Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Trevor Peterson <abuian AT access4less.net>]

C. Stirling Bartholomew wrote:
> My question is about the constituent order of AUTWN TA PAIDIA "of them the
> children"  and I am looking for a Hebrew equivalent of this syntax with the
> possessive between the verb and the noun. Is this viable Hebrew syntax?
> Could you show me an example or two?

The obvious problem here is that BH generally expresses possession with 
suffixed pronouns, which obviously cannot stand alone. Most of the time, 
we find them directly on the noun, so that you can't get this kind of 
reversal. The only way I can think of that you'd get it is if the 
pronoun were attached to something else. Two possible something elses 
come to mind--l- or shel(-). Shel isn't terribly common in BH--not like 
we find it in RH. We do get sheli, used emphatically twice in the Song 
of Songs (1:6; 8:12) to mean something like "my very own" (since it 
follows a noun with a possessive suffix anyway). But of course, this is 
still the order we would expect, not what you're looking for.

Jouon notes in par. 146g some instances where l- is used with a suffixed 
pronoun, for instance Gen 24:67--vathi lo le'isha--"and she became his 
wife." Here, lo (l- plus 3ms suffix) seems to function more or less as a 
possessive and appears before the object of possession. Also, 1 Sam 
10:4--vsha'alu lekha leshalom--and they will ask after your health 
(greet you)--where again lekha seems to be essentially a possessive. He 
also cross-references from this par. to 130g, where he notes instances 
like Gen 17:10--himmol lakhem kol zakhar--every male of yours shall be 
circumcised.

I'd say the most promise for what you want is in the two sections of Jouon.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics