Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Kirk Lowery <klowery AT wts.edu>]

Paul W Traub wrote:

> Using the K-Q in Ruth 4:4 as an example, does anyone know what 
> Bibleworks is doing?

It's not what BibleWorks is doing, but rather what the Westminster
Hebrew Morphology database is doing. BibleWorks is just faithfully
representing that database.

The database attempts to provide a parsing for all words, including
ketivs. Since there is often more than one way to parse the consonants
(and the parsing does imply a particular vocalization), the database
vocalizes all ketivs that matches the provided analysis.

In Ruth 4:4, the difference between the ketiv and qere is that of the
final he; the qere explicitly is a cohortative, the ketiv only
implicitly so.

> And, is it trying to relate to the K-Q note in the apparatus of BHS?

Not by intention. The BHS apparatus often notes K-Q issues. The database
often agrees with the BHS editor, but sometimes not. The database is
certainly not trying to represent the information in the apparatus.

I hope this helps you interpret what you see. If not, please ask.

Blessings,

Kirk
--
Kirk E. Lowery, Ph.D.
Director, Westminster Hebrew Institute
Adjunct Professor of Old Testament
Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

Theorie ist, wenn man alles weiss und nichts klappt.
Praxis ist, wenn alles klappt und keiner weiss warum.
Bei uns sind Theorie und Praxis vereint:
nichts klappt und keiner weiss warum!