Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Spinti <jspinti AT eisenbrauns.com>]

Mike,

This is discussed in "The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew," pages 227-230, 
in the article by Alviero Niccacci, Types and Functions of the Nominal 
Sentence. He specifically mentions and translates 2 Sam 7:28 in footnote 50:
50. Literally, ‘It is you that are he, namely the (only) God’.

HTH,
James
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James Spinti
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On Nov 15, 2012, at 1:07 AM, Michael Abernathy wrote:

> I notice there are a number of passages where הוּא follows a pronoun and is 
> usually translated into English something like "I am," "you are," or "he 
> is."
> See for example 2 Sam. 7:28, Psalm 44:4, Isaiah 37:16, 43:25, Jeremiah 14:22
> 
> If the pronoun is not used as a copula, what is its meaning?  It may be a 
> stretch but in some cases I could see it as a substitution to avoid using 
> the name of God.  I believe this is how Baumgarten understood its use in 
> Isaiah.  I understand some take it that it emphasizes the prounoun.  So 2 
> Sam 7:28 would read something like "You and only you are God." 
> 
> Do we have any consensus here?
> Sincerely,
> Michael Abernathy
> 
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