What's the connection to חלף = knife (CLeaVer?) from Ezra 1:9?
Klein doesn't connect them, but Kaddari thinks the meaning might have gone "passed" -> "entered" -> "pierced".
Amazing how many derivative of the root khalaf in Arabic (back, backward,sprout (trees), have descendents, a bird having new feather...to disagree, break the law...get a ticket).
From Lisan Al-Arab:
. والخَلْفُ: حَدُّ الفَأْسِ. ابن سيده: الخَلْفُ الفَأْس العظيمة، وقيل: هي الفأْس برأْس واحد، وقيل: هو رأْس الفأْس والمُوسى،
Al-Khulf ia the edge of the axe, it is said also that it is an axe with one edge...or a knife.
another interesting word from recent parshios is "butnim" which is of course modern hebrew for peanuts. I would love to see a post on that one.
And "Saracens" shares the root for our term for morning prayer "Shachris" - the people from the east.
Actually, the term Saracens, while deriving from the Arabic word for "east", is related to the Hebrew word שרק, and the Arabic סרק, meaning "red" - like the sun.
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