An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

negated with אל (# 1), unless the verb is a negative imperative, which requires אל
before the jussive (# 2). 59
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1.
2.
א יוֹג א ָשִּׂי־אֹ ל
ברֶ חֶ֫
׃םהֶ ָל א ָשּׂ תּ־ל ִ אַ ְ
No nation shall lift a sword against a(nother) nation.
Isa 2:4
ו Do not forgive them!
Isa 2:9
Dependent verbal clauses may be negated with ןפּ for a finite purpose clause (# 3),
and יתלבל or ןמ for an infinitive clause (# 4); 60 ֶ ְ ֶ ֑ ַ ָ ָ ְ
ָ
otherwise אל is used (# 5).
3. הארִי־ןפּ עשׁה ויני ֵעו ויני ֵע ְב
Seal its eyes lest it see with its eyes.
4. תוֹשׂ ֲע ַל םתֹע ֶ רֵ ה ֲ םתֶּ אַ וְ
יתִּ לְ בִ לְ
. . . ם֑ כי ֶ תוֹב ֵ אֲ ֵמ
׃י ָלא ֵ עֹמ ַ ְשׁ
5. אֹ ל י ִכּ וּנימִ ֫ אֲ ת ַ אֹ ל םאִ ׃וּנ ֵמ ֫ אָ ת ֵ
Isa 6:10
You have been more evil in your behavior than your
forebears…in that you did not listen to me.
Jer 16:12
If you do not remain faithful, you will indeed not remain
standing.
Isa 7:9
“The Positive Force of the Hebrew Particle לב,” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft 84 (1972) 213–19; the best example is probably Isa 44:8. All Whitley’s
examples are doubted by T. Muraoka, Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical
Hebrew (Leiden: Brill, 1985) 125–27.
59
Lō˒ occurs 5,200 times and ˒al 730 times (SA/ THAT). For lō˒ as an item adverb,
note (a) compounds, e.g., lō˒-˒ēl ‘no god’ (Deut 32:21), lō˒-ḥākām ‘non- (or anti-
)wise’(Deut 32:6; cf. further GKC §152a / p. 478), as well as (b) simple adverbial use
(e.g., Jer 18:17 [39.3.2 # 3], Gen 32:29, Job 13:16). For ˒al as an item adverb, note (a)
compounds, e.g., ˒al-māwet ‘no death’ (Prov 12:28), and (b) simple use (e.g., Jer
10:24). The variation between l˒ and lw is an important source of Kethiv-Qere
variation; see J. Barr, “A New Look at Kethibh-Qere,” Oudtestamentische Studiën 21
(1981) 19–37, at 31. Both lō˒ and ˒al are used alone, as the equivalent of reduced
verbal clauses, with the sense ‘no!’ (lō˒ in Gen 42:10 and so read for lô in 1 Sam
10:19; ˒al in Gen 33:10). See Ziony Zevit, “Expressing Denial in Biblical Hebrew and
Mishnaic Hebrew, and in Amos,” Vetus Testamentum 29 (1979) 505–9. On the
semantics of negation, see G. E. Whitney, “Lō˒ (‘Not’) as ‘Not Yet’ in the Hebrew
Bible,” Hebrew Studies 29 (1988) 43–48.
60
The preposition mn is used to form negative infinitive (notably result) clauses (e.g.,
Isa 5:6); cf the examples cited in 38.3c.