An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

16. לחֵ ר־ת ָ א־ם ֶ ַגּ בהַ אֶיּ ֱ וַ
הא֑ ָ ֵלּ ִמ
17. בוֹטּ֑ מ ִ ערּ ָ תָּ ְבהַ ֫ אָ
קדֶ ֶצ ֫ ר ֵבּדּ ַמ
ִ רקֶ ֶשׁ ֫
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18.
. . . יתִּ ְצ ַפ֫ חָ
. . . י ִכּ
׃תוֹלֹע ֵמ םיהלֹ ִ א ֱ ת ַעד ַ֫
19. ישׁ֑ ִ פְ ַנ קנָ חֲ ַמ רחַ ְבתִּ וַ
׃יתוֹמ ָ ְצ ַע ֵמ תוֶ ָמ ֫
20. ה ָבר ֵח
ֲ ת ַפּ בוֹט
תִיבַּ֫ ִמ הּב־ה ֑ ָ וָ ְל ַשׁ וְ
׃ביר־י ִ חֵ ְבז ִ א ֵל ָמ
Gen 38:26
He loved Rachel rather than Leah.
Gen 29:30
You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than
speaking what is right.
Ps 52:5
For…I desire…acknowledgment of God, not ˓ōl̂ôt. 23
Hos. 6:6
So I choose strangling and death rather than these bones
of mine.
Job 7:15
A dry crust with peace and quiet is good rather than a
house full with strife.
Prov 17:1
f A third use of comparative min appears in those contexts in which the subject is
compared with an object or goal to be attained, in which case the subject may be more
than equal to the challenge or less than equal to it: such is the comparison of
capability. In this use stative verbs are much more common than adjectives.
22.
23.
21. תִיבַּ֫ ה ַ ט ַע ְמִ י־םאִ וְ
ה ֶשּׂ מ ִ תֹיהְ ִמ
ינִּ מ ֑ ֶ֫
וּר ְב ֫
24. ידָי ִ הרָ ְצק ָ רוֹצקָ הֲ
תוּדפְּ ִמ
If any household be too small for a lamb…
Exod 12:4
ָגּ They are too strong for me.
Ps 65:4
ינִּ ֶמּ ֫ ִמ םוּרָי It is too high for me.
Ps 61:3
Is my hand too short to perform redemption?
Isa 50:2
23 This understanding of the verse has a broad base of support in the tradition but has
been questioned by F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, who render,’For I desire…the
knowledge of God rather than ˓ōl̂t‘; see Hosea (Anchor Bible 24; Garden City, New
York: Doubleday, 1980) 426, 430–31.