Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

Dear Brian,

> If you are reading a text other than the MT please inform us. Otherwise, 
> we have to conclude that you are *not* reading the MT.

To begin with, as you know, punctuation is alien to the MT, and is 
reconstructed only tentatively.
> Example: Verse 7's `aphar, which at least you agree means dust, is not in 
> the same clause as vayyippax as your below translation indicates. That is 
> indeed your error regarding syntax.

You rely on the rule that wayiqtol is clause-initial. Ok.

Dust  of the ground, [it] blew into his face.

Or,

The Lord God brought forward the man, dust of the ground. It [the dust] blew 
into his face.

> We understand your shtick is that of the iconoclast, but is the MT really 
> your target, too?  Out of one side of your mouth you hold to the most 
> reactionary of grammatical views of the wayyiqtol verb form (vav-converted 
> tense).

Reaction is often a return to the comnmon sense, you see.



Vadim Cherny