Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

dear jerry,

haggai addresses the nation, H(M, consistently as plural 
in several places, with only one exception: after XZQ, though XZQW 
was a viable option. in this context, pls compare with 2sam 10:12 and 
1 chr 19:13, where again XZQ was used in singular addressing
a plural, and also 2 chr 28:20 where apparently it is used 
as an idiom not addressing anybody, just "quote unquote XZQ".
there are also several other places where XZQ may be construed 
as an idiom, but as they are directed to a single person, it 
remains unclear (strong cites 24 cases of this word).

i might be wrong here, but i tend to think that (as these and other 
places show) the correct volitive for XZQ ("be strong") should be 
in HITPAEL and not in QAL. or else the cohortative would be NXZQ
and not NTXZQ as appears in the verses i quote above. 

this MIGHT indicate that the use as QAL was idiomatic,
especially XZQ W(SH and XZQ W)MC, both in QAL. a parallel might
be made with )MN, which is an idiom possibly derived from another 
stem, HIFIL, in the volitive.

i raise this more as a challenge than a conviction, as actually 
i find your reading of haggai 2 the more natural.

best
nir cohen

>>> : Jerry Shepherd <jshepherd53 AT gmail.com>
Cópia: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Para: "Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>
Data: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:15:31 -0600
Assunto: Re: [b-hebrew] imperative
Hi Nir,
 
I appreciate your perspective on this, but I find it to be too subjective a
reading.  The form is a verb; it has a root, a stem, a conjugation, a person,
and a number.  Therefore, it is completely parsable (rather than declined). 
When a single individual is being addresed, the singular imperative form is
used.  When a plurality is addressed, the plural imperative form is used. 
This is therefore grammatically parsed.  I really have no idea what you mean
when you say "it is not to be declined in any way."  It may be customary, but
it is not idiomatic.  Your analogy with cheers doesn't work, because XZQ is a
verb, it is an imperative, and it has both singular and plural forms.
 
Blessings,
 
Jerry

Jerry Shepherd
Taylor Seminary
Edmonton, Alberta
jshepherd53 AT gmail.com