Cc: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Gen 1:1-2
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 19:04:38 -0500
Shalom, George,
surprise, surprise! a qatal is attested following a construct form a
handful of times, for example, Lev 14:46, 1 sam 25:15, Psa 129:6, Isa 29:1,
Jer 48:36. that crazy Hebrew language, eh?
Shalom, shalom,
Bryan
----------
From: George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Gen 1:1-2
Date: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 5:03 PM
Tony Prete wrote:
> [...]
> The basic reason, I believe, was already mentioned by someone earlier:
R"'$iYT is a construct, so that it might be translated: "the beginning
of..." (it's the B: which is the preposition, added to the front of the
word "beginning")
>
> But the question remains: Why a construct? I think that the various
translations--and the NJPS (cited earlier by Irene Rienger) seems to have
succeeded the best--are efforts to answer that question. I suspect we
simply don't have a way of saying in English what the text says in Hebrew.
If REIYT was in construct, then we would not expect a finite verb to
follow it. We would expect perhaps an infinitive of some sort. This is not
what we have in the MT. We have a finite verb with a subject and two direct
objects. As such, REIYT must be either a conjunction or
circumstance. Since it is prefixed with a preposition (B), which has not
subsumed a definite article, we must understand the first word of Genesis
as simply meaning, "At first".
B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13208