Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Pere:
First I read the context, these are the concluding verses of a section
referring to old age and death, in a poetic form.

Now your questions:

1) a) the article is not necessary b) look at the context of the preceding
sections, an article is not used either for XBL and GLT

2) The verb is Y$B, not $WB, it means to settle down, so the (L fits the
context of settling down upon the earth. The verb is a weqatal, not
wayyiqtol, fitting the context of the next section with its yiqtol.

I hope these answer your questions.

Karl W. Randolph.

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 10:47 AM, <pporta AT oham.net> wrote:

> I'm reading the chapter 12 of Qohelet.
> 1. In verse 6 >  I wonder why or how the noun "kad" comes without the
> article.
> 2. In verse 7 > I wonder why the preposition before "ha-arets" is "'al"
> and
> not 'el'. Preposition "el" seems to me it would be more "logical" than
> "al"... unless the sense is the dust (resulting from corrupted flesh) goes
> down, at the end, onto the surface of the earth...
>
> Are there any good reasons for the lack of article in 6 and the
> preposition
> "al" --and not "el"--  in 7?
>
> Pere
> Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain)