בָּחַן עַל הָאָבְנָיִם

ביטוי (אנגלית)

Examined on the potter’s wheel / on the birthstones

הגדרה (אנגלית)

Figuratively: examined carefully and thoroughly all the considerations involved (originally, “obnayim” refers either to the birthstones—two stones on which a woman sat during childbirth while the midwife received the infant between them—or to the potter’s wheel/worktable).

(“And he said, When you deliver the Hebrew women and see them upon the birthstones: if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live” — Exodus 1:16; and likewise: “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was working at his craft on the wheel” — Jeremiah 18:3; and likewise: “Her mighty mouth—future luminaries—fashioning her spirit upon the wheel?” — H. N. Bialik, The Diligent Student.)