Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Charles Grebe <cgrebe AT briercrest.ca>]

Karl,

So would you translate the first part of 2 Sam 7:6 as

"For I have not dwelt in a house for from the day I brought up the sons of 
Israel from Egypt until this day..."?

If so, what would “for from the day” mean in this verse?

Also, how would it be different from simply saying “from the day”?

Charles Grebe
Briercrest College and Seminary
Caronport, SK, Canada



From: K Randolph [mailto:kwrandolph AT gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 3:10 PM
To: Charles Grebe
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] 2 Sam 7:6 prep L before meyom

Charles:

Both prepositions count—“for from the day”.



ל prefix, meaning to, towards, for, for the purpose of, concerning (as in 
talking about), often used as an indicator of ownership, When used in the 
context of noun ל noun, it means “each and every” of that noun, as in “Day by 
day” or “command upon command”.

Both prepositions have wider meanings than any equivalent words in English, 
so often will be translated by different words depending on their contexts. 
In this context, the first preposition is best translated as “for” and the 
second “from”, together meaning “for from” as above.

Karl W. Randolph.