fbpx

Hebrew word of the week: Sakkanah

Hebrew word of the week.
[additional-authors]
October 28, 2015

The English word “danger” comes from French, strangely related to Latin dominus “lord, master, dominant, one with power to harm.” Hebrew sakkanah is of obscure origin, possibly related to sakkin “knife.” The root s-k-n “to be dangerous”* appears only once in the Bible (Ecclesiastes 10:9) but is common in rabbinical literature.

Other related words: sikkun “risk, danger” (opposite of sikkuy “chance, prospect”); mesukkan “dangerous”; histaknut “risking, endangering oneself”; rabbinical sakkanat-nefashot, now more often called sakkanat-mavet/Hayyim “life-threatening; danger to life.”

*Apparently of a different origin from s-k-n “be in a habit of,” as in (Balaam’s donkey’s speech): Hasken hiskanti “Have I been in the habit (of doing so)?” (Numbers 22:30).

Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Cerf’s Up!

As the publisher and co-founder of Random House, Bennett Cerf was one of the most important figures in 20th-century culture and literature.

Are We Still Comfortably Numb?

Forgiving someone on behalf of a community that is not yours is not forgiveness. It is opportunism dressed up as virtue.

National Picnic Day

There is nothing like spreading a soft blanket out in the shade and enjoying some delicious food with friends and family.

John Lennon’s Dream – And Where It Fell Short

His message of love — hopeful, expansive, humane — inspired genuine moral progress. It fostered hope that humanity might ultimately converge toward those ideals. In too many parts of the world, that expectation collided with societies that did not share those assumptions.

Journeys to the Promised Land

Just as the Torah concludes with the people about to enter the Promised Land, leaders are successful when the connections we make reveal within us the humility to encounter the Infinite.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.