# מֵ֝זִ֗ין עַל־לְשׁ֥וֹן הַוֺּֽת



## Ali Smith

שלום

מֵ֭רַע מַקְשִׁ֣יב עַל־שְׂפַת־אָ֑וֶן שֶׁ֥קֶר מֵ֝זִ֗ין עַל־לְשׁ֥וֹן הַוֺּֽת׃
(משלי יז ד)

A person who acts wrongly pays attention to misfortune's lip. A lie/deceit listens to desires' tongue.

Is the verb מֵ֝זִ֗ין derived from hif'il זינ 'to eat'?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


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## radagasty

Ali Smith said:


> Is the verb מֵ֝זִ֗ין derived from hif'il זינ 'to eat'?



I should rather have said that it was a denominative from אֹזֶן ‘ear’, whence Hiphil הֶאֱזִין ‘to listen’. One would expect מֵאזִין → מַאֲזִין for the participle, but the etymological א, which is usually retained in more conservative orthography, has dropped out in this instance.


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## Ali Smith

Thanks, but given the fact that the subject of מֵ֝זִ֗ין is שֶׁ֥קֶר 'a lie, deceit', couldn't מֵ֝זִ֗ין be from להזין _lehazin_ (hif'il from ז-י-ן or ז-ו-ן) 'to eat'?


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## Abaye

Traditionally: מרע = wicked person, שפת אוון = words of wickedness, שקר for שקרן = a liar, מזין for מאזין = listens, לשון הוות = words/plan of wickedness.

(different shades of wickedness).


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## radagasty

Ali Smith said:


> Thanks, but given the fact that the subject of מֵ֝זִ֗ין is שֶׁ֥קֶר 'a lie, deceit', couldn't מֵ֝זִ֗ין be from להזין _lehazin_ (hif'il from ז-י-ן or ז-ו-ן) 'to eat'?



Yes, I suppose so. The expected form of the Hiphil participle from such a hollow verb would indeed be מֵזִין, but I must admit that I was unfamiliar with this root.


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## Drink

The verb הזין in hif'il means to feed. I'm not sure whether this is found in the Bible or not.

However, if you look at the structure of the verse, מזין is parallel to מקשיב. Thus it must be interpreted hear as a synonym to מקשיב, and thus as מאזין.


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## Ali Smith

Abaye said:


> Traditionally: מרע = wicked person, שפת אוון = words of wickedness, שקר for שקרן = a liar, מזין for מאזין = listens, לשון הוות = words/plan of wickedness.
> 
> (different shades of wickedness).


Thanks, but doesn’t _sheker_ mean ‘lie, deception’?


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## Drink

Yes, but poetically it stands in for the part of the liar.


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## JAN SHAR

Did the Modern Hebrew להזין (to enter data) evolve from להאזין or להזין? I mean what were its root letters:

a-z-n or z-y-n


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## Drink

It's ז-י-ן, from the meaning "to feed". I'm not sure what semantic connection you could have seen with להאזין which means "to listen".


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## Ali Smith

Doesn't Hif'il זין mean 'to eat' rather than 'to feed'?

סוּסִ֥ים מְיֻזָּנִ֖ים מַשְׁכִּ֣ים הָי֑וּ אִ֛ישׁ אֶל־אֵ֥שֶׁת רֵעֵ֖הוּ יִצְהָֽלוּ׃
(ירמיהו ה ח)


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## Drink

The form you cite is not hif'il and is not ז-י-ן.


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