זיטא
Grammatical information: noun f
Translation: letter ‘zeta’ (numerical value 7)
Translation equivalent: ζῆτα(Ancient Greek+)
Usage:
Domain: numerals/letters
Socio-cultural norm: code-switching/core borrowing
Normativity: ad-hoc usage
Meaning type: lit.
Frequency: hapax legomenon
1) 14,2 [I 127: 3]
אמר להון מדידכון אנא ממטי לכון זיטא
He replied to them: From your own [language] I will prove it to you: “Zeṭaʾ (live) epṭah (seven), eṭah (go) akṭo (eight)” (Freedman / Simon I: 112)
איטה
2) 20,6 [I 189: 3]
אמר להון מדידכון אנה ממטי לכון זיטא
He replied to them: From your own [language] I will prove it to you: “Zeṭaʾ (live) epṭah (seven), eṭah (go) akṭo (eight)” (Freedman / Simon I: 164)
היטה
= Yalq 20 [I 64: 82]; NumR 4,3; Yalq 692 [VII 16: 32], Tanh Bemidbar 18, TanhB Bemidbar 21; yYev 5d: 7 (corr.): זוטא 〈zwṭʾ〉
According to R. Huna a foetus which was born at 7th month is viable, but a foetus which was born at 8th month is not viable. R. Abbahu gives a mnemonic based on a Greek pun: The name of the Greek letter ‘zeta’ (numerical value 7) sounds like the Greek imp. ζῆτω (‘let it live!’), while the name of the letter ‘eta’ (numerical value 8) sounds like the Greek ἲτω (‘let it go!’, i.e. ‘die!’). Cf. Sachs (1852) 109-110. Another explanation is given by Cohn (1900) 569 in the name of O. Crusius: ξῇ τὰ ἐπτὰ (μᾶλλον) ἢ τὰ ὀκτώ “Infants of seven months are more likely to survive than those of eight” (cf. Lieberman, Greek 23).
Bibliography:
How to cite: Art. זיטא in: Dictionary of Loanwords in Rabbinic Literature. Eds. . https://lrl.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/zeta.html. 2024.
