Squares and Streets:
The Distinction of b/jr" 'Square' and t/bjor" 'Streets'
Published in On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays 1967-1998, Volume 2 (JSOTSup, 292; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), pp. 631-36This paper sets out to show that there is in Classical Hebrew a distinction, not observed by the lexica, between the singular word b/jr", meaning 'square, open place', usually immediately inside the town gate, and the plural word t/bjor", meaning 'street' of a town. Of the 43 places where the word occurs, whether in singular or in plural, in 20 the meaning 'square' is appropriate, while in the remaining 23 'street' is the better meaning.
In the lexicon of BrownDriverBriggs, the meaning of the term b/jr" is given as 'broad open place, plaza' (and not 'street' and the like); no distinction is made between meanings of the singular and the plural./2/ Similarly in the lexicon of Koehler the meaning is deÞned as 'freier Platz (einer Ortschaft) open place (of town, village)', and no further differentiation is made./3/ In the third edition of the KoehlerBaumgartner lexicon, Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon, the entry for bjor", b/jr" is much expanded, perhaps more in the fashion of an encyclopaedia than a dictionary proper. The article has the following structure: 1. in Jerusalem, (a) of a particular gate, further deÞned, (b) of the square before the temple, (c) open place and ditch in Dan. 9.25, (d) plural, open places (corresponding to the various gates of Jerusalem); 2. in other towns, (a) in Sodom, (b) in Israel or Judah, (c) in towns outside Israel or Judah./4/ As in the Þrst edition, the general terms 'open space' (freier Platz) or simply 'plaza' (Platz) are used, and there is no suggestion that the word can mean 'street'. Zorell likewise gives the meaning locus publicus spatiosus, remarking further only that in a larger city there may be several such 'spacious public places', and analysing the kinds of activities said to take place in such settings./5/ In contrast to the other lexica, the recent Spanish dictionary of Luis Alonso Schökel/6/ makes a distinction between the meanings 'square' and 'street' for the word b/jr"./7/ But it does not go as far as the present article in recognizing that b/jr" is always 'square' and t/bjor" is always 'streets'./8/
The distinction here proposed goes equally unrecognized in articles in Bible encyclopaedias. In The International Bible Encyclopedia, for example, it is remarked, s.v. 'square', that, though the precise meaning of the word is uncertain, it is the squares found inside the gates of Israelite cities that are intended by the term b/jr"./9/ In the article on 'street', it is said that the term b/jr", which 'apparently refers to a wide area, usually near a gate, suitable for public gatherings, markets, etc.', is a common Old Testament term for 'street';/10/ but this is confusing, since streets are not 'wide areas'. In The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, b/jr" is said to be 'a word of uncertain meaning, perhaps an open space where public gatherings could be held, inside the gate of a typical Israelite city';/11/ there is no hint that the term could also mean 'street'./12/
1. bwjr 'Square' in the Singular
There are 22 occurrences of b/jr" 'square' in the singular. In two of them, we Þnd the phrase b/jr"AlK;, which is of course logically equivalent to a plural, and will not be considered under this heading.
In some cases, the context of the singular b/jr" 'square' makes it plain that we are dealing with a square or plaza or large open place. In Esth. 4.6 Mordecai is in 'the square of the city, which is in front of the king's gate', in Ezra 10.9 the people sat in 'the square of the temple', in Neh. 8.1 they gathered into 'the square that is in front of the Water Gate' (also in 8.3), and in 8.16 they made booths in 'the square of the Water Gate' and in 'the square of the Ephraim Gate'. In 2 Chron. 29.4 priests and Levites are gathered in the 'East Square', and in 32.6 military commanders are assembled in 'the square of the city gate'. As is generally conceded, it is 'squares' or open places that are associated with gates; gates do not have 'streets'.
In the other places, the meaning of 'square' rather than 'street' for b/jr" in the singular is not absolutely required but it Þts the general context well. In Judg. 19.15 the travelling Levite, when he entered the city of Gibeah, 'sat down in the square of the town', and in v. 17 an old man returning from the Þelds found the traveller 'in the square of the town' and begged him not to spend the night 'in the square' (v. 19). Likewise in Gen. 19.2 when Lot is sitting 'in the gate' of Sodom, his heavenly visitors decline his hospitality, saying that they will 'spend the night in the square', which is the place where the conversation takes place. Job would often go out (from his own house) to the town gate and take up his regular place 'in the square' (29.7) as the chief magistrate of his town. In 2 Sam. 21.12 the Philistines had hanged the bodies of Saul and Jonathan in 'the square of Beth-shan'. Haman led Mordecai on horseback through 'the square of the city' (Est. 6.9, 11). In Dan. 9.25 the square and the moat (wrj) of Jerusalem will be rebuilt. The law of Deuteronomy requires that when a town has adopted the worship of other gods, all its spoil is to be gathered 'into the middle of its square' and the spoil and the town are to be burnt (Deut. 13.17 [16]). In Isa. 59.14 truth (tma) has fallen 'in the square' and uprightness (hjkn) cannot enter-that is, presumably, it cannot enter the town gate. In the wicked city of Ps. 55.12 (11) deceit and guile do not depart 'from its square'. In none of these places would the sense 'street' be appropriate.
