An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

5. ךָ ְשׁ פְ ַנ תוַּ א־ל ַ ָכבּ ְ קרַ . . ר ָשׂ ָב תָּ לְ ַכאָ ו ְ ח ַבּז ְתִּ
ךָיר֑ ֫ ֶ ָע ְשׁ־ל ָכבּ ְ .
6. הֹמלֹ ְשׁ בהַ אֶיּ ֱ וַ
ת ֶכלֶ ֫ ָל הוהי־תאֶ קר ַ ויב֑ ִ א ָ דוִ דּ ָ תוֹקּחֻ ְבּ
חַ ◌ֵ ◌ֱ ֵבּז ַמ
ְ אוּה תוֹמ ָבּ ַבּ
׃ריטִ ְק ַמוּ
7. איה ִ י ִכּ . . . םתֶּ רְ ַמ ְשׁוּ
יני ֵ ֵע ְל . . . ם ֶכתְ ַמ ְכחָ ןוּע ְמ ְשִׁי ר ֶשׁ א ֲ םימּ֑ ִ ַעהָ ה ֶלּא֫ ֵ ה ָ םי ִקּ חֻ ה־ל ַ ָכּ תאֵ ם ָכח־ם ָ ַע קר ַ וּר ְמ אָ וְ
׃הזֶּ ה ַ לוֹדגָּ ה ַ יוֹגּה ַ ןוֹב ָנוְ ]whenever your soul desires you can slaughter and eat
meat…in any city gate.
Deut 12:13, 15
Solomon loved YHWH (and showed it) by following the
practices of his father David. However [this devotion
was not perfect—] he offered sacrifices and incense on
the high places.
1 Kgs 3:3
Observe them…for such will be your wisdom…in the
eyes of the peoples, who will hear (of) all these statutes
and will say, “[On the face of it we might have thought
otherwise] but this great nation is a wise and discerning
people.”
Deut 4:6
d As with the emphatic adverbs, there is a series of restrictive adverbs in k: ךְא ַ and
ן ֵכא; ָ some uses of יכּ also deserve notice here. The most common of the restrictive
adverbs, ךְא, is used as an item adverb 93 and a clausal adverb restricting what
precedes generally, offering clarification (# 8) or instruction (## 9–10), 94 or
highlighting an unexpected conclusion (# 11). 95 The two uses can be found together in
a single passage (# 12). Unlike ךְא, ןכא reverses or restricts what immediately
precedes (## 13–14); 96 like ךְא, ןכא has a general emphatic sense (# 15), 97 indicating
“a sudden recognition in contrast to what was theretofore assumed.” 98
8. ר ֶשׁ א ֲ שׂמֶ ר־ל ֫ ֶ ָכּ
הֶיהִי ְ ם ֶכל ָ יח־אוּה ַ
Every moving thing with life in it is yours for
food.…Nevertheless [this is on the understanding that]
93 In the senses ‘even, only, surely’; see, e.g., Gen 18:32, Isa 34:14–15; see Williams,
Hebrew Syntax, 65.
94 See also 1 Sam 18:17.
95 See also Gen 44:28. For the sense ‘on the contrary,’ see N. H. Snaith, “The
Meaning of the Hebrew ךְ ַ
א,” Vetus Testamentum 14 (1964) 221–25. On ˒k ‘however’
in exegesis, see Fishbane, Biblical interpretation, 184–85, 197–99.
96 See also Ps 66:19, Job 32:7–8.
97 See also Gen 28:16, 1 Kgs 11:2, Isa 40:7.
98 So W. Holladay on Jer 3:23, a difficult text; see Jeremiah (Philadelphia: Fortress,
1986), 1. 124. Holladay’s treatment of ˒kn agrees with ours, as does, for the most part,
that of Muraoka, Emphatic Words, 132–33; note also F. J. Goldbaum, “Two Hebrew
Quasi-Adverbs: ןכל and ןכא,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 23 (1964) 132–35.