We all know that the root זמר has a “making music” meaning in Tanach. But three times it is used to mean “cut, prune” in the context of vines. See Leviticus 25:3 (“shesh shanim tizmor karmecha”) and 25:4 and Isaiah 5:6.
Could these two verbs have a common origin? I will mention two suggestions, but both are unlikely: 1) The root מלל has a “cut” meaning (e.g., circumcision) and a “speak” meaning. Perhaps when one speaks, words are cut from one’s mouth. (This would be the case in singing, as well as speaking.) But those two different meanings for מלל are probably not related to one another. 2) When one cuts branches from the vines, this is done to improve the vines and make them praiseworthy. This might be related to a “sing, praise” meaning.
What about the reference to God as “azi vezimrat?” We all know this phrase from Az Yashir (Exodus 15:2). This phrase also appears at Isaiah 12:2 and Psalms 118:14. It is usually translated as “my strength and (my) song.”
But “Az Yashir” includes many words that parallel one another, so perhaps, “zimrat” has a meaning parallel to עזי. The Hebrew “zayin” and the Aramaic and Arabic “dalet” are related (e.g., זהב and דהב and many other examples, all for another column). Umberto Cassuto on Exodus 15:2 points out that in Arabic, the root “DMR” means “power, help.” In the very old language of Amorite (pre-biblical period), “DMR” means “protect.” Similar is the meaning of “DMR” in South Arabic—a language from the biblical period. In Ugaritic, “DMR” has the meaning “soldier.” For all of these reasons, giving “ZMR” the meaning “power, help, protect” in Exodus 15:2 seems a reasonable approach, and is accepted by Cassuto. Also, Daat Mikra mentions this as a possibility.
We now have three different meanings for our root “ZMR” in Tanach: 1) make music, 2) cut and 3) power. (We should not be so surprised by this, since in Arabic there are two different zayin letters. Scholars believe this was the case in the original hypothesized Semitic language as well. In Hebrew, we have collapsed two different letters into one. I admit it would be better if there would have been three different zayin letters originally!)
On a related matter, we would have expected “azi vezimrati” in the Hebrew at Exodus 15:2. It is usually translated as if this last yud was there. But what happened to it? One interesting suggestion is the “double duty” approach. The word after “zimrat” begins with yud. That yud is actually doing double duty. So, even though there is no yud at the end of “zimrat,” we have a right to translate it as if it was there. There are many examples of this double duty phenomena in Tanach. That is for another column.
It is also noteworthy that Rashi on Exodus 15:2 is not bothered by the lack of the yud. He attaches the word “zimrat” to the next word. Even more interesting, he translates it with the “cut” meaning. He views the verse as meaning: “The strength and cutting down (of enemies) by God were a deliverance for me.”
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Now, let us look at Genesis 43:11. Jacob is telling his sons to bring a present to that leader in Egypt (Joseph): take “mizimrat haaretz.” Does it mean: 1) most praiseworthy products of the land (from the “sing” meaning)? 2) the improved products of the land (an expanded meaning from “cutting vines”)? or 3) the power of the land? Rashi, Ibn Ezra and many others adopt the meaning of number 1. But others adopt meanings 2 or 3.
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Now, let us look at animals. In Deuteronomy 14:5, we have “zemer” as a kosher animal. (Since it ends the verse, the Hebrew word used here is “zamer.”) This is the only time this animal appears in Tanach. Many suggest a type of sheep, goat, antelope or gazelle. (Mandelkern suggests that its horns looked like branches, as in the meaning of “zemorah,” see below.) The Living Torah—citing various ancient sources—translates it as “a giraffe.” But I have seen the objection that these were not present in biblical Israel.
Song of Songs 2:12 has “the time of the zamir has arrived.” This might mean the time for “singing.” Alternatively, the time for “pruning.” Others believe it is a reference to a bird—one that received its name from the “sing” meaning. The Tanach also has the word “zemorah” a few times. It means “branch, twig” (from the “cut” meaning). Also, the Tanach has “mazmerah—a knife for pruning,” and “mezameret—a tool to shear wicks.
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An interesting question is if there is a difference between the two music meanings: זמר and שיר. One possibility is that the former involved instruments (at least originally) and the latter did not. See, e.g., Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, volume 4, page 98, Menachem Zevi Kaddari, Milon HaIvrit HaMikrait, page 254, Ibn Ezra to Psalms 105:2 and Radak to Chronicles 1 16:9. (I thank Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein for the last two references.) See also Daat Mikra to Tehillim 1:3.
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One of the most important archaeological finds in ancient Israel is the “Gezer Calendar,” from the 10th century BCE. It is a small tablet that describes monthly and bi-monthly periods and attributes an agricultural activity to each. It begins, “two months gathering (אסף), two months planting (זרע).” (Perhaps the calendar implicitly begins with Tishrei, which was a time of gathering crops in ancient Israel.) A few lines later, it has “yarcho zemer,” which means “two months pruning.” No one knows the purpose of the tablet. Scholars have speculated that it could be a schoolboy’s writing exercise (since the script is crude), or the text of a popular song or something designed for the collection of taxes from farmers. It was found in 1908 in the city of Gezer—not far from Jerusalem.
Many years ago, when I renewed my subscription to Biblical Archaeology Review magazine, I was given a replica of the Gezer Calendar. I thought I saw the word חדש repeating throughout. This inscription—like all inscriptions and all writing from the First Temple period and earlier—is in Old Hebrew. But I was looking at the replica upside down! It turns out that it was ירח and ירחו that were repeating!
Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected]. P.S. Every morning, we say “Pesukei deDimrah” (verses of song). But a beautiful homiletical interpretation has been suggested: Verses that help cut away the distractions that impede us from properly serving God! (I thank Rabbi R.C. Klein for this idea.)
