Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 11/1/05, B. M. Rocine wrote:
> a.  There was _an_ X
> b.  And the name of _the_ X was...
>
> Examples:
> Gen 2:10-11 (a.) venahar yotse' me`eden...(b.) shem ha'exad...

Actually, the ")arba(a ra)shim" is what is being introduced in this
particular verse.

> The (a.) clause introduces a person or thing to the narrative.  It
> introduces the person or place with grammatical indefiniteness (_an_ X).
>   Then a subsequent (b.) clause gives the person or thing a name.  In
> the (b.) clause, the person or thing is referred to with grammatical
> definiteness (eg. _the_ X).  The pattern is extremely consistent, so I
> may call it a "rule" for BH narrative.  In fact, I could not find a
> clear counter example when a person or thing is named at the start of a
> narrative.  The only possible counter example I know of is Exo 1:15.

What about Merav and Michal in 1 Sam 14:49?  I'm also curious now about
the introduction "asher shem ...".   Do we have an example where "asher"
refers to an indefinite noun as you suggest here?  I don't know, and I don't
have the tools to search for it.

Shalom,
Yitzhak