The Verbal System in the Hebrew Text of Ben Sira (STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS) 9004136673, 9789004136670

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THE VERBAL SYSTEM IN THE HEBREW TEXT OF BEN SIRA

STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS EDITED BY

T. MURAOKA AND C.H.M. VERSTEEGH

VOLUMEXLI THE VERBAL SYSTEM IN THE HEBREW TEXT OF BEN SIRA

THE VERBAL SYSTEM IN THE HEBREW TEXT OF BEN SIRA BY

W TH. VAN PEURSEN

BRILL LEIDEN· BOSTON 2004

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on http://catalog.Joe.gov

ISSN 0081-8461 ISBN 90 04 13667 3

© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill Nv, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any farm or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or othemise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items far internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill provided that the appropn·ate fies are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 2 2 2 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... xv Preface .. Abbreviations and sigla ......................................................................... xvii

PART ONE SIRA AND ITS LANGUAGE BEN OF THE WISDOM Chapter 1: Preliminaries .. ········· 3 3 . ......................... 1.1. Introductory remarks. 3 language Hebrew .. the of phases 1.2. The 6 ... . 1.3. Hebrew and Aramaic. 1.4. Basic assumptions concerning the verb in Biblical and .... 7 post-Biblical Hebrew ...... 9 Chapter 2: The book of Ben Sira and its textual transmission.. 9 2.1. Author, provenance and date ........................................ 1 0 2.2. Content and genre ........... 11 2.3. The Hebrew manuscripts I3 .......................... ........................... versions Latin and 2.4. The Greek 14 2.5. The Syriac version 15 2.6. The alleged 'recension' of the Hebrew text 2.7. The place of the extant Hebrew manuscripts in the textual ... 19 history . ..23 2.8. Casus: Sir. 15: 14 25 ................ . 2.9. Conclusion.. .... 2 7 Chapter 3: Orthography of the Hebrew manuscripts. ...... ............. . 2 7 3.1. Introduction . ... 28 3.2. The development of Hebrew orthography 30 transmission.... 3.3. Orthography and textual 32 . 3.4. Methodologica l concerns. 3.5. General description of the orthography of the Ben Sira 33 Manuscripts letter vowel a as waw of 3.6. The use ······ 36

vi

CONTENTS

3.6.1. 6 (Tiberian ~olem) originating from the .. .36 . diphthong *aw 3.6.2. 6 (Tiberian ~olem) originating from long *a .......... .37 39 3.6.3. Participle qal active 3.6.4. u (Tiberian sureq I qihhu!f) originating from ····································· 39 . long *ii.... .39 3.6.5. 6 (Tiberian ~olem), originating from short *u 3.6.6. Imperfect, imperative, and infinitive qal active ...... 40 3.6.7. o (Tiberian qame,~ qa(an) originating from ....... 42 short *u 3.6.8. u (Tiberian qihhu!f I sureq) originating from ..43 short *u ............. .................. ..... ... . . ..................... _44 3. 7. The use of yod as a vowel letter. . 3. 7 .1. e (Tiberian !fere) originating from the diphthong ............... 44 *ay ............ 44 3.7.2. i (Tiberian ~iriq) originating from long *t 3.7.3. The i of the hifil ............................................................. 44 3.7.4. e (Tiberian !fere) originating from short *i.............. 46 ........ .47 3.7.5. Thee( e in Tiberian Hebrew) is preserved in the jussive, imprt., and infin. abs., 114 but it has been lengthened in the full impf., the perf., and the infin. cstr.I 15 An impor107 Barr (1989) 138; Andersen-Forbes (1986) 92, 136-141; Freedman-Forbes-Andersen (1992) 67-68; cf. also above, § 3.4. lOS With this preposition MT has 136 defective spellings, against 283 plene; AndersenForbes (1986) 171. 109 Sanders (1965) 12. 11 0 Andersen-Forbes (1986) 92, 94. 111 Smend (1906a) xvi. 112 Strugnell (1969) 110. 113 Barr (1989) 82-85; Andersen-Forbes (1986) 166. 114 See below,§ 3.7.5. 115 The i in the full impf. was lengthened on the analogy of '1"!! verbs; the perf. and the infin. cstr. were formed on the model of the impf.; see LMP § 48; JM § 54 a.

45

ORTHOGRAPHY

tant factor determining plene or defective spelling appears to be the attachment of affixes or suffixes. 11 6 In the Ben Sira manuscripts defective spelling of the i of the hifil is found in the following cases. 1. Ms M. Defective spelling in 41: 15 J1Jt;11J, ]::l~1J. (Compare the plene spelling in, e.g., 43:2 li'::l71J and 43:9 p'7ill1J7.)I 17

2. 11 QPsa. Defective spelling in xv 15 ers. I IS

7Jlii11,

xx 3 7wn' and some oth-

3. Ms B. In MS B the i of the hifil seems to be unrecorded in three cases, but the first, 42:7 1p::in, is part of a corrupt reading; instead of Btxt 7' 1p::in and Bmg 7' 1p::i1J we should read with M 7'p::in; in 45: 13 ]1J~i1 can be analysed as a hifil, but also as a hofal; 119 and the orthography of 50:22 ~?::l1J is related to the encroachment of i1"? verbs on the domain of the ~"? verbs, which is even attested in BH. In Standard Hebrew Spelling, too, we find the ptcp. ~?::l1J (Judg. 13:19) and the perf. ~':?m (Deut. 28:59). 120 4. Ms E. One example with the suffixed perf. in 33[36]:9 7iD7pi11; compare the plene spelling of the perf. without suffix in 33[36]:12 iD'7pi1.12 1 In the list above we have not included the three possible examples of a defectively spelled infin. cstr., namely 4:31 (C) ::liDil nll::l1 'and in time of giving back', 16:25 (A) .1JJ:;i1:::i1 'and by measure', 38: 10 (Btxt[ +mg]) C'lEl 7::ii11J1 'and of partiality'. We will see in§ 15.2 that we can read these forms as ::liDi), SJJ:;iT, and 7;)iJ (or 7;)i1), interpreting them as pseudo-absolute-infins. There are two other possible cases of the defectively spelled hifil. The first is 6:32 (A) C7.ilri 'you will become shrewd'. In BH we find the causative hifil 10'7.!J' 'they make crafty' in Ps. 83:4, and C7.!J' 'he is crafty, shrewd' in 1 Sam. 23:22, Prov. 15:5, 19:25. The form Cl7.!J' can be read as a hifil as well. The intransitive hifil of Cl7.!J is also employed in MH. 122 In 1 Sam. 23:22 Cl7.!J' is combined with an infin. abs. qal, but that does not pose a problem to its interpretation as a hifil, for in BH the infin. abs. qal can be connected with a finite verb of one of the derived conjugations. 123 However, Barth (and in his footsteps Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley) considers C7.!J' as an i-impf. of the qaJ.124 116 Barr (1989) 25-32, 81-85. On the hifil see also§ 6.2.1. 117 Strugnell (1969) l 10. Sanders (1965) 12. Cf. Beentjes (1981) 202 'wordt het toevertrouwd'. The manuscript is partly damaged in this giace, but there is not enough space for ]'iJ~il (Segal). 1 O Cf. JM §§ 78 g, 791; GKC §§ 75 nn-rr; Qimron (1976) 212. 121 See our remark at the beginning of this paragraph on the attachment of suffixes and affixes. 122 Jastrow (1886-1903) 1120a. 123 JM § 123 p; GKC § 113 w. I 24 Barth (1889) 180; GKC § 63 n. 118

119

46

CHAPTER THREE

The second possible example of a defective hifil is 43:17 (M) n7EJ'. 12 5 Of the Aramaic root ni.i we find in the Bible only the ptcp. qal fem. plur. rlh7El in Ezek. 13:20. Because of the orthography, Strugnell suggests translating n7EJ' intransitively with 'flies' (qal), rather than transitively 'He lets fly', which would mean that the i of the hifil is spelled defectively. 12 6 However, even apart from the fact that defective orthography of the hifil is not unattested in M, one should note that this verb can be a pie!, as in MH. 127

3.7.4

e (Tiherian :fere) originating from

short *i

The MT has consistent defective spelling fore< *i. There are some exceptions, e.g. Job 6:27 Cl:J2'7. 128 Even in QH plene spelling of e < *i is rare. 12 9 In MH it is well-attested.130 1. Ms Mand llQPsa. In Me< *i is spelled defectively. Sanders mentions a few examples of plene spelling from l lQPsa, e.g. IV 13 7J'n7:::J.iD, x 4 Ci'7'T. 13 1 In M there are two possible exceptions. The first is 41:21[20] iD'7ni1, which BBS classifies as either an infin. or an imprt. In case of an imprt. or an (adverbial) infin. abs. the vowel represented by yod would be a Jere in Tiberian vocalisation (iD'70;J), but it is also possible to analyse this form as an infin. cstr. (iD'7rr;J). 132 Another exception would be rr1nr, in 43:16 ]O'rl •r1nr, 1r170lli, should we read this verb with BBS as a pie! ('His word reproaches the south wind'). In BH we find the pie! of =iin in the sense 'to reproach', but in Sir. 43:16 the verb probably means 'to drive on, stimulate', a meaning that is attested for the Afel of -1!>'\.u in Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic ('His word drives on the south wind'). 133 With this interpretation "]'7nri can equally well be analysed as a hifil. Segal, who only had the defective =iinri of MS B, read a piel and considered it as denominative of '77h 'autumn' ('His word makes the south wind cold', in order to bring the snow mentioned in v. 17).

2. Ms A. Plene spelling occurs frequently, e.g. 4:3 7J'JD1J1J, 10:6 l.''7?, 12:9 l.''7 (2x), 13:8 '7'Dn, 14:16 ]'n7; 134 imprt. hifil: 7:17 ?':liDi1, 7:29 iD'7pi1, 9:8 Ci'?l.'i1, 12:7[5] 7'pi1; 135 impf. hifil of l.'"l.' verbs: 8:16 rl.'n; impf. piel: 10:6 Ci'?iZJri; 136 imprt. piel: 7:23 7'0'; and further with the suffix 3rd 125 Thus BBS; Beentjes has ill!ll in his edition and :77;:J' in his 'Errata and Corrigenda'.

Strugnell (1969) 117. Cf. Jastrow (1886-1903) 1223a; Skehan-Di Lella (1987) 490. 128 Barr (1989) 138-149; Andersen-Forbes (1986) 92, 135-136, 138-141; FrcedmanForbes-Andersen (1992) 67-68; Cowley-Neubauer (1897) xxxvi. 129 Andersen-Forbes (1986) 310; Kutscher (1974) 151-156. 130 Weinberg (1985) 12, 15. 131 Sanders (1965) 12. 132 § 14.11 (E). 133 Payne Smith (1903) 159a; Schulthess (1903) 70a. In Syriac the Pae! of this verb is attested as well. 134 In the manuscript there is a seghol under the taw. 135 Deriving from either llp or lp'. 136 In the manuscript there is a seghol under the lamed. 126 127

ORTHOGRAPHY

47

pers. masc. sing. attached to the impf. and the imprt.: 6:36 7i1'7niD7, 11:12 7i1'7llJ'7, 15:14 7i1'iiiD'7. 137 Perhaps we can add here 9:4 nJ'JJQ (ptcp. piel), but in the manuscript there is a shwa under the gimel. 3. Ms B. In this manuscript, too, plene orthography is frequent, e.g. 36:25[30] 7'7J, 37:6 7':m, 40:5 nJ'iD, 41:l l'?iD, 43:20 nJ'~; imprt. hifil: 36[33]:3 =-J'Ji1, 36:7 [33:8] 7'lli1, 36:7 [33:9] ll'J::li11, 36:8 [33:10] iD'i1i1, 37:13 r::ii1, 38:16 ::l'ii1; impf. hifil of ll"ll verbs: 38:21 ll'7ii; imprt. piel: 10:25 :J':Jn (2x), 30:12 f'~7; impf. nifal: 36:16[21] 1J'Q~'- Bmg: 15:5 1i1ll'7, 32[35]:l p::i1, 32[35]:5 7'T, 41:6 pa, 41:21 lliDi1'Q; imprt. hifil: 36:6 [33:7] 7'7~i1; imprt. piel: 7:21 (10:25) :J'::li1. 138 4. Mss C and D. The orthography in MSS C and D is more defective than that in MSS A and B, but plene spelling for e < *i does occur in some cases. In C we find defective spelling in 36:25[30] 77J, (B: 7'7J); imprt. hifil: 7: 17 ?::JiDn (A: ?'::JiDi1); imprt. piel: 7:23 70' (A: 7'0'). Plene writing occurs in 5:12 7'll'7; imprt. hifil: 7:25 [~]'~7i1; 139 impf. piel: 36:26[31] :J':JO'. In D defective spelling occurs in 36:25[30] 77J (B: 7'7J), 37:6 1::in (B: 7'::ln); imprt. hifil: 37:15 7iilli1. Plene spelling is attested in 37:2 ll'7 (B: ll7), 37:24 7i1'~77; imprt. hifil: 37:10 D'?lli1; suffix 3rd pers. masc. sing. attached to impf.: 37:24 1i1'7iD~'7. Plene spelling of an impf. piel is possibly attested in 37:30 pp'. 140 5. Mss E and F. In Ee< *i is always unrecorded. See, for example, 32[35]: 18 r":J1 (2x); imprt. hifil 33:24 [30:32] ?nJi1, 33:26, 27 [30:34, 36] 7::llli1; impf. piel 32[35]:17 7i1~'7, 33:26 [30:34] iDP::l'. In F the situation is similar, e.g. imprt. hifil: 32[35] :3 llJ~i17; impf. piel: 32[35]: 17 7n~'7; imprt. piel: 32[35]:3 ??a; the only case of plene spelling for e < *i is found in 33 [36] :4 pi1, to be discussed in the following paragraph. 3.7.5 Thee(< *i)ofthehifzl In the preceding paragraph we included hifil forms that in Tiberian Hebrew require a :;ere. These forms follow the same orthographical practice that is attested for other cases of e < *i. Thus the spelling of the imprt. of the hifil (Tiberian ":J~piJ) is often plene in MSS A and B, either plene or defective in C and D, and defective in E, F (except for one 137 Possibly due lo scribal metathesis n' > 'n (§ 3.7.2). 138 7:21 is written in a smaller script between the lines at 10:25, according to Skehan-Di

Lella by another hand. 139 Cf. JM § 78 i. 140 BBS reads a pie!, but according to Smend a hifil is possible as well; compare the Syriac Afel .,or e is unrecorded. The only exception is 33[36]:4 ]'Ji1, but in Tiberian Hebrew the spelling and vocalisation of this form is complicated (cf. Josh. 4:3 p;:i).17

The other question we have to deal with is whether we are allowed to consider a defectively spelled hifil ( or qal of an '"SJ verb) as a representation of the full impf. In the verb classes where the i is originally long, that is, in the hifil of 'Y'S! verbs and the qal of '"SJ verbs, this is unlikely, since defective spelling of i hardly ever occurs in the Ben Sira manuscripts. With these verbs defective spelling of the impf. is found only in environments where we expect the short form, namely in MS M: 42:12 pn ?~, 43:14 =-]Sl'7; Amg: 10:13 ~:.-1; MS B: 31[34]:16 ~sin ?~, 43:14 =-]Sl'1, 45:5 IJ[l'1, 45:6 IJ7'1, 45:19 ~:.-1, 47:4 70'1, 47:l l !J7'1, 47:14 =-i~rn, 50:24 Dp'7, 51:120 IJ7'7; Bmg: 31[34]:16 ~sin ?~;MSC: 7:24 [?~] 7~n; MS D: 37:29 ,m ?~. MS E: 33[36]:ll 1JiD'1. With the hifil of the other verb classes the situation is more complicated. The length of the i-vowel is disputed and in the MT defective spelling is found a number of times. In the Ben Sira manuscripts it is found in MSS A, B, E, and F in the following cases. Ms A: 4:27 si~n ?~, 7:261o~n ?~, 10:41osi-, 10:14 :.tD'7, 13:111o~n ";~; Ms B: 31[34]:18 L.;,~ ~iD7ri, 42:7 7p:m, 46:20 7J'1, 49:8 7J'1, 50:24 ]0~'; MS E: 33:30 [30:38] 1rnn ";~; MS F: 31[34]:31 n:,1n ?~. In other forms of the hifil (perf., ptcp.) defective spelling of the i/l is only found in MS B 45:13 ][O]~i1, 50:22 ~?:li'Ji1, and MS E 33[36]:91iD7pi11. However, 45:13 (B) ][O]~i1 may also be read as a hofal, 50:22 (B) ~?:li'Ji1 may be formed on the model of i1"? verbs, and in 33 [36] :9 (E) 1iD7pi11 the defective spelling is related to the attachment of the object suffix (cf. in the same manuscript in 33[36]: 12 iD'7pi1). 18 It seems safe to conclude that the use of the yod as a vowel letter for the i of the hifil is the rule and that impf. forms without this vowel letter (?~P') should be considered as short impfs. In almost all cases this analysis of the defectively spelled hifil impf. agrees with the syntactic environment in which it occurs. The only example of a defectively written hifil impf. in an envi17

See further§ 3.7.5.

