Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <george.athas AT moore.edu.au>]

A slight alternative to Harold's explanation:
 
This is the emphatic imperatival subject. That is, when you want to
emphasise the subject of the imperative, you can suffix the relevant
pronominal suffix to the preposition lamed. In English, we tend do a similar
thing only when we want to be stern (eg, "*You* sit down right now!"), which
makes the sentence sound rather teacher-ish. However, in Biblical Hebrew, it
is not limited to such a nuance -- it usually just indicates urgency, be it
out of sternness, passion, excitement, emergency, or whatever. Compare it to
the oft-used (and probably over-used) "You go girl!".
 
 

Best Regards, 

GEORGE ATHAS 
Moore Theological College (Sydney) 
1 King St, Newtown, NSW 2042, Australia 
Ph: (+61 2) 9577 9774