An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

7. וּנאט֫ ָ ח ָ וּז הוהי ֑ אוֹלהֲ וֹל
8. תָּ ְנ ַכ֫ ָשׁ הז ֶ ןוֹיּ ִצ־רהַ ׃וֹבּ
10.
Was it not YHWH whom we have sinned against
(him)?
Isa 42:24
Mount Zion which you dwell on (it)
Ps 74:2
A z form can also be used in a so-called independent relative clause.
9. ׃יב־וּכ ִ ְפּהְ ֶנ יתִּ ְבהַ ֫ א־ה ָ זֶ וְ Those I love have turned against me.
׃הרָ ֵפּ֫ סַ אֲ ו ַ יתי ִ זִ֫ ח־ה ָ זֶ ְ
Job 19:19
ו That which I have seen I will tell you.
Job 15:17
c In considering the quasi-relative or determinative use of the z forms, we need to
reconsider the basic sense of הז. 21 From the use of הז and its equivalents as an
attributive demonstrative (e.g.,’the person, this one’), there developed a substantive
use: ‘the person, the one of (something),’ which is equivalent to ‘the person who…’
By definition z forms governing another substantive are not relative pronouns, but
since they bracket a qualifying substantive with a preceding substantive they may be
regarded in this use as quasi-relatives. In such constructions their deictic force and
their basic appositive syntax can still be felt strongly. (It was out of this quasi-relative
use that the relative uses treated above developed.)
d The determinative may be used in dependent relative clauses. 22
11.
יני ַ ס ִ ה ֶז הוהי ֑ ינֵ ְפּ ִמ 23
before YHWH, the one of Sinai
Judg 5:5
12. ׃ם ָלוֹע ְל וּז רוֹדּה־ן ַ ִמ from the generation, the one of everlasting (i.e., the
everlasting generation)
Ps 12:8
It also occurs in independent relative clauses, in true determinative usage, 24 either
as a predicate in a nominal clause (# 13) or as a construct (# 14).
21
Allegro, “Demonstrative Element z,” 311.
22
Isa 23:13 may be another example, but cf. 17.4.1.
23
Cf. ˒Ihym zh syny in Ps 68:9. It may be that in origin the phrase zh syny was an
independent clause, as is assumed by, e.g., F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew
Epic (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1973) 164; this would be in conformity with
comparable usage in other Semitic languages.
24
The independent use is clearest in Arabic, in such Qur˒anic phrases as dū sa˓atin ‘he
of wealth (i.e., a rich man).’ dū ˓usrin ‘he of poverty (i.e., a debtor),’ dū mirratin ‘he
of wisdom (i.e., Muhammad),’ dū haṭṭin ˓aẓīmin ‘he of great fortune,’ dū l-˒awtād
‘Lord of Stakes (i.e., Pharaoh),’ and the divine titles, dū l-faḍli l-˓aẓīmi ‘Lord of the
Grace Unbounded,’ dū l-qūwati ‘Lord of Power,’ and dū l-˓arši (l-majīd) ‘Lord of the