An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

ֵ ְ ַ ִ ְ ֶ ֫
3. םארא םינ ָפ־אֹ לו ףרֹע Jer 44:17
I will show them (my) neck and not (my) face.
4. ה ָמ הֵ ְבּה ַ לֹכּ ִמ
ךָ ְל־חקַּ תּ ִ הרוֹה ָ טְּ הַ
שׁיא ִ ה ָע ְב ִשׁ ה ָע ְב ִשׁ
ה ָמ הֵ ְבּה־ן ַ ִמוּ וֹתּ֑ ְשׁ אִ וְ
איה ִ הרֹה ָ ט ְ אֹ ל ר ֶשׁ אֲ
׃וֹתּ ְשׁ אִ ו ְ שׁיא ִ םִינ ַ֫
ְשׁ
Jer 18:17 Oriental manuscripts 55
Take with you seven male-female pairs of every
kind of clean animal and a male-female pair of
every kind of not clean animal.
Gen 7:2
In the first two examples the negative אל stands before the verb, though in the
first the negated element is the adverb דוע and in the second the negated element is
the object הער. In ## 3–4, the item negative אל stands before the specific item
negated. 56 The preference for emphasis and restriction on the clausal level, rather than
on the item level, is similar to the treatment of negation. Indeed Hebrew has only one
important item adverb that is not principally a clausal adverb and more commonly
used as such, דאמ (## 5–6). 57
5. ַ
הֹּב ָגּ רה־ל ַ א ֶ ינִ חי ֵ֫ נְי ִ וַ
דֹא ְמ
6. לוֹדגּ ָ לִיחַ֫ . . . וּדמְ ַעַיּ וַ
׃דֹא ְמ־דֹא ְמ
He led me to a very high mountain.
Ezek 40:2
They stood up…a very, very great troop.
Ezek 37:10
A variety of clausal adverbs can be used as item adverbs, usually in a heightened
sense and often in poetry; some of these uses are mentioned below.
b There are three groups of clausal adverbs. The negatives are best considered in
connection with the constructions they occur in, and we provide only a brief summary
here. The emphatic and restrictive adverbs, both often treated as types of
conjunctions, require more discussion here.
39.3.3 Negative Adverbs
a There are five principal negative adverbs; each is specialized in function, though
some crossover is found with all but the rarest. 58 Independent verbal clauses are
55 MT has the Qal, ˒er˒ēm.
56 Compare # 3 with Jer 2:27.
57 Note that postposed hû˒ and hî˒ are also used as item adverbs (‘precisely’).
58 See Joüon §160/ pp. 488–95. The other negative particles are largely confined to
verse: teal is a clausal negative used as lō˒ is, while b e li is used largely as ˒ên is; biltî is
usually an item adverb (‘except’). On the positive force of bal, see C. F. Whitley,