An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

20. תירִ ְכ ַנ אוֹלוְ ׃ה ָמ הֵ ְבּהַ ֵמ
21. הוהי־יח ַ ה ָלי ִל֫ חָ
תרַ ֲע ַשּׂ מ ִ לֹפִּי־םאִ ה ָצרְ א ַ֫
וֹשׁאֹ ר
Deut 16:4
We shall cut off not one of the cattle.
1 Kgs 18:5
Oh desecration! As YHWH lives, if even a single hair of
his head shall fall earthward…!
1 Sam 14:45
(2) The preposition is a privative marker, that is, it marks what is missing 99 or
unavailable 100 (## 22–23).
23.
22. וּדמְ ָע ןוֹבּ ְשׁ ח ֶ ל ֵצ ְבּ
םיס֑ ִ נ ָ חֹכּ ַ ִמ
In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand without
strength.
Jer 48:45
דחַ פּ֑ ָ֫
ִמ םוֹל ָשׁ םהי ֶ תֵּ ָבּ Their homes are safe (and) free from fear.
Job 21:9
(3) The preposition is a comparative marker, prefixed to a standard by which a
quality is measured (and thus similar to some English superlatives; # 24) or to a group
to which something is compared (and thus comparable to some English comparatives;
# 25; 14.4d).
24. םידִ סָ חֲ ה ַ לֹכּ ִמ יתִּ ְנֹט֫ קָ
I am small in relation to (or, too small for) all the
mercies.
Gen 32:11
25. לוּגדּ . . . ידוֹדּ ִ
׃ה ָב ָבר ְ ֵמ
[Page 215] 11.2.12 ד ַע
My beloved…is more attractive than ten thousand
(other people).
Cant 5:10
a This preposition, also used as a conjunction, may be related to the noun ד ַע ’future,
which occurs only in phrases like ד ֶע ו ָ םלֹע ָ ְל (Exod 15:18) and םלוֹע ָ ְל ד ַע ָל (Ps
111:8), ‘forever and ever.’ Two forms of the preposition are used independently, ד ַע
and the older ידֵ ֲע, from which the suffixed forms are composed. The basic sense of
the preposition is allative (movement toward)-terminative (movement up to).
b Some spatial uses of the preposition are static (# 1), but the sense of movement up to
is usually present (# 2). 101 Temporal uses are more common and more diverse: ˓d may
99
Cf. Jer 42:4. In Hos 6:6 and Ps 52:5 the sense may be substitutive (‘X rather than
Y’).
100
The verb ˒āṣar ‘to restrain’ usually governs an infinitive with mn, viz.,’to keep
(someone) from (doing something),’ though other prepositions may also follow the
verb.