18 See the discussion in§§ 3.7.3, 3.7.5.

86

CHAPTER SIX

ronment where we expect a full impf., 42:7 (B) 1p~m, is part of a corrupt reading in MS B.19 In the preceding discussion we saw that environments that syntactically require the short impf. take both plene and defective spellings and that in almost all cases (except for two occurrences in MSS E and F) the orthographical practice documented in the manuscripts allows us to analyse not only the defective, but also the plene forms as short impfs. However, we have not found any rule governing the choice for either plene or defective spelling. Plene spelling occurs more often after ?tli than after waw consecutive. In the Geniza manuscripts it is used in 26 out of the 37 forms (70%) preceded by ?tli; with the waw consecutive it is found only 6 out of 20 times (30%). In some cases the defective spelling may reflect vowel changes that are also attested in Tiberian Hebrew. Thus the forms 31[34]:16 (B) ~lln ?tli and 47:4 (B) 70'7 may be spelled defectively to represent respectively ~.l)l;I ?l'.ll and 10:1 as in Tiberian vocalisation, but this explanation applies only to a small part of the material. 6.4 THE SPELLING OF THE QAL OF 7"J) VERBS

In the gal of 7"J) verbs the short and the full form are marked by originally short and long u (u > 6 and u (u) in Tiberian Hebrew respectively). Here we have to determine whether a form like mp' can be interpreted as plene spelling for the short impf. (Dip:), or only as a full impf. (mp:), and whether the defective DP' may be analysed as a full impf. (op:), or only as the short form (o~: or DR:). In the MT the short impf. is spelled 315 times with waw and 805 times without one. 20 The long impf. has defective orthography 234 times and plene 693 times. 21 Plene spelling is found frequently in the Ben Sira manuscripts. In environments where we expect the short impf. it occurs only in MSS A and B in the syntagm ?~P' ?tli. Thus we find in MS A: 3:28 rnn ?tli, 4:2 nmn ?tli, 4:9 r1pr1 ?tl:7, 8:11 mm ?tli; in MS B: 11:9 77nri ?tli, 31[34]:22 ?tl:7 n:in. 22 Because of the plene spelling of *u > 6 (Tiberian f:tolem) in these manuscripts, they are not necessarily full impfs. Compare especially the plene spelling of o in the impf. of J)"J) verbs in MS A: 9:6 :i1on, 10:8 19 § 3.7.3. In that paragraph we have also seen that another possible exception, 6:32 (A) CJ7!ir7, can be read as a qal. 20 Andersen-Forbes (1986) 195. 21 Andersen-Forbes (1986) 201-202. 22 The form i:11:l' ';,~, which is found in 4:20 (A), 4:22 (C), 4:26 (A), 42:1 (B+M) does not belong to this category for in this stative verb the 6 originates from a, cf. yikbad.

87

MORPHOLOGY OF THE IMPERFECT

J7Dn; MS B: 32[35]:1 J7Dri, 47:10 ]77';23 Bmg: 37:30 ]11'.24 As with the gal of '" ll verbs and the hifil of '7" ll verbs discussed

above, the stress in the impf. of hollow roots may be moved back to the penultimate syllable in Tiberian Hebrew. This happens frequently in the impf. cons. With first or third guttural or res verbs the stem vowel becomes a, e.g. •].l.)!} (but Isa. 6:6 1J?:}), 10:1, m:1, llJ:1. In the jussive the stress tends to recede as well, but less consistently, e.g. Deut. 2:9 7~Q-?t,i;, but Prov. 9:4, 16 19:. 25 In the Ben Sira MSS A and B, plene spelling with waw is found in these environments as well: 4:2 (A) ?~ m::in, 8:11 (A) mm?~, 11:9 (B) 11nri ?~. 26 However, since the situation in Tiberian Hebrew is not uniform and since the examples from Ben Sira do not include wayyiqtols (where this phenomenon is the rule in Tiberian Hebrew), we can still leave open the possibility that the forms quoted are plene spelled short impfs. Defective spelling is remarkably rare. It is only found in MS A 6:26(25] rpn ?~7 and 16:2 (DJ llJn =) 1JJllJr1 ?~, in environments that require the short impf. That these forms are indeed short, and not defective spellings for rpr;1 cr1pr;i) and ll:;J.Q (ll1JQ), appears from the fact that in this manuscript defective spelling for u < u does not occur. 27

6.5

INVENTORY OF SHORT, FULL, AND LONG IMPERFECT FORMS

On the basis of the preceding analysis, we can select the following cases of the short, full, and long impf. A The short impf. occurs in the following cases. 1. il"? verbs (apocopated forms). Ms M: 42:11 'il', 43:18 )il'; MS A: 3:23 (A) 1Dn (?), 284:151n", 4:29 'iln, 4:30 'iln, 4:31 'iln, 5:10 'il', 5:15 8:18 iDllr1, 8:19 [6:1] 'iln, 7:1 iDlln, 7:2 t:)'7, 7:11 iJn, 7:14 ]iD'r1, 8:3 '?m, 9:15 'il', 11:22[24] 'il', 12:1 'i1'7, 27:6 'il'; MS B: 32(35]:9 J7n, 42:11 'il', 43:23 t:)'7, 29 45:15 'iln7, 46:11 'il', 47:23 'il', 48:18 t:)'7, 49:10 'iln, 50:23 'i1'7, subscript 'ii'; Bmg: 30:13 ?lln', 37:29 7m; MSC: 3:22 'il', 4:30 'ilr1, 4:31 'iln, 5:9 'iln, 7:1 illlln; Ms E: 33:31 [30:39] 'il['].

rm,

23

Thus BBS; Beentjes has j'l'.

24 In these forms the original u has remained short because of the doubling of the following

consonant, cf. above, footnote 10. 25 LMP § 57 n; JM § 80 k, cf. § 47 a, n. 2; GKC § 72 t. 26 Compare further 31:22 [34:21] (Bmg) mn, in the syntagm qtol w"yiqtol (§ 11.3.1). 27 With a very few uncertain exceptions, see § 3.6.4. 28 1r.in is a short impf. when it is a form of the verb :-nr.i, but more likely it derives from llr.l, see the comment in small print. 29 But G E(jl1HEUCTEV reflects !Jtcl'l.

88 2.

CHAPTER SIX

verbs and hifil forms. (In the following forms without matres lectionis defective orthography for i/f is unlikely.) Ms M: 42: 12 pn,

'"J)

43:14 t"JJ)'l; MS A: 4:27 si::m, 7:26 ]Ot-1117, 10:14 ::J.iD'l, 13:11 ]Ot-1117; Amg: 10:13 t-11::J.'l; MS B: 31[34]:16 0J)17, 31[34]:18 0iDl17, 42:7 7p::m, 43:14 t"JJ)'l, 45:5 DiD'l, 45:6 Cl7'l, 45:19 t-11::J.'l, 46:20 ,,,,, 47:11 Cl7'l, 47:14 =i~m, 49:8 1r1, 50:24 ]Ot-11', Dp'l, 51:120 Cli'l; Bmg: 31[34]:16 0J)17; MSC: 7:24 it-1117; D: 37:29 1m; E: 33[36]:ll CliD'l, 33:30 [30:38] ,mn; MS F: 31[34]:31 n:im, 32[35]:l ,mn. 3. Qal of l"J) verbs. (Defective spelling of u is improbable.) Ms A: 6:26[25Jrpn, 7: 11 r::J.n, 16:2 j)::J.n. B. The full impf. is attested in the following cases. 1. il"? verbs (non-apocopated forms). Ms M 42:10 il0iD17; 2QSir: 6:27 il:l[in] (?);3o MS A: 3:14 ilnon, 3:20 il?)', 4:4 m::J.n, 5:4 iliDJ)', 5:4[6] ilno', 5:7 il::ior1, 5:9 il'iln, 6:1[2] il::J.J)m, 6:4[5] il::J.i\ 6:10[11] il7Jn\ 6:21 il'iln, 6:27 il:lin, 7:8 ilpm, 8:12 ill?n, 8:15 il:JOn, 9:9 il0n (2x), 9:12 ilPJ\ 10:9 ilt-11)', 11:10 il::J.in, ilpJ\ 11:19 ilonn, 11:25 il'iln, 11:30 ilt-1:i\ 11:32 il::J.7', 12:15 il?)17', 13:3 ilW', illm', 13:8 ilrJ7n, 14:5 ilip', 14:17 il?::J.', 14:20 mil', il.lliD', 15:1 iliD.ll', 15:15 il'nn, 16:3 il'iln, 16:11 ilpr; Ms B: 11:10 ilPJ\ 15:1 iliD.ll\ 15:15 il'n[n], 16:3 il'iln, 30:12 ilPiD', 30:25 [33:13] il?.ll', 31[34]:l ilno', 31[34]:4 il'il', 31[34]:5 ilpJ', il)iD', 31[34]:16 il'iln, 32:11 [35:12] il::J.717, 32[35]:17 il0', 32[35]:18 ilOJ', 35[32]:l 7 il::J.7n, 35:21 [32:22] iliD.ll', 36:8 [33:10] iliDJ)n, 38:18 i1J::J.\ 38:24 il::J.in, 40:15 ilPJ\ 43:4 illJn, 43:13 i1lnn, 43:18 ilm', 45:24 il'iln, 50:28 mil', 51 :24 il'iln; Bmg 38: 14 i1JO', 40: 15 ilJ', 42: 10 iln::inn (2x), iliDJn, 43:5 il~J', 43:18 mil', 44:15 [i1J]iDn; 31 MSC: 5:4 il'il', 5:7 il:l017, 5:10 il'il', 5:11 i1J.lln; MS E: 32[35]:17 il0', 33[36]:4 iliDJ)17, 33[36]:ll [il]JiD'l;32 MS F: 32[35]: 17 il0', 32[35]: 18 ilOJ', 33[36]:4 iliDm. 2. "'.ll verbs and hifil forms. (Only in MSS M, E, and F is plene spelling of short i > e unlikely.) Ms M: 42:7 7'p::i[n], 42:10 J)'im, 43:6 n'it-11', 43: 16 t"J'J', t"J'inn, 43: 16[17] ?'n\ 43: 18 il'On', 43:20 ::J.'iD', t-11':lp'; Ms E: 33[36]:4 il')17, 33:20 [30:28] ?'iDOn; MS F: 33[36]:4 il')n, 31[34]:31 ::J.'ir1. 30 Thus Beentjes and Baillet-Milik-De Vaux (1962, DJD 3) 76; BBS gives no reading of 2QSir at this verse. The reconstruction is based on the reading in MS A. The ;i can also be analysed as a suffix of the third person fem. sing., cf. below, footnote 58. 31 Beentjes' edition does not have the last two letters, but the room between iiln and the following word renders it likely that two letters are missing and a form with a suffix, e.g. [o:]iiln, does not fit the context. 32 Though the ;i is restored, it is well-nigh certain that we have here a full impf. The context-form of the nun makes it impossible to read *jiil'l, and a form with a suffix like [tJJ]iil'l does not fit the context.

MORPHOLOGY OF THE IMPERFECT

89

3. Qal of n, verbs. (Only in MS M can we be certain that the waw is not a vowel letter for u > 6.) Ms M: 41:10 J.liD', 42:11 77Jri. C. With the 1st person the distribution is as follows. 1. The long impf. of the 1st person is attested in MS M: 42: 15a i17:iT~, 42:15b ilJJiD~l; llQPsa: 51:18 i1pniD~7; MS A: 16:25 i1l7'J.~; MS B: 42: 15b i17El0~7, 44: l i1??i1~, 51: 1 i17El0~, 51 :8 i17JT~7, 51:11 i1??i1~, 51 : 12 i1??i1~7, i1:i7J.~7. 2. The non-lengthened impf. of the 1st person is attested in 11 QPsa: 51:171n~, 51:18 J.7iD~, 51:20[19] 1mn~; MS A: 4:17 7'?~, 4:18 J.7iD~; MS B: 42:15a 7:iT~, 51:9 0'7~7, 51:10 Di.J77~7, 51:16[14] ??::in~,, 51:17 Jr1~, 51:18 7::ii1~, 51:19 7::iil~, 51:20[19] ~'J.~7 [.. ]n~. In the following cases a justification of our identification of the verb form is in order. 3:23 (A) 70r7 ';,~ 700 7n1':J,7: The interpretation of 70r7 is problematic. It may derive from 770 hifil (BH 'to embitter'), or from ;-no qal or hifil (BH 'to be rebellious'). Skehan and Di Lella emend poimn ';,~, which is supported by G and S, but according to Segal 70n ';,~ can be retained if we regard 700 7n1'(::i,1) as an epithet of God ('be not rebellious to Him who is more than you'). The reading of MS A can also be retained if we analyse 70r7 ';,~ as deriving from 770 in the sense of 'to be willing to fight, to have ambition' ('do not have ambitions in matters that are too high for you' or 'do not contend with someone more powerful than you'). This meaning of the root 770, which is well-attested in MH, also accounts for 41:2 (M) 1mr.in O!J~ 'lacking the will to fight'. 33 6: 1[2] (A) 7'?ll 7':i"n i1Jllr71: The interpretation of this colon is very difficult. According to BBS i1Jllr7 is either a noun (i1~.!lin 'abomination'), or an impf. pie! of i1Jll. In BH the qal of i1Jll 'to be thick, fat, gross' occurs in 1 Kgs. 12:10 and 2 Chr. 10:11 and with a figurative sense in Deut. 32:15. 34 The factitive pie! ('to make thick, fatten') is attested in MH. 35 According to Peters the expression 'to make swell someone's strength' originally had a sexual connotation, but is used here with the figurative meaning 'to make reckless'. 36 However, 'and it (your appetite) will make thick your strength upon you' or 'it will make you reckless' remains somewhat enigmatic, and both the context and the ancient versions give rise to textual emendations. 7'?ll may have entered the text from 7'?ll 'your leaves' in v. 2[3], and replaced 71iD::l 'like a bullock', which is strongly suggested by G and S. Instead of i1Jllm we should perhaps read 7llJm 'and it will destroy' with G Otaprmyi, 'it will tear apart' (cf. Isa. 5:5 MT 7llJ? i1'i11 'and it will be for destruction', G Kat ifrnm d~ Otapimy~v 'and it will be for plundering'), 37 or i1llJm with S 33 Kister (1990) 315; Kutscher (1968) 343-345; Lieberman (1968) 89-90; Kutler (1984) 115. Kutler translates Sir. 3:23 (A) with 'do not contend with that which is more powerful than you'. 34 BOB 716a; Schechter-Taylor (1899) 43. 35 Jastrow (1886-1903) 1037a. 36 Peters (1913) 55-56: 'T [= the Hebrew text, WP] HiBt sich nur iibersetzen dajJ sie schwel/en mac he deine Kraft bei dir ( ... ) i1:J!'1'1 (schwellen machen) T isl wohl urspriinglich sexucll gedacht, steht aber in iibertragenem Sinne = iibermiitig machen'. 37 Thus Skehan-Di Lella, Smend, Peters, and Ryssel (1900) 382-383. For our translation of the Hebrew 7!JJ, and the Greek ow:p1tay{i, sec BOB 129a and Liddell-Scott (1968) 410a.

90

CHAPTER SIX

=ch 'it will seek'. 38 The advantage of the latter emendation is that from ;u,:::im both A's i1:Jllm (metathesis) and G's 7ll:Jn (7 for i1) and S's =ch can be easily explained. Riiger has demonstrated that for the Hebrew verb i1ll:J ('to seek' in BH) a meaning similar to that of 7ll:J is attested by the Septuagint of Exod. 22:4, 39 and by the commentary on m. B. Qam. 1:1 inj. B. Qam. 2a. 4 0 For the moment let it suffice to state that the Hebrew i1:Jllri1 is a full impf. and that the most probable emendation, i1ll:Jm, does not invalidate this observation.

