Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Reinier de Blois <editor AT sdbh.org>]

Hi Michael,

You could argue that the singular possessive pronoun refers back to the 
singular YOWSHEB "inhabitant" in verse 12, which functions as a 
collective: a singular form with a plural meaning. Therefore neither the 
singular nor the plural possessives are incorrect.

Best wishes,

Reinier de Blois

Deborah Millier wrote:

> Dear B-Hebrew List Members,
>
> KiY   )eT-MiZB:XoTaM   TiToCW.N   W)eT-MfC"BoTaM  T:SfB"RW.N   
> W)eT-):aS"RaYW   TiK:RoTw.N
>
> (Please note what I highlight in *astericks* in my
> translation:)
>
> "For their altars you [all] shall tear down, and their
> standing stones you [all] shall shatter, and *his/its*
> Asherahs you [all] shall cut [down]" (Exo. 34:13).
>
> Now, of the very few English versions I checked, they
> all rendered  ):aS"RaYW  as "*their*
> Asherahs"--implying of course that the Asherahs
> belonged to or were in some relationship to the listed
> idolatrous inhabitants of the land (34:12). But, if
> I'm not mistaken, it would be better translated "his
> Asherahs" or "its Asherahs," right? Even if I'm
> reading the syntax correctly, I still can't find in
> the immediate context to whom or what these Asherahs
> might have been related or belonged, the other nouns
> in the verse being feminine and plural. My questions
> then are:
>
> 1) Is there any good reason to read  ):aS"RaYW  here
> as a plural possessive?
>
> 2) If not, then to whom or what might these Asherahs
> belong or be related?
>
> 3) Any suggestions/corrections on how to better read
> the raw data?
>
> --Michael Millier
> Manila, Philippines
>
>
>     
>        
> __________________________________ Celebrate Yahoo!'s 10th Birthday! 
> Yahoo! Netrospective: 100 Moments of the Web 
> http://birthday.yahoo.com/netrospective/
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>
>
>
>