An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

Most often, however, abstract denominatives in the Hiphil stem (often figurative)
tend to behave like the inwardly transitive Hiphil (cf. 27.2g), that is, the subject
causes itself to behave according to the nominal notion (e.g., perhaps, ל ֶכ ֵשׂ ֫ ‘insight,’
and certainly רהַ ֹז ֫ ‘brightness’ and ן ָבל ָ ‘white’; cf. 27.2g ## 23–24).
10. וּרהִ ֫ זַי ְ םי ִל ִכּ ְשׂ מַּ הַ וְ
And they who are wise shall shine like the brightness
עי ַ ק ֑ ִ רָ ה ָ רהַ ֹז֫ ְכּ
11.
of the firmament.
Dan 12:3
וּניבִּ֫ לַי ְ ג ֶל ֶשּׁ ֫ ַכּ They (your sins) shall become as white as snow (lit., as
snow causes [itself] to be white).
Isa 1:18
A denominative Qal can also yield a Hiphil: ער ַ ‘evil’ yields both עער Qal ‘to be
evil’ and Hiphil ‘to cause to be evil, to make (one’s actions) evil, to act evilly.’
b Constructions may develop due to figurative expressions in which the force of the
basic term or grammatical form is no longer clearly visible. Thus ם ֶכ ֶשׁ ‘shoulder’
developed the form םי ִכּ ְשׁ ה ִ ‘to shoulder (i.e., to use the shoulder)’ and with pack
animals ‘to load the backs’; since this happened early in the morning, by metonymy
םי ִכ ְשׁ ה ִ came to mean ‘to break up camp early in the morning.’
12. רחָ ָמ םתֶּ ְמ ַכּ ְשׁ הִ וְ
ם ֶכ ְכּרְ דַ ְל
And you can get up early tomorrow (and go) on your
way.
Judg 19:9
The opposite is בירִ ֱעה ֶ ‘to act in the evening,’ from ברֶ ֫
13. ם ֵכּ ְשׁ ה ַ יתִּ ְשׁ ִל ְפּה ַ שׁגִּיּ ַ וַ
בר֑ ֵ ֲעהַ וְ
ֶע ‘evening.’
The Philistine approached morning and evening.
1 Sam 17:16
Note also דגנ Hiphil ‘to act in front of, to declare,’ a reflection of the basic stance
of speaking to or reporting néged the addressee. Such lexicalizations are unpredictable
isolated areas of the stem system where semantic specialization has overtaken
systematic force.
c The function of the Hiphil with some roots cannot be classified with certainty into
any of the above types because the root is otherwise unknown. In these unclassified
instances, however, the basic semantic value of the stem is usually evident, and one
can often discern whether the form functions as a transitive or inwardly transitive, etc.
[Page ליה֑ ִ אַי ֲ אֹ לו ְ חַ רָי ְ The moon is not bright (lit., the moon does not cause
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[itself ] to be bright). 29
29
The examples in the text are both hapaxes. There are a number of more common
Hiphil-only roots which are apparently isolates: ybl Hiphil ‘to conduct,’ ydy Hiphil
‘to praise’ (probably not the same root as ydy Qal, Piel ‘to throw’), ykḥ Hiphil ‘to
decide,’ šlk Hiphil ‘to throw,’ perhaps šqy Hiphil ‘to (give) water (to drink).’