Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

dear chris,

i may be barging into an open door since i have failed to keep up with the
VERY intense recent exchanges on b-hebrew - all fascinating!

anyway, it is my impression that this is indeed emphasis, but not for being a
cognate accusative, rather for the very fronting construction. the usual order
should be VO { V= $PtW, O=M$Pt )MT }, and the change to OV is a 
signal of emphasize, in my opinion, independent of the root repetition.

emphasis is associated with fronting since at least gesenius, probably much
earlier. though ever since the 1980s there has been a shift to associate
fronting with other mechanisms, such as continuity. but focalizing fronting
is often indeed emphasizing.

in general, i believe that the cognate accusative construction is a technical
way to adjoin the adverb to the verb, when this cannot be done directly.
thus, it is impossible to just say )MT $PtW or B)NT $PtW as it may be 
construed to mean "really judge" instead of "judge truthfully". thus,
there is no emphasis on the verb, though there is a focusing on the 
adverbal unit (here, really a noun). maybe this "focusing" rather than
emphasis is what jonathan was aiming at when he says "broader than emphasis".

nir cohen

De: Jonathan Mohler <jonathan.mohler AT gmail.com>
Para: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Data: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:38:47 -0500
Assunto: Re: [b-hebrew] "Judgment of Truth/peace" in Zechariah 7:9, 8:16

I wonder if we shouldn't expand the definition of a cognate accusative (CA)o
something broader and more meaningful than "emphasis."  I don't like the term
at all as it is subject to a great deal of subjective meaning.

Chris, If you want to confine your search to cognate accusative that express
the narrow definition of "emphasis," then I would say this is not the type of
CA you are dealing with.  But I do think, generally speaking 7:9 is a type of 
CA.

Jonathan Mohler


On Jun 8, 2013, at 8:33 AM, b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

> 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