Wednesday, September 5, 2018

hebrew - Proper Reading of the Word זועה


The word זועה appears six times in tanach:



  1. Yeshayahu 28:19

  2. Yirmiyahu 15:4

  3. Yirmiyahu 24:9

  4. Yirmiyahu 29:18

  5. Yirmiyahu 34:17

  6. Divrei Hayamim II 29:8



In each one of these instances except the first, the kri is זעוה while the ksiv is זועה. (The linked text unfortunately does not bring the ksiv =]). In modern Hebrew, the word is pronounced זועה as the ksiv, which always struck me as an error. However on Tisha B'av we read the Kinna אש תוקד בקירבי written by Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, in which appears the phrase: שריקות ותרועות וקולות וזועות בצאתי מירושלים. The rhyme of the poem, in which the end of each phrase rhymes with the end of the one before it (there is probably a more professional way of describing this) only works if the word is read "zva'ot" and not "za'avot", in order to rhyme with תרועות, מִגְבָּעוֹת and נִקְבָּעוֹת. This would seem to rehabilitate the modern Hebrew usage, seeing as there is a precedent in rabbinic literature for using the ksiv form as oppose to the kri. My questions are:



  • Are there any other such examples of usage of the ksiv as opposed to the kri form of a word in our traditional literature (both specifically regarding this word and also generally regarding others)?

  • What is the nature of the relationship between kri and ksiv with regards to what the "real" form of the word is supposed to be?


Please provide sources =]


As an interesting addendum, the word זעוה itself appears twice in Tanach:



  1. Devarim 28:25

  2. Yechezkel 23:46





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