Special Issue IOSOT 2013 - Books and Journals

S. Japhet / Vetus Testamentum IOSOT (2013) 36-76 65
נכנע .D
sub- appears in Hif ʿil and Nif ʿal with the meaning to “subdue” or to “be כנע
dued”, mainly in war.142 This basic meaning occurs in Chr. too,143 but in addition
it also takes on another significance: נכנע is used spiritually, denoting
humility before God and His laws.144 It describes the inner quality of the pious
man in general, as resignation and repentance before God:145 “Then the princes
and the king humbled themselves and said “The Lord is righteous” when the
Lord saw that they humbled themselves the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah.
They have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them” (2 Chr. xii 6-7).
And further in 2 Chr. vii 14; xii 12; xxx 11; xxxii 26; xxxiii 12, 19, 23.
Outside Chr. we find such a use only twice: 1 Ki. xxi 29;146 2 Ki. xxii 19.
In Ezr.-Neh. the root כנע itself does occur once, denoting submission in war.147
But the peculiar use of the Chr. which, in its essence and its spirit is so much in
harmony with the spirit of penitence found in Ezr.-Neh. is totally absent.148
עצר־כח .E
The peculiar phrase is found only in late Hebrew, in Chr. and Dan.149 Its meaning
is presumably to retain the strength within the body, and hence—“to have
strength”.150 It is found in several places in Chr. but not in Ezr.-Neh.151
142) Cf. Jud. iii 30; viii 28; xi 33; 1 Sam. vii 13, etc.
143) In four places: 1 Chr. xx 4, where the addition of ‏”ויכנעו“‏ “were subdued” is one of the main
divergencies form the parallel text in 2 Sam. xxi 18. 1 Chr. xvii 10: ‏”והכנעתי“‏ = “And I will subdue all
your enemies” in place of I‏“—”והניחותי“‏ will give you rest from all your enemies” in 2 Sam. vii 11.
And also in 2 Chr. xxviii 19 and 2 Chr. xiii 18.
144) Cf. Driver, op. cit., p. 504.
145) The link between these two usages seems to be found in Lev. xxvi 41 and Ps. cvii 12 in the
phrases יכנע לבבם and ויכנע לבם where כנע is used metaphorically. From here only one step is
required to use כנע itself in the thoroughly spiritual meaning found in Chr.
146) The presence of this usage in the context of Elijah’s stories is one more argument in favour of
the secondary origin of the whole episode of Ahab’s repentance. Cf. J. Gray, I and II Kings, 1963,
pp. 393-394.
147) In the congregation’s prayer of Neh. ix which is, in any case, an independent text, Neh. ix 24.
148) The continuation of this use is found in Hebrew in the DSS. Besides the general use of the
root in Hif’il there is one example of the Nifᶜal in the Manual of Discipline, x 27. It is mostly translated
as “humbled” (cf. for example, A. R. C. Leaney: “The Rule of Qumran and its meaning”, 1966,
p. 235). But J. Licht suggests that it is rather a title of the members of the sect. ( J. Licht, The Rule
Scroll, 1965, p. 222 (Hebrew)).
149) 1 Chr. xxix 14; 2 Chr. ii 6; xiii 20; xxii 9; Dan. x 16, 18; xi 11.
150) Zimmermann proposed that the phrase is a mistranslation from Aramaic ( JQR 42, 1951/2,
p. 144ff.). The presence of this phrase in DSS is another argument against his proposal (for example,
Hodayot x 10-11).
151) Although similar expressions exist, such as אין כח in Ezr. x 3. But here it should be taken into
account that its absence could be due to chance only because it is used relatively little.