Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>]

Nir katav
> 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.


Thank you for writing this. I can only agree. It puts the thread on
Gen 25.21 back on a proper foundation.

For example, in Ex 14.2 נכחו תחנו the verb is obviously
תחנו taHanu, a 'prefix tense' or 'yiqtol' that fits with
the volitional readings of ve-yashubu and ve-yaHanu. There is only
a shift from indirect speech third person 'they should' to direct
speech second person 'you should' taHanu.
The vav on nikHo would make no sense as a verb in this context since
an imperative of an otherwise non-existant verb would have dropped
the nun (*kHw) and expected a vav with (ve-)taHanu. And a suffix tense
(qatal *nakeHu) of an otherwise non-existant verb would have just been
bizarre in this context.
nikHo means 'before it' (ba`al tsfon), something that fits well with
the other examples in BH.


You are also correct about its static nature. In addition to your note,
there are several places in the Bible where prepositions like el 'to'
and `ad 'up to' are added when a more dynamic span is intended. In
sum, we do not have a verb *nakaH at all in the Bible so discussing what
it meant and adding the meaning of 'going' is guaranteed to put a
discussion off in the wrong direction, as it did.


As for the etymology, I leave that off of this email as of lesser interest
to me.

Having said all of the above, it is still a fact that Gen 25.21 is unique
in providing an example of le-nokaH meaning 'to the front of'>'in view of'
> 'concerning', (and with 'request') 'for the sake of'.
Such a grouping of meanings for a preposition is certainly
not unknown in other languages, nor in later Hebrew, though this is the
only place in the Hebrew Bible for this exact nuance.
So the original question about Gen 25.21 was good, but the dynamic verbal
reading was an unnecessary 'creation'. Thank you for a concise correction.

braxot

-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicallanguagecenter.com
Really Learn --- Biblical Language Center
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