An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

2.
3.
5.
הזֶ ָלּה ַ שׁיאִ ה־י ָ מ ִ Who is that man (classification)?
ב ָע ָכּ ה ֶלּא־י ֵ֫
מִ
ה ָניפוּע ֑ ֶ֫
תּ ְ
Gen 24:65
Who are these that fly like a cloud?
Isa 60:8
The demonstrative הז is sometimes added after ימ (17.4.3c).
4. ר ַענּ ַ֫
ה ַ הז־י ֶ מ־ן ִ ֶבּ Whose son (I wonder) is the lad?
דוֹב ָכּה ַ ךְ ֶל ֶמ ֫ הז ֶ י ִ
6. ר ֶשׁ א ֲ ה ֶעֹר הז־י ֶ מוּ ִ
׃ינָ ָפל ְ דֹמ ֲעַי
1 Sam 17:55
מ Who is the king of glory!? 7
Ps 24:8
Who (I wonder) is a shepherd who can stand before me?
Jer 49:19
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The pronoun may be repeated, perhaps for an emphatic purpose. 8
7. ׃םי ִכלֹה ְ ה ַ ימִ ו ָ ימ ִ Just who will be going?
Exod 10:8
The pronoun may be associated with various partitive constructions.
8. ךָידֶ֫ בָ ֲע־ל ָכב ְ ימוּ ִ Who of all your servants…?
9. יטֵ בְ ִשּׁ מ ִ דחָ א ֶ ימִ לאֵ רָ ְשִׂי
10. ךְ ֶל ֶמ־ל ֫ אֶ
וּנ ָלּ֫ ֶשּׁ מ ִ ימִ ׃לאֵ רָ ְשִׂי
11. תוֹצרָ אֲ ה ֽ ָ יהלֹ ֵ א־ל ֱ ָכבּ ְ ימִ ה ֶלּא֫ ֵ הָ
1 Sam 22:14
Which one of the tribes of Israel…?
Judg 21:8
…who of us is for the king of Israel?
2 Kgs 6:11
Who among all the gods of these lands…?
Isa 36:20
c Most of the clauses we have considered so far in this section are simple clauses. An
interrogative clause with ימ can govern another clause (cf. # 3).
12. תא ָ ר֫ ָק
ָ התָּ א ַ ימִ Who are you, that you call to the king?
7 Strictly, a rhetorical question.
8 The repetition may be related to indefinite usage. Akkadian contrasts man, mannu
‘who?’, with the compound (or reduplicating) form mamman (< man-man) ‘who
ever.’ See Wolfram von Soden, Grundriss der akkadischen Grammatik (Rome:
Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1969) 49.