There is adequate archaeological evidence of such squares in ancient Israelite towns. At Beersheba, for example, the Iron IIc city (Stratum II) had a square inside the gate, measuring about 20 ¥ 10 m, and at Megiddo the Iron IIc city (Stratum III) had such a square about 40 ¥ 25 m in size./13/ Not infrequently the term 'gate' (r[v) is used for the square itself (e.g. Deut. 21.19; Ruth 3.11; 4.10; Lam. 5.14).
2. t/bjor" 'Streets' in the Plural
There are 21 cases where b/jr" appears in the plural, to which we should add the two cases of b/jr"AlK, 'every street', mentioned above.
There is no case where the meaning 'street' is absolutely certain, it must be allowed. It could indeed always be argued that every reference to plural t/bjor" is to city 'squares' in the plural. Most of the t/bjor" mentioned are in Jerusalem, which we know had several squares; in Amos 5.18 the t/bjor" are apparently in Samaria, and though I do not know if there was more than one square there, I suppose it is quite possible in such a large city. In Jer. 50.30 the t/bjor" are in Babylon, which must have had many squares. On the other hand, it would be strange if the activities mentioned as occurring in t/bjor" in the plural took place only in 'squares' and not in 'streets', and indeed all modern English versions commonly use the translation 'street'-despite the lack of authorization by the lexica.
What goes on in the plural t/bjor", then? Mourners weep on the tops of their houses and in their streets (Isa. 15.3); it would be strange if they mourned in their houses and in the public squares but restrained themselves in the streets on their way to the squares (it is very similar in Moab, according to Jer. 48.38). In Jer. 49.26 all the young men of Damascus and in 50.30 all the young men of Babylon will fall in their t/bjor"; it would be surprising if all these warriors met their death by congregating in the open places and had not acquired the art of street Þghting. In Zech. 8.4-5 there will be old men and women sitting in the t/bjor" of Jerusalem, and 'the t/bjor" will be full of boys and girls playing in its t/bjor"'. One could, if need be, imagine senior citizens hobbling to one of the town squares for gossip, 'every man with his staff in his hand for very age', and children being sent off to the squares to play, as if to the local park. But it is more natural to suppose that old and young alike are outside the doors of their own houses-and so in the 'streets'. In Prov. 22.13 and 26.13 the slothful man fears there is a lion abroad and he will be slain in the t/bjor"; it is hard to believe that he thinks the streets themselves are safe enough and that it is only when he gets to one of the squares that he is in any danger. The t/bjor" must be the streets, the street outside his house and the other streets of his town.
Those are the clearest examples, but also in all the other examples of t/bjor" in the plural 'streets' is a perfectly good meaning. That is the case in Jer. 5.1; 9.21; Amos 5.16; Nah. 2.4; Ps. 144.14; Prov. 1.20; 5.16; 7.12; Cant. 3.2; Lam. 2.11, 12; 4.18.
Conclusion
Once all the passages have been reviewed, the distinction between b/jr" (sing.) 'square' and t/bjor" (plur.) 'streets' seems obvious and safe. Though the lexica do not suggest the distinction, some modern English versions implicitly recognize it, though not at all systematically. rsv, for example, translates 18 of the 20 occurrences of b/jr" in the singular as 'square', 'open square' or 'public square'; and in Ps. 55.12 (11) it has 'market place', which is the same idea. But in Isa. 59.14 it has 'public squares', when the Hebrew is singular. And in nine places it has 'squares' when the Hebrew is plural (Isa. 15.13; Jer. 5.1; 9.21; 48.38; 49.26; 50.30; Amos 5.16; Nah. 2.4; Cant. 3.2), and where, as has been argued above, the meaning 'street' is more appropriate. av (kjv) used 'street' for every one of the occurrences of b/jr", singular or plural (except in Jer. 5.1, where it is 'broad place', 'street' having been used for Wj earlier in the verse). rv tended to follow suit (though eight times it has 'broad place', at Jer. 5.1; Est. 4.6; Ezra 10.9; Neh. 8.1, 3, 16; 2 Chron. 29.4; 32.6). The Revised English Bible (reb) thinks bwjr in the singular is 'street' at Gen. 19.2 and 'streets' at Dan. 9.25, though it is 'public square' Þve times (Deut. 13.16; 2 Sam. 21.12; Job 29.7; Ps. 55.12 [11]; 2 Chron. 32.6), 'open square' at Judg. 19.15, 'town square' at 19.17, 'the open' at 19.20, 'city square' at Est. 4.6 and 6.9, 11, 'outside' at Isa. 59.14, 'open space' at Ezra 10.9, 'broad space' at Neh. 8.1, 'square' at 8.3, 16 and 2 Chron. 29.4. t/bjor" in the plural is usually translated 'streets' or (generically) 'street', and 'public streets' at Lam. 4.18, but 'wide squares' at Jer. 5.1, 'broad streets' at 48.38, 'public squares' at Amos 5.16 and Prov. 7.12, 'outskirts' at Nah. 2.4, 'public places' at Ps. 144.14 and Prov. 1.20, 'squares' at Cant. 3.2.
It is hard to believe that such a profusion of translations would have been offered if the simple distinction outlined in this note had been recognized.
/