Biblical Hebrew Forum

["B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>]

Hi Vadim,

Vv. 15-18 are a hortatory discourse.  IOW, the speaker is expressing what he 
wants to take place.  He wants the addressee to remain satisfied with his 
own cistern (his own wife or religion, as you prefer).  Allow me to say 
(without demeaning the recent debate on this forum) that the speaker wants 
for the issue or the produce of the addressee's life (whether that be 
children or disciples or a following or influence in the world) to extend 
into the community.  He wants that issue to be holy in origin or to be 
preserved holy.  In hortatory discourse, the imperatives and clause-initial 
yiqtols are mainline clauses, the backbone of the hortatory discourse.  All 
the clause types in this passage are equally ranked; none are subordinated 
to the level of commentary, explanation or motivation as a verbless clause, 
for example, would be or as a weqatal, for another example, might be.

In answer to Steven's question about the parallelism of 15 and 16 with 17 
and 18, I see it, but I think it's a matter seperate from the function of 
syntax in BH, poetry or no.  Notice, however, that the section begins and 
ends with imperatives.  The jussives are in the middle of the sandwich. 
It's a nice, round whole as we often see in BH poetry.

Shalom,
Bryan

you wrote:

> >  However, I believe that the ancients were very
> > sensitive to this syntactical feature, and I suspect it is at least 
> > partly
> > responsible for the likes of Rashi who interpreted Pro 5:16 as expressing
> > the hope that one's disciples would increase.
>
> In fact, ancient syntax was so strict as to introduce residual difference 
> in
> verb and noun accent.
>
> But I don't see how that point justifies the translation "let." It seems 
> to
> me that the implied word is "when":
>
> Drink water of your own cistern (adhere to your religion)
> [when] your springs will be dispersed abroad
> let them be only your own (don't share your wisdom with Gentiles)
>
> Vadim Cherny