7: 11 (A) r:::in '?t-1:: In BH we find two mutually related verbs n:::i and i1T:J, both meaning 'to despise' and both constructed with -'? as in our verse. Since i1T:J is employed in contexts similar to that of 7: 11 in 4:4 (A) and 10:23 (A+B), we prefer to analyse r:::in here as deriving from i1T:J, rather than n:::i. 42:15 (M) i1lliDt-l:1: The parallel text in MS B has i17;:JOt-l:1 'I will recount'. We follow Yadin and Schrader, who derive i1lliDt-l:1 from JliD 'to teach incisively' (cf. German 'einscharfen'). 41 Skehan and Di Lella read it as a form of i1liD 'to repeat' (cf. S r!~ 'I will commemorate the works of God', is secondary, probably due to influence of Ps. 77:12 7':>l~ i1' '")").l)Q 'I will commemorate the deeds of God'. Ms M has the long impf. i17:>!~. 87 6.8 IMPERFECT CONSECUTIVE

In BH the impf. cons. of the 2nd and 3rd pers. sing. takes the short impf. when available, e.g. ").!)'1 'he went up'. Although this rule is generally followed, exceptions do occur. Thus we find with i1"'? verbs 1143 apocopated forms as against 48 non-apocopated ones. 88 In QH the short impf. is almost exclusively employed, except in lQJsa and lQSam. 89 In Ben Sira the short impf. is used consistently. It occurs in 10: 13 (Amg) ~J,'1, 10:14 (A) J,iD'\ 33[36]:ll (E 1) Dill'\ 43:14 (B+M) "7.l)'\ 43:23 (B) t;i'\ 45:5 (B) Dill'\ 45:6 (B) 07'1, 45:15 (B) 'i1m, 45:19 (B) ~J,'1, 46:20 (B) 1r1, 47:11 (B) 07'1, 47:14 (B) =-i~m, 48:18 (B) t;l'1, 49:8 (B) 7"1, 51: 120 (B) 07'1. See further§ 12.7. With 16:25 (A) 'nn '?pIDDJ nJJ'JK 'I will pour out my spirit by measure' compare Prov. 1:23 'n11 o:h nJJ'JK n,n 'behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you', where Lady Wisdom is speaking. 83 7DID n,.icK 'I will recount your name', parallel to 7';,'?nK 'I will praise you', is also found in Ps. 22:23. 84 Opening the apodosis of a conditional sentence. 85 It is likely that 51:20 (B) [.. ]nK belongs her as well; cf. p. 119, footnote 79. 86 B's n1.icK1 'il'ln nn 'what I have seen, I will recount' is also found in Job 15:17. M's ,i]]iiJKl ('I will teach incisively', see above, § 6.5) is more original. 87 On the impf. cons. see below,§ 6.8. 88 Stipp (1987); JM §§ 47 a, 79 i, m; WO§ 33.1.1; GKC §§ 49 d, 75 k. 89 Qimron (1976) 134-139, 214, (1986) 45; Kutscher (1974) 328-329; Stipp (1987) 141143. 8! 82

98

CHAPTER SIX

An exceptional full impf. is possibly attested in 4: 11 (A) 7' l)n, 'and she instructs' ,90 if we do not read this form as 7'llI;11,91 and further in 33[36]:11 (E 2) [i1]JiL1'7 'and He made different'.9 2 Syntactically we prefer to interpret this form as an impf. cons., continuing past yiqto/,93 but that implies a morphological deviation from the rule that is strictly followed in other cases. Did the context with two coordinated yiqtols trigger the full impf., or did the following guttural do so,9 4 or did MS E allow more freedom in the use of the non-apocopated form? In the other syntactic environment where classical grammar requires the short impf., namely after '?~, MS E has once the short impf. (33:30 [30:38] 1nm) and once the full impf. (33:20 [30:28] '?'illi'Jn). 95 With the impf. cons. this is the only example of the full impf. in MS E. The sole occurrence of the short impf. is CliLl'7 'and He made (them)', the alternative reading in 33 [36]: 11 ! With the 1st pers. the situation is different from that with the other persons. Quite often the impf. cons. takes the full impf., e.g. i1'i1~7, mpt;:: 1, but the frequent defective spelling of '7"l) verbs (e.g. Cipt;::J) indicates that this form was originally short. 96 Apart from these forms we find forms of the type i1'?t!lp~1, i11J1p~1, made up of the waw consecutive with the lengthened impf., especially in the later books of the Bible. 97 In QH this form is standard. 98 Although in general one can observe that i1'?t!lp~1 increases in LBH, its distribution over the late biblical literature is very uneven. It is found in particular in Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, whereas it is absent from Chronicles, even in those cases where it is attested in its sources. Compare, for example, 1 Chr. 17:8 n'7:l~7 with 2 Sam 7:9 ;m1:,~1. In Ezra-Nehemiah the situation is mixed. The Ezra Memoirs have only the long form, the Nehemiah Memoirs have both '?t!lp~, and i1'?t!lp~1. The long form occurs also in Qoh. 1:17 mn~,. (This is one of the three wayyiqtols in Qoheleth; the other two, i1~7~7 in 4: 1, 7 are from i1"'? verbs).99

°

9 For our translation seep. 143, footnote 12. 9! See above, § 6.3. 92 See above, footnote 31. 93 Cf. § 7 .2.3. 94 As with the great majority of the non-apocopatect forms in JM § 79 m. 95 § 6.3. 96 Bergstrasser (1918-29) II,§ 5 ct; Revell (1988) 424-425; Qimron (1997) 176; Talshir (1986-87) 585-587; JM §§ 47 ct, 79 m, n. I, 80 k, n; GKC § 49 e. 97 Bergstrasser (1918-29) II,§ 5 f; Revell (1988) 420-422; JM § 47 ct; GKC § 49 c; WO §§ 33.1.lc, 34.5.3. 98 Qimron (1976) 134-136, 141, (1986) 44, 46; Kutscher (1982) 97; Talshir (1986-87) 588-590. 99 JM §§ 47 ct, 118 v; Driver (1892) 74-75; Kropat (1909) 75; Polzin (1976) 54-55; Es-

MORPHOLOGY OF THE IMPERFECT

99

The difference between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah has been put forward as an argument against the common authorship of these books, but Polzin and Talshir explain it from the use of sources or differences between copyists. According to Talshir 'it is not unlikely that the difference between Ezra-Neh. and Chronicles reflect[s] at best two different copyists and not distinct authors ( ... ) The outweighing point is that the author did not have even a single opportunity to use the 1st person consecutive in those parts of Chronicles that have no parallel in his sources'. I 00

The use of the full impf. instead of the short form (mpt;i;j, opt;i;j in place of *D~~j) and the increased use of the long impf. (i1":l~p~1, i1mp~7) are not two stages in a linear development. The first phenomenon is 'due to a phonological development quite distinct from the syntactic/semantic development which led to the use of affixed first person forms'. 101 The latter development is due to analogy. In the 2nd and 3rd pers. sing. the impf. cons. consists of the waw with the short impf. The short impf. also functions as jussive and belongs to the volitive paradigm. On the analogy of the impf. cons. of the 2nd and 3rd person, which takes the volitive form (at least on the synchronic level), the impf. cons. of the 1st pers. also took the form of the volitive paradigm, namely the cohort. 10 2 In Ben Sira's Hymn of Thanksgiving we find i1":l~p~1 in 51:8 (B) i17::>1~7, 51:12 (B) i1":l":li1~7, i1::>7J~7, and ":l~p~1 in 51:9 (B) 0'7~7, 51:10 (B) 0077~7. With i1"":l verbs we find 51 :7 (B) i1J:J~7, i1:J~~7. It proves impossible to discover the factor determining the use of either the normal or the long impf. The normal impf. in 51 :9 (B) is from a hollow root, but it does not seem likely that the peculiarities of this verb class in the 1st pers. sing. (see above) had any impact on the use or non-use of the long form. ":l~p~1 with a distinct non-lengthened form occurs in Ben Sira further only in the MS B version of the concluding acrostic, in 51:16[14] ":l":l::in~1 and 51: 19 ~'J~7. 103 We can conclude that on the whole the situation in Ben Sira conforms to the situation in LBH. With i1"":l verbs the non-apocopated form is used and with other verb classes we find both the normal impf. ":l~p~7 and the long form i1":l~p~1. 51:12 (B)"' CicJ n~ i1::i1::i~1 i1'?'?i1~1 'n'71i1 p ';,;; 'therefore I give thanks and offer praise, and I bless the name of the Lord': i1'?'?i1~1 and i1'.)7:l~1 can be analysed either as coordinated cohorts. or as consecutive impfs. Smend opts for the first interkhult (1990) 106; Talshir (1988), 172-175; Kutscher (1982) 81; Schoors (1992) 87-88. JOO Talshir (1988) 172-175 (citation from p. 174); Polzin (1976) 54-55. 10 1 Revell (1988) 425. 102 Revell (1988) 425; Talshir (1986-87) 589; Qimron (1976) 134-136, 141, (1986) 44, 46; Kutscher (1974) 39--40, 326-328. 103 According to Muraoka (1979a: 167-168) 51:16[14] (BJ •nrn!J::i i1':i:in ':i':i!m~1 'and I prayed a prayer in my youth' is probably a residue of the original v. 13b.

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CHAPTER SIX

pre ta ti on and attributes to these forms a future meaning. 104 However, in BH forms commonly follow volitives. After non-volitive forms they occur only in some well-defined syntactic environments (e.g. after a question). 105 For this reason we prefer Segal's interpretation, who vocalises these forms as wayyiqtols. If we read two wayyiqtols, we can best analyse the preceding verb as a performative perf. and assume that the two wayyiqtols, as well as the preceding qatal, refer to the present. The impf. cons. in the sphere of the future is rare. I 06

i1'?~pK1

51:18 (Q) i1pniVK1 '171Ql 'I devised to make sport': We interpret i1pi1iVK1 as an impf. cons., which with the preceding '171Ql forms a hendiadys. 107 In § 6.5 we established that the final i1 - is the cohort. ending. We are also dealing with a hendiadys two of the three times that the impf. cons. is employed in Qoheleth, i1KiK1 'JK 'n:w1 'again, I saw' in 4: 1 and 4:7 . 108 Rabinowitz also reads i1p niVK1 as an impf. cons., but rejects the interpretation of the two verbs as a hendiadys. 109 Schrader interprets i1pniVK1 as a conjunctive waw with a cohort. 11 O

6.9 PARAGOGIC NUN

In the Bible 304 times a paragogic nun is added to the afformative of the 2nd and 3rd pers. masc. plur. and the 2nd pers. fem. sing. It is found especially in pause, never occurs after?~ and rarely after waw consecutive.111 In LBH its use recedes. It is absent from Lamentations, Qoheleth, Esther, Daniel, and Ezra-Nehemiah, while Chronicles has it only two times (due to the influence of its sources). 112 In QH and MH the paragogic nun is practically unused, except for some instances linked to biblical verses. 113 In Ben Sira the situation is similar to that in LBH, QH, and MH. The paragogic nun is found only three times (only in the Geniza manuscripts); two of them are clearly dependent on a verse from the Bible, the third is from MS B's version of Ben Sira' s acrostic. The first is 104 Smend (1906) 502: 'Die Kohortativformen, aber auch 'n'17:7, verstehen die Uebersetzer mit recht futurisch'. G has l~oµoAoy~croµm, aivfow, and EUAoy~crw; S has r n in 31:8 [34:9] (Bmg). 68 Schrader (1994) 49: 'Offenbar um der Verdeutlichung willen wurde der eine finite Verbform vertretende absolute Infinitiv oder das Perfekt mit Waw consecutivum in der unbestimmten 3. Person maskulin Singular durch einer Imperfektform ersetzt. In der sekundaren Textform ist damit die Frage nach dem Subjekt des Pradikats im zweiten Stichos beantwortet: es handelt sich um das nachststehende feminine Substantiv, namlich mm:a'. 69 Ed. Harkavy (1891) 177. 70 Ed. Obermann (1933) 148. 71 Thus the Hebrew text; the Arabic text has nn•';,01; some Hebrew witnesses add•';,.

139

CONSECUTIVE PERFECT

In MS A v. 6 is transmitted in two versions, one before v. 5, beginning with the prohib. 71')t,l;n ";,t,l; (A 1) and one in its proper place, beginning with n71')t,l:1 (A 2). ')1 r171')t,l:1 is also attested in C and in Saadia's citation of this verse. The (original) Arabic text of Nissim's 'Book of Comfort' also has n71')t,l:1, but the Hebrew witnesses have 7m~m.n According to Levi, Peters, and Segal G Kat µT] Et1tT1c; agrees with A 1, translating the prohib. 71')t,l;n ';,t,l;i, but Ruger rightly remarks that such a conclusion cannot be drawn. He refers to Deut. 8:17 where the MT has n71')t,l:1 and G (Codex Alexandrinus) Kat µT] El'.rcnc;. 73 Some scholars consider A 1 to be a retroversion from Syriac.74 8:2 (A) n7:::lt,l:1 'and you will be destroyed' is not reflected in G or S. 44:23 Btxt 'n '?:i 'J'l':::l 1n t,l:~11') iD't,l; 1Jl')I') t,l:[']~[1'1] 'from him he had brought forth a man who found favour in the eyes of all living'; Bmg t,l;~l')i. The reading of Bmg can be analysed either as weqatalt[, or as weqatalti, or as weqotel, see above, § 8.9. 48:7 (B) mn:im 'J'O:::l l''l')iDi11 'and he proclaimed rebukes at Sinai'. With G we should read l'miDi1 instead of l''l')iDi1i, see above, § 8.5. 8.11 EXCURSUS: SIR. 31[34]:10

In MS B Sir. 31 [34]: 1075 begins with three bicola containing a 'chaos of variants '7 6 and corresponding to only one bicolon in G and S. The main text of B runs as follows: nn,ti;::in 1'7 il'i11 ci1?iD 1'7 i1'i11 n7tl;:lrl? l? il'iltl; n7tl;:lrl? l? tl;'il

1:::i p:::i7JiD ill t1;1i1 'I') rn Cl1?iD m:::i,:::i 'J rn Cl?iD'1 1::i,:::i 'I')

In Bmg we find at the first bicolon p:::i1m, n7t,l;:ln, and i17t,l;:ln'? and at the third bicolon 7t,l;:lni1'? 7'? i1'i1t,l;. For the three bicola found in MS B a possible translation is:

See the critical apparatus in Obermann's edition. 73 Similarly some other witnesses of G; others omit Kai. See the Deuteronomy volume in the Gottingen edition by Wevers (1977: 142-143); Ruger (1970) 36; see further above,§ 8.6, and Di Lella (1966) 112. 74 Thus, e.g., Di Lella, Levi and Prato; cf. Beentjes (2002) 105; Van Peursen (2001) 5357. 75 In Beentjes' edition the first bicolon (our 31:10 B 1) belongs to v. 9. 76 Schechter-Taylor (1899) xxxvii. 77 Beentjes: iTil!i!lrl. 72

140

CHAPTER EIGHT

'Who is he 78 that cleaves to it? 79 and he will have peace and he will have glory. For when the peace of his life multiplies, 80 I will be a glory unto you. Who has blessed him 81 and kept his life unharmed? It will be a glory unto you'. We will first analyse the two cola separately and then make a tentative reconstruction of the original bicolon. 10a B 1

Bmg B

B3 G

s

821::1,'?w ,., i1'i11 ,:i p:i,w m ~,i1 'i'J p:i7li1 rn 1::11',w rn:i,:i 'J 1"i1 Cl?iD'1 ,::i,:i 'i'J tii; E00Ktµaa0ri EV a:utip Kat EtEA-EtW0ri; re,:,h

a:u

r7~ 7nt,1:'7 'and he tarries according to his need, distorting the law' (?). 65 37:24 B [•••• ] 7i177[ ...• ] mm D[ .... ]', o::in;

c 7't,1:7

',::,1 mm D:::liD' 7iDm'? o::in

7i177iDt,1:' 'he who is wise for himself is satisfied with pleasure, and all who see him call him happy'; D 7i1't,1:77 ',::, 7i177iDt,1:'7 J7Jm D:::liD' wm', mn.66

D. Interchange of yiqtol and weyiqtol 31:8 [34:9] Btxt 7J7iDt,1:J7 i1l t,1:7i1 'O 'who is he? that we may praise him'; Bmg 7J7iDt,1:n t,1:7i1 'O 'who is he? you should praise him' (or 'that one praises him'). See above, § 11.4. 32[35]:17 E+F 7nt,1:'7 'and he tarries'; Bmg 1nt,1:' (Beentjes' reading). See above, at C. 38 :25 B 77iD:::l :::l:::l7iD' Ji1J' =]7'?t,1::::i 'he guides the ox, leads the bullock'; Bmg 1 77iD'? (above :::l:::l7iD') 'to plow'; Bmg 2 7'iD:::l :::l:::l7iD'7 'and leads with singing'. Bmg2 ' s 7'iD is not so strange in this context as it seems at first sight, if we follow Smend in translating 7'ni'lliD in the b-colon 7'ni'lliD7 [•..• ]J:::l [Cl]D with 'discourse' on the basis of the Aramaic and Syriac t,1:r1'll7iD, r ?'0P ). In BH 1:i1iD is employed in the sense of 'hiring (a person)' (Prov. 26:10; 2 Chr. 24:12), but its use with the meaning '(hired) labourer' is attested in CD xr 12. 190 16: 18 A* tl'711Jll; Ac IJ'719ii. The consonantal text has a passive ptcp., the vocalisation suggests an active ptcp. See§ 13.1.6. 40:3 Btxt 1::i~, 7::lll J.1iD? 7ll i1:::J.)? ~o:i :::i.tvm 'from him that sits on a throne in exaltation till he returns to dust and ashes'; Bmg 1 iDJ.1? 'he who is clothed (in)'; Bmg2 iDJ.?, either ili~; or ili::i'? / ili::i;. Btxt J.1iD? and Bmg2 when read as ili~; yield temporal expressions that do not fit the context because of the incongruity with J.iD1'iJ in the a-colon. Hence we prefer to read with Bmg 1iDJ.1? or with Bmg2 iDJ.'? (ili::i'?). G fros 1:E1:annvroµ[vou reflects m97 'to him who has sunk down (in)' and S ..,,,LI suggests 'J.iD1'? 'to those who sit (in)' (or singular J.iD1'?). With the reading in Btxt one can compare

187 Di Lella (1966) 115-119; he also points to the use of m':n 'poverty' in the doublet; similarly Skehan-Di Lella; cf.§ 2.7; see also Smend, Segal, and Riiger (1970) 63. 188 According to Schrader (1994: 36) the reading in M is secondary (' Angleichung an die artikellosen Anfangsworte der benachbarten Zeilen'). 189 Riiger (1970) 29. 190 Hence there is no need to assume that the form 1J1iD instead of 1'JiD is due to confusion of waw and yod; pace Di Lella (1966) 57: 'the scribe saw 1'JiD but misread the yod as a waw thus necessitating the transposition of the waw from the third to the second position in the word'. See further Riiger (1970) 45, 53; Riiger assumes that this use of 1J1iD is on the analogy of i:im 'someone who takes rent on a fixed rental payable in kind' = 1'Jn; Jastrow (18861903) 462a, 463b.

