Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

karl,friends,

indeed, in all the five examples

Ex 14:2 נכחו תחנו
Is 57:2  הלך נכחו
Ez 46:9   כי נכחו יצא    
Gen 30:38    לנכח הצאן
Pr 4:25    עיניך לנכח יביטו

the function of לנכח is not verbal but as an adverb. 

it does not necessarily contain the element of "going in front", but only the
element of "in front". in fact "going in front" is out of the question in Ex
14:2 and Pr 4:25, which are static, and is superfluous in Is 57:2 and Ez 46:9
where the verb הלך,יצא already specifies the dynamics.

also, assuming an infinitive, these examples would create double-verb
constructions of types which do not exist elsewhere in the OT and of 
unclear meaning.

i assume that נכח was really a noun whose meaning was "front". (i wonder if
some etymological connection can be made between נכח and מצח.)

the correct use of the associated adjective would be לנכחו (compare with לידו,
לצדו, לפניו, לרגליו as associated with יד,צד,פנים,רגלים); except that the noun
disappeared, and so the initial ל was eventually dropped, obtaining נכחו.

also relevant is the construction
 מעליו-->עליו , מתחתיו-->תחתיו
which shows a similar dropping of the preposition as לנכחו-->נכחו.


i think that also נכחה is used in the OT, as an adverb. can anybody verify?
what about ?נוכח,להוכיח  

nir