Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

Hebrew word order is (usually) V-S-O. Verb, subject, object.
Greek word order is (usually) S-O-V, Subject, object, verb. 
Verb last. When I was taking Greek, and you came to the verb,
you could breathe a sigh of relief.
However, actually, because Greek has cases, Greek can put their 
words in any order without sacrificing comprehension. The 
translators translated the Hebrew Bible word for word, putting
the verb first, not the usual word order for Greek.
There are other differences too. For example, vayehi, translated
by the KJV as "it came to pass," is translated literally into
Greek as kai egeneto, not the normal way to begin a Greek sentence.
However, Mark does all these things, and no one has suggested
(to my knowledge) that Mark is a translation from a semitic original.
The point is that the (Semitic) word order of the LXX became 
interpreted as the way you write religious texts.
Liz

> -----Original Message-----
> From: M & E Anstey [mailto:anstey AT raketnet.nl]
> Sent: Tue, November 13, 2001 2:57 AM
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Re: b-hebrew digest: November 12, 2001
> 
> 
> Dear Liz,
> 
> You wrote:
> >
> > Yes, and that's what I'm saying. The LXX exhibits Semitic word order.
> > It has seeped into the NT.
> 
> I'm curious to know what you mean by this. Firstly, what is meant 
> by semitic
> word order, and how is it that the LXX exhibits this.
> 
> regards
> 
> Matthew Anstey
> ------------------------------------------
> Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
> Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid
> "Werkgroep Informatica"
> anstey AT raketnet.nl
> 
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