Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Vadim,

> Usage of min as instrumental be is extremely non-standard, as you know. In
> fact, I'm not sure there is any case where we can interpret min as
> instrumental with certainty. Do you?

HH: Here are some references the lexicon gives:

Gen 19:36 "became pregnant by their father"
Gen 49:25 "by the God of your father"
Hos 7:4 "heated by the baker"
Nah 1:5 "the mountains quake at (because of) Him"
Job 7:14 "You terrify me with visions"
Ezek 19:10 "it had many branches because of abundant water"

The lexicon lists Ps 107:39 as one case. They have many other 
examples if you need them.

> He was taken from jail and court - clearly, for execution. But what means,
> Taken through oppression and judgment? You probably mean, taken upstairs.
But Isaiah - if he wrote this piece - was skeptical of the heavenly kingdom.

HH: "He was taken away by oppression and judgment." He was taken away 
from his generation and from life.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard