Number: 2549
Proto-Semitic: *wābil-
Meaning: ram
Phoenician: ybl 'ram' [T 123], [Krah. 204] (in the punic priestly tariff KAI 69/7: bybl ʔm bʕz 'for a ram or a goat').
Hebrew: yōbēl 'ram' [KB 398]; pB. 'leader, bell-wether, ram' [Ja. 567]. Only in ḳärän/šōpǝrōt hayyōbēl/yōbǝlīm 'horn(s) of the ram(s)' as musical instruments (in Jos 6 passim and Ex 9.13). Designation of the fiftieth year as the "jubilee year" is thought to be derived from this faunal term (cf. [BDB 385]: ""originally no doubt ... 'year of the ram('s horn)'".
Aramaic: Dem. ʔybl 'ram' [HJ 1252].
Judaic Aramaic: yūbǝlā 'ram' [Ja. 567], ywbl (ywbylh, ywblh) 'lamb' [Sok. 237]. It seems difficult to establish what linguistic backround underlies the passage quoted (bʕrbyʔ ṣwwḥyn lʔymrʔ ywblʔ 'in Arabia they call a ram y.' Ber. 13c(6)); the term is marked as "dial." (= "dialectal"?) by Sokoloff. Cf. further [Talshir 153- 4].
Arabic: wābilat- 'petits chameaux ou agneaux; petits d'un trou- peau composé de chameaux ou de moutons' [BK 2 1478], [Fr. IV 431], [LA XI 722]. Not without semantic difficulties.
Notes: The form ya-bi-li 'rams' (= Sum. UDU.NITÁ.MES̆) in the Neo- Assyrian lexical list Practical Vocabulary Assur 305 [AHw. 411], [CAD i 321] must be an Aramaic loanword. In [DRS 486] Enm. Gyt. web_äna, End. web_äna 'the young (male) of a goat or sheep' [LGur. 641] are tentatively compared to the present root (with assimilation *l > n influenced by b and w?). Akk. būlu 'herd of cattle, sheep or horses' OB on [CAD b 313], [AHw. 137] is noteworthy in spite of the fact that the term is also used to denote wild animals. [DRS 485]: Akk. (yabilu), Pho., Hbr., Arm., Arb. (wābil- 'chamelons, agneaux'); [T 123]: Pho., Hbr., Arm., Arb. (wābil- 'young sheep'), Akk. (yabilu).
