Wonderful Words: The Development of the Meaning of Hebrew Antonyms Derived from a Common Root, A Study in Countersense - Ben Morrison
Wonderful Words: The Development of the Meaning of Hebrew Antonyms Derived from a Common Root, A Study in Countersense
A Monumental Philological and Exegetical Investigation into Biblical Hebrew Roots and Semantic Ambivalences
A Monumental Philological and Exegetical Investigation into Biblical Hebrew Roots and Semantic Ambivalences
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Wonderful Words: The Development of the Meaning of Hebrew Antonyms Derived from a Common Root, A Study in Countersense
- Author: Ben Morrison (Dr. Ben-Zion Morrison, M.D., F.R.C.S. Ed.)
- Publisher: City Book Agency (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1954 (First Edition)
- ISBN-13: N/A (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: Very Scarce First Edition Release. Universally recognized as an investment-tier philological rarity. Explicitly elevated by an authentic, highly collectible personal presentation dedication and author signature executed on the preliminary first page.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium textured mid-century cloth boards; complete with original illustrated paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Thick Octavo (8vo), xxi, 556 pages. Meticulously organized structural lexicon analyzing hundreds of classical three-letter biblical roots, complete with custom-coined English terms and an exhaustive comparative root index.
- Language: English and Biblical Hebrew
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The original cloth boards remain structurally straight, exceptionally square, and firmly bound to the text block. Retains clean outer faces with only minor, expected storage weight indentations. The spine panel remains upright, unbent, and completely firm.
- Interior: The substantial 556-page text block is tightly bound and clean throughout. Displays slight, natural age-toning and yellowing to the extreme margins of the endpapers and pastedowns, normal for South African paper stock of this era. A small historical liquid stain is present on the bottom outer edge of the text block; this defect remains isolated to the exterior rim margins and does not creep onto or affect the internal pages. The text remains immaculate, crisp, and clean.
- Provenance: Highly distinguished collector's tier state. Features a rare, crisp ink presentation dedication and signature penned directly by the author, Dr. Ben Morrison, on the first preliminary page.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition: A highly scarce surviving example, complete and unclipped. Exhibits slight, superficial shelf-friction and minor handling wear along the outer edges and spine corners, entirely consistent with careful archival storage over more than seven decades. Free of prominent modern restorations or heavy paper loss.
- Protection: Carefully preserved and safely enclosed within an archival-grade protective cellophane sleeve.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in Johannesburg in 1954 by the City Book Agency, Wonderful Words: A Study in Countersense stands as an extraordinary, fiercely original monument of independent South African biblical scholarship. Written by Dr. Ben-Zion Morrison—a highly accomplished medical surgeon and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons—this massive, 556-page treatise represents decades of painstaking archival philological work investigating the semantic riddles of Biblical Hebrew.
Morrison’s groundbreaking research targets the phenomenon of "countersense" (addad in Semitic linguistics)—instances where identical, ancient three-letter Hebrew roots possess entirely opposite or contradictory meanings within the biblical text. Approaching the sacred tongue with a diagnostic, razor-sharp eye, Dr. Morrison tracks down, categorizes, and maps the evolution of these root groups, even inventing entirely new descriptive English words to classify their unique structural reversals. Highly celebrated by international Semitic philologists for its rigorous methodology, this text is famously cited as a premier intellectual achievement mapping out how structural ambivalence shapes early Western scripture and religious cosmology. Uniquely elevated by the author's own authentic signature and presentation dedication, this remarkably scarce jacketed edition serves as an essential, high-value acquisition for serious institutional libraries, Judaica scholars, and collectors of rare, out-of-print South African academic publications.
Author Profile: Dr. Ben Morrison
Dr. Ben-Zion Morrison (M.D., F.R.C.S. Ed.) was a highly distinguished mid-century South African medical surgeon, classical scholar, and self-trained philologist. Balancing a highly demanding surgical career with a profound love for ancient languages, his unparalleled capacity for meticulous archival analysis earned him high regard within global academic circles. His landmark output bridges the analytical patterns of the medical sciences with the complex nuances of Semitic linguistics, cementing his legacy as a brilliant independent voice in South African intellectual history.
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