In Hebrew: 'Spectacular'

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February 11, 2013, 12 PM ET

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מַרְהִיב

Last night I watched Academy Award Best-Picture nominee, Life of Pi. I was more impressed with the existential, religious and deeply-human aspects of the film; nevertheless, the special effects were spectacular. One Hebrew word for spectacular is מַרְהִיב. This active-causative הִפְעִיל verb derives from the root ר.ה.ב (r.h.b). רַהַב is the Biblical name of a Canaanite god synonymous with the sea. The great body of water is something gripping and spectacular, as one might observe at the beach (or while lost at sea), and as the ancients knew very well. An example of מרהיב:

"חַיֵּי פַּי" הוּא סֶרֶט מַרְהִיב. Life of Pi is a spectacular film.

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