Many years ago, when our forefathers descended to Egypt because of famine, Pharaoh asked them "Ma-Ma'asekha". Their answer: shepherds. Some might translate the question as "what do you do?" After all, the word "Ma'aseh" comes from the word "La'asoth", which means "to do" and its root is 'ayin, sin, he = 'Oseh, which is modern Hebrew for "do". From this, we get the derived meaning of the word "Ma'aseh" as "Story", as in "something that was DONE".
In Arabic, one word for "Life" is 'Ish ('ayin shin). Hebrew probably used to have that word as well, because we find a Biblical name that contains that root: Ya'ish (or Ya'ush). Regardless of what you may hear, every name means something; names are not just random collections of sounds, though they might seem that way in modern English. The name Ya'ish would be the ancient equivalent of today's Hayim. We don't find the name Hayim in Scripture, but we do find the name Ya'ish. As I explained in a previous post, the Shin and Sin are interchangeable between Hebrew and Arabic. I'm going to say here that in ancient times, even within Hebrew they were interchangeable to a certain extent. I'm going to say that the word 'Ish is also the root for the word "Ma'aseh". So, what Pharaoh was really asking was "what do you (do for) A LIVING". Back in the days of primitive subsistence agriculture and livestock tending, what you DID was pretty much the same as what you did FOR A LIVING. As a matter of fact, even in Egypt today, they refer to bread as " 'Ayish".
But I already know what some are going to say to all this: BUBBUH MAYSES!
Topic: Bubbuh Mayses! (Read 7563 times)