An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

exclude such a union, the preposition may be taken to be under the government of an
elided verb (usually a verb of motion) appropriate to the preposition. 130
1. א ָבּ התָּ א ַ ר ֶשׁ א ֲ ץרֶ א֫ ָ הָ
הי ָ ל֑ ֶ֫
ָע
2. ךְ ֶל ֶמּ ֫ ה ַ בל־י ֵ ִכּ
׃םוֹל ָשׁ ְבא־ל ַ ַע
3.
׃טוֹפּ ְשִׁי ל ֶפר ָ ֲע ד ַע ְב ַ
the land into which you are entering [to settle] upon it
Exod 34:12
The king’s heart was [set] upon Absalom.
2 Sam 14:1
ה Can he judge [looking out] through the thick clouds?
ְ ַ ֱ ַ
ֶ ַ ְ
ֲ ֶ ֵ ֱ
4.
Job 22:13
׃םֹדס־ד ַע להאֶיּו He [migrated and] pitched his tent until [he came] to
Sodom.
Gen 13:12
e Another source of structural ambiguity associated with prepositions can also be
clarified by considering ellipsis. A prepositional phrase may refer to all the actors and
the action of a clause in which it occurs, as in # 5.
[Page הוהי־תא וּסּנת אֹ ל Do not put YHWH your God to the test as you tested
225]
5.
ר ֶשׁ א ַכּ ם֑ כיהלֹא (him) in Massah.
׃הסָּ ַמּ ַבּ םתי ֶ סִּ נִ
Deut 6:16
Here הסמבּ applies to the testing, the perpetrators, and the victim. Sometimes,
however, a prepositional phrase refers only to a subject or an object, and the
ambiguity may be said to result from ellipsis of a relative clause. 131
6. ם ַער ֑֫ ַ רתֶ סֵ֫ בּ ְ ךָנְ ֶעא ֶ֫
I (SUBJECT), [who am] in the hidden place of thunder,
answer you. 132
7.
Ps 81:8
ךָיתי ִ֑֫ זִ ח ֲ שׁדֶ ֹקּ֫ בּ ַ ן ֵכּ 133
So I see you (OBJECT) [who are] in the sanctuary.
8. אי ִצוֹמ . . . םיהלֹ ִ אֱ
תוֹר֑ ָשׁוֹכּבּ ַ םירי ִ סִ א ֲ
Ps 63:3
God…is the one who brings out prisoners (OBJECT)
[who are] in fetters (not brings out prisoners from
fetters). 134
130
See GKC §119ee / p. 384; Pardee, UF 8: 246, 283.
131
Earlier scholars occasionally refer to these and similar patterns as “pregnant”
constructions, viz., “pregnant with expressed meaning.”
132
See Pardee, UF 9: 223; note wyr˓m bs̆mym in Ps 18:14 and yr˓m mn-s̆mym in the
parallel text in 2 Sam 22:14.
133
See Pardee, UF 9: 212; on Ugaritic phy b, see 7: 365.