Genesis 11:3
וַ יֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים וְ נִשְׂרְפָה לִ שְׂרֵפָה וַ תְּהִי לָהֶם הַ לְּבֵנָה לְ אָבֶן וְ הַ חֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַ חֹמֶר
And they are saying, a man to his friend,427 `Pay,428 we are becoming-whitened429 white-ones,430 and we are setting-on-fire431 for a fiery-one432 And the White-one is becoming to-themselves for a stone. And the Foaming-tar433 he has become to-themselves for the Foaming-clay.434
| 429 | White Strong’s #3835, laban. Verb, to be or become white. This is in the Qal 1st person collective plural form nilbenah נִלְבְּנָ֣ה. This form is only found here. The Hiphil is the causative form הִלְבִּ֖ינוּ hilbinu which would mean to make white or to whiten and that is not used here but is found in Joel 1:7, “…and my fig tree for a splintering, to strip off he has stripped her, and he has thrown, they have whitened her tendril branches.” |