Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

1. Food for thought: Does not the translation implicitly see this HU as a verb?

2. If the "first person" may speak for himself as a "third person", 

can not the first את AT or ET of Gen. 14:9  stand for הוא HU or זה ZEH,

or even הם HEM, as in 1Sam. 17:34, and Neh. 9:34?

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Nov 9, 2012, at 10:05 AM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

isaac, an excellent example. please consult the english translation (MM):  I am HE THAT blotteth out...
כה  אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מֹחֶה פְשָׁעֶיךָ, לְמַעֲנִי:  וְחַטֹּאתֶיךָ, לֹא אֶזְכֹּר.	25 I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake; and thy sins I will not remember.

the essential grammatical structure of this phrase is: "i am he who..."

I=subject
am=(aux.) verb (which in hebrew is absent but implicit)
he=object
who...=connective pronoun followed by a clause (which defines the object).

cognitively, an identification is made here between two a priori distinct entities: "I" and "He who boltteth out thy transgressions". a priori, they are distinct, but after the identification, they become one and the same. as you
see, this works out equally well in english and indeed most languages:

I AM (verb in first person) he who BLOTTETH OUT (verb in third person).
 
chomsky would say that this construction is universal.

nir cohen

On Thu, 8 Nov 2012 19:56:20 -0500, Isaac Fried wrote
> Who is the "third" person הוא HU, in Is. 43:25?
>
> אנכי אנכי הוא מחה פשעיך למעני
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>
> On Nov 5, 2012, at 11:04 AM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

> third person

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