I. Name

The Hebrew word for the sign Libra is mōʾzĕnayim and the Aram. is mōʾznayāʾ. They derive from an original root wdn/wzn; Ar. wazana ‘to ponder’, Ug. mzn ‘weight’, mznm ‘scales’, Ar. mı̄zān ‘scales’ (Ges.18 1, 30). The term has a secondary derivation from Heb. ʾōzen, ‘ear’, which KB, 25 considers mistaken; it is also associated with Heb. ʾāzēn, ‘tool’. The Jewish Aramaic forms מודנא, מוזניא and מוזנון which mean ‘scales’ are also found.

The Hebrew term occurs 15 times in the Bible, especially in poetic and proph…