fbpx

Hebrew word of the week: Procrastination

In English, to procrastinate is related to the Latin cras, “tomorrow.”
[additional-authors]
January 13, 2016

In English, to procrastinate is related to the Latin cras, “tomorrow.” Hence, the psychological syndrome that enables one to put off something until “tomorrow” rather than do it today is informally known by Spanish mañana, “tomorrow, in the indefinite future.”

The Hebrew daHyanut is from daHyan “procrastinator” (like ‘atslan “lazy”). The root is d-H-y, “to postpone, put off, reject; push down or hard,”*nidHah “be postponed, etc.” It is closely related to d-H-f “push”; d-H-q “pressure, urge”; d-H-H (niddaH) “push far away, be exiled.”**

*As in Psalms 118:13: “You (the enemy) pushed me hard (daHoh deHitani) to fall down, but God helped me.”

**As NiddeHe yisra’el yekhannes “He will gather in the exiles of Israel” (Psalms 147:2).

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

Letter from Los Angeles

A Jewish Angeleno looks back several decades and wonders whether the golden age of LA Jewry is behind us.

Dear England: Don’t Cry for Thee Argentina

When England took a 1-0 lead early in the second half, I felt a sense of cosmic justice. Sixty years is a long time. Argentina won it the last time. Maybe it was England’s turn.

The Story This Moment Needs

In this moment of rising antisemitism, I’ve noticed that the way I remember, and retell, my own childhood has changed too.

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