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Gen. 3: 19 :rnvn 7:l!l '?Ki ilnK 7:l!l 'J (... ) i1~7Ki1 '?K 7:::i1iLl 7.IJ 'till your return to the ground( ... ) for dust are you and to dust you will return', J.1iLl? 7.li being the LBH equivalent for J.1iLl 7.1).191

41:2 Btxt+mg 1+2 i11pn 1:::i~1 '(a man) who has lost hope'; M i1ipn 11:::i~1. See§ 13.1.6. 43:4 Btxt iDDiLl n'?w 'the sun sends'; Bmg iDDiLl m'?tv 'sunbeams'; M iDD[ ... ]'?iD. See§ 13.1.7. 44:6 B n:i 'JD11J 'leaning on their strength'; M n:i 'JDIJ. See§ 13.1.6. D. Existential clauses 10:30 A 17iLl.li '?'?,:::i 7:JJJ iLl'1 'and there is one who is honoured because of his wealth'; B [... ] 7:JJJ 7'iLl.li iLl'~ iLl'1 'and there is a rich man who is honoured[ ... ]'. In MS A we find the pattern yes qotel + further determination (prepositional phrase), in MS B the pattern yes+ noun + attributive ptcp. See above, § 13.3.3.

37:12 Btxt 7'Dn 1n::io iLl' IJ~ 7~ 'but if there is someone who fears always'; Bmg iLl'~ '(but if) a man (who fears always)'; D 1n::io iLl'~ IJ~ 7~ {7'Dn}. The two readings of Btxt and Bmg+D can best be explained from an original iLl'~ IJ.I) 1~ 'but with a man ... ' (= G a11J.,' ~ µE't A 1 np'?i1) > 110n and n~ > .ll7 (in S interpreted as .lll 'evil' instead of ~7. 'neighbour').195 16:7 A Dn77J,JJ, 0'?1.ll D'7mi1 'the rebellious ones of the world in their might'; B onim:::i, D'7770i1 'who rebelled [D'77iOi1] in their might' or 'who were brought down [D'7710i1] because of their might'. The verb 770 is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew i170, 196 but probably we have to read D'77m in MS B as D'771~iJ, for then the preposition -J, has the same function as in v. 8 (A) om~,:::i, D'7J,.llnOi1 'who were passed away because of their pride', v. 9 (A) DJl.llJ, D'ill77Ji1 'who were trampled down because of their sin', and v. 10 (A) o:::i,';, ]77TJ, D'8D~Ji1 'who died because of the arrogance of their heart' . 197 With this interpretation we can explain A's D'7mi1 as a Hebraising variant, based on a misunderstanding of D'77mi1 (namely as D'77iOi1). For MS A's 0'?1.ll compare 3:18 (A) 0'?1.ll n'?rn 'the great things of the world', where, as in the verse under discussion, MS A's 0'?1.ll is reflected in S, but unrecorded in C and G. 31[34]:6 Btxt J,i1T ''?1:::i,n 7'i1 D'J,7 'many have been bound (with ropes) by gold'; 198 Bmg ''?'?n 'slain'; cf. Prov. 7:26 i1'?'8i1 D''?'?n D'J,7 ':l 'for many are the slain she has laid low'; G 1toAA01 t868ricrav de; n:1:&µa xaptv xpucriou 'many have been brought down by gold' supports the reading of Bmg, but MS 248 n:OAAOl toi8ricrav xaptv XPUCJtoU that of Btxt. 31[34]:20 Btxt n7:l78i1 'J87; Bmg D'ml 'and a (distorted) face'. 199 The 'and lack of turnreading of B txt is difficult. Peters interprets m:imi1 ing' (? 'und Notdurft der Umkehrung').

'~m

32[35]:23 B 1 i17::m 707ill i1'?~ i1ill7.ll ';,:, ':l 'for whoever does these things keeps the commandment'; Bmg 1 m::m; Bmg2 m1::m; B2 707ill i1T i1ill7.ll ':l i17~0.

194 For these constructions see § 13.1.7; on the readings of A, B 1 , and B 2 , see Riiger (1970) 65-66. 195 Schechter-Taylor (1899) 50; Segal; Riiger (1970) 19. 196 Cf. Riiger (1970) 86. 197 Kister (1990) 327-328. 198 Or 'many have been held in pledge by gold', see above,§ 13.1.7 (beginning). 199 On the meaning of m:i1:i;i Cl'l:l see the commentaries of Segal and Smend. In BH Cl'l:l is usually treated as a masculine noun, but in MH as a feminine noun (thus also Ezek. 21:21); contrast Sir. 13:26 (A) Cl'111!: Cl'l:l 'a shining face' (Smend, Segal).

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36:24[29] Btxt pp ri'i.:J~7 i1i.:J~ i1JP 'acquire a wife as the best possession!'; Bmg i1J7p 'he who acquires (a wife acquires the best possession)'. S supports Btxt, G agrees with Bmg. Note that Bmg reflects an elliptical construction pp n'i.:J~7 i1i.:J~ i1:7p for something like i1J7p i1i.:J~ i1J7p pp n'i.:J~7 'he who acquires a wife, acquires the best possession' .200 Btxt is possibly a simplification of the text under the influence of Prov. 4:7 i1l'::!. mp 7np ',:,:ii ;m:,n mp ii~:,n 1i'i.:J~7 'the beginning of wisdom is, Acquire wisdom! and with all your acquiring, acquire understanding!' 37:4 Btxt )i1?i.:J '?~ t:l':Ji'J :Ji17~ l)7i'J 'a friend who looks to the table is an evil-doer'; 20 1 Bmg riili.:J ?l' 'i'J '~ l'17i'J 'why does a f(riend) l(ook) upon the pit?'; D r1ni.:J ?l' t:l':Ji'J :Jii7~ l)ii'J 'a friend who looks upon the pit is an evildoer. The reading 1'7i'J in Btxt and D possibly originated from a reading l'7 iii'J 'how evil!'. 202 37:8 Btxt 7i.:Jm 77i'Ji.:J rl'7'i'J 'protect yourself from someone who gives advice'; Bmg rl'7' i1i'J 'what about someone who gives advice? (protect yourself!)'; D 7i.:J~J ii'Ji.:J rm"i'J. Bmg should probably be read as rl'm~. 203 47:8 Btxt 7i1i.:J7l) :Ji17~ 7:J'? '?J:J 'with his whole heart he loved his Maker'; Bmg 7'77 'David'. Btxt has a predicative ptcp. without a subject; Bmg adds one. 13.5 CONCLUSION

The ptcp. partakes in the nature of both the noun and the verb. Its nominal character is obvious on the levels of morphology, semantics, and syntax. Its verbal character can be discerned on the level of syntax in that it can adopt verbal government. The double nature of the ptcp. is especially noticeable in its relative use, where it functions as a noun (e.g. taking the definite article) and a verb (e.g. governing an accusative) at the same time. In Ben Sira, as in BH, the predicative ptcp. is more verb-like than the non-predicative ptcp. both in semantics (denoting a single and

°

20 Compare the constructions of the type Ps. 119:86 n:1DK Tn'.:::D ?J 'all Your commandments arc trustworthy', which according to Sappan are elliptical for rn:::a Tnl:::D ?J nmK etc.; Sappan (198 I) 57-58; JM § 131 c, n. 2, § 154 e (5). 201 Reading a ptcp. of !1!17 hifil; cf. BDB 949b; it is also possible to read !17~ 'out of evil' (Peters). 202 Levi (1900) 14; Peters. For Btxt's iii?li! cf. 6:10[9] (A) iii?li! 7:Jii :i;rni Ii!' 'there is a friend who is a table-friend'. See further Ryssel (1901) 53. 203 Thus Peters, Segal.

PARTICIPLE

239

comparatively transitory situation rather than a repeated or enduring one) and in syntax (displaying verbal government more often than the non-predicative ptcp.). Moreover, whereas the non-predicative ptcp. can signify situations in all time spheres and with all kinds of aspects, the predicative ptcp. signifies mainly present tense and durative aspect, thus acquiring its own place in the Hebrew verbal system. Nominal government is used not only for complements that would otherwise be in the accusative, but also in the place of indirect objects (as in BH poetry, QH), most often in phrases and expressions directly taken from the Bible. A complement added to a passive ptcp. may indicate the agent (genitive of author; also with lamed auctoris), the subject undergoing the action (the construction of the type ,mm lli7p ilJ'~; the ptcp. may be in the st. cstr. or in the st. abs.); or the second object in the passive transformation of a double transitive construction (the type i11Jn'?1J ''?J

,m ).

In CH and more prominently in MH the passive ptcp. of some lexemes can denote a perfect state that hardly contains the notion of passivity (cf. Aramaic). These 'passive ptcps. with active force' are no homogeneous group, nor are the occurrences of this usage in Ben Sira. The most striking examples are the passive formations of the intransitive verbs 7:J~ and 71Jl'. In some cases the textual witnesses display variation between the active and the passive ptcp. (e.g. 7:J~-7i:J~, iD:Ji'?----ID:;i'?). In Ben Sira there are some '?t!lip ptcps. of verbs that originally adhered to the kabed pattern. Ostensibly the situation in Ben Sira does not differ from that in the Bible, but after a closer look at the material we were able to advance the view that the qotel forms :Ji1i~ and ~JiiD, which are both common in the Bible, occur sometimes in cases where BH would prefer :Ji1~ and ~Jiq, namely where they are employed in a more verbal way (unlike the nominalised :Ji1i~ 'friend' and ~JiiD 'enemy' in BH). The function of the predicative ptcp. in the tense system partly overlaps with that of the impf. Its use for the general present is wellattested in Ben Sira, also for situations that are not ongoing or unbroken (habitual aspect; rare in SBH, where yiqtol is employed instead; more frequent in LBH and PBH). Instructive illustrations of the encroachment of the ptcp. on the field of the impf. are two cases where Ben Sira in an allusion to a biblical verse substitutes a ptcp. for an impf. in the biblical passage. The ptcp. is sometimes used for situations in the past (extremely rare in QH, attested in MH). In some cases we find a finite form of the verb i1'i1 with an active ptcp. This periphrastic

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

construction links the language of Ben Sira to LBH, PBH, and Aramaic. In not a few cases the subject of a predicative ptcp. is omitted. When the subject is a pronoun, the order is S (pron.) - P (ptcp.) when a third element precedes, when the pronoun receives some prominence, and in circumstantial clauses; otherwise it is P (ptcp.) - S (pron.) (similarly in BH). With a nominal subject the unmarked order is S (noun) P (ptcp.), but the reverse order occurs as well (as in BH). Some of the usages of the non-predicative ptcp. attested in Ben Sira are typical of sapiential literature, like the generic indefinite ptcp. as subject or in casus pendens (in the Bible also common in legal contexts) and the constructions with iD' and a ptcp. Characteristic of the hymnic genre is the use of the relative ptcp. to express the deeds for which a subject is praised. There are some occurrences of the ptcp. as an adverbial accusative. We find it twice with ~~m, attesting to a use of ~~i'J / ~~m that is typical of LBH and QH.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE 14.1

THE DOUBLE NATURE OF THE JNFINITIVE

In the preceding chapter we saw that the ptcp. shares characteristics with both nouns and verbs. The same applies to the infin. While the ptcp. is that form of the verb that allows it to function as an adjective, the infin. allows it to function as a substantive. 1 In CH there are two infinitive types called the absolute infin. and the construct infin. 2 The former will be discussed in the following chapter, the latter we will deal with in the present chapter, starting with a list of the nominal and verbal features we can distinguish. A Nominal features of the construct infin. 1. The infin. cstr. takes slots that are reserved for nouns, namely that of the subject, the object, and the genitival attribute (after a noun or preposition).3 2. In combination with the infin. cstr. the nominal negation 'r1'?::.', is used. 4 3. The infin. cstr. can stand in a construct relationship to its subject. When the subject directly follows the infin. it is often impossible to determine whether the subject is in the genitive (nominal government) or in the nominative (verbal government), but the nominal construction is visible in a case like Gen. 19: 16 7'?!! i17i1' n'?rJn::. 'because the Lord had spared him'. 5

1 Bybee

(1992a) 222.

2 See § 15.1.

3 Sellin (1889) 71-72; JM § 124 b-d; WO§ 36.2.1; GKC § 114 a-c. For a justification of our use of the terms 'nominative', 'genitive', and 'accusative', see LMP § 74 b. 4 Sellin (1889) 73; JM § 124 e; WO§ 36.2.lg. 5 For the infin. cstr. of the ;i';,t;1p pattern see Van Bekkum (1983) 257; JM § 49 d; GKC § 45 d. Cf. below, § 14.4, on other nominal patterns that can adopt syntactical functions of the infin.

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CHAPTER FOUR TEEN

4. The infin. cstr. can also stand in a construct relationship to its object. As with the subject, it is frequently impossible to establish nominal or verbal government in those cases where the object directly follows the infin. Nominal government is visible in a case like Mic. 6:8 ion n:Ji1~7 'and to love mercy', and with the exceptional use of the genitive suffix 1st pers. sing. '- to denote the object as in Num. 22:13 'nn'? 'to give me'.6 B. Verbal features of the construct infin. 1. The subject of the action expressed by the infin. cstr. may be in the nominative. Unequivocal examples of this use are those cases where the subject is separated from the infin., e.g. Num. 35:6 n~7il ilOill OJ'? 'so that the murderer can flee there' .7 2. The object of the action expressed by the infin. cstr. may be in the accusative. The verbal government is obvious with the object suffix 'J-, e.g. 1 Sam. 5: 10 'Jn'Oil'? 'to kill me', when the nota obiecti n~ is used, e.g. 1 Sam. 19:1 717 n~ n'Oil'? 'to kill David', Lev. 26:18 i170''? o::in~ 'to chastise you', when the infin. cstr. has a distinct form for the absolute state, e.g. Isa. 30:28 Cl'1' ilmil'? 'to swing the nations (in a sieve)', and when the object is separated from the infin., e.g. Exod. 16:8 7ill:::l :J7l):J o::i'? i11il' nn:::i 'when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh'. To the last category also belong cases where the infin. cstr. takes a subject suffix, or where it governs two objects, e.g. Gen. 39: 18 ''?7p '0'7il::i 'when I lifted up my voice'. Cases in which the object is in the accusative considerably outnumber those where it is in the genitive. The examples of nominal government mentioned above are exceptional. s In conclusion we can say that the nominal character of the infin. cstr. concerns primarily its function in the sentence, namely its ability to occupy slots that cannot be taken by finite verbs, whereas its verbal character is primarily visible from the dominant verbal government.

