Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

> >>  > Dear B-Hebrew Listers,
> >>  >
> >>  > In Psa. 33:12 we read:
> >>  >
> >>  > WYHL)  HWHY  R$)  YWGH  YR$)
> >>  > WL  HLXNL  RXB  M(H
> >>  >
> >>  > It is usually translated something like:
> >>  >
> >>  > Happy is the nation whose God is YHWH,
> >>  > The people whom He has chosen as His inheritance.
> >>  >
> >>  > Now, whats to prevent me from here understanding YHWH
> >>  > as affected patient (i.e. the chosen) and Ha-AM as
> >>  > agent (i.e. the one doing the choosing)?  This would
> >>  > produce a translation something like:
> >>  >
> >>  > Happy is the nation whose God is YHWH,
> >>  > The people that has chosen Him to be its inheritance.
> >>  >
Dear Michael,
What I'm trying to tell you is that this translation is impossible.
You can't say "chosen him" and assume that lw is "him" the
object of "chosen." The object of chosen bHr is always bw, never
lw.
(I don't know how to transliterate, but you get the point.)
The force of the lw in the sentence is "for himself." It refers
back to the subject. BHR takes Bet.
Hebrew doesn't have a separate reflexive pronoun,  so lw
substitutes.
Best,
LIz Fried
A2
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