The Meaning of ʾÔpan in Proverbs 20.26. Issue 3 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Amzallag, Nissim; Yona, Shamir
• Is Part Of: Bible translator. Volume 67:Issue 3(2016:Dec.)
• Page Start: 292
• Page End: 302
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Proverbs 20.26 -- ancient metallurgy -- ʾôpan -- wheel -- furnace nozzle; 220.405
• DOI: 10.1177/2051677016650015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2051-6770

Abstract

Proverbs 20.26 allegorizes the optimal method of scattering the wicked by likening it to the wind-driven separation of chaff from grain. Since the word ʾ ôpan denotes the tool used for this process, it is proposed here that this term evokes a tuyere, a nozzle through which air is forced in a furnace, rather than a cartwheel, used for the threshing of grain. Functional affinities between ʾ ôpan and ʾ ap (= nose), the organ of blowing, together with the lack of a satisfying etymology for ʾ ôpan as a wheel, suggest that tuyere is the primary meaning of this noun in ancient Canaanite languages. Moreover, the similarity of ancient furnace nozzles to spokeless wheels suggests that the use of ʾ ôpan to denote a wheel is derived from the primary denotation of the word, a tuyere.