An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

ם ִמי ִענּ ְ הַ ו ְ םיבִ הָ אֱ נֶּ הַ
2 Sam 1:23
23.4 Double-Status Species of the Niphal
a In the double-status uses of the Niphal, the subject (almost always personal) is at the
same time agent and patient (or undergoer) of the verbal action. These correspond to
reflexives and related constructions in the European languages, for example, English
‘I wash myself,’ French ‘Je me brosse les dents,’ German ‘Ich setze mich.’ As these
examples suggest, reflexive actions are not a closed or fixed category: English does
not use a reflexive for brushing the teeth, as French does, and ordinarily it does not do
so for sitting down (but cf. ‘Set yourself down’). The double-status categories other
than reflexive arise from various kinds of semantic complexity.
b A reflexive construction is one in which the subject and object of the verb refer to the
same person or thing. Niphal reflexives in the singular work straightforwardly; in
the[Page 388] plural the sense tends to be distributive (cf. English ‘We washed
ourselves,’ ‘We each washed ourselves,’ ‘Each of us washed herself’). Some Niphals
are essentially reflexive; thus, ר ַמ ְשׁ נ ִ almost always signifies ‘to guard oneself,’ םקַּ נ ִ
‘to avenge oneself,’ ן ַע ְשׁ נ ִ ‘to lean (oneself),’ קנַ חְ ֶנ ‘to hang oneself.’ 24
׃יבְ ָ יוֹא ֵמ ה ָמ ְק נָּ אִ ְ
2.
1.
וי ָל ִע שׁיא ִ ךְמֵ ָ
3. יתִּ רְ ַמ ֫ א־ר ָ ֶשׁ א ֲ לֹכבוּ ְ
וּרמ֑ ֵ֫
ָשּׁ תּ ִ ם ֶכי ֵלאֲ ו I will avenge myself on my enemies.
Isa 1:24
סִּי If a man supports himself on it…
Isa 36:6
And, with regard to everything I said to you, take care
to yourselves.
Exod 23:13
In other cases the reflexive sense is found alongside others, for example, ל ַצּ ִנ may
signify ‘to deliver oneself’ or ‘to be delivered.’
c In many situations where other languages use reflexive constructions, Hebrew does
not use the Niphal. Sometimes the reflexive relationship is expressed by means of the
prepositions ל (11.2.10d), כּ , etc., with a personal pronoun or some circumlocution,
such as שׁפנ or בבל.
4. יתֵּ ְשׁ ךְמֶ ל ֶ֫
וֹל־חקִּיּ ַ וַ
םישׁ֑ ִ נ ָ
5.
6.
ךָוֹ ֑מ ֫ ָכּ ךָ ֲערֵ ְל תָּ ְבהַ אָ ְ
Then Lamech took for himself two wives.
Gen 4:19
ו You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Lev 19:18
׃וֹבהֵ א ֲ וֹשׁפְ ַנ ת ַבהֲ א־י ַ ִכּ He loved him with the love (he had) for himself.
24 Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, 177.