Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Paul wrote:
> The second clause in Ruth 1:9 is the source of the next
> question.  The clause is:
> 
> UWMCE)NF MeNUWXFH )I$$FH B"YT )IY$FH.
> 
> The first two words did not cause a lot of problems, and the
> group seemed to handle the third okay.  But the real confusion
> came in determining how to relate the last two words, which make
> up a construct chain, to the rest of the clause.  One of their
> attempts treated the chain like it had a preposition beth
> attached to it: "And you (pl) find a resting-place, each woman
> _in_ the house of her husband."  Another option put forward was
> to treat the chain as if it were in apposition to the resting
> place: "And you (pl) find a resting-place, each woman, (namely)
> the house of her husband."  Are they missing an obvious clue
> here?  If so, I sure don't see it.  How would you handle this
> clause?

Every commentary I have assumes an implied "in," as though it 
read B:B"YT.  A similar construction is found in 2 Kings 12:11 
(Eng. 10) WRT the money that had been brought to the temple, 
HANNIM:CF) B"YT YHWH (see also 2 Kgs 14:14; 16:8; 18:16; 
23:24; 

With B- the phrase appears in 2 Kings 22:8, 9; 23:2; 2 Chr 25:24; 
34:15, 17, 30.

It almost looks to me as though the form without the B- is either a 
dialect difference, or perhaps reflects an earlier stratum of the 
language.  In any case, translating Ruth 1:9 "in the house of her 
husband" seems to have plenty of support from other passages.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
A Bible that's falling apart means a life that isn't.