rhm alle radici della misericordia. Tra letteratura ugaritica e Sacra Scrittura

Descrizione

SOMMARIO – 1. Essere sensibile. 2. Grembo di fanciulla.

ABSTRACT – Mercy in Ugaritic literature and Hebrew Bible. The following paper provides

a purely lexicographical analysis on the root rh≥m in the North-West Semitic context

and, specifically, in Ugaritic and biblical literature. Beyond the generic acknowledgement

of the human “visceral” aspect, this study demonstrates through some Ugaritic

texts the semantic evolution of the root. It won’t refer to motherhood as a compassionate

“visceral” condition, rh≥m is connected with the idea of “virginal womb”. In fact, the

word rh≥m in Ugaritic is metonymically translated by “girl” and the use of the noun as

goddess Anat’s epithet, “the virgin”, would seem to be a tight connection. This meaning

urges us to reconsider the semantic history of the term “mercy” that denotes a “feminine

childhood”, for which mercy becomes the “naive” aptitude of whom can forgive the

unforgivable.

KEYWORDS – Mercy, Ugarit, Baal, Hebrew Bible, Viscera.