לופרין
Grammatical information: noun m. pl.
Translation: meaning uncertain
61,5 [II 663: 6]
ויוקשן ילד את שבא ואת דדן ובני דדן היו אשורים ולטושים ולאומים. ר' שמואל בר נחמן אמר אפעלגב דאינון מתרגמין ואמרין תגרין ואנפרין1 וראשי אומין כולהם ראשי אומות הם.
1ואנפרין - Vat1: ולו מפרין K V: לופרין Ox1: ולפרין Ox2: ולפדין
“And Jokshan begot Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim and Leumim” (Gen 25,3). R. Shemuʾel bar Naḥman said: Although they [the meturgamanin in the Synagogues] translate and say: “merchants” [for Asshurim], “traders” [for Letushim] and “heads of peoples” [for Leumim], yet they were all heads of peoples. (cf. Freedman / Simon II 565)
אנפרין
= Yalq 109 [II 500: 16] (ואפרין); Yalq 1 Chr 1 1073 [516c: 52-53] (ולופרין); SekhT (Buber) Ḥayye Sarah 25,3
Different explanations for this difficult word have been suggested, e.g. from Gr. λάφυρον „Beuteaufseher, Häscher“ (Güdemann 1859: 66, AC IV 53a); from Gr. ληπτήρ „Häscher, Scherge“ (Levy II 490a, also Fürst [1890]: 132); corrupted Gr. λογχοφόρος/δορυφόρος „spear-bearer, guardsman, satellite“ (Jastrow II 700 [לופר 〈lwpr〉 |lupar|]). Nachmanides in his commentary on Gen 25,3 adopts the reading לפדין (〈lpdyn〉 |lapidin|, torches). Wiener 1857: 106 and after him Rahmer 1861: 40 explain לופרין as derived from Gr. φύλαρχοι (after metathesis 〈pwl〉 → 〈lwp〉) acc. to Hieronymos (e.g. also MY ad loc.). However, the reading in Yalq (Ms Oxford) ואפרין allows to suggest that לופרין is nothing but a corruption of אנפרין (due to similarity of א and לו in the ashkenazic script). Krauss, LW II 312a seems also to consider לופרין as a corruption.
How to cite: Art. לופרין in: Dictionary of Loanwords in Rabbinic Literature. Eds. . https://lrl.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/luparin.html. 2024.
