Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Polycarp66 AT aol.com]

WaY.iT."N )eL_Mo$eH K.:KaL.oToW L:DaB"R )iT.oW . . .

In a message dated 4/3/2002 3:14:39 AM Eastern Standard Time, jack_stewart_ AT hotmail.com writes:

Hello - I recently asked for references and help regarding the 'B' 
preposition before verbs to indicate 'time when' or something to that 
effect.  Does the preposition 'K' work in the same way?  I am reading Exodus 
31:18, and that preposition seems to precede a Piel Infinitive Construct at 
the beginning of the sentence.  It is the first time I have seen this, and 
was wondering if anyone had any ideas regarding its precise meaning and how 
it differs from the 'B' preposition in similar situations.
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You have noted that the preposition 'K.:' here precedes the infinitive construct.  First a remark on the infinitive construct from Van der Merwe _A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar_, §20.1
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A characteristic of the infinitive construct forms in BH is that in some respects they act syntactically like nouns.
(1)     They are similar to nouns in that they may be governed by prepositions, e.g.

WaY:HiY K:MfL:KoW HiK.fH
)eT_K.fL_B."YT YfRfB:(fM
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This is the situation with K.fLfH here.  The preposition 'K.:' according to BDB functions with words denoting time (which is what K.fLfH denotes here) 
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with words denoting a point of time; often with ("T, as K.f("T HaZ.o)T lit. at the like of this time = about this time, Jos 11.6 al., K.f("T MfXfR at the like of the time, (being) to-morrow = about to-morrow, Ex 9.18 +, K.:("T XaY.fH [v. X], Is 8.23 K(T HR)$WN at the former time, K.("T alone = at the (present) time, now Nu 23.23 Ju 13.23, Is 23.5 (unusual) K.:$"Ma( +oR; so K.:HaY.oWM, K.:Y.oWM [v. YoWM 7h], K.iM(a+, K.:ReGa(; and esp. with inf., v. 3 b
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[3] b. of time, about, at, whether of the past or of the future: Gn 19.17 KHW+Y)M )WTM at their bring forth, i.e. as or when they brought them forth 24.30 29.13 39.10, 13 + very often; of the future, 44.30, 31 Dt 20.2, 9 2 S 13.28 +; Is 28.20b (different from v 20a) and the covering is (too) narrow when one gathers oneself in.  Occasionally with the verbal noun, Ho 13.6 KMR(YTM at the time of their feeding, Is 30.19 K.:$fM:(fToW; W.K:XeW:QfToW † 2 Ch 12.1 26.16 Dn 11.2 (Ew §238a, 239a): cf. Is 23.5b K.:$"Ma( +oR.  With the ptcp.  † Gn 38.29 (si vera l.), perh. 40.10; cf. Dr §135.6, Obs 2.
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I hope this answers your question.

GfSomsel