Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Joel Stucki" <joel AT stucki.ws>]

On 7/9/06, MarjorieAlley AT cs.com <MarjorieAlley AT cs.com> wrote:
> Two Jewish acquaintances claim that S+N in Numbers 22:22 is a verb, and the
> lamed is the sign of the infinitive.
>
> I have always taken S+N in this verse to be a noun, and I read the lamed as
> the preposition.
>
> Comments would be welcome.
>
> Many thanks,
> Marjorie Alley
As currently voweled it clearly references the noun Satan or
adversary. It could be revoweled to "Liston" to be an infinitive but
this exact form is not attested elsewhere in the Tanakh. The closest
to such usage would be Zech 3:1 which has and infinitive construct and
which interestingly also involves an Angel of the Lord.
Both readings seem to give the same sense: "to [be] an adversary" and
"to act as an aversary"
Joel Stucki