To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: RE: Dying thou shalt die
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 08:04:03 -0700
Liz wrote:
[snip]
> I need not multiply examples. This form of the verb is used
> countless times throughout the HB. It is used to intensify
> the action of the verb. It should be expressed in English as
> "surely", "certainly," "utterly" or some such.
Exactly. The combination expresses the certainty of the event
without implications of time frame. In English we could even
translate it with reasonable accuracy "When you eat it, death is a
certainty for you." There is no reason to read more than that into
the statement; the details and fulfillment of the statement unfold
from the context of the story.