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b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] 1 Kings 8:27 - how much less this house that I have builded (interrogative)

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  • From: schmuel <schmuel AT nyc.rr.com>
  • To: "b-hebrew-lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] 1 Kings 8:27 - how much less this house that I have builded (interrogative)
  • Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:15:05 -0500

Hi Folks,

Greetings to the b-hebrew crew !
In this verse:

1 Kings 8:27 (KJB)
But will God indeed dwell on the earth?
behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee;
how much less this house that I have builded?

We have a double interrogative in the AV.

There is a parallel verse in 2 Chronicles where this is exclamatory in the AV.

2 Chronicles 6:18 (KJB)
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?
behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee;
how much less this house which I have built!

Also in the Emphasized by Joseph Bryan Rotherdam, exceedingly literal and quite independent of the AV.

Emphasized
1 Kings 8:27
http://books.google.com/books?id=6Hs8It79excC&pg=PA360
2 Chronicles 6:18
http://books.google.com/books?id=6Hs8It79excC&pg=PA441

Webster and Lamsa have the same distinction, however they are more likely to be AV influenced.
Yet most modern versions only have the single interrogative in the 1 Kings verse.

There are differences in the Hebrew of the verses as a whole which might change the flow of the sentence, or there could be a more direct marker. And there are also the issue of the exact Masoretic Text manuscripts used, and their various marks. Any help understanding the Hebrew difference that is unto the interrogative will be much appreciated. Keep in mind that Rotherdam would be using the pre-Kittel text, which would be a Ginsburg (Ben Hayim) text, similar to the AV text rather than the Kittel 3rd-edition and later standard.

Shalom,
Steven Avery
Queens, NY






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