Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Chris Echols <chrisechols AT gmail.com>]

Thanks to all for the info.  I'm begining to read through some of the
articles in NIDOTTE to learn a bit more about the Hebrew Bible and I see
that in the particular case of Ex. 4:21, the "permissive" tense is pretty
much out of the question, but on that verse, I would like to understand more
about what I'm seeing
here<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3989663/Screen%20shot%202010-09-10%20at%209.51.47%20AM.png>in
the parsing of the Hebrew in that verse.(I put a screenshot in my
dropbox)<http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3989663/Screen%20shot%202010-09-10%20at%209.51.47%20AM.png>At
this point I don't know a Lemma from a hole in the ground, so while I
don't expect for anyone to give me a course in Hebrew via email, is there a
quick and dirty explanation of the different columns and why some characters
are left untranslated?

Looking at these two examples from below that another minister used to prove
his point, there may be more of a case since now that I understand that
Hebrew has completed/uncompleted actions rather than past, present, future
verb tenses.  Hopefully this will make sense.

*Case 1:*

“The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that
thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until
thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou
hast forsaken me. The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until
he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 
*The
LORD shall smite thee with a consumption*, and with a fever, and with an
inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with
blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.”
—Deuteronomy 28:20–22 KJV

I see in this case the verb "yeshalach" and it's root "shalach".  A few of
the interesting ways this is translated with regard to the question at hand
(as well as many other "put away"/"send forth" issues) is what I read in
NIDOTTE...

vDlAj (s¥aœlahΩ), q. to send, stretch out, *give free play to*; ni. to be
sent; pi. to send, stretch out, *let free*, escort, send away; pu. to be
sent, sent away; hi. to send, *let loose* (H8938); mIvVløwjA (mis¥lo®ahΩ),
nom. sending, stretching (H5447) and mIvVlDj (mis¥laœhΩ), nom. sending,
stretching (H5448); mIvVlAjAt (mis¥lahΩat, H5449), nom. discharge, company
(so HALAT, NIV; deputation, BDB, is better); vIl;w…jIyM (s¥illu®hΩˆîm,
H8933), nom. dismissal, dismissal gift; vVlUjøwt (s¥§luhΩo®t, H8943) and
vVlDjIyM (s¥§laœhΩˆîm, H8945), nom. tendrils, shoots. The Bib. Aram. vb.
vVlAj (s¥§lahΩ, H10714), used in the peal like the BH q., is included here.

I hadn't figured out why some of my Hebrew doesn't translate well to email
yet...

*Case 2:*

“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,
and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his
commandments, and keep all his statutes,* I will put none of these diseases
upon thee*, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that
healeth thee.” —Exodus 15:26 KJV

In this case if I just looked at the syntax and would like to know whether
it is possible the Hebrew could be read something like, "...all the sickness
which was brought upon Egypt will not be brought upon you because I YHWH
(cause/permit) to heal"?

And of course this all centers around a debate on so-called "divine healing"
but I want to be fair in my perceived criticism of the doctrine based on the
text instead of my thoughts on the matter...

Thanks again for all of the useful information.  I guess I need to seriously
start looking for a Hebrew class that I can sit in on...

--

Thanks,

Chris E. Echols
AVI-SPL