An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

a In sentences made up of more than one clause, the cohortative may be found in
dependent purpose clauses and in the protasis (‘if’) or apodosis (‘then’) clauses of
conditional sentences. These uses are closely related to its role in independent clauses
to express self-inclination with the mood of dubiety.
b With the nuance of purpose or intended result the cohortative form often occurs after
another volitional form (## 1–3; cf. 34.6) and sometimes after a question (## 4–6).
1. ה ָלכֹא ֑ ֵ֫
ו ְ י ִלּ האי ָ בִ֫ הָ וְ And bring it to me so that I may eat.
2. ן ַע ַמ ֫ לְ
. . . ינִ ֵנ֫ ְנחָ ךָיתֶ ֫ לָּ הִ תּ־ל ְ ָכּ הרָ ְפּסַ אֲ
3. ינֹדא ָ ַל רח֫ ַ ִי אנ־ל ָ אַ
הרָ ֵ֫בּ דַ אֲ וַ
4. . הוהי ַל אי ִב ָנ הֹפּ ןיאֵ הַ
׃וֹתוֹא ֵמ ה ָשׁ רְ דְ נִ וְ
. .
5.
ה ָעדָ֫ נֵ ו ְ שׁאֹ ר ֵמ דיגִּ ה־י ִ ִ
6. שׁדֶ ֹח֫ ה ַ רֹב ֲעַי יתַ ָמ
ר ֶב ֶשּׁ ֫ הרי ָ בִּ֫ ְשׁ נַ וְ
Gen 27:4
Have mercy on me…that I may recite all your praises.
Ps 9:14–15
Let not my Lord be angry, that I may speak. 23
Gen 18:30; cf. v 32
Is there not a prophet of YHWH here…that we might
inquire of him?
1 Kgs 22:7
מ Who told of this from the beginning, so we could hear?
Isa 41:26
When will the New Moon be over that we may sell
grain?
Amos 8:5
In conditional sentences, the cohortative can be used in either the protasis (## 7–
9) 24 or the apodosis (## 10–12).
7. לוֹא ְשּׁ ה ָעי ִצּ֫ אַ וְ
. . . םאִ ׃ ָךּנֶּ ֫הִ
8. ךְ ֵשׂ חֵי־אֹ ָ ל הרָ ְבּד ַא־ם
ֲ אִ
יב֑ ִ אֵ ְכּ
9.
׃יב־וּר ִ ְבּדְי ַ ו ַ ה ָמוּק֫ ָ
10. תִי ַשׁ ֫ רימִ ָשׁ ינִ ֵנ֫ תִּי־י ְ מִ
הּ ָב ה ָע ְשׂ פְ א ֶ ה ָמ חָ ְל ִמּ ַבּ
If…I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
Ps 139:8
If I speak, my pain is not relieved.
Job 16:6
א When I appear, they ridicule me.
Job 19:18
If only there were briars and thorns confronting me I
would march against them in battle. 25
23 The sequence in Judg 6:39 is nearly identical.
24 Blau, “Hebrew Verb Formation,” 134, says that there are no further examples.
25 For the idiom in this and the following example, see B. Jongeling, “L’Expression
my ytn dans l’Ancien Testament,” Vetus Testamentum 24 (1974) 32–40.