There are three occurences of עַד אֲשֶׁר (’ad ’asher) with the /qatal /form
in the extant hebrew tetxts of the Ben Sira (Sir 47:23, Sir 48:1.15).
Beside the textual critical problem of Sir 47:23 which is not of
interest for this list, I am interested in finding out what are the
possibilities for the translation of this compound conjuction. In all
the grammars I've checked it only gives the temporal meaning (Joüon
§113.k has purpose meaning, but with /yiqqtol - / עַד אֲשֶׁר is
occasionally used with an imperfect depicting past action to denote a
virtual nuance of purpose: “until” = “so that,” ). However, NET Bibles
notes in couple of places (e.g. Eccl 2:3) refers to it as temporal
result clause and W. Van Peursen in his /The verbal system in the Hebrew
text of Ben Sira/ has moreless the same idea based on the dictionary
entry for עַד (’ad) that gives as one of the possibilities for
translation "to the point that" (of degree), but the only cited resource
is always a BDB (725) or /HALOT/ (787) dictionary.
Someone can maybe illuminate me where I can find other interpretations
for עַד אֲשֶׁר beside the temporal one (excluding JM reference with /yiqqtol/).
Goran Kühner
Rome, Italy
[b-hebrew] Ben Sira עַד אֲשֶׁר,
Goran Kühner, 11/11/2010