Sellin (1889) 80, 82-83; JM § 124 f-g; GKC § 115 e-f, h. Sellin (1889) 81-82; Sola-Sole (1961) 79; JM § 124 g; GKC § 115 h-k. Unlike the object, the subject does not occur after n';,tc1p infins. in the absolute state. Thus a construction like *1'';,!) mn' n';,on:::i 'because the Lord had spared him' (cf. Gen. 19:16, cited above) does not occur; Sellin (1889) 82. 8 Sellin (1889) 77-80; Sola-Sole (1961) 79; JM § 124 f, i; GKC § 115 a-d, g. In vocalised texts verbal government is also visible in cases like Gen. 42:25 Dn';:ic:: :::l'ID;;i';,1 'and to return their silver', without shortening of the qameif. 6 7

CONSTRUCT INFINITNE

14.2

243

THE INFINITIVE AND ITS SUBJECT

In CH the semantic subject of an infin. cstr. can be made explicit by means of a noun or pronoun. When the subject is identical with the subject of the main verb or another element already mentioned, the use or non-use of a suffix is related to several factors. Thus in the case of adverbial infins. we can distinguish two types of adverbials, which differ considerably in respect to the semantic subject of the infin. (identical with that of the main verb or not) and in respect to the expression or non-expression of the subject by means of a suffix pronoun. 9 The attachment of subject suffixes is common in BH and QH, but in MH it has disappeared. 10 In Ben Sira the 3rd pers. suffix pronoun refers to the (preceding or following) subject of the main clause in, e.g., 43:2 (Bmg+M) 1n~~J 'when it (the sun) rises', 43:3 (B+M) 77'i7~i7J 'when it shines at noon', 47:6 (B) 1m~l)J 'while he put on'. It refers to a previously mentioned element in 39:31 (B) 1m~:i 'when He commands (them)', 48:25 (B) 'm'? ]~1J 'before they came to pass' and elsewhere. The suffix refers to a new subject not yet mentioned in 40: 1 (B) '?~ 1J1iD IJ1' 7l) 1D~ l:ln7D 1n~~ IJ1'D 'n '?J Cl~ 'from the day he leaves his mother's womb to the day he returns to the mother of all living'. 11 A suffix of the second person is found in 33:22 [30:30] (E) l~'Ji7D 'than your looking'. The subject is an indefinite noun following the infin. in 14:14 (A) n~ np'?i7J1 'and when (your) neighbour is taken away', 12 14:18 (A) i775:JJ i7'?l) 'as the growing of leaves', 27:5 (A) ]iDJJ 7l)J";, 'the heating of the furnace', 13 31[34]:l (B) 7'iDl) 1ptv 'the wakefulness of the rich', 14 31 [34] :20 (Btxt) i7J'iD' 77J1 'and sleeplessness', 38:23 (Bmg) nD m:itv:i 'when the dead person is at rest', 46:7 (B) '?i7p .i.)75:JJ 'when the congregation broke loose', 51:5[4] (B) iD~ mJJD 'from the burning fire', 15 51:15 (Q) Cl'JJl) '?1iDJJ 'in the ripening of grapes'. 16 The subject is a sufBelow, § 14.9; cf. Kieviet (1997) 32-35. Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 76; Segal (1927) § 345; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.498. In Aramaic the infin. does not take subject suffixes either, except for some instances in Biblical Aramaic (e.g. Dan. 6:211:';Jl? ;i:npr.i:i1 'and when he approached the den'); Qimron-Strugnell ibid.; Muraoka-Porten (1998) 208-209, 274. 11 In the preceding line the 011!; 'l:J 'sons of men' are mentioned. For the use of the suffix 3rd pers. sing. with an indefinite referent see also Schoors (1992) 162. On the expression Cl!!; 'n ';,:, see § 4.5. 12 Many commentators read p'?n::11 instead of np';,,1:i1; cf. Gilbert (1998) 174---176 and § 13.4 (E). 13 Cf. below,§ 14.6 (D), the second interpretation. 14 It is also possible to analyse ipiD as a noun (1pi1l). 15 See below,§ 14.7.3. 16 Compare the hifil of ?ilJJ with Cl'JlJJ as object in Gen. 40: 10; see further on this verse 9

10

244

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

fixed noun in 33:22 [30:30] (E) 7':l:l nhn'? 'the pleading of your sons', 38:23 (B) 1iDm nt-::~ Dl' 'when his soul leaves', 43:24 ([B+M]) 1J'JTt-:: l'DiD? 'when our ears hear it', and 50:27 (B) p'? 11m:i:i 'in the explanation of his heart [1:i'?], as his heart explained (him)' ,17 and in 16:26 (A) '?t-:: t-::7:i:i 'when God created' the subject is '?t-:: 'God'. 14.3

THE INFINITIVE AND ITS OBJECT

In those cases where the infin. cstr. takes a direct object, we see considerable variation in the nature of the object (suffix, indeterminate noun, proper noun, etc.) and in the way it is connected to the infin. (e.g. with or without the nota obiecti nt-::). Ten times the object is a suffix pronoun attached to the infin., e.g. 4:5 (A) 7'?'?p'? 'to curse you'. The suffix is attached to the object marker nt-:: in 39:31 (B) ont-:: 1m~:i 'when He commands them'. 18 Thirty-nine times the object is an indeterminate noun, as in 7:6 (A+C) ]17T n':liDi1? 'to root out presumption'. In 47:5c (B) r"j7i1? mDn?D l771' iD't-:: nt-:: 'to strike down the experienced warrior', the grammatically indeterminate, but contextually determinate object has nt-::. 19 The object is a proper noun preceded by nt-:: in 46:1 (B) ?t-::7iD' nt-:: ?'nJi1?1 'and to give Israel an inheritance'. The object is a suffixed noun seventeen times, e.g. 8: 17 (A) 7110 mo:i'? 'to hide your secret'. Only once is the suffixed noun preceded by nt-::, namely in 45: 15 (B) 1DiD:l 1Dl7 nt-:: 71:i'?1 'and to bless His people in His name'. Eight times the object noun governs another indeterminate noun, e.g. 3:28 (A) f? nJD mt-::E:l7? 'to heal the wound of the scorner'. It governs a determinate noun seven times, e.g. 42: 17 (B)"' mt-::'?::i:i 7E:l0? 'to recount the wonders of the Lord'. Of these seven cases, three have the object marker nt-::, in 41:19[21] (M) 71t-::iD 'JE:l nt-:: :l'iDi1D1 'and of refusing your own kin' ,20 47:5d (B) nt-:: D'7i1? §§ 7.2.4 and 19.2.1.

Smend: 'in der Auslegung, die sein Herz dem Schriftwort gab'. Here an object suffix-pronoun directly attached to the verb is impossible because of the subject suffix. 19 man'm ll71' ill'K refers to Goliath. For the use of nK before a syntactically undetermined direct object, see Elwolde (1994) 175-176; JM § 125 h; GKC § 117 c-d. See also the references given by Hoftijzer in his study on the particle nK (1965) on pp. 58-97 and the remarks on this (poetic) usage on pp. 87-88. A similar use of nK before a syntactically indeterminate but contextually determinate ill'K occurs in 2 Sam. 23:21 (Q) nK7D ill'K •1:m ill'K nK n::in K1n1 'and he killed (the) Egyptian man, a man of striking appearance' (the parallel in 1 Chr. 11:23 has •1:mn ill'Kn nK). Other examples of nK before indeterminate ill'K occur in Exod. 21:28, Num. 21:9, 2 Sam. 4:11 (cf. Lev. 7:8, Judg. 7:22). 20 'l!J nK J'illn is an idiomatic expression for 'to reject, refuse', compare 1 Kgs. 2:20 ';,K 'l!J nK Jilln 'do not refuse me' and 7'l!J nK J'iDK K';i 'I will not refuse you'; BOB 999b. 17 18

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

245

'to lift up the horn of his people', and 4 7: l 0 (B) Dill n[~ 1'? ]'?i1:::i 'when His holy name was praised'. Eight times the object is";,:,, seven times followed by an indeterminate noun, e.g. 44: 18 (B) 'n'?:::i'? 7iDJ, ";,:, n'niDi1 'not to destroy all flesh', and once by a suffixed noun, in 42: 17 (M) m~,m ";,:, 7~o, 'to recount all His wonders'. As we saw above, in§ 14.1, one of the verbal features of the infin. is its ability to govern an object in the accusative. Verbal government is obvious when the object is preceded by the particle n~ or by any other element that separates the infin. from the object. In Ben Sira the object is preceded by n~ seven times. 21 Nominal government of the object can be ruled out seven times because the infin. has a subject suffix, e.g. 47:4 (B) .i!'?p '?.il 77' m'Ji1:::i 'by moving his hand to the sling', 47:6 (B) t"J'J~ 7n71::1.iJJ, 'while he put on the royal crown'. The subject is a noun between the infin. and the object in 16:26 (A) 7'iD.iJO ,~ ~7:::i,:, 'when God created His works', 33:22 [30:30] (E) Tm 7'JJ, m'?n'? 'your sons pleading with you'. We find a prepositional phrase between the infin. and the object five times as in 44:21 (B) Cl'7) 7.il7r:::i 71:::i'? 'to bless the nations in his seed'. The infin. twice governs two objects, in 37:3 (B+D) 'J~ n'07n '?:::in 'to fill the earth with deceit' and 38:5 (B) iD7J~ ";,:, .il'77i1'? 77:::i.il:::i in:, 'in order to cause all men to know His power'. Verbal government is also certain when the object precedes the infin. The word order with the infin. following its object is also attested in (L)BH and QH, e.g. 71Ji.l ]7p

7iD7p

~,o,

Esth. 8: 11 n:::i';, Cl'??W1 (... ) Cl'71ii'? 7';,oii jrlJ 7W~ 'that the king granted the Jews( ... ) and to plunder the booty'; lQH II 32-33 71::iw';, 1Q1 t:im';, 1:::iwn 7W~ ]1':::l~ WE:lJ [ii]r1'7E:l 'You have freed the life of the poor person whom they thought to destroy by pouring out his blood'.

This word order is commonly regarded as an Aramaism. It occurs frequently in Biblical Aramaic, e.g. Ezra 5:9 ii??JW? m, ~J7W~1 ii'l:::lQ? iil1 ~n':::i Cl.!Jl::I m';, ClW ]~ 'who commanded you to build this house and to restore these walls?';

but the evidence from other Aramaic dialects is scarce. 22 In Ben Sira we find the following examples of this phenomenon. 23 21 In 39:31 (B), 41:19[21] (M), 45:15 (B), 46:1 (B), 47:5c (B), 47:5d (B), 47:10 (B), all quoted above. 22 Folmer (1995) 536-542; Bauer-Leander (1927) § 85 c-d; Muraoka-Porten (1998) 308; Noldeke (1898) § 293; Sola-Sole (1961) 131-132; Driver (1892) 280; Carmignac (1966); Kropat (1909) 60; Qimron (1986) 74; Kutscher (1970: 362) mentions this word order as one of the characteristics of Eastern Official Aramaic. 23 Note also 6:35 (A[+C]) ll/Jt!l? rmn ;in'tv ';,:, 'be eager to hear every discourse'.

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CHAPTER FOUR TEEN

(A) n'::i ',~ ~':J.i7'? iLl'~ ',::, ~', 'one should not bring everybody into one's house'; 15:15 ([A+Btxt+mg]) 7J1~7 rniLl.ll'? m1a~1 'and performing faithfulness is 11 :29

His will'; 24 27:5 (A) ]iLl::i::, 7.ll:J.'? 7~1' ,i,::, 'the furnace serves to heat a potter's ves-

se1';25 (B) D"n

40:29

n7JQ',

rn ]'~ 'his life cannot be considered a life'. 14.4 VERBAL NOUNS

In addition to the usual infin. we find in BH verbal nouns from other patterns like 11::ii,\i 'breaking', n71::ip 'burial', m";,ili 'retribution', m::i;i 'weeping', i1'.;);JiJO 'overthrow'. In Ben Sira we find a number of action nouns from various patterns.26 1. From the patterns i7;'t:JP, '?1t!lp, and il;t;JPiJ, the three major patterns of verbal nouns in MH connected to the gal, piel, and hifil respectively, 27 we find 38: 16 (Btxt) i7.IJ'1J 'death', 38:26 (B) i71'PiLl 'waking, watching' ,28 14:14 (A) 110n 'desire, lust' ,29 31[34]:28 (B+F) '17.ll 'delight', 33[36]: 1 (B+E+F) and 44:20 (B) '10J 'testing', 40:29 (Bmg+M) 710' 'chastisement',30 45:18 (B) !1!.IJ 'strength, fierceness', 51:28 (B) 110";, 'teaching', 14:13 (A) and 35[32]:12 (Btxt) m(')iDil 'attaining', (Bmg) iliDJil 'approaching', 51: 17 (B) i7~71i7 'thanksgiving' and others. The i7;1t:lp pattern 31 is attested in 3:28 (A) i7~1~7 'healing', 4:4 (A) m'?1~iD 'supplications'. 2. With the afformatives -on and -ut,3 2 we find 25:23 (C) ]1'~7 'hanging down (of the hands)', ]1'?iD::i 'tottering (of the knees)', 38:14 (B) m~~7 24 But other interpretations of this colon are possible, see below, § 14.6. Yifrach (1997: 277) does not include this example. 25 See § 14.6. 26 Strauss (1900) 41-42, 53, 68; Smend (1906) xiv. 27 Segal (1927) §§ 228, 241, 252, (1936) §§ 113, 116, 123; Perez Fernandez (1997) 57-58; Kutscher (1969) 53-59, 64-65; Van Bekkum (1983) 262; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.494; cf. JM §§ 88E b, 881 e, 88L b. The ;i'7't!lP pattern occurs once in Qoheleth, in 12:12 71DJ n~l'. 'weariness of the flesh'; Schoors (1992) 62; cf. § 4.6. On the ;i'79p;:r pattern see also Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 77; Wagner (1966) 133. 28 ;J7'p1D is unattested in other Hebrew sources; ;Jl)'ll is attested in MH, not in BH or QH; Dihi (1998) 52-53, 62-63. 29 But it is also possible to read a passive ptcp. (711:IQ, 'desirable thing'), cf. Job 20:20; § 13.1.6. 30 Cf. Muraoka (1998a) 47. 31 Kutscher (1969) 64. 32 Kutscher (1969) 71-73; Segal (1927) §§ 267-268, 272, (1936) §§ 133, 137; cf. JM § 88M b-c, h-j. In Qoheleth we find a relatively high number of abstract nouns with the utending, see Schoors (1992) 63-65. Aramaic influence may have played a role in the increase of verbal nouns with this ending, see, e.g., Wagner (1966) 130---131, 133.

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

247

'healing', 41 :21 (Bmg) m:i.ilJn 'reckoning', 42:8 (Bmg) n177i'J 'instruction'; from the m?'t!lP pattern33 we find 37: 11 ([Bmg]+D) m?'i'JJ 'deeds of love, charity'. 3. Examples of the ?t!ipi'J pattern, with the i'J-preformative, 34 occur in 4:24 (A) and 20:6 (C) i1Jl)i'J 'answering', 36:23[28] (B+C) ~:l7i'J 'healing', 41:19 (Bmg+M) nni'J 'giving',35 42:4 (Btxt+M) mpi'J 'acquiring',36 42:4[5] (B) 7:::)i'Ji'J, 'sale', (B+M) 7'ni'Ji'J 'bargaining' ,37 43:22 (B) l:]7l7i'J 'dripping'; with the feminine ending -(a)t (n?t!ipi'J): 41:21 (Mc) and 42:3 (B+ M) np?ni'J 'dividing apportioning'. 38 In BH verbal nouns are able to take over specific verbal traits of the infin. like the government of the accusative as in Jer. 50:40 n:::,::ii1i'J:::) 070 m~ Cl'i1?~ 'like God's overthrow of Sodom'. 39 With the verbal nouns occurring in Ben Sira there are no cases where verbal government is visible, whereas sometimes the government is decisively nominal. Thus the subject is in the genitive in 14: 13 (A) 71' m'illi11 'and as your hand attains to (= what you can afford)' and 35[32]:12 (Btxt) milli1::l1 7', 40 and with pronominal suffixes in 38:16 (Btxt) Dnl7'1JJ 'at their death, when they die', 38:25 (B) 1'n1'l7ill1 'and his discourse' ,41 38:26 (B) 1n7'pill1 'and his watching, anxiety', 43:8 (B) 1n7'i1Ti'J 'from its shining'. It is impossible to determine whether the subject is in the nominative or in the genitive in 25:23 (C) Cl'7' ]1':l7 'the hanging down of the hands' and CJ':::)7:J. ]1?ilJ:::) 'the tottering of the knees' ,42 37:11 (D) l77i ~~1i'J 'the going

Segal (1927) § 228. The frequent use of verbal nouns with the preformative -r.i in Ben Sira, too, is possibly due to Aramaic influence (compare the Aramaic ';,~pr.i infin.), see Strauss (1900) 39-41; Segal (1936) §§ 125-126, (1958) 281; Smend (1906) xiv; and further Kutscher (1969) 69-70; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 92; Gluska (1981); Van Bekkum (1983) 261; Wagner (1966) 132; JM § 49 e; GKC § 45 e; Segal (1927) §§ 255-257. Many commentators also consider 41:19 (B+M) ,mr.i as a verbal noun ('stretching out'), but we read it as a ptcp.; see Kister (1990) 350, (1999) 161, n. 3. 35 Unless nnr.i is the preposition jD with the infin. cstr. nn, see below,§ 14.7.1. 36 Segal; Strauss (1900) 41: 'der Akt des Kaufens'; Segal and Strauss both vocalise ;i;pr.i, a word that in BH is used with the concrete meaning 'possessions (of cattle)', but we also find ;JJPD denoting the act of buying ('purchase'); BDB 889a-b. 37 See Yadin (1965) 23. 38 Strauss (1900) 28: 'die Tatigkeit beim Verteilen'. In BH this word occurs only with the concrete sense 'division, part'; BDB 325a; see below,§ 14.7.1. According to Schechter-Taylor (1899) Ix, np'?nr.i in Sir. 42:3 (B; now also in M) may mean 'discussions', cf. m. 'Abot 5:17 'DiD1 ';,';,;i np1'?nr.i 'the discussions of Hillel and Shammai'; cf. Van Uchelen (1999) 336. 39 JM § 124 j; Van Bekkum (1983) 258-259. 4 For this idiomatic expression, compare Ezek. 46:7 17' l'iDn liDtlJ 'as his hand attains to' = 'as much as he can afford'. 41 See § 11.5 (D). Note that the verbal noun is in the plural. 42 cr,, j1'.J7 is also found in Jer. 47:3 and j1'?iDJ in Prov. 16:18; for the combination of the two expressions see Isa. 35:3. 33 34

°

248

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

out of seed', 43 43:22 (B) p.ll =-j7.ll1.) 'the dripping of the clouds'. Also in the following cases, where the object comes after the verbal noun without an intervening element, nominal or verbal government cannot be distinguished: 35[32]: 15 (B) Cl'JEl t-1:1illa 'lifting up of the face, partiality' ,44 40:29 (M) Cl'.llr.) 770' 'chastisement of the inner parts, inward torture', 41:19 (Bmg+M) i1'?t-1:iD nm 'giving what has been asked for', and 41 :21 (Bmg+Mc) ma n(1)p'?na 'dividing a portion'. 14.5 THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT AS SUBJECT

14.5 .1 The infinitive without preposition

As the subject of a clause we find the infin. cstr. both with and without the preposition -'?. The infin. without-'? is frequent in SBH, but its use diminishes in LBH and PBH.45 In LBH and QH the use of the infin. cstr. without-'? decreases and in MH the -'? has become an inseparable part of the infin. Accordingly, we find '?t:ip'? in LBH and MH in slots where BH would require, or at least allow, the infin. cstr. without -',, like that of the subject, the object, and the predicate, e.g. m. 'Ed. 5:6 ilt'.17iD l, etc. 49

In Ben Sira we find the infin. as subject both with and without-'?. Contrast especially the :rn~-proverb without-'? in 16:3 (A+B) and with-'? in 30:17 (B 1+2), 33:22 [30:30] (E), and 46:10 (B), 50 and compare Prov. 21: 19 7:::l7D Prov. 21 :9 " rnEl top ... '.

Yltli:::l rl:::liD :m~ '?l' r,:::iiD'? :::J1t!l,

'better to live in the desert ... ', but 'better to live in the corner of the house-

In Ben Sira the infin. without -? occurs as the subject of the sentence in the following cases. 16:3 (A[+B]) l:l':::17 l:l'J:::l ,., 1'iliD 'DD 'l'll) rm, t"J'?tl:D ]1~7 iliD1l) 1iltli :::i,~ ') 'for better is one who does (God's) will than a thousand and to die childless than he who has many sons';5 1 30:22 (B) 1Eltli 7'ltliil l:l7tli .,,,, iD'tli "n l:lil :::i:::i';, nilDiD 'gladness of heart is the very life of a person and cheerfulness makes a man patient';5 2 31[34]:l (B) 17tliiD ililD' l'iDl' 7piD 'the wakefulness of the rich wipes out his flesh'; 53 41: 16 (B+C+M) 1n:::iJ l:l?'.Jil '?:J tl:'?1 'and not every kind of humiliation is to be approved'; 54 43: 17 (M) 1n77 piD' i1:::l7tl:'.J1 1J'?iD i17El' t"JiDl::> 'like a locust swarm He sprinkles His snow, and like settling locusts is its coming down'. 55 4QMMT, C 7-8 i1?tl :ii'?[ Oi1D]!J tll:l?D (.. .) 7llD7E![tD] '[that] we have separated ourselves ( ... )from participating wi[th them] in these things'; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 76. Cf. § 14.7.3 and our remarks on 38:5 (B) -? 71:l!J:l in§ 22.2 (D) and on 40:3 (Btxt) -? ii, in§ 13.4 (C). 49 § 14.9. See further Polzin (1976) 60---61; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.496-497; Kutscher (1974) 41, 346-348; Segal (1927) § 344; Perez Fernandez (1997) 106, 144; Mishor (1983) 332-333; Van Bekkum (1983) 257-258, 262-264. According to Yifrach (1997: 275-276) the tendency to an increased use of ?t!lp? is also reflected in Ben Sira, where the frequency of ?t!lp? forms is relatively high. Yifrach counts 130 ?t!lp? forms as against 71 infins. with another preposition or without one, but she does not present statistics from BH to corroborate her view. 50 The examples with -? will be discussed in the following paragraph. 51 The text of this verse is difficult, see especially the extensive discussion by Di Lella (1966) 134--142. 52 BBS reads 7'7tli1 as an infin., an interpretation that is supported by the parallelism in this verse (:J? nnDtD // 0111 ?'J and tD'tl "n // lE!tl 7'7tli1, for which we should possibly read with G [and SJ l'D' 7'1tli1 'prolongation of his days'), but reading 7'7tli1 as a perf. is not objectionable (cf. § 5.2.4). The fact that 7'7tli1, when a perf., has 0111; ?'las its subject, whereas in Isa. 48:9 the subject of lE!tl 7'7tli1 is a person (cf. Job 6:11 'tD!:ll 7'7tltl) is not a valid objection because of Prov. 19:11, where the abstract 0111 ?JtD 'a person's prudence' is the subject (but note the apparatus in BHS). 53 Unless we should read iptD as a noun (iptiJ). 54 The addition of ?J is a late feature; see, e.g., Ezra 1:6; Yifrach (1997) 291, n. 82; Bergstrasser (1918-29) II,§ 11 e; WO§ 36.2.le. 55 § 24.3 (B). Instead of n7E!' (BBS) Beentjes has n,E!l in his edition and i1"1E!' in his 'Errata and Corrigenda'.

250

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In a sequence with other nouns: 11: 14[15] (A) ~1i1 "'Q iJ7 pm ',:i~1 i1Q:J[n] 'wisdom and insight and dis-

cerning a matter are from the Lord';56 31[34]:20 (Btxt) '?'O:J ~-~ l:l.lJ m:i1~;, 'Jm P'J~m i.lJ~1 iiJ'~' 77J1 :i1~:JQ 'pain,

sleeplessness, distress, want of breath, and dismay are with the foolish man'. 57

14.5.2 The infinitive preceded by -";, All sentences in Ben Sira in which ";,~p':, is the subject have either :::i,1~ or ]'~ as its predicate. To a certain extent ':,~p':, ]'~ is the negative equivalent of";,~p':, :::i,1~ (i.e.,]'~= :::i,1~ ~";,). 58 The syntagm ':,~p':, ]'~ increases considerably in LBH and QH, perhaps due to Aramaic influence. In MH we find fairly often the construction ':,~p':, X ]'~. 59 The classification of clauses of the type '?t!ip'? (X) )'ti; under 'infin. as subject' is not undisputed. E. Rubinstein, Leahy, and Konig consider the infin. as the subject and ]'ti; as the predicate, but others, including Qimron in his Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, regard the infin. as the predicate. 60 According to Yifrach the infin. is subject on the surface level, whereas on the deep level it belongs to the predicate, to which )'ti; adds a modal modification.6 1 An evaluation of these different positions depends on the definition of 'subject' and 'predicate' that is employed. In a logical definition of 'subject' and 'predicate' the infin. is the subject and ]'ti; the predicate, since 'negation' is more indefinite or universal than a particular action expressed by the infin. In a psychological definition of the two terms, too, the infin. can be analysed as the subject and )'ti; as the predicate: the clause provides information about the action expressed by the infin. (the subject); the new information is the absence or non-existence of that action (the predicate). However, what in a particular clause is the old and what the new information depends on the context. Hence it is impossible to say a priori which element is the subject and which the predicate. 62

56 This verse belongs to the expanded text of Ben Sira; see p. 71, footnote 34. 57 For our translation of m:i1::in 'l:ll and p•wn, see Smend and § 13.4 (E); on the verbal

noun nl'iD' see Dihi (1998) 28-30; and for the combination with 77l cf. Gen. 31:40, Esth. 6:1. 58 Yifrach (1997) 279, n. 15. 59 JM § 1241; GKC § 1141; Driver (1892) 274; Bergey (1984-85) 70--71, (1985) 75-77; Hurvitz (1990) 145-147, (1999) 133-140; Schoors (1992) 183-184; Carmignac (1974) 409410; Kesterson (1984) 231; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 79; Qimron (1986) 78-79; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 80; Sharvit (1983) 420. See further Van Peursen (1999) 227-230. 60 E. Rubinstein according to Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 81; Leahy (1960) 142; Konig (1897) § 397 d-g; Qimron (1986) 71. 61 Yifrach (1997) 278. 62 Baasten (1997) 1-2. For the psychological subject and predicate one also uses the terms 'theme' and 'rheme'. In addition to the logical and the psychological definition of 'subject' and 'predicate' there is a grammatical definition, but this definition, which is based on agreement in gender, number, and person, is of little help with the infin. constructions under discussion.

251

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

A. With

:rn~ we find the following occurrences.63

30: 17 (B 2) 1a11' ::i~::,a ';,1~v:, 77'?1 D' 1'7 w"na ma';, ::i1~ 'to die is better than an evil life and to go down to Sheol than lasting pain'; 64 33:22 [30:30] (E) [7'J::l] '7' ?l' 7~'::ina Tm 7'J::l rn';,n';, ::i1~ ':J 'for it is better that your sons plead with you, than that you should look to the hands of [your sons]'; 46: 10 (B) "' 'ln~ ~';,a';, ::i1~ ':J 'that it is good to follow wholly after the Lord'.

r~

r~

B. With we find la~'? 'one should not say' in 39:21 (B 1+2 ) and 39:34 (Bmg). 65 Other occurrences of the syntagm '?~p'? (X) are the following. 66

r~

10:23 ([A+]B) oan iV'~ ';,::, 1::i::,';, p~1 ?':JiVa ';,7 rrn::i';, ]'~ 'itis not proper to

despise a poor man who is wise, or to honour any man of violence'; 14: 16 (A) ,1ll'n v:,p::i';, ';,1~iV::i ]'~ ':J 'for in Sheol there is no seeking of joys'; 40:26 (B[+M]) ]lliVa nal' v:,p::i';, ]'~ 'with her there is no need to seek other support'; 40:29 (B) u"n rnJa';, 1"n ]'~ 'his life cannot be considered a life'.

r~

In this context we should also mention those cases where or its positive equivalent iV' functions as a predicate to a verbal noun: 3:28 (A) ii~1~7 ii? ]'~ ':J 'for it cannot be healed'; 20:6 (C) iill'a r~a 'because he has nothing to answer'; 35[32]: 15 (B) u'J~ ~1iVa 1a1' ]'~1 'and with Him there is no partiality'; 36:23[28] (B[txt+mg+C]) ]1iV? ~~la n::i iV' Cl~ 71'1 'and if she, besides, has healing of the tongue (= a soothing tongue)'. 67

With the infin. without-'? also 16:3 (A+B), discussed in the preceding paragraph. B 1 has Jm~; Jti;JD Cl?1JJ nnm t:;1"1 "nD mo'? :i10 'to die is better than a life of vanity and eternal rest than constant pain'; Bmg 2 has in the b-colon ?1ti;i:1? 77?1 'and to go down to Sheol'. The form of the infin. cstr. 77(')? instead of biblical n,1'? is built on the analogy of the impf. It is characteristic of MH. In lQis• xx1v 7 (Isa. 30:2) we find n71'?, with then added above the line; see Kutscher (1974) 39, 344; Segal (1927) § 165, (1936) § 252; Perez Fernandez (1997) 145; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.493. 65 In 39:34 Btxt has 7Dti;'? ?ti;, a syntagm that is not attested elsewhere except for two instances in QH, in 4Q393 3:3 (DID 29, p. 53; Falk [1994] 190); compare Prov. 31:4 and the LBH and QH syntagm '?0p'? ti;'?; Van Peursen (1999) 229-230. 66 See Hurvitz (1999) 143-144; Van Peursen (1999) 227-230. 67 BDB 951b. For the non-initial Clti; (also in 32[35]:7 [B+F] and 49:15 [Bl) see Smend (1906) 288; Segal (1958) 340; Azar (1995) 151. 63 64

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CHAPTER FOUR TEEN

14.6 THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT AS PREDICATE

Predicative '?t!lp'? is typical of LBH and QH.68 It is also attested in MH. 69 When used as a predicate the infin. commonly has a modal value, expressing notions like obligation or possibility. The increase of the predicative infin. in LBH and early PBH is probably due to Aramaic influence.7° Some examples from LBH, QH, and MH: 1 Chr. 9:25 ii'?~ CJ.ll (... ) ~1:i', CJii'l~nJ CJii'n~1 'and their brothers in their villages had to come ( ... ) with them'; 1QS V 17-18 CJm~ '?'1Jii'? 1rl'7JJ 1JiDm ~1', liD~ '?1::i ~'::i 'for all those not numbered in His covenant, they must be separated'; m. 'Abot 4:22 ]11''? CJ"iiii1 rim;;', CJ'r1Dii1 ma', CJ'11'?'ii 'they that have been born are (destined) to die, they that are dead are (destined) to be made alive, and they that live are (destined) to be judged'; m. Bek. 8:6 rirn:i'? 1JJ1 rirn:i', ~1ii '(if) he must redeem both himself and his son'.

In Ben Sira we find the following instances. (A)

3: 15 (A) 7'J1.ll rl'JiDii'? 11~::i '?.ll CJn::i 7'? 1::im iil~ CJ1'J 'in the day of trouble it will be remembered to your advantage; like warmth upon frost it will do away with your sins'.

With this verse one can compare those cases in BH where '?t!lp'?1 continues a finite verb, like Job 34:8 .lliDl 'iDJ~ CJ.ll ri::i',',1 ]1~ ''?.!!~ CJ.ll ii7Jn'? n1~1 'and he wandered in company with evildoers and travelled with wicked men'.7 1 (B)

11:29 (A) rl'J ',~ ~'Jii'? iD'~ '?::i ~', 'one should not bring everybody into one's house'.

Since ~";, negates ";,:, and not the infin., the construction in Sir. 11 :29 (A) is different from the '?t!lp'? ~";, syntagm in, e.g., Judg. 1: 19 pD.!!ii 'JiD' ri~ iD'71ii'? ~', ''.:I 'but they were unable to drive the people from the plains'.

68 On LBH see Kropat (1909) 24-25; Schoors (1992) 183; Eskhult (1990) 108; JM § 124 I; GKC § 114 h-1; Driver (1892) 275; on QH see Qimron (1986) 70-72; Qimron-Strugncll (1994) 80; Leahy (1960) 142; Kesterson (1984) 233-249; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 80-81. 69 Mishor (1983) 342-343; Perez Fernandez (1997) 147; Segal (1927) § 348, (1936) §§ 243, 247; Azar (1995) 78-79. 7 Cf. Bauer-Leander (1927) § 85 e; Ntildeke (1898) § 286. 71 JM § 124 p; WO§ 36.3.2; Driver (1892) 278, but note that in Sir. 3:15 (A) there is no preceding waw.

°

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

(C)

253

15: 15 (A+B[txt+mg]) 1J1::n rntvll'? ;m:irn m~r.i 1r.itvn fE:lnn l:lt-li.

