Genesis 21:16
וַ תֵּלֶךְ וַ תֵּשֶׁב לָהּ מִ נֶּגֶד הַרְחֵק כִּ מְטַחֲוֵי קֶשֶׁת כִּי אָמְרָה אַל אֶרְאֶה בְּ מֹות הַ יָּלֶד וַ תֵּשֶׁב מִ נֶּגֶד וַ תִּשָּׂא אֶת קֹלָהּ וַ תֵּבְךְּ
And she is walking and is sitting to-herself from-anti,731 causing to be far, according to those extending a bow,732 for she has said, `Never may I see in the death of the Born-one.` And she is sitting from-anti, and is lifting up אֶת-her voice, and is weeping.
| 732 | Not “bowshot” but כִּמְטַחֲוֵ֣י קֶ֔שֶׁת, like those drawing a bow. Why choose the participle plural form those-drawing rather the singular one-drawing? Because “Hagar” is not one, but allegorical remember (Gal. 5). The metaphor, at least in the concrete Hebrew, sounds dismal, like an execution scene. Or suicide? |