Biblical Hebrew Forum

[kenneth greifer <greifer AT hotmail.com>]

Karl,
 
You wrote Isaiah 2:4, but I think you meant Malachi 2:4. Anyway, you said 
that the infinitives of other verbs are used the same way. Could you point 
out one or two examples of other verbs used the same way as "to be" in 
Malachi 2:4? I was just trying to understand a literal way of translating the 
quote because it does seem to be strange that the "le" is in front of the 
infinitive, but the translation has it in front of the subject of the verb. " 
I sent my commandment to you for (that) My covenant to be (will be) with 
Levi."
 
I have seen Isaiah 49:6 translated both ways. "I have given you for a light 
of nations to be My salvation unto the end of the earth" and "I have given 
you for a light of nations for My salvation to be unto the end of the earth." 
Which do you think makes sense?
 
Kenneth Greifer
 



Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2011 17:41:36 -0700
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Malachi 2:4
From: kwrandolph AT gmail.com
To: greifer AT hotmail.com
CC: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Kenneth:


What you are running into is an example of where Hebrew grammar and ways of 
saying things has no exact equivalent in English, rather the English way of 
saying the same idea is quite different.


In each of these cases, the subject of the verb follows the infinitive verb, 
and that is true not only of the verb “to be” as can be seen in your Isaiah 
2:4 example. In each of these cases, the idea is “for the purpose of …”


Now, there are better ways of translating that …


Karl W. Randolph.


On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 11:05 AM, kenneth greifer <greifer AT hotmail.com> wrote:


I asked about Malachi 2:4 "I sent to you this commandment to be My covenant 
with Levi" or "for the being of My covenant with Levi", but I guess I could 
have looked up the verb myself.

 In 2 Kings 15:19, I think it says  a king paid another king "to be his hands 
with him..." or maybe "for the being of his hands with him."

 1 Kings 8:16 says G-d did not choose to build a house "to be His name there" 
or "for the being of His name there."

 Isaiah 10:2 "...to be widows their prey (their spoil)" sounds better as 
"...for the being of widows their prey (their spoil)".

 I guess in these examples, the verb is used as "for being of" and not "to 
be".  WHo  knows for sure though.

Kenneth Greifer