The infin. mtvll? can be analysed in several ways. 1. The predicate (rheme) of a nominal clause of which m::n is the subject (theme): 'performing faithfulness [i1Jm~ = Btxt + G] is His

will'. 72 2. The predicate of a nominal clause of which m1:in ( or i1J1tl~) is the subject: 'insight (faithfulness) is the doing of his will'.7 3 3. An epexegetical infin.: 'if you want you can keep the command and insight by doing His will'.74 4. An attribute to m1:ir1: 'the insight that is required for doing His will'.7 5 In the latter two interpretations m1:in is object of the verb 7tliD, which is also the case in Prov. 19:8. According to Segal, however, the way the two cola are connected in these analyses is contrary to Ben Sira's style, which is characterised by a fixed parallelism between the two cola of a verse. (D) 27:5 (A) ]tD:!:J 7ll:i'? 7~1' ,i,:,,

This verse, too, can be analysed in different ways. 1. 7~7' '?J is the subject of the infin. and ]iD:iJ the object. On the clause level '?J 7~7' is the subject (theme) and JiD:::J,J 7ll:::J,? the predicate (rheme): 'the vessel of a potter is for the heating up of the furnace'. For ]iD:iJ as the object of 7ll:::J, pi. see Hos. 7:6, where 11m 'fire-pot' is the subject of 7ll:::J, gal and Mal. 3:19, where we find 11m:, 7!Jj 'burning like a fire-pot'. In Sir. 38:30 ]iD:iJ 7ll:::J,? should most likely be reconstructed on the basis of G Ka0apicrm Kaµ1vov .76 The problem with this interpretation of Sir. 27:5 is that a vessel is not an instrument one uses for heating up a furnace.7 7 We would rather expect a root like 1n:i as is probably reflected in G: the pottery serves 72 Thus Peters: 'und Treue zu iiben ist sein Wille' cf. G Kat 1tt0"nv 1to1ficrat EulioKia~. 73 Thus Skehan-Di Lella; compare their comment on p. 272: 'The expression "to do God's will"( ... ) is in parallelism with keeping "his commandment". Hence, to be faithful one must keep the Law and so do God's will.' It should be noted, however, that a translation like that of Oesterley (1916) 'and [it is] wisdom to do His good pleasure', reflects an interpretation in which the infin. is the theme and ,mJn the rheme. On the LBH and PBH idiom 1;1,n miDJJ? see Hurvitz (1972) 73-78. 74 Thus Yifrach (1997) 285; see below,§ 14.8. 75 Thus Levi (1901) 111: 'situ veux, tu observeras le commandement, avec !'intelligence requise pour accomplir sa volonte'. See below,§ 14.10. 76 Smend (1906) 351. Compare the translation of 1JJJ? in the Septuagint of Deut. 19:13. 77 Cf. Smend: ''J 1JJJ? heisst entweder ,,gemass der Heizung des Ofens" - und das passt nicht- oder ,,fur der Heizung des Ofens" - und das ware ein sehr ungeschickter Ausdruck'.

254

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

to test the furnace, it has to prove the quality of its work. 7 8 2. ][)J:, is the subject of 71':::l? and 7~1' ,';,:, the object. With this interpretation two different analyses of the main clause are possible. We can analyse ][)J:, as the subject of the main clause and 71':::l? 7~1' ,';,:, as the predicate 'the furnace serves to heat a potter's vessel' ,7 9 or we can consider 7~1' '?:, as the subject and J[)J:, 71':::l? as the predicate: 'the vessel is (destined) to be heated in the furnace' (so that it will be proved right or wrong), or 'the work of a potter can be heated in the furnace' (i.e. it can bear the heating). 80 The latter analysis is more consistent with the b-colon 1J1:::l[)n ?ll ii)'~ 1n1J:,1 'so in his conversation is ( the test of) a person'. 8 I (E)

38:26 (B) p:n~

m';,:,';, 1n7'piD1 'he is careful to complete the fattening'.

According to Yifrach this verse attests to an innovation of Ben Sira, namely the use of 7piD as an auxiliary. 82 However, 1n7'piD 'his anxiety' (Oesterley) is a noun rather than a verb and even if this verbal noun were the equivalent of the infin. *i1p (?i, the syntactic structure of Sir. 38:26 (B) remains unclear if we consider m';,:,';, as its complement ('his being careful to complete the fattening'?). Moreover, should Yifrach's analysis of this verse be right, it would still be incorrect to consider the use of 7p[) as an auxiliary as an innovation in Ben Sira, in the light of the parallels Jer. 1: 12 1niLlll? '7::!7 ?ll 'llli 1pti 'J 'for I watch over my word to fulfil it'; Jer. 31 :28 p lliii?1 7'::llliii?1 Cliii?1 r1m';,1 iLl1m';, Clii'?ll •r,,piD iiLllliJ ii'ii1 ll1t:il?1 mi::i';, Clii'?ll 7piLllli 'as I watched over them to pull down and to uproot, to demolish, to destroy and to harm, so now will I watch over them to build and to plant'.

78 Segal; Yifrach (1997) 278, n. 10; cf. Gen. Rab. 55:2 (on Gen. 22: 1) (Theodor-Al beck [1965] 2.585-586). G's 0OKlµasfl may also be a free rendering of 7.tl:l?; see the following footnote. 79 Cf. Smend (1906a): 'Das Tiipfergerlit muss prtifen der Ofen'. G has CTKEUT\ npaµi:ws 0oK1µasE1 Kaµwos 'the furnace tests the work of a potter', with either a free rendering of 7.tl:l? or, as many commentators assume, a translation of 1n:i' or in:i' instead of 7.tl:l?; see also the discussion of 6:1[2] (A) in§ 6.5. 8 Cf. Peters: 'Das TiipfergefliB muB im Ofen gebrannt werden'. That the subject of the main clause is the object, and not the subject of the predicative infin., is not problematic for this interpretation, since the infin. cstr. is neutral in respect to voice. Thus we find Josh. 2:5 71l0? 7.tlii!i1 ',Tl 'the gate was about to be closed', Gen. 6:20 m·nn'? 'to be kept alive', and with the verb 7.tl:l (with a meaning different from that in Sir. 27:5 [AJ) Num. 24:22, Isa. 5:5, 6:13 7.tl:l? n•n 'to be for destruction, be destroyed' (BDB 129a); JM § 124 s; Sellin (1889) 74. 81 Cf. Skehan-Di Lella; see also their comment on jl:lii!n and further Beentjes (1982) 387388. 82 Yifrach (1997) 280, n. 17.

°

CONSTRUCT INFINITNE

(F)

255

43:22 (B) JliV ]tvi';, l'71E:l ';,i:;i ]l.l! t"Jll'1J ';,::, ~E:171J 'healing for all things is the dripping of the clouds, the scattered dew serves to refresh the parched land'.

If .llll::l is an attributive ptcp., the infin. ]iD1'? is predicative, but it is also possible to regard .ll71::l as a predicative ptcp., of which J7iD ]iD1'? is a complement. 83

The predicative infins. ('?~p'?) in Ben Sira show some variation in the modal value they express. In 3: 15 (A) the predicative infin. denotes either futurity or the modal value of possibility; 84 in 11 :29 (A) it denotes in combination with ~";, prohibition; in 43:22 (B) it conveys the notion 'to be destined to'; and in 27:5 (A) it indicates either the notion of destination or that of ability, depending on the interpretation we follow. 85 In four of the six cases the semantic subject of the infin. is mentioned in the preceding lines: In 3:15 (A) it is the :::i~ np,~ 'righteousness to a father' mentioned in v. 14; in 38:26 (B) it is the farmer who in v. 25 is designated 11J'?1J 7mn 'he that holds the plow'; in 43:22 (B) it is the preceding .ll71::l ";,~ 'scattered dew'; and in 27:5 (C) it is either the preceding 7~7' '';l::, 'vessel of a potter' or the following ]iD::l'.:l 'furnace'. In 11:29 (A) and 15:15 (A+B) the subject is impersonal ('one').

14.7

THE INFINITNE CONSTRUCT AS VERBAL COMPLEMENT

14. 7 .1 The infinitive without preposition Whereas in QH and MH the infin. cstr. serving as verbal complement is always preceded by -'?, in BH we find sometimes an infin. without-'?, especially in poetry. 86 In Ben Sira there is one case of an infin. without -'?.

47:8 (B) ]1'';,.IJ ';,~';, nrni1 ]nl 1i1iV.IJ1J ';,::,:::i, 'in all his deed he gave thanks to God Most High'. See below,§ 14.7.2 (D). Yifrach (1997) 277. Different are 15:15 (A+B) and 38:26 (B), where '?t!ip'? is not the equivalent of a finite verb, but rather that of a noun. 86 In a recent article Jenni (1998) has argued that in this construction '?t!ip'? and '?t!ip are not interchangeable. Verbs modifying an action take '?t!ip'? when they function as an auxiliary verb (Hilfsverb), while they take the infin. cstr. without preposition when they function as an independent verb (Vollverb). For example, whereas 6:21 (A) ;JJ'?iD;J? 7nK' K?l means 'and he is not slow in casting her aside', *;JJ'?iD;J 7nK' K?l would mean something like 'and he does not cast her aside late (in the evening)', and while 5:11 (A) pto1;i';, 7;JQQ means 'swift to hear', *j'!K;J 7;JQQ would mean 'listening early (in the morning)'; cf. Kieviet (1998) 108-110; for the verbs 7nK and 7;JQ see Jenni (1998) 56, and below, D. 83 84 85

256

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

In this verse n771i1 is a noun, rather than an infin. The use of n771i1 as a noun is characteristic of LBH and QH.87 In two other cases a verbal noun functions as the direct object (in both cases governed by an infin.). The first is 41:19 (Bmg[+M]) i1?~iD nr,Q [ll]JQQ '(be ashamed) ofrefusing to give what has been asked for'. 88

In this verse we can analyse nno either as a verbal noun, 89 or as the infin. cstr. of 1m with the preposition ]0. 90 In the first interpretation llJO governs a noun in accusative, as occurs frequently in BH. In the second analysis it governs ]D + infin., with which one may compare 1 Sam. 25:26 tm7J ~1JQ i11i1' 7llJQ iiD~ 'that the Lord has withheld you from bloodshed' and 1 Sam. 25:34 7n~ llii1Q 'JllJQ iiD~ 'who has withheld me from doing you wrong'. 91

The second example is 41:21 (Mc) i1JQ np?nQ miDnQ '(be ashamed) of stopping the dividing of a portion' .92

In MS M the !Jet of mtvno is written above the mem and the s/ sin, and under the waw traces of an alef are visible. 93 Apparently, the scribe first wrote n~im 'of taking away' (= G &rco &cpmpfoEffit;), but then corrected it to mtvno. Btxt has [... ]iDi10 and Bmg n7J.tvno 'of reckoning'. Whereas the reading n~iDO requires np'?no to be a concrete noun ('of taking away a portion [or] share'), the reading miDnD renders it probable that np'?no is a verbal noun. 94 For i1iDn 'to silence, withold' compare

87 In LBH: Ezra 3:11; Neh. 12:46; 1 Chr. 25:3. In QH: e.g. lQS x 23 'El nn::il'i nni;i:i 'with thanksgiving I will open my mouth'. With nni;i jnl in Sir. 47:8 (B) compare i11'111i7 jnl in Sir. 51:17 (B) and MH, and contrast SBH Josh. 7:19 i117n jnl; Dihi (1998) 78-79. 88 For ;i';,l':w with the meaning 'a thing asked for' see Sir. 40:30 (B) en 1 Sam. 2:20; Segal; BDB 982b. 89 Thus Strauss (1900) 41, who vocalises nno; cf. Sir. 42:7 (Btxt) np';,1 nnm 'and giving and receiving', for which Bmg has ;inrn i11'11W1, an idiom that is related to the MH expression jnD1 l'iiDD 'carrying and giving' = 'business, dealings'; Jastrow (1886-1903) 848b; Kister (1983) 138-139; Driver (1934) 283; Strauss (1900) 28, 40; Smend. In BH we find only nno 'gift'. On verbal nouns with the preformative -D see above,§ 14.4. 90 Thus Segal. 91 However, these two verses are not exact parallels, for in 1 Sam. 25:26, 34 the semantic subject of the following infin. is the object of the verb lllD, whereas in Sir. 41:19 (Bmg+M) it is its subject. 92 Thus Yadin's translation. 93 Yadin (1965) 21; Beentjes (1997) 117. 94 Strauss (1900) 28; Smend (1906); note also the translation of Yadin, quoted. On np';,no see above, § 14.4.

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

257

35[32] :20 (B) i1Iii!m jlll i7pl!~i i1nli1 ]i~7 '7i71.:in, which Yadin translates with 'the bitter plaints of goodwill have been silenced and the cloud has retained the sigh (i.e. from reaching God)';95 and in Qumran Hebrew 1 i1l!i7ni7 '?ip?.:i ii!li1' Cll!i1 the sound of the fanfare'.96

lQM IX

?i:l1

'and all the people shall cease from

14.7.2 The infinitive with-? In Ben Sira ?~p? is found as a complement to two groups of verbs.

1. Verbs of commanding, allowing and the like. The construction with ?~p? occurs in Ben Sira with the verbs 70~ in 37:9 (D), i1i~ in 15:20 (A),

and the idiomatic expression c:npa 1m in 4:5 (A). 97 This construction is well-attested in CH, especially in LBH and QH, where it occurs fairly often in place of direct speech. Thus we find

1 Chr. 21: 1 '?~7iD' n~ rni1.:1'? 1'11 n~ no'1 'and he incited David to count Is-

rael',

where the Chronicler's source has 2 Sam. 24: 1 i111i1' n~, '?~7iD' n~ i1l1.:i 7'? 71.:i~? Cli7:::J, 111 n~ no'1 'and He incited David against them, saying Go, count Israel and Judah' .98 In MH the construction with ?~p? does still occur, but we find also an alternative construction with -iD. 99 95 Cf. Lam. 3:44. Others derive nrnvn from niDn = BH iDln 'to hasten', see, e.g., SchechterTaylor (1899) 59. 96 Similarly lQM xvi 8-9 (but with '?1p in place of '?1pa). In a nearly identical passage we find 1QM xvn 14 nimnn '?1p I1]n'l' DJJn ';,1::,1 'and all the people shall still the sound of the alarm', compare the parallelism of mi hi. and niDn in Sir. 35[32]:20 (B); Yadin (1965) 21, (1962) 107-109, 298. Yadin also mentions !QM vm 11 liDln' n77!l1iDn '?1p 'the sounds of the trumpets shall cease' (thus Yadin's reading; Charlesworth has liD'n'). Apparently he considers iDln as a by-form of

nm.

97 ';,t;1p';, mpa 1m occurs also in m. Para 3:3; cf. m. Ber. 4:2 (Schechter-Taylor [1899] 41; Segal). 98 Kropat (1909) 65; Eskhult (1990) 112; Kieviet (1997) 24-26, (1997a) 59-60; so also frequently in the book of Esther, see Striedl (1937) 74. See further Thorion-Vardi (1985) 80 and Leahy (1960) 141-142 on QH. 99 Already in LBH we find with 1iD~: Dan. 1:8 ';,~m· ~';, 1iD~ l:l'0'1Dn 1iDD iDp:r1 'and he asked the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself'; and in Qumran Mishnaic (§ 1.2): 4QMMT, C 28-29 7n;;JJ n~ 1pn"iD ll!l?D iDp:::11 'and ask before Him that He may strengthen your will'.

258

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

2. Auxiliaries with modal, aspectual, or adverbial meaning. An auxiliary verb is a verb that is incomplete in itself and therefore takes as its necessary complement another verb. 100 In the construction of a finite auxiliary verb with an infin. cstr. the finite verb is the syntactical head, but semantically the infin. is the head. 101 The auxiliary verb locates the situation in which the main verb operates and helps 102 to express such distinctions as tense, mood, aspect, etc. 103 In Ben Sira we find the following types of auxiliaries. A. Auxiliaries expressing volition, intention, and other notions related to the subject's direction of mind, like il::.~ and r::in 'to want, to wish', ::.illn 'to consider, devise', 1::.'? 1m 'to apply one's mind to', illp::. pi. 'to seek, try, aim at', ilt;):) 'to venture, trust', ill7::. 'to be ashamed of', e.g.

4:26 (A) ]11'0 ::.1iD'? ill1Jn '?~ 'be not ashamed to turn from iniquity'. In the Bible ill1::. + '?t;)p'? is only found in Ezra 8:22 '?7~ill'? 'nill::. 'I was ashamed to ask'. 104 It is also attested in MH.105 13:11 (A)10J.) ill=lil? nt;i::.n '?~ 'donotventuretobe(too)freewithhim'. 106 This construction with ilt;):) + '?t;)p'? is not attested elsewhere. 107 12: 11 (A) 1JOO ~7'rlil? 7::.'? 1n 'take care to be on your guard against him'. A similar construction with the idiomatic expression 1::.'?

