Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 10/31/06, Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote:

> For example, the frequent repetition of MOT YUMAT seems to militate
> against an emphatic meaning.  So does, e.g., the particular use in Gen
> 3:4:  "The serpant told the woman you will not die" is much more
> likely than the nearly nonsensical, "the serpant told the woman you
> will not die empatically/certainly/etc."

Why is "the serpent told the woman you will most certainly not die"
"nearly nonsensical"?  You seem to assume that the empasis or
intensity applies only to the verb and the "lo" negates the
hypothesized intensive verb.  But it's quite possible that "lo"
negates the verb "die" rather than "most certainly die".  When
someone (that is, the woman) has her doubts, this is quite a
persuasive technique and makes perfect sense in context.

Yitzhak Sapir