Thursday, May 11, 2023

Hans Walter Wolf on כמר KMR

Commenting on the use of ‎כֹּמֶר in the Hebrew Bible such as Hos 10:5, , Hans Walter Wolff noted wrote that:

 

. . . the word is reserved [in Hos 10:5; Zeph 1:4; 2 Kgs 23:5] for those who have committed themselves to the pagan cult of Baal. The word is occasionally used for a certain class of priests (eunuchs?), but in Phoenician and Aramaic it denotes priests in general. (Hans Walter Wolff, Hosea [Hermeneia—A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974], 175, emphasis added)

 

 Further Reading:


The Use of כמר KMR at Elephantine and the Etymology of "Cumorah"


J. Glen Taylor on כֹּמֶר KMR