Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Hi Paul,
you wrote:
> 
> In Ruth 1:10, the group wants to know why the imbedded speech
> begins with KIY.  Their leaning right now is that it could be an
> entire verbless relative clause that is being fronted.  To
> "unfront" it and thus show what they see the unmarked form as
> being, it would translate something like, "We are returning to
> your people so that (we can be) with you."  The other main option
> that they put forward was an X-yiqtol relative clause that
> explained why they were kissing and crying and calling out (not
> necessarily in that order!): "Because (it is) with you (that) we
> are returning to your people."

I think the reported speech of BH often reflects the tendency that I have
observed in "real" direct speech in English on the street and good drama to
shorten expression by ellision.  In the case of Ruth 1:10  something like
nelkah "we intend to go" notionally precedes the clause in question, but it
goes without being said.  I think your group are right to suggest that the
crying, etc. creates a dynamic in the situation by which the *nelkah* can
go without being said.  A comparable situation and use of kiy can be found
in Exo 4:25 spoken by Zipporah: ki xatan damim 'atah li

This interpretation is consistent with the suggestion by some scholars that
kiy can have asseverative or emphatic force, particularly in oath
situations.  Muraoka, in his concise but thorough treament of the particle
kiy in _Emphatic Words_ pp. 158ff., says that kiy was originally
essentially a demonstrative as seen in a case like 1 Sam 26:16 in which the
proposition to which ki points has *not* elided: lo' tob hadabar hazeh
'a$er `asita xay yhvh ki beney mavet 'atem.  "The thing you have done is
not good.  As YHVH lives, because (of it) you are worthy of death."  

In short, I like your second transltion: "Because (it is) with you (that)
we are returning to your people."

Greeting to you whole group!
Bryan


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

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