סִפְרָה siprāh – book
Semantic Fields:
Utensils Writing
Author(s):
Klaas A. D. Smelik
First published: 2011-05-25
Citation: Klaas A. D. Smelik, סִפְרָה siprāh – book,
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2011
(WORK IN PROGRESS)
Introduction
Grammatical type:
Occurrences: 1x HB (0/0/1)
- Ketubim: Ps 56:9.
A.1 The word occurs once in Sirach 44:4 where בספרתם שיח חכמי ‘sages of discourse with their literacy’ are praised, meaning Solomon and Job. A variant reading has במספרתם, ‘by means of their counting’.
1. Root and Comparative Material
A.1 → סֵפֶר.
2. Formal Characteristics
A.1 [Will be added later.]
3. Syntagmatics
A.1 [Will be added later.]
4. Ancient Versions
a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions (αʹ, σʹ, θʹ):
- Renders בְּסִפְרָתֶךָ הֲלׂא by ὡς καὶ ἐν τῆ/ ἐπαγγελίᾳ σουCHECK!, ‘as also by your promise’, probably taking סִפְרָה as the ‘Book of Life’ (Ps 69:28 and cf. 2 Tim 1:1 κατ’ ἐπαγγελίαν ζωῆς, ‘according to the promise of life’). σ´ paraphrases μὴ οὐχὶ ὅταν ἐξαριθμῃ'ς, ‘not even when you count?’.
b. Peshitta (Pesh):
- sefrā, ‘book’.
c. Targum (Tg):
- חושבנא ‘accounting’.
d. Vulgate (Vg):
- promissio, ‘promise’, as in LXX.
A.1
5. Lexical/Semantic Fields
A.1 [Will be added later.]
6. Exegesis
6.1 Textual Evidence
A.1 This word occurs only once, in Ps. 56:9(8), בְּסִפְרָתֶךָ הֲלׂא, ‘Are they not in your book?’. The subject refers to the tears of the pious that God keeps with him in a waterskin. Word-play may be observed with סָפַרְתָֹּה, ‘you have counted’, earlier in the verse. Sometimes the phrase בְּסִפְרָתֶךָ הֲלׂא is seen as a gloss, but the grounds for this hypothesis are insufficient (Zenger 2000, 108). Tur-Sinai 1957, 382-3, proposed to take ספרה as the equivalent of שפרה, ‘bag, net’ in Job 26:13, but Clines 2006, 624, rightly remarks ‘It is not wise to follow Tur-Sinai’.
There is no explanation as to why the biblical author did not use the common masculine form → סֵפֶר here, but preferred the uncommon feminine. Perhaps he wanted to indicate that the ‘book’ was no real object but an abstract concept (GBHrev, § 134q-r). Some of the ancient versions also point in that direction (cf. section 5). In this particular context סִפְרָה refers to the זִכָּרׂון סֵפֶר, ‘Gedenkbuch’ (Book of Remembrance) in which the YHWH records the names and deeds of pious sufferers (Mal 3:16; cf. Kraus 1960, 409; Hill 1998, 339-40). This book is probably the same as the חַיִּים סֵפֶר, ‘Book of Life’, mentioned in Ps 69:29(28). See also Exod 32:32; Ps 40:8(7). According to apocalyptic literature it will be opened at the Final Judgment (Dan 7:10; 12:4; TLevi 1:18; Asen. 15:4; Rev 20:12, etc.). The concept of a heavenly book has very ancient roots (see e.g. Widengren 1950; Paul 1973).
It is unclear whether the use in Ps 56:9(8) should be regarded as figurative or not.
6.2 Pictorial Material
A.1
6.3 Archaeology
A.1
7. Conclusion
A.1 סִפְרָה denotes a special kind of book, to wit: the book in which God takes notes of all the evil and suffering the faithful righteous encounter in their lives. It occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible.
Bibliography
Clines 2006: D.J.A. Clines. Job 21--37 (WBC, 18A), Nashville.
Hill 1988: A.E. Hill, Malachi: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AncB,25D), New Haven.
Kraus 1960: H.-J. Kraus, Psalmen (BK.AT, 15/1), Neukirchen-Vluyn.
Paul 1973: S.M. Paul, ‘Heavenly Tablets and the Book of Life’, JANES 5:345-53.
Tur-Sinai 1957: N.H. Tur-Sinai, The Book of Job: A New Commentary, Jerusalem 31957
Widengren 1950: G. Widengren, The Ascension of the Apostle and the Heavenly Book (UUÅ, 1950:7), Uppsala.
Zenger 2000: E. Zenger, in: F.-L. Hossfeld & E. Zenger, Psalmen 51--100 (HThK.AT), Freiburg i.Br. 32000.