Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Me" <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

> >I have always read Ezek 40:45-6 as saying that those priests who
> >tended the altar at the time of writing were the sons of Zadok, while
> >those who more generally tended the temple were "rank and file"
> >priests. However, I recently came across a translation that took the
> >position that the sons of Zadok applied to both those who were in
> >charge of the temple and of the altar. How do people on the list
> >read the text from a strictly linguistic point of view?

Yigal responded:

> Both readings seem possible, depending on who the object of "hemmah" in
46b
> would be.

Thanks for your response, Yigal.

I wonder though about the pragmatics of the text.

First, it's far from the qualifying clause at the end of v46 to refer to
the priests in v45, one has to cross two clauses. Then, the subject
of each verse is the chamber not the priests who use them. This
makes it difficult, at least on the surface, to co-ordinate the
referents of hmh.

Perhaps someone knows of a suitable example which makes the
possibilities clear. I've had a quick look without finding anything
analogous, but hmh is, as you might expect, used quite a lot!



Ian Hutchesson
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History is wasting time over lost time