393

Schenk, Der Segen im NT (1967); C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible

and the Life of the Church (1978).

C. A. Keller (I-III)/G. Wehmeier (IV-V)


pba bsr pi. to bring a message JKD`UjAk mal`ak


pDbD;a basa r flesh

S 1320; BDB 142a; HALOT 1:164a; TDOT 2:31732; TWOT 291a;
NIDOTTE 1414

1. The subst. *bas ar- flesh, body may be identified with certainty
only in WSem. (HAL 156b; P. Fronzaroli, AANLR 8/19 [1964]: 170, 253,
266, 277). Whether the root can also be found in the Akk. bis ru infant
remains questionable (AHw 131a; CAD B:270a); cf., however, Pun. bsr
(also written bs `r and bs r ) child, offspring (J. Hoftijzer, Eine Notiz zum
pun. Kinderopfer, VT 8 [1958]: 28892; DISO 45). The relationship
sometimes suggested to the verb bsr pi. to report, bring a message is
unlikely.

Ug. occurrences are KTU 1.4.II.5, the covering of her body; 1.24.9, blood for
his flesh; 1.15.IV.25, V.8, of meat at a meal (cf. UT no. 534; WUS no. 598).

Other texts contemporary with the OT are only the passages with Aram. bsr (=
Bibl. Aram. bsar ) in the sayings of Ahiqar, line 89, to pour out his blood and consume
his flesh, and line 104, why should wood contend with fire, flesh with the knife, a man
with the king? (Cowley 215f.).

Arab. basar signifies more broadly human being, basarat, by contrast, skin
(see 3).

2. In the OT, Hebr. basar is attested 270x and Aram. bsar 3x (Dan
2:11; 4:9; 7:5; Lis. overlooks Gen 9:15a; for detailed statistics according to
chronological categories cf. D. Lys, La chair dans l`Ancien Testament, Basar
[1967], 1519). Hebr. occurrences are distributed as follows:

Gen 33 2 Kgs 6 Psa 16
Exod 14 Isa 17 Job 18
Lev 61 Jer 10 Prov 4
394

Num 17 Ezek 24 Eccl 5
Deut 13 Hos 1 Lam 1
Judg 6 Joel 1 Dan 2
1 Sam 4 Mic 1 Neh 2
2 Sam 3 Hag 1 1 Chron 1
1 Kgs 4 Zech 4 2 Chron 1
total 270

3. The beginning point is the numerous passages in which basar
designates the corporeal substance of the human or animal, living or dead
body. Within this broad realm the specific referent can vary greatly: flesh as
food, as sacrifice, or as an object of Ps sacral-medicinal purity
prescriptions. Sometimes basar occurs alongside other parts of the body as
a vital component of the corporeal whole: with bones (Job 2:5; esem 123x,
20x in the meaning even these; cf. Dhorme 9f.; L. Delekat, VT 14 [1964]:
4952), with skin and bones (Lam 3:4; or skin, hide 99x, 46x in Lev 13),
with skin, blood ( dam ), and excrement (Num 19:5), with skin, bones, and
sinew (Job 10:11; cf. Ezek 37:6, 8).
Otherwise biological relationship is indicated by the expression
(my/your) bone and flesh (Gen 2:23; 29:14; Judg 9:2; 2 Sam 5:1 = 1
Chron 11:1; 2 Sam 19:13f.; cf. W. Reiser, Die Verwandtschaftsformel in
Gen. 2,23, TZ 16 [1960]: 14). (Your/our) flesh alone sometimes has the
same meaning (Gen 37:27; Isa 58:7; Neh 5:5) and twice the cs. phrase
s`er basa r does (Lev 18:6; 25:49).

The expression flesh and blood to describe the person as mortal occurs first in
Sir 14:18.

About 50x basar indicates the body, i.e., the visible flesh of the
person or, as an exception, the animal (Job 41:15), the corporal in its
totality with emphasis upon the visual and the graphic. This usage always
concerns the live body; basar is never used of the corpse, not even in Ezek
32:5. For all this, basar is deeply tied to the material and is never used in
the sense of appearance, figure; bas ar is corpus, not figura. Significantly,
the word is used in contrast to various terms for the spiritual life: ruah
spirit (Gen 6:3; Num 16:22; 27:16; Isa 31:3; Joel 3:1), nepes soul (Gen
9:4; Deut 12:23; Job 14:22), leb heart (Ezek 44:7, 9; Psa 84:3).

