Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Zechariah 3:4 "I will clothe"
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:26:09 -0700
Thank you, Noam:
On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 12:00 PM, Noam Eitan <noameitan AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Noam,
> >Can you give us some examples, other than the common "dying you shall die"
> (Gen 2:16) type?
>
> Sincerely,
> -Steve Miller
> >Detroit
>
> I have encountered many passages in the Hebrew Bible in which the
> infinitive absolute stands all by itself, but of course when I try to find
> them I can't. Here is what I was able to come up with for now:
>
> Exodus 32:6 eat and drink,
This infinitive does not stand alone, rather the context of another verb in
the phrase requires a following infinitive.
> related to Isaiah 22:13
>
Context indicates that this is an imperative. Different from above.
> Deut 1:16a hear out
>
Context indicates that this is an imperative. Wrong pointing.
> 2Sam 24;12 go
>
Context indicates that this is an imperative.
>
>
> Noam Eitan,
>
> Brooklyn, NY
>
> And from another posting:
Ecclesiastes 4:2, a participle
Esther 9:1 is in a context that requires an infinitive, it does not stand
alone.
Zechariah 7:5, is this another imperative?
And so on.
But there are some that appear to be exactly as you say, e.g.
Genesis 30:32 removing
Judges 1:19 (he could not) drive out (An argument can be made that this is a
subordinate clause that requires an infinitive.)
Psalms 35:16 (they) gnash their teeth at me
Many of them look like they are wrongly pointed from other grammar forms,
and then others raise questions even in a text that lacks points.
Could many imperatives have been mistakenly pointed as infinitives, as the
two forms sound so similar in the Masoretic system?