Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Sorry to break up the love-in…

Just to nuance the previous comments from Jerry and Dave: While the clause in question is indeed a verbless clause, we need to remember that this is poetry not prose. As such, supplying a verb isn't requisite. It all depends on how you phrase it in English. Poetry is, after all, about using words and clauses in non-standard ways. Note the consistent use of weqatal verbs throughout v.10, which ties all the actions together into one big whole. I'd render the sections as something like this:

9. Celebrate greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See your king comes to you,

exonerated and freed.

He is humble, and riding on a donkey,

on an ass, the foal of she-asses,

10. eliminating chariotry in Ephraim,

and horse from Jerusalem,

eliminating the bow of war,

and promising peace to the nations,

his dominion from sea to sea,

from the River to the ends of the earth.

(Note: I've followed a textual emendation of the first word in 9.10, swapping the taw and yodh to render it 3ms rather than 1cs.)

GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,

Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)

Sydney, Australia