Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

(off-list)

hi Randy,

Gen 3:24 reads (I'm labelling clauses with letters):

a.   "And he drove out (wayyiqtol) the man, 
b.  and he placed (wayyiqtol) to the east of the Garden of Eden..."  

Consider the writer's options for his next clauses (Gen 4:1):

option (c1 and d)
vayhi beda`at ha'adam 'et xavah 'ishto vatahar

option (c2 and d)
vayeda` ha'adam 'et xavah 'ishto vatahar

option (c3 and d) the actual text:
veha'adam yada` 'et xavah 'ihsto vatahar

Of course, our knowledge of the world (and the birds and the bees in
particular  ;-)  ) tells us
the events of 4:1 are in sequence, but do the linguistic options I list
above for describing the events denote any recognizable difference in how
they temporally relate the clauses in series a-d?  Or are they merely
equivalents?  Do you think I have a naive and/or sort of hyper-sensitivity
to syntax?  

Shalom,
Bryan