Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yaakov Stein <yaakov_s AT rad.com>]

Karl,


> Ivory comes from several sources, including walrus and narwhale tusks, 
> hippopotamus, elephants,
> and some of the best from digging up mammoth skeletons in Siberia.

Yes, but the last one is mostly in modern time, especially since global 
warming has kicked in.

> I suspect that tusks are meant here, the most common raw material for ivory 
> carvers.

Definitely a strong possibility.

But that leaves open the original question as to the sentence structure.

I know that you don't even rely on the masoretic vocalization, let alone the 
cantillation,
but even the use of the conjuntive vav specifically groups the shenhavim with 
the animals
and not with the expensive raw materials.

Yaakov (J) Stein