Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jvass AT indiana.edu]

Dear Bryan,
Thank you so much, this is very helpful and appreciated. I can see that 
not realizing the
infinitive can be a noun (must be why they are called 'shem ha po`al!), 
I was looking in
the wrong places. The infinitive + pronominal suffixes are listed in 
the noun tables and
not the verb tables.

Shalom lecha,
Jill

Quoting "B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>:

> Hi Jill, Here's the scoop on behibbar'am:
>
> *be* = prefix "in"
>
> *hi* (including the gemination or doubling of the bet caused by the
> dagesh forte) = the sign of the niphal infinitive.  An imperative would
> not be prefixed by *be*
>
> br' = the root, which in the niphal stem mean "be created"
>
> am = suffix meaning "their", in this case "the heavens and earth's"
>
> putting it all together:
> in-being created-their
> or
> in their being created
>
> In Hebrew, the suffix on an infinitive is sometimes the subject of the
> verb and sometime the object of the verb.  Context will usually clarify
> which.
>
> An infinitive prefixed by bet is often used to set the time of a
> narrative as in
>
> Gen 4:8 vayhi bihyotam bassadeh
> And it happened in their coming into the field
>
> An infinitive with prefixed bet is most often translated "when" as in
> "when they came into the field" or "when they were created."
>
> We have two bet + infinitive constructions in Gen 2:4, behibbar'am and
> beyom `asot .  Some people think that the two constructions are the
> ending and beginning, respectively, of two sentences.  Such an
> interpretation creates a complex sentence that begins in 2:4b and
> continues through v. 7.  See the NIV translation:
>
> Genesis 2:4b-7  "When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--  5
> and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of
> the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the
> earth and there was no man to work the ground,  6 but streams came up
> from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--  7 the LORD
> God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
> nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
>
> This is an interesting interpretation because this sentence may parallel
> Gen. 1:1-2 nicely (Fox translation):
>
> "At the beginning of God's creating of the heavens and the earth, when
> the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of Ocean,
> rushing-spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters--God said,
> 'Let there be light!'"
>
> Shalom, Bryan
>
>
>
> > About the verb behibar'am. I still don't understand it. If it is an
> > infinitive or imperative, the suffix doesn't make sense to me. If it is
> > past tense, both the prefix and suffix don't make sense.
>
>
> --
> B. M. Rocine
> Living Word Church
> 6101 Court St. Rd.
> Syracuse, NY 13026
> (W): 315.437.6744
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew