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Re: Testament of 'Amram
To Jim and others who have asked about Amram:
The word transliterated x-(-k-n /het, ayin, kaf, nun/ seems to be an early
form of the Semitic root meaning "to laugh". It is realized as /dxq/ in
Arabic, /tz-x-q/ in Hebrew, and in later Aramaic becomes /x-)-k/ then /x-w-k/
(and cp. Mod Hebrew /xiyyuk/, "laughter"). The proliferation of emphatics
and gutturals in the original Semitic word caused different realizations in
the various languages.
I believe that Garcia Martinez wrote an article about this in a past issue of
Revue de Qumran. I don't have the reference in front of me, but I think that
it is quite right to see the good angel as having a "smiling" face, instead
of a face "like a viper" (!).
Ed Cook
Aramaic Lexicon Project
Hebrew Union College
Cincinnati