Bə-‘ēmeq ha-bākā (Psalms 84:7) interpreted as ‘Vale of tears’ in early Jewish exegesis and beyond

Cyril  Aslanov

doi:10.21638/spbu28.2020.106

Authors

Cyril Aslanov Aix-Marseille Université-LPL, 5, avenue Pasteur, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, France; St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu28.2020.106

Abstract

The present study tracks the genealogy of the figurative-paronymic interpretation that considers בָּכאָ bākā (Psalms 84:7) a reference to tears and weeping from the Septuagint to several rabbinic Jewish sources where the term ‘ēmeq ha-bākā has been identified either as a reference to the Gehenna (Targum and Talmud), as a metaphoric denomination of the mundane Vale of tears in the liturgical poem שוֹשַןׁ עמֵֶק אֲיוּמָה Šōšan ‘ēmeq ayūmāh or as a figurative denomination of the Exile in Isaiah of Trani’s commentary to Psalms 84:7, as well as by two Renaissance Jewish authors, Joseph Ha-Kohen Ha-Rofe and Rabbi Shelomo Alqabeṣ. Following David Qimḥi’s interpretation of the verse, the author suggests rereading the hemistich in Psalms 84:7 in a more litteral way through the identification of בָּכאָ bākā with the mulberry tree. Qimḥi’s isolated interpretation is all the more tempting in that the Latin term bacca/bāca “berry” itself could be viewed as the borrowing of the Phoenician or Punic word bākā, parallel to Hebrew בָּכאָ bākā.

Keywords:

Septuagint, Targum, Talmud, classical piyyuṭ, Isaiah of Trani, Joseph Ha-Kohen Ha-Rofe, Shelomo Alqabeṣ, Punic loanwords in Latin

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References

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