Biblical Hebrew Forum

["leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Dear Martin,

Since the infinitive, by nature, does not corespond in numbers to either
"David" or to "his servants", all we really have to go on is context. Had
his order to kill David been addressed only to Jonathan, "that he would
kill" would work. But since his servants are also meant, the plural "that
they should kill" seems better. 

Yigal Levin

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Martin Arhelger arhelger AT gmx.de
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:16:52 +0200
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] 1Sam 19:1



1st Samuel 19:1 has literally: "And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to
all his servants, to kill David."

The infinitive construct "to kill" (or: to bring to death) is translated by
many Bibles as "that they should kill" whereas others translate "that he
would kill David".

Is there a possibility to decide which understanding is more in agreement
with Hebrew usage?

Martin Arhelger

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