network”, in radio and television.^[7]

Timeline

• Classical Biblical Hebrew – the bronze grating of the altar (Exodus 27:4, 38:4).^[1][2]
• Poetry and prophets – the net in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Hosea, Ezekiel and Lamentations, 18 of the 22 uses.^[1]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it with Ancient Greek παγίς (pagís).^[9][1]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 20 uses in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[10][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. a net for catching birds or animals.^[2][4]
2. (figurative) a net spread by God in judgment, or a snare laid by enemies.^[2][4]
3. (figurative) a net in which one catches oneself.^[2]
4. the bronze grating of the altar of burnt offering.^[2][4]

Descendants

• Modern Hebrew רשת (réshet)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 h i j k l m n o 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. רֶשֶׁת
3. ^ Højgaard, Christian Canu; Naaijer, Martijn; Schorch, Stefan (2023), Text-Fabric Dataset of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Zenodo, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7734632
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. רֶשֶׁת
5. ^ a b del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, 3rd ed., transl. W. G. E. Watson, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b Kogan, Leonid (2015), Genealogical Classification of Semitic: The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: De Gruyter, p. 304
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. רֶשֶׁת
8. ^ a b Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
9. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
10. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143