An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

9. א ָצ ְמ ִנ תוֹר ָצ ְב הרָ זְ ֶע
׃דֹא ְמ
What a help he has been in (time of) trouble!
Ps 46:2
d A variety of circumstances may be marked with b, both physical (beth comitantiæ;
## 10–12) and mental (## 13–14); such phrases are often to be rendered in English
with[Page 197] an adverb. Both instruments (non-animates; ## 15–16) 27 and agents
(animates), simple (# 17; note the Niphal) and adversative (# 18), take b. The
preposition can govern the material with which an act is performed (# 19) and the
price (beth pretii) paid (# 20) or exchanged (# 21). 28 This last use may reflect the
idiom ntn b ‘to effect an exchange by means of.’ 29
11.
12.
13.
10. לִיחַ ְבּ ה ָמְ י ַל֫ ָשׁוּרְי אֹ בתָּ וַ
דֹא ְמ דבֵ ָכּ
She entered Jerusalem with a very great caravan.
1 Kgs 10:2
וֹלוֹקבּ ְ ןתַ ָנ He thundered (lit., he gave [out] with his voice).
Ps 46:7
לוֹד֑ גּ ָ לוֹקבּ ְ םי ִכֹבּ weeping aloud (lit., weeping in a loud voice)
Ezra 3:12
ןוֹ ֑שׂ ָשׂ ְבּ םִימ־ם ַ֫
תֶּ ְבאַ ְשׁוּ You shall draw water joyfully (lit., in joy).
14. םינוּנ ִ חֲ תַ ְבוּ וּאֹבָ י י ִכבְ ִבּ
םלי ֵ בוֹא ִ
15.
16.
׃ם ָלוֹקבּ ְ ץרֶ א֫ ָ ה ָ עקַ בָּ תִּ ַ
17. םדָ אָ ָבּ םדָ אָ ה ָ םדּ ַ ךְפֹשׁ ֵ
ךְ֑ פֵ ָשִּׁי וֹמדָּ 18.
Isa 12:3
With weeping will they come, and in prayer I will
bring them back.
Jer 31:9
וּכַּי טבֶ ֵשּׁ ֫ ַבּ They smite with the rod.
Mic 4:14
ו The earth was shaken by the sound of them.
1 Kgs 1:40
Whoever sheds a human’s blood, by a human shall his
blood be shed.
Gen 9:6
וֹ ֑בּ לֹכּ דַיו ְ לֹכּב ַ וֹדָי His hand (will be) against all and everyone’s hand
against him.
Gen 16:12
27 In Qoh 9:12 bpḥ ‘in a snare’ can be considered either instrument or location.
28 In a negative clause, beth pretii used metaphorically can take on quite a different
sense: ‘How long will they not believe me bkl h˒twt ˒s̆r ˓śyty bqrbw in spite of all the
signs which I have performed among them?’ (Num 14:11). On beth pretii see Pardee,
UF 8: 299–300.
29 So Pardee, UF 8: 298.