# מבעית



## Diadem

I need help with the translation of one word in this _sugya_ located in Yoma 39b of the Bavli.

ת''ר ארבעים שנה קודם חורבן הבית לא היה גורל עולה בימין ולא היה לשון של זהורית מלבין ולא היה נר מערבי דולק והיו דלתות ההיכל נפתחות מאליהן עד שגער בהן רבן יוחנן בן זכאי אמר לו היכל היכל מפני מה אתה מבעית עצמך יודע אני בך שסופך עתיד ליחרב וכבר נתנבא עליך זכריה בן עדוא {זכריה יא-א} פתח לבנון דלתיך ותאכל אש בארזיך

I'm thinking the word מבעית is a feminine participle in the construct state, and if it comes from the Aramaic root בעא, then it should mean something like "inquirer about/ of..." --- and, based on the next word, it would mean "inquirer about/ of yourself." However, according to Alcalay (p. 260), it may also mean "to discover, expose, reveal; to destroy, lay bare."

How should I translate that particular word? Thanks!


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## ks20495

It's pronounced מֵבְעִית (from the verb הִבְעִית, שורש ב-ע-ת) and it means "to scare" or "to terrify".


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## Diadem

Thanks! Thought I had this phrase figured out...but not sure...

יודע אני בך שסופך עתיד ליחרב

יודע אני בך =  I know (by) you?
שסופך = "that your end"
עתיד = "about to," "soon"
ליחרב = I think this is future tense, 3rd person, masculine, singular (3ms). So, it would be saying, "...it will be destroyed..."

Can you help me out?


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## Egmont

You basically have the meaning.

I'd render יודע אני בך as "I know of [or about] you." I don't know this by, or from you, that is, from the sanctuary; I know it from the prophet Zechariah.

עתיד means "future." (That's also the word used to describe future tense.) So, it means that you (the sanctuary) will be destroyed in the future, not necessarily soon.

ליחרב is the infinitive "to be destroyed."

So, the whole thing is "I know of you that you will end up being destroyed."


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## Diadem

Egmont said:


> ליחרב is the infinitive "to be destroyed."


Is it Hebrew or Aramaic? I was going by Aramaic, but if Hebrew, what binyan? I assume it has to be a passive binyan, since you're translating it as "be destroyed" rather than "destroy" (obviously, the context demans that the Temple be destroyed; I'm just not sure what binyan that infinitive is in).


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## tFighterPilot

ליחרב isn't a word. להחרב is.


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## Diadem

tFighterPilot said:


> ליחרב isn't a word. להחרב is.



By which you mean that there's a typo in the sugya I posted?


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## tFighterPilot

Quite likely. Typos aren't a modern phenomenon. They often help us understanding how people pronounced words at the time. A good example is Bar Kokhva who wrote נסי instead of נשיא. Don't forget that their primary language wasn't Hebrew, but Aramaic.


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## Diadem

I was just thinking that someone should have noticed and then corrected it in a successive edition of the Shas. Right?


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## origumi

Diadem said:


> I was just thinking that someone should have noticed and then corrected it in a successive edition of the Shas. Right?


No typo. This is a typical spelling to that period.


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## Egmont

tFighterPilot said:


> ליחרב isn't a word. להחרב is.


It's an archaic form.


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