Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

Herman:

I have not made a formal study of Biblical Hebrew 
sentence structure, all I have done is to notice that it 
is more variable than what I was taught in school.

I have read that there is at least one researcher who 
claims that Biblical Hebrew had a basically SVO structure 
instead of VSO. I'm not arguing either way.

All I know is that both occur often enough that Genesis 1:2 
can be read as a legitimate, stand-alone sentence.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Herman Meester" <crazymulgogi AT gmail.com>
> Dear Karl,
> Hebrew being VSO doesn't mean it's the only possible order, just that
> it's the basic order. It's simply a matter of statistics. As you in a
> way admitted, we cannot use poetic clauses to describe Hebrew syntax.
> Could you, then, produce clear prose clauses where the *basic* order
> of BH seems not to be VSO?
> 
> Do you mean the reason to open a clause with a verb is usually its
> prefix? Even then, the result is usually VSO. You can hardly claim
> that inside the imperfect there is a pronoun.
> 
> What I would most like to hear from you is what you think of the clear
> parrallel in Gen 2,4-7.
> Regards
> Herman


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