Biblical Hebrew Forum

[C L <sigebryht AT yahoo.com>]

Dear Colleagues,

As you will have noticed from my earlier posts, I am studying the use of emphatic cognate accusatives in Zechariah.

Two of these instances do not seem to be emphatic, but I want to confirm this.

Zechariah 7:9 מִשְׁפַּ֤ט אֱמֶת֙ שְׁפֹ֔טוּ וְחֶ֣סֶד וְרַֽחֲמִ֔ים עֲשׂ֖וּ אִ֥ישׁ אֶת־אָחִֽיו

 “Judge with the judgment of truth (ie, true judgment), and let each man practice kindness and compassion toward his brother.”

The cognate accusative מִשְׁפַּ֤ט  occurs with the verb שְׁפֹ֔טוּ, but this does not seem to be an emphatic use of the cognate repetition.

PROOF: In both Zechariah 7:9 and 8:16, מִשְׁפַּ֤ט  is modified with a construct noun. The effect is not to emphasize the act of judging, but to qualify the kind of judgment that is to take place: “Judge with the judgment of truth (7:9) and peace (8:16)” means simply “let your judgment be guided by truth and peace, respectively.

There is no occurrence of שׁוּב, גָדוּל, or chiasm in this verse, so it is unlike the examples of cognate accusative use Zechariah 1:14-15 and 8:2.

Zechariah 8:16 parallels 7:9

8:16 אֱמֶת֙ וּמִשְׁפַּ֣ט שָׁל֔וֹם שִׁפְט֖וּ

“Judge with the judgment of peace…” The cognate accusative מִשְׁפַּ֤ט occurs with the verb שְׁפֹ֔טוּ, but this does not seem to be an emphatic use of the cognate repetition.

Again, there is no occurrence of שׁוּב, גָדוּל, or chiasmus in this verse, so it is unlike Zechariah 1:14-15 and 8:2. However, it does share commonalities with 7:9. This suggests a link between 8:16 and 7:9.

1.) Is my logic sound that, because the cognate repetition qualifies the verb, it is therefore not an emphatic construction?

2.) Could someone please point me in the direction of a scholarly work to support this claim, if the claim is valid.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Chris Lovelace