Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George F. Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 04:25:51 -0700 Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
writes:
> >
> Your suggestion doesn't seem to have gone down well, but in support 
> of it:
> 
> 3) `ophayim, the form in the text with the alef ignored or treated 
> as a 
> mater lectionis, is not a plural but a dual, and so might well refer 
> to 
> pairs or mating couples of birds. As such this can fit the context 
> rather well, although not quite strictly grammatically: birds make 
> nests, and pairs of them call to one another, with the implied 
> result 
> that they mate and produce eggs and young, so fitting the wider 
> image of 
> fruitfulness. This connotation is lost by "among the branches".
> 
____________

Peter,

I would disagree with you on this point.  The reading of the ketib makes
very good sense in the context.  

Because of them [the springs of vv. 10, 11] the birds of the heaven make
their dwelling,
Between the branches they utter [their] voice.

This is simply an exposition of the benefits accruing from the divine
provision of springs.

gfsomsel