Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Matthew Anstey" <manstey AT portal.ca>]

Dear listmembers,

In their recent grammar "A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar"
(§36.1.I.3.iv), van der Merwe et al claim that independent personal pronouns
(ipps) can function in "a specific type of temporal construction" to
indicate "simultaneous (or nearly simultaneous) actions". This use is an
example of an "apparently superfluous pronoun" being used for
"topicalistion". They give1 Sam 9.5 (and 1kings 1.14) as an example:

        hemmah  ba'u            be'erets                tsuf
        When            they.came       to.the.land     of.Suph

        wesha'ul        'amar           lena`aro
        Saul            said            to.his.servant


I can't find any reference to this understanding of the temporal use of ipps
in W&O or elsewhere. They footnote the section to Naude's 1996 unpublished
dissertation on ipps in Qumran Hebrew.

My question is whether anyone else has written about this temporal use of
ipps and whether you think this is a valid understanding. If hemmah in 1 Sam
9.5 does not indicate the temporal clause, what does, and does hemmah
topicalise in some other way in that case, or is it in fact not topicalising
at all?

With regards,

Matthew Anstey
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