Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Pere:

On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 10:55 PM, Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com> wrote:

>  Dear b-hebrew listers,
>
> I've a trouble with the Hiph'il verbs when they take a suffixed pronoun.
> Let us consider YAXALYPEN.W (Lv 27:10).
> It seems clear that this means (in a literal translation):
> He will cause him to pass on ------ "him" is here the subject of the verb
> "pass on".
>

“He” is the person who is bringing the sacrifice, and ”him” is the
sacrifice.

“Pass on, by, through” is often used in the context that that which passes
on is then replaced by another, such as changing clothes, changing position,
changing wages, exchanging sacrifices, etc.


> In Lv 27:8 we have YA(ARYKEN.W. It seems clear that this means (in a
> literal
> translation): He (the priest) will cause to arrange him ------ "him" is
> here
> the object of the verb "arrange".
>

He (priest) will cause him (hiphil) to arrange it (suffix, what he can
accomplish).

Basically, hiphil is causative conjugation indicating that an action is to
be done, usually at the hands of another person. So when there is a
transitive verb that normally has an object, the object can be expressed as
a pronominal suffix attached to a transitive hiphil verb.

Are there examples of intransitive hiphil verbs with pronominal suffixes?
How would they affect our understanding?

I am wondering: the pronoun suffixed to the Hiph'il:
>
> 1. always plays the part of the subject of the verb to which it is
> suffixed?
> 2. always plays the part of the object of the verb to which it is suffixed?
> 3. sometimes it plays the part of the subject and sometimes it plays the
> part of the object?
> 4. there are no strict rules: depending on context, on the verb kind... it
> plays the part of the subject or the part of the object of the verb to
> which
> it has been added as a suffix?
>
> I feel the need to cast a sure light hereon because, for instance, the
> following sentence a. is not exactly the same thing as b.
>
>
>
> What do you say?
>

I have not thought of these questions for a general rule, but both examples
given above have transitive verbs, in which the personal pronoun suffix
refers to the object, not subject, of the verb. But before proposing a
general rule, I would like many other examples to be brought under
consideration.

>
> Kind regards from
>
> Pere Porta
> (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain)
>
> Karl W. Randolph.