Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryan Rocine" <596547 AT ican.net>]

hi, Andrew,

'ittanu is parallel with 'et-'aboteynu, and the rest of its argument has
elided.  the rest of the argument is another karat yhvh 'et-habbrit. 
without the elision it would read ki 'ittanu karat yhvh 'et-habbrit.  the
rest of the verse consists of three noun phrases which rename the 1 c p
suffix on 'ittanu albeit without perfect perfect identity in person,
gender, and number.

1.  'anaxnu  "even we(us)"
2.  'elleh poh hayyom  "these(people) here today"
3.  kullanu xayyim  "all of us (who are) alive"

i think the deictic center of the pronouns in the three noun phrases is
shifty, and creates a syntactic problem for a reader.  i can excuse it
because it was a public speaking situation in which more latitude is
permissible in pronoun reference.  we might imagine a Moses with his hands
pointed selfward as he says 'anaxnu, with his hands sweeping over the crowd
of listeners as he says 'elleh poh hayyom, and with arms swinging out in an
all-inclusive circle as he says kullanu xayyim. 

might it be a good example of a writer creating scene with a style of
speech?

Shalom,
Bryan


B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13208

315-437-6744(w)
315-479-8267(h)


----------
> From: Andrew C Smith <a.c.smith AT juno.com>
> To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Subject: Deut 5:3 syntax and grammar?
> Date: Monday, January 04, 1999 5:05 PM
> 
> What is the meaning of this sentence? I read:
> 
> Not with your fathers made YHVH this covenant,
> but with us,
> this "we", [who are] here today,
> all of us living ones.
> 
> It seems like an odd sentence to me.
> 
> 
> a.c.smith AT juno.com
> http://www.lcms.org
> http://www.lcms.com
> http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5680
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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