Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Paul Zellmer <zellmer AT cag.pworld.net.ph>]

Andrew C Smith wrote:

> The usual reading of Deut 5:5 ends:
>
> " ... and didn't go up the mountain. He said ..."
>
> But can we read
>
> " ... and didn't go up the mountain in order to speak."
>
> a.c.smith AT juno.com
> http://www.lcms.org
> http://www.lcms.com
> http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5680

Andrew,

I can see the reason for your question, based on verse divisions.  However, 
since
there is no L"'MoR at the end of verse 4, nor again, at the beginning of 
verse 6, and
since verse six is clearly a quotation, interpreting the L"'MoR at the end of 
verse 5
as the normal direct speech formula seems to make more sense.  In fact, while 
your
suggestion fits nicely in idiomatic English, I wonder if the more normal 
Hebrew way to
say what you suggest would have the infinitive construct either immediately 
preceding
or following the verb.  Anyway, taking most of verse 5 as parenthetical and 
then
removing the parenthetical statement to check for sense yields a nice 
parallel to what
we see in Exodus 20:1.

Paul

--
Paul and Dee Zellmer, Jimmy Guingab, Geoffrey Beltran
Ibanag Translation Project
Cabagan, Philippines

zellmer AT faith.edu.ph