Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 28/06/2004 00:35, Yigal Levin wrote:

> The same expression appears in Exodus 10, when describing the locusts. In
> verse 5 it's "And it shall cover the (YN H)RC, and (he/it) shall not be able
> to see the earth". Also starnge. The subject of WKSH "and it shall cover" is
> the locust; so who is it, exactly, that will not be able to see the earth?
>
> In verse 15, it is the loscust who covers the (YN H)RC and makes the earth
> dark.
>
> I think that the idea, that the loscust in exodus and the Israelites in
> Numbers are so many that they cover the whole earth, is clear. But what is
> the (YN of the earth?
>
> Yigal
>  

Could the meaning in both cases be that the earth is metaphorically 
looking? After all, in most cases of (YN + noun in a construct relation 
or a pronoun suffix, including idiomatic uses like "in his sight", the 
noun or pronoun refers to the one who looks. So in these phrases H)RC 
would be a metonymy for all the people of the earth, who in Exodus 10 
could not see the ground for locusts, and similarly in Numbers.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/