Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>]

>===== Original Message From "wattswestmaas" <wattswestmaas AT eircom.net> =====
>It does appear that in a lot of the instances where an infinitive construct
>is used the Absolute would be just as correct (or is this to much leaning
>towards modern hebrew usage)?

Perhaps you should give some examples of what instances you have in mind.
>
>Also I am somewhat confused by the fact that some things are listed as inf
>construct and it first  appeared as an inf absolute to me (ie a construct
>with a lamed prefixed)???

Again, examples of specific forms that gave you trouble might help here. With 
a lamed prefix you can pretty much assume that you're dealing with a 
construct.
>
>Is the primary purpose of the Inf.constuct in that it is a free-flowing verb
>form (ie, is not limited by gender and number) that MAY take prefixes and
>therefore grant more flexibilty to the writer.

Both infinitives are verbal nouns, which means they encapsule the verbal idea 
in a non-finite (generally uninflected) form (hence the name). The inf. csr. 
is particularly well-suited for taking prepositional prefixes (among other 
things).

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics