Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Pere,

I am sorry, but I fail to see what makes A-LAMD-AH of Psalms 51:15  
"cohortative" or even merely urgent. I am afraid you are reading into  
the text something that is not there. Looking at the word I fail to  
see visions of a poet shaking threateningly his fist at his  
adversaries. In fact, the New American Bible translates it calmly and  
without much ado as "I will teach". KJV paraphrases it as "Then will  
I teach", with "then" intrusively added.
A-LAMD-AH of Psalms 51:15 is apparently a variant of the pi'el form A- 
LAM-E-D. In my opinion the pi'el form [as well as the hif'il form]  
contains two personal pronouns, one for the actor and one for the  
beneficiary of the act. In A-LAMD-AH the internal E of A-LAM-E-D  
migrated to the end of the word, where it stands now as AH = HI) for  
the transgressors. The initial A- of A-LAMD-AH is obviously a  
collapsed )ANI, 'I'. It is also conceivable that the last -AH is for  
the speaker himself, or that it is even a crushed ANI-HI), 'I-them'.
I also fail to discern any "cohortative" trait in A-LAQT-AH of Ruth  
2:7. Is the girl stomping her foot while declaring it? She is in fact  
putting it very softly and gently as A-LAQT-AH NA). And what about V- 
A-SAP-TI, 'and I will gather', in which the ending -TI is surly the  
personal pronoun ATI=ANI? And what about $IBT-AH [with a H mupeket]?
By the way, is $AMR-AH, '[she] guarded', some sort of "assertative"?
In Isaiah 25:9 NA-GIL-AH, 'we will rejoice', [as well as V-NI-SMX- 
AH], the initial -NA is a collapsed ANU, and the last -HA is a  
contracted HI), referring both to the speakers. For a woman it is TA- 
GIL-I = AT-GIL-HI), and for the many it is TA-GIL-U = ATAH-GIL-HU).
I agree with George that those are old form that fell later into  
disuse. Still, we need to explain this -AH within the systematics of  
the Hebrew grammar. It is, in my opinion, surely not an empty sound  
but always a personal pronoun.
How, and in what capacity, -AH can be a "particle" is not clear to me.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 5, 2007, at 12:52 AM, <pporta AT oham.net> <pporta AT oham.net> wrote:

> > George,
> >
> > I think I understand what you are saying, but concrete, in context,
> > examples would make it clearer.
>
> There are many samples of verb forms 1st person both singular and  
> plural that end in H which are cohortative ones.
> Look at these few:
>
> 1st singular:
>
> 1. ):ALAM.:DFH --- Ps 51:15
> 2. ):ALAQ.:+FH --- Rut 2:7
> 3. ):ADAB.:RFH -- Ps 122:8
>
> 1st plural:
>
> 1. NFGIYLFH --- Isa 25:9
> 2. NAX.P.:&FH -- Lm 3:40
> 3. W:NAX:$:BFH -- Jer 18:18
>
> Pere Porta
> Barcelona (Spain)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Oct 3, 2007, at 5:14 PM, George Athas wrote:
> >
> > > Isaac,
> > >
> > > In your system, how do you accommodate the H on the end of
> > > cohortatives (ie,
> > > expressions of will in the first person)? Do they refer to third  
> > > party
> > > pronouns? That would seem quite illogical to me. It seems to me
> > > that they are
> > > best explained as either a particle adding urgency (similar to
> > > Yaakov's view)
> > > or a throwback to an historical form.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Best Regards,
> > >
> > > GEORGE ATHAS
> > > Moore Theological College (Sydney)
> > > 1 King St, Newtown, NSW 2042, Australia
> > > Ph: (+61 2) 9577 9774
> > >
> > >
> > >
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