Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

chris watts,

M- is often used in comparison, i.e. corresponding to the situations
MORE THAN and TOO MUCH TO. but in some cases it is also used as plain
negation/exclusion/impediment, e.g.

 כִּי נִצְּתוּ מִבְּלִי-אִישׁ עֹבֵר   jer 9:9

 כִּי-לִבָּם, צָפַנְתָּ מִּשָּׂכֶל; job 17:4

 פָּרַץ נַחַל, מֵעִם-גָּר--הַנִּשְׁכָּחִים מִנִּי-רָגֶל;    דַּלּוּ מֵאֱנוֹשׁ 
נָעוּ. job 28:4

 הִנֵּה מִשְׁמַנֵּי הָאָרֶץ, יִהְיֶה מוֹשָׁבֶךָ, וּמִטַּל הַשָּׁמַיִם, מֵעָל. 
gen 27:39

in ruth 1:12 i see both the comparative and the impediment. as to her age,

i leave the speculations to the experts...

nir cohen