For "hair of the feet" we have an
interesting equivalent in Babylonian _su-hur_ (and _s?-hu-ur_) _s?pi_
(_CT_ XII, 41, 23-24 c-d). Cf. also Boissier, _Documents Assyriens
relatifs aux Pr?sages_, p. 258, 4-5. The Babylonian phrase is like the
Hebrew one to be interpreted as a euphemism for the hair around the
male or female organ. To be sure, the change from H to K in HSKYRH
constitutes an objection, but not a serious one in the case of a
loan-word, which would aim to give the _pronunciation_ of the original
word, rather than the correct etymological equivalent. The writing with
aspirated K fulfills this condition. (Cf. _samkatum_ and _samhatum_,
above p. 73). The passage in Isaiah being a reference to Assyria,
the prophet might be tempted to use a foreign word to make his point
more emphatic. To take HSKYRH as "hired," as has hitherto been done,
and to translate "with a hired razor," is not only to suppose a very
wooden metaphor, but is grammatically difficult, since HSKYRH would
be a feminine adjective attached to a masculine substantive.
Coming back to our passage in the Pennsylvania tablet, it is to be
noted that Enkidu is described as covered "all over his body with hair"
(Assyrian version, Tablet I, 2, 36) like an animal.
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