An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

Isa 45:12, 15
Related to the uses of ןכא to restrict the immediately preceding clause is the
restrictive use of יכּ (# 16) 100 and םא יכּ (# 17) in a clause after a negative clause; the
combination םא יכּ can be used to restrict generally preceding material (# 18). 101
16. ארָ ְק ת־אֹ ִ ל ךָתְּ ְשׁ א ִ ירַ
ָשׂ As for your wife Sarai—you shall not call her Sarai.
י ִכּ יר֑ ָ ָשׂ הּ ָמ ְשׁ־תאֶ Rather, her name is Sarah.
׃הּ ָמ ְשׁ הרָ ָשׂ
102
17. . . . םבּ ֑ ָ ןתֵּ חַ תְ ת ִ אֹ לוְ םהֶ ָל וּשׂ ֲעת ַ הֹכּ־םא־י ִ ִכּ
18. י ִכּ אֹ לּ וּר ְמאֹ יּוַ ׃וּני ֵל֫ ָע הֶיהִי ְ ךְ ֶל ֶמ־ם ֫ אִ
Gen 17:15
You shall not intermarry with them.…Rather, you shall
treat them in the following way.
Deut 7:3, 5
They said, “No! Rather, let there be a king over us.
1 Sam 8:19
e Of the remaining, less frequent restrictive adverbs, only לבָ א ֲ exhibits the three
patterns seen earlier: it can restrict an immediately preceding clause (# 19) or
generally[Page 672] preceding materials (## 20–21), and it can mark a reversal in
expectations or beliefs (# 22). 103 This last, emphatic use is missing from ספא and
םלוא. 104 Both ספא and יכּ ספא restrict general preceding material, offering
clarifications (## 23–25), and the latter combination can also restrict the immediately
preceding clause (# 26). The particle םלוּא ָ serves only to restrict a clause in relation
to a preceding clause (## 27–28). 105
19. יתִּ ַבל ְ . . . יתי ִ אִ רָ וְ
םי ִשׁ נָ אֲ הָ ו ְ האָ רְ ַמּ ה־ת ַ אֶ
וּאר ָ אֹ ל ימִּ ִע וּיה ָ ר ֶשׁ אֲ
לבָ א ֲ הא֑ ָ רְ ַמּ ה־ת ַ אֶ
ה ָל ְפֽ נ ָ ה ָלֹד ג ְ הדָ רָ חֲ
וּחרְ ְבִ יּו ַ םהי ֶ ֵל ֲע
I alone…saw the vision. The men who had been with
me did not see the vision. Rather, great terror fell on
them, and they fled into hiding.
100 Cf. Amos 7:14
101 Cf. Ps 1:2.
102 The accompanying and parallel name change for Abraham in Gen 17:5 has w.
103 The standard view (see, e.g., Muraoka, Emphatic Words, 128–29) that ˒bl has an
“early” meaning (in Genesis) and a distinct “late” meaning (in Daniel, cf. 2 Chr 1:4)
is dubious; cf. n. 90. The particle biltî is apparently an item restrictive adverb in Num
11:6 and a clausal restrictive adverb in Isa 10:4.
104 The adverbial ending -ām is found on ˒wlm.
105
With ˒wlm, contrast the related particle ˒wly ‘perhaps’ (39.3.4b). For ˒wlm, see also
the cases in Gen 48:19, Exod 9:16.