The other words for body, e.g., gwiya (Ezek 1:11, 23; Dan 10:6), Bibl. Aram.
gsem (Dan 3:27f.; 4:30; 5:21; 7:11), readily evolve further into the meaning being, self
(gap Exod 21:3f.; gwiya Gen 47:18; Neh 9:37; cf. Hebr. esem, Aram. garma `, Akk.
ramanu) or into the meaning corpse (gwiya Judg 14:8f.; 1 Sam 31:10, 12[bis]; Nah
395

3:3[bis]; Psa 110:6; gupa 1 Chron 10:12[bis]; cf. 1 Sam 31:12; peger 22x, Aram. pagra`
and Akk. pagru also body; cf. D. Neiman, JBL 67 [1948]: 5560, on Lev 26:30 and
Ezek 43:7, 9; otherwise nbela 48x, nbl). Cf. Dhorme 712; F. Baumgrtel and E.
Schweizer, nrh\, TDNT 7:104448.*

Arab. bas arat means skin (see 1). A slight alteration of perspective
becomes apparent in the shift of meaning body > skin. The skin is
outwardly visible portion of the body. The semasiological proximity of the
two concepts is apparent in a few OT passages in which both meanings
are equally possible (Psa 102:6; 119:120; Job 4:15). Other passages
clearly distinguish the two concepts (Lev 13:2ff.).
An expansion of meaning toward the abstract occurs in the
expression kol-bas ar all flesh, which appears approximately 40x and
which can refer either to humanity (e.g., Deut 5:26; Psa 65:3; 145:21) or to
all creatures, i.e., people and animals (e.g., Gen 6:17; 9:16f.; Job 34:15; cf.
A. R. Hulst, Kol-basar in der priesterlichen Fluterzhlung, OTS 12 [1958]:
2868).

In a few passages (mik)kol-basar can be translated of all kinds, varieties (esp.
in P: Gen 6:19; 7:15; 8:17; 9:16; Num 18:15).

basar occurs as a euphemism for penis in Lev 15:2f.; Ezek 16:26; 23:20.

The much less common word s`er flesh is largely synonymous with bas ar in
profane usage, but is not employed as a theological term, primarily because it has no
collective usage (Exod 21:10; Jer 51:35; Mic 3:2f.; Psa 73:26; 78:20, 27; Prov 5:11;
11:17; originally more the inner, bloody flesh; cf. F. Baumgrtel, TDNT 7:107f.; in P in
the meaning blood relative: Lev 18:6, 12f.; 20:19; 21:2; 25:49; Num 27:11; in addition
to Lev 18:17 sa`ra txt?; on the Sem. equivalents and their shifts in meaning, cf.
Fronzaroli, op. cit. 168, 252f., 266, 277)

4. basa r is theologically significant in passages that express a
qualitative assessment. Only as an exception does this usage involve an
evaluation of status, as in Ezek 11:19 and 36:26, where the bestowal of a
heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone is an aspect of religious renewal. A
negative judgment is more often evident, particularly if the flesh, i.e.,
humanity, is qualitatively distinguished as mortal and impotent from the
divine being as spirit (Gen 6:3, 12; Isa 31:3; 40:6; Jer 17:5; Psa 56:5;
78:39; Job 10:4; 2 Chron 32:8). Cf. also J. L. Helberg, Communication on
the Semasiological Meaning of Basar, OuTWP (1959): 2328 (cf. ZAW
72 [1960]: 284); J. Scharbert, Fleisch, Geist und Seele im Pentateuch
(1966), 13, 25f., 40f., 4856; Lys, op. cit.
5. In the Qumran texts basar is a frequent and theologically significant
term (cf. H. Huppenbauer, Bs r Fleisch in den Texten von Qumran, TZ
396

13 [1957]: 298300; R. E. Murphy, Bs r in the Qumran Literature, Sacra
Pagina 2 [1959]: 6076; R. Meyer, n\ms, TDNT 7:11014). A
characteristic shift of meaning in relation to the OT usage appears in many
passages: flesh involves not only mortality but also sinfulness. The altered
connotation appears in expressions such as ru ah ba sar spirit of the flesh
(1QH 13:13; 17:25), bsar `as ma guilty flesh (1QM 12:12), bsar awel evil
flesh (1QS 11:9).
In rabbinic usage, too, characteristic shifts of meaning in relation to
the OT occur; on this and the NT, cf. R. Meyer and E. Schweizer, n\ms,
TDNT 7:11551; H. Seebass and A. C. Thiselton, Flesh, DNTT 1:671
82.

G. Gerleman


rA;a aat daughter ME;a ben


f`e g`h to be high

S 1342; BDB 144a; HALOT 1:168a; TDOT 2:34450; TWOT 299;
NIDOTTE 1448

1. The root g`h (*g`w/y ) occurs in NWSem.

Cf. Ug., KTU 1.17.VI.44 gan arrogance (par. ps sin; UT no. 548; WUS no.
613); Pun., Poen. 1027 gune bel (DISO 46 grandeur of Bel; Sznycer 144); Syr., LS
99f.; Mand., Drower-Macuch 72a, 76a, 89.

The Eg. root q`y to be high is attested in association with things, persons, and
gods; the fig. meaning with a high back = arrogantly also occurs (cf. Erman-Grapow
5:1ff.).

In addition to the verb in the qal, the adjs. ge`, ge`eh, ga`yo n arrogant
and the substs. ge`a arrogance, ga`wa height, majesty, pride, ge`ut
ascension, grandeur, insolence, and gewa arrogance, pride occur in the
OT as nominal derivatives, the last term also, perhaps as a Hebr. loanword,
in Bibl. Aram. Cf. further the PN g`u `el (Num 13:15; see, however, HAL
161b).
2. g`h qal occurs 7x (also in Sir 10:9 in the meaning to overreach),
ge` 1x (Isa 16:6), ge`eh 8x (excl. Psa 123:4 Q; also in Sir 10:14; 11:30),