Pro 25:19 | KD | STEP | A worthless tooth and an unsteady foot - Trust in a faithless man in the day of need. The form רעה (with Mercha on the antepenult), , takes the place of an inf . absol .; רעה here (about the tone syllable of which Dechî does not decide, thus without doubt Milra ) is certainly not a subst.: tooth of breaking (Gesen.); for how strange such a designation of a worthless tooth! שׁן is indeed mas. in , but it can also be used as fem., as רגל, which is for the most part fem., also occurs as mas., Göttche. §650. Böttcher, in the new Aehrenlese , and in the Lehrbuch, takes רעה as fem. of an adj. רע, after the form חל; but חל is not an adj., and does not form a fem., although it means not merely profanity, but that which is profane; this is true also of the Aram. חוּל; for חוּלתּא, , Targ., is a female name mistaken by Buxtorf. Are we then to read רעה, with Hitzig, after the lxx? - an unimportant change. We interpret the traditional רעה, with Fleischer, as derived from רועעה, from רועע, breaking to pieces (crumbling), in an intransitive sense. The form מוּעדת is also difficult. Böttcher regards it as also, e.g. , Aben Ezra after the example of Gecatilia as part . Kal . = מועדת, “only on account of the pausal tone and the combination of the two letters מע with û instead of ô .” But this vocal change, with its reasons, is merely imaginary. מוּעדת is the part. Pual , with the preformative מ struck out, Ewald 169d. The objection that the part. Pual should be ממעד, after the form מבער, does not prove anything to the contrary; for מועדת cannot be the fem. so as not to coincide with the fem. of the part . Kal , cf. besides to the long û the form without the Dagesh יוּקשׁים, = מיקּשׁים (Arnheim, Gramm . p. 139). רגל מוּעדת is a leg that has become tottering, trembling. He who in a time of need makes a faithless man his ground of confidence, is like one who seeks to bite with a broken tooth, and which he finally crushes, and one who supports himself on a shaking leg, and thus stumbles and falls. The gen. connection מבטח בוגד signifies either the ground of confidence consisting in a faithless man, or the confidence placed in one who is faithless. But, after the Masora, we are to read here, as at , מבטח, which Michlol 184a also confirms, and as it is also found in the Venice 1525, Basel 1619, and in Norzi. This מבטה is constr. according to Kimchi, notwithstanding the Kametz ; as also משׁקל, Ezr 8:30 (after Abulwalîd, Kimchi, and Norzi). In this passage before us, מבטח בוגד may signify a deceitful ground of confidence (cf. ), but the two other passages present a genit. connection of the words. We must thus suppose that the ā of מבטח and משׁקל, in these three passages, is regarded as fixed, like the â of the form (Arab.) mif'âl.

‏ Proverbs 25:19

Pro 25:19 19 A worthless tooth and an unsteady foot - Trust in a faithless man in the day of need.

The form רעה (with Mercha on the antepenult), Isa 29:19, takes the place of an inf. absol.; רעה here (about the tone syllable of which Dechî does not decide, thus without doubt Milra) is certainly not a subst.: tooth of breaking (Gesen.); for how strange such a designation of a worthless tooth! שׁן is indeed mas. in 1Sa 14:5, but it can also be used as fem., as רגל, which is for the most part fem., also occurs as mas., Göttche. §650. Böttcher, in the new Aehrenlese, and in the Lehrbuch, takes רעה as fem. of an adj. רע, after the form חל; but חל is not an adj., and does not form a fem., although it means not merely profanity, but that which is profane; this is true also of the Aram. חוּל; for חוּלתּא, Est 2:9, Targ., is a female name mistaken by Buxtorf. Are we then to read רעה, with Hitzig, after the lxx? - an unimportant change. We interpret the traditional רעה, with Fleischer, as derived from רועעה, from רועע, breaking to pieces (crumbling), in an intransitive sense. The form מוּעדת is also difficult. Böttcher regards it as also, e.g., Aben Ezra after the example of Gecatilia as part. Kal. = מועדת, “only on account of the pausal tone and the combination of the two letters מע with û instead of ô.” But this vocal change, with its reasons, is merely imaginary. מוּעדת is the part. Pual, with the preformative מ struck out, Ewald 169d. The objection that the part. Pual should be ממעד, after the form מבער, does not prove anything to the contrary; for מועדת cannot be the fem. so as not to coincide with the fem. of the part. Kal, cf. besides to the long û the form without the Dagesh יוּקשׁים, Ecc 9:12 = מיקּשׁים (Arnheim, Gramm. p. 139). רגל מוּעדת is a leg that has become tottering, trembling. He who in a time of need makes a faithless man his ground of confidence, is like one who seeks to bite with a broken tooth, and which he finally crushes, and one who supports himself on a shaking leg, and thus stumbles and falls. The gen. connection מבטח בוגד signifies either the ground of confidence consisting in a faithless man, or the confidence placed in one who is faithless. But, after the Masora, we are to read here, as at Psa 65:6, מבטח, which Michlol 184a also confirms, and as it is also found in the Venice 1525, Basel 1619, and in Norzi. This מבטה is constr. according to Kimchi, notwithstanding the Kametz; as also משׁקל, Ezr 8:30 (after Abulwalîd, Kimchi, and Norzi). In this passage before us, מבטח בוגד may signify a deceitful ground of confidence (cf. Hab 2:5), but the two other passages present a genit. connection of the words. We must thus suppose that the ā of מבטח and משׁקל, in these three passages, is regarded as fixed, like the â of the form (Arab.) mif'âl.