For a full list of the commercial terms used in the Old Testament, reference must be made to EB, IV, cols. 5193-99. Only the more important can be given here.
For “merchant” the Hebrew uses almost always one of the two participial forms סחר, ṣōḥēr, or רוכל, rōkhēl, both of which mean simply “one who travels.” There is no difference in their meaning, but when the two are used together (Ezekiel 27:13 ff) the Revised Version distinguishes by using “trafficker” for rōkhēl. The verb ṣāḥar, from which ṣōḥēr is derived, is translated “to trade” in Genesis 34:10, 34:21 and “to traffic” in Genesis 49:34, with numerous noun formations from the same stem. The verb rākhal from which rōkhēl is derived does not occur, but the noun formation rekhullāh in Ezekiel 26:12 (the Revised Version “merchandise”); Ezekiel 28:5, 28:16, 28:18 (the Revised Version “traffic”) may be noted. In Ezekiel 27:24 the Revised Version has “merchandise” for markōleth, but the word means “place of merchandise,” “market.” The participle תּרים, tārīm, from tūr, “seek out,” in combination with ‘aneshē, “men,” in 1 Kings 10:15, is translated “merchant men” by the King James Version, “chapmen” by the English Revised Version and “traders” by the American Standard Revised Version; in 2 Chronicles 9:14, the King James Version and the English Revised Version have “chapmen” and the American Standard Revised Version “traders.” The text of these verses is suspected. In Ezekiel 27 (only) “merchandise” represents מענב, ma‛ărābh, from ‛ārabh, “to exchange,” translated “to deal,” margin “exchange,” in Ezekiel 27:9 the American Standard Revised Version, with “dealers,” margin “exchangers,” in Ezekiel 27:27 (the King James Version and the English Revised Version have “occupy,” “occupiers”). כּנען, kena‛an, and כּנעני, kena‛ănī “Canaanite,” are sometimes used in the sense of “merchant,” but it is often difficult to determine whether the literal or the transferred force is intended. Hence, all the confusion in English Versions of the Bible; in the Revised Version note “merchant,” Job 41:6; “merchant,” margin “Canaanite,” Proverbs 31:24; “trafficker,” Isaiah 23:8; “trafficker,” margin “Canaanite,” Hosea 12:7; “Canaan,” margin “merchant people,” Isaiah 23:11; Zephaniah 1:11, and compare “land of traffic,” margin “land of Canaan,” Ezekiel 17:4. See CHAPMAN; OCCUPY.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Trade, Trading, Commerce, Occupation, Commerical trade, Buying and selling, Merchant
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.