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  • From: Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] sentence construction on Deu 6:4
  • Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:09:57 +0200

Dear Oun,

In "Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar" ยง 132 we read: "The adjective (like the participle used adjectivally), which serves as an *attribute* of a substantive, stands *after* the substantive, and agrees with it in *gender* and *number*." (The asterisks are used to indicate italics in the text.)

Therefore, the most natural way to translate Deuteronomy 6:4 on the basis of the normal syntactic use of adjectives would be: "Listen Israel: YHWH our God is one YHWH." If we keep in mind that there were numerous Baals (Baal Peor, Baal Berit...), it may not be strange to stress that there is just one YHWH.

One example of a proper name followed by "one" is Joshua 7:21 where we read about "one Shinar-mantle". We have the proper name Shinar, and before that we have the noun )DR (mantle) in the construct (= mantle of Shinar; Shinar-mantle). After this expression consisting of two words, we find the adjective "one" which modifies "(shinar)-mantle," and we get "one Shinar-mantle".

Another example is Amos 8:3 where we have the words )DNY (lord) YHWH (YHWH) RB (great) - the lord YHWH great = the great lord YHWH.

We can also use Psalm 7:18: $M (name) YHWH (YHWH) (LYWN (most high) = "the name of YHWH, the most high; the name of the most high YHWH".

An adjective following a substantive will not always be used as an attribute. This is the most natural interpretation of the nominal clause in Deuteronomy 6:4. But in Zechariah 14:9 we find YHWH followed by "one" in a different construction. A word for word translation is "on day that will be YHWH one." = "In that day YHWH will be one." Because of the verb, the adjective in this clause is used predicatively and not in attributively.


Best regards,

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo


Dear scholars,

Deu 6:4 reads in NLT which seems most sensible one among many English
translations:

"Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone."

I would naturally take this verse as:

"Listen to this (Or, implied as 'to me, Moses'), O Israel!,
that the LORD is our God, the LORD alone."

An extreme translation, which can be seen in ASV, Also in NWT (Listen ~),

"Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." (This sounds
nonsensical to me.)

I would appreciate very much your comment to help me if I propose a
different understanding of the syntax as:

"O Israel! Listen to Yahweh our God, Yawheh alone!"

This by itself makes a good sense to me, but I'm ignorant of Hebrew
grammar and construction. I am also not sure whether this verse should
actually be same as in v. 3 which says something like 'Hear ~ (to
this) that ~".

Oun Kwon.
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