1m is found in

Qoh. 8:16 ilOJn nll1'? 'J? n~ 'nm 7iD~J 'when I set my mind to know wisdom' and Dan. 10: 12 pi1'? 7::i'? n~ nm 7iD~ ]1ill~7il t:l1'il ]O 'from the first day that you set your mind to understand'. 108

Compare in Egyptian Aramaic: Cl.1:149 i11i1r7 'i '7:J mK ;i:i:; ]i1 'if you desire, my son, to be[ ... ]'. See Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 89; Mishor (1983) 334-341; Muraoka-Porten (1998) 260, and on the construction with '?t!ip'? in MH also Sharvit (1998) 342-344. 1oo This does not deny the possibility that verbs that serve as auxiliaries can also be used absolutely. lOl JM § 124 n; GKC §§ 114 m, 120 a; Yifrach (1997) 279-280. 102 Hence the name 'auxiliary'. 103 Heine (1993) 22-23; GKC § 120 a. 104 Thus Yifrach (1997) 280, n. 22, but see also Ezra 9:6. The coordinating construction (see below, at the end of this paragraph) occurs in Job 19:3 •';, 17Ji1r7 1iDJr7 K'? 'you are not ashamed to deal harshly with me'. 105 Levy (1876-89) 1.204b. 106 Thus Oesterley's translation; on iDm'? (ili!:l[l?, not ili!lh'?) see also Segal. 107 Yifrach (1997) 281. · · 108 Yifrach (1997) 281, n. 30; 1:i';, 1m is also attested in Qoh. 1:13, 17; 7:21; 8:9; l Chr. 22:19; 2 Chr. 11:16.

259

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

42:25 (Bmg+M) t:111ii t:i':::lii? ll:::lill' 'Q1 'and who can have enough of beholding their majesty?' In the Bible ?~p? llJ,iD is only found in Qoh. 1:8 mn? 1'll ll:::iiDn ~? 'the eye never has enough of seeing'.109 Here we can also include mp hi. 'to swear, promise (with an oath)', which signifies the subject's strong resolution, e.g.110 44:21 (B) l:l'1~ 1.llll:::l 71:::i'? 1? l:l'Pii iill[1:::l]ill:::i p ?ll 'for this reason, God swore to him with an oath to bless the nations through his seed'. IJ'Pil + ?t:ip? ( or ?bp 'n?:::i?) meaning 'to swear' is also attested in QH, e.g. lQS V 8 iiill1Q min '?~ :::l1ill? 70~ rlll1:::lill:::l 1illE:lJ ?ll wp'1 'and he shall swear with a binding oath to revert to the law of Moses'; lQH XIV 17 7'? ~,t:in 'n'?:::i'? 'illE:lJ ?ll 'n1Q'pii iill1:::lill:::l1 'and with an oath I have sworn not to sin against you' . 111 This use of IJ'Pil may have developed from elliptical expressions for n'7J, Cl'Pil or something similar. 112 Note also the absolute use of the piel in Esth. 9:21 IJii'?ll lJ'P? 'to impose upon them'. 11 3 Similar usages are attested for Aramaic D'p~.114 B. Auxiliaries expressing capability or possibility, like ?:)' and be able', p:io hi. 'to suffice'. ~~Q occus in

~:::m

'to

12: 11 (A) 7ri'iiillii? ~~Q' ~?1 'and he will not be able to destroy you'; 115 31 [34]:6 (Btxt[+mg]) iil:::lll 01':::l llill1ii? m1 iilllQ '?~Jii? ,~:::m ~'?1 'but they were unable to deliver themselves from disaster or to save themselves on the day ofwrath'.116 The use of ~~Q as an auxiliary is attested in LBH and MH. 117 It probably originated from elliptical expressions for 'to find an opportunity', etc. Note 1 Chr. 17:25 ??E:lnii? 77:::lll ~~Q courage) to pray',

p

?ll 'therefore your servant found (the

for which the parallel verse in 2 Sam. 7:27 has 1:::i,1? n~ 71:::ill ~~Q

p

?ll

109 Yifrach (1997) 282, n. 37. 11 0 Yifrach (1997: 282), too, regards ci1p hi. as an auxiliary verb. 111 Kesterson (1984) 251. Both examples with ,7.!ll:JIDJ, as in Sir. 44:21 (B)! See further

lQS v 10, CD xv 12, XVI 4. 112 Thus Smend. 113 See further Esth. 9:27, 29, 31, 32; BDB 878b. 114 Segal; see also Yifrach (1997) 282, n. 39; cf. already Margoliouth (1890) 311. 115 According to Smend, Skehan-Di Lella and others this colon, which is absent from G, is a gloss in MS A. 116 This bicolon belongs to HebII, see Kearns (1951) 59-60. 117 Jastrow (1886--1903) 825a.

260

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

??Elnil?. 11 8 We

see a similar use of the Aramaic n::iiD~, e.g.

lQapGen XXI 13 i1'lr.lr.l? able to count it'.119

illil~ ,::i ',1:, n:iill' ~', '7

'so that nobody will be

With p:::io hi. we find 42: 17 ([B+ ]M) m~',m ',:, 1EJO'? ',~ 'illlp ip'Elilli1 ~', 'even God's holy ones fail in recounting all his wonders'.

p:::io hi.+ ?~p? meaning 'to succeed, finish'(< 'to have sufficient time, power, etc.') is well attested in MH, always with negation. 120 C. Auxiliaries indicating Aktionsart: time', J,7iD 'to do again',121 e.g.

i1?J

'to finish',

i1:liD

'to do a second

50:21 (B) rl'lill ',m', ilill'i 'and they fell a second time'. 122 i1:liD

+ ?~p? is unattested in BH, but it is found in MH. 123

D. Adverbial auxiliaries, like r1~ hi., 7i1r.i pi., l'7El, and rn, all meaning 'to do quickly, to make haste', ,n~ pi. 'to do slowly, to tarry', i1J,7 hi. 'to do much', e.g.

r1~ hi. followed by

r~ri ',~ 'do not say swiftly, Violence!' 124

,~p,

7: 17 (A) f7El'? ,r.i~',

is only found in Isa. 22:4 'Jr.Im? 7~'~r1 ,~ 'do not hurry to comfort me'. The qal of r1~ with an infin. cstr. is found three ~?7 times in BH. Its use as an auxiliary verb is attested in Josh. 10: 13 125 is also found ~7:::J,? 'and (the sun) made no haste to set'. r1~ qal + in Sir. 11: 10 (A+B) npr ~? m:::i,1n":l r~1 'and he who is swift to multiply is his possessions will not be blameless', but according to Yifrach indicates someone who hurries in his not an auxiliary here: m::i,n":l business in order to multiply his possessions, rather than someone who swiftly multiplies them.126

,~p,

r~

r~

ri~

118 Since the use of K,m as an auxiliary is attested in LBH and MH, it cannot be concluded from its use in 31[34]:6 (Btxt[+mgl) that the bicolon quoted is a 'manifest retroversion' from the Syriac (with cw=c< .11 'il' Dilli1 p1::in' i1'ni1:::in::i1 1pn::i i1'7n~ n~;;';, 1;;1' i1'~1JQ ';,:,1 'blessed is the man who meditates on wisdom and who gazes at under-

9:6-7 (A)

153 Cf. Levi (1898) 40 on 41:17 (Btxt) r71ll ?K l:lKl JKD iDlJ 'be ashamed before a father and mother of fornication': 'la construction est vicieuse; !es complements du verbe iDlJ ne sont pas ceux qu' aurait choisis un ecrivain de la bonne epoque; ii aurait dit plutot JK 'l!l? iDlJ r71llD ClK7.' However, for the double function of JD governed by iDlJ Kister refers to t. Ta'an. 1:8 l'iDJJDD l:l7K iD"Jrl' ?Kl ll'JnD l:l7K ID"Jrl' "lJ 'my sons, a man should be ashamed before his fellow, but let him not be ashamed of his works' (Ed. Lieberman [1955-.. ] 325); Kister (1990) 350, n. 168, cf. (1999) 171. For other MH examples of IDlJ +JD+ person before whom one is ashamed, see Lieberman (1955a-.. ) 5.1072. 154 Ges 18 1.134a; HAL 1.112b. 15 5 IDlJ +-'?+noun occurs in Sir. 4:22 (C). See further above,§ 14.7.2 (A). 156 JM § 124 o; GKC § 114 o; WO§ 36.2.3e; Driver (1892) 277-278; for QH see Kesterson (1984) 258-260, 263-264, 266; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 82; Leahy (1960) 137-138; cf. Muraoka-Porten (1998) 209 on Egyptian Aramaic. 157 Thus Adler (1899-1900) 474. Inv. 6b either r7K is placed before the subject (Elwolde [1994] 178), or the qal of JJ0 has here the transitive meaning 'to hand over' (Reiterer [1991] 368; Sasson [1982]), or Jl0rl should be emended to J(')on (Skehan-Di Lella; Smend).

266

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

standing, who pays attention to her ways and considers her paths [ii'n1:J'm] diligently, pursuing her like a scout, watching her entryways'. According to Puech the reading n~:h (supported by S ~ ) is corrupt. Puech compares Sir. 14:20-15:2 with 4Q525 and other beatitudes and concludes that in similar sequences following '7ilJ~ this use of the infin. cstr. is uparalleled. 158 However, the reading in Sir. 14:21 (A) is not objectionable if we view ''7 n~::;";, as an elaboration of the preceding line, rather than an independent clause parallel to the surrounding ha-qotel w-X yiqtol clauses. Compare the use of '?t'.lp'? in Prov. 8:34 'nm:i nrnQ 7Qtv', t:l1' t:l1' 'nn',1 '?JJ 1ptv'? ,i-, JJQtv c:i1~ 'itv~ 'blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors'. The infin. n~::;";, is continued by w-X yiqtol, a construction that occurs a number of times in the Bible, especially in poetry. 159 15: 15 (A+B[txt+mg]) 1i1::;7 mtvJJ'? iil1:Jm ;;1::;Q 7Qtvn fEinn t:l~ 'if you want you can keep the command and insight by doing His will'; 160 46:6e-7d[e] (B) 10n iitvJJ iitvQ 'Q'::11 ',~ 'in~ ~',Q '::i [c:i],1 '?iip J)jE):J j'.;;'nii'? iiJJi ;;:n n'::itv;;',1

iilEl' P, ::i'?::i, ~1ii iilJJQ inn :J'tvii'?

'and because he followed wholly after God and acted piously in the days of Moses, he and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, in standing firm when the congregation broke loose, averting God's wrath from the assembly and causing the wicked complaint to cease'; 16 1 50: 17 (B) ;;::;7~ t:lii'lEi '?JJ 1'?Ei'1 17i1Ql nn' 7tv::i ',:, '?~itv' tvnp 'lEi'?

]1''?JJ 'm'? mnntvii'?

'then all the people together would quickly fall prostrate to the ground in adoration before the Most High, before the Holy One of Israel'. 14.9 OTHER ADVERBIAL FUNCTIONS

Beside the epexegetical (gerundive) use, the adverbial functions of the infin. cstr. include its final, consecutive, temporal, causal, and comparative functions, as well as its use for the description of instrument or manner.

Puech (1991) 92; cf. Martone (1997) 93. JM § 124 q; GKC § 114 r; Yifrach (1997: 278) categorises this example as a predicative infin. 160 Thus Yifrach (1997) 285; but see the other possible interpretations of this verse in § 14.6. 161 The last two infins. may also express purpose: 'to avert. .. to cause ... ' 158 159

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

267

A. Final-consecutive '?~p? is attested twelve times. In addition to final ?~p? we find once ?~p? 77JSJJ and twice ?~p ]Sli.J?. The negative equivalent of '?~p'?, namely ?bp 'n?J?, is attested once. Only in a limited number of cases is a clear-cut distinction between final and consecutive ?~p? possible. 162 B. The infin. cstr. quite often serves as a temporal adverbial. With the prepositions 'J:J?, 7Sl, and Ci7~J it indicates an action following the action expressed by the main verb and with '7nt-li it denotes preceding actions. Mainly with -J, and also with -J, CiSJ, -?, and ]i.J, as well as with r1SJJ and r1si(1) it indicates simultaneous situations.163

C. A causal expression made up of an infin. cstr. and the preposition ]i.J occurs in 11: 16[18] (A) and causal -J + infin. cstr. is attested in 45 :23 (B), 48:2 (B). 164 D. There is one possible occurrence of comparative -J + infin. cstr. in 14:18 (A) and one example of comparative ]i.J + infin. cstr. in 33:22 [30:30] (E). 165

E. The infin. cstr. denotes the instrument after -J or ]i.J in 13: 11 (A) ]l'DJ ln'tll rn::::i7 {i1 }i.J 'J 'for by multiplying his talk (he will make) a trial (ofyou)'; 166 37:31 (B[txt+mg]) CJ"n =ro1' 71.Jillil:::ll 'by guarding oneself, one prolongs his life'; 167 47:4 (B) n'?; m[tli=i]n 7:::lill'l shp ?SJ 17' l=l'Jil:::l 'by moving his hand to the sling (?), he broke the pride of Goliath'_ l 68 Some authorities also interpret m~il:l in 48:17 (B) Ci'D i1J7n ',11; m~il:::i 17'.!l pm wpm' 'Hezekiah fortified his city, by bringing water into it' as an instrumental adverbial, but the biblical account of Hezekiah's achievements does not support a relation between his fortification of the city and the 162 See further chapter 22, especially § 22.2. On the distinction between final and consecutive '?t.1p'?, see § 22.1. 163 See further chapter 20, especially §§ 20.2.2, 20.3, 20.4.2. 164 See further chapter 23, in particular § 23.3. The line between the causal use of these prepositions and their instrumental use (below: E) is sometimes very thin. In 48:2 (B) 1n!ilp:11 'and because he was zealous' we find an infin. of the ;i';,t,1p pattern; see above,§ 14.l. l65 On 14:18 (A) see§ 24.3 (E) and on 33:22 [30:30] (E) above,§ 14.5.2. 166 Cf. Schechter-Taylor (1899) xxvii: 'for with his much talk he will make a trial of thee'; Levi (1901) 95: 'car cette abondance de paroles n'est qu'une epreuve'. 167 See§ 21.7. Yifrach (1997: 290) does not include this example. 168 1!:l'l;JJ can also be interpretated temporally: 'when he moved ... ';§ 20.4.2.

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construction of a water canal. The first was part of his activities to prepare Jerusalem for an Assyrian assault, the latter, the construction of the Siloam canal, was to provide the newly-built western part of the city with water. 169 Hence we prefer to consider n1t:li1::l as a temporal adverbial.

F. The infin. cstr. indicating manner occurs in 4: 17 (A) 1~l)

7';~

i::iim:::i ,:,

'I will walk with him in disguise'.

In the present and the preceding paragraphs we have made an inventory of the several types of adverbials consisting of a preposition and an infin. Among these types we can distinguish two groups: the final, consecutive, and epexegetical adverbials (= A) and the other adverbials including the temporal, causal, and comparative expressions (= B). These two groups can be singled out because they differ in the preposition used, the position in the sentence, and the subject of the infin. The differences are the following. 1. The A infins. are nearly always preceded by-'? (more than 40 times,

further only once -'? 11::w:::i and twice p,r.h); B infins. take a rich variety of prepositions, like -J (time, cause, instrument, manner), ]~ (time, cause, comparison, instrument), -:i (time, comparison) and further the temporal prepositions '1n~, Ci1t!lJ, -'?, 'JE:l'?, 7ll, and Dll. 2. The A infins. always follow the main verb, the B adverbials precede it in about half of the cases. 3. The A infins. have the same subject as the main verb in about 75% of the cases, with the B infins. the percentage is much lower, ca. 50%. When the subject is identical with that of the main verb, the A infins. never take a subject suffix, the B infins. take one in more than 80% of the cases. no 4. The A infins. do duty as verbal complement, the B infins. most often as adjunct. The difference between the two is that a complement is an obligatory, nuclear constituent of the sentence, which is required to complete the predicate, while an adjunct is an optional, extra-nu169 Yifrach (1997) 290, n. 76; Smelik (1984) 66-68. Smelik also discusses the archeological evidence, which does not support a relation between the two events either. 170 In four cases the subject of a B infin. is not made explicit by means of a noun or pronoun, in 4:17 (A) 10ll j?K lJ,mJ 'J "I will walk with him in disguise'; 11:16[18] (A) nllllmo liDJlnD iD' 'there is one who becomes rich by humbling himself'; 12: 15 (A 2 ) ll'Ell' K? 70Jl nll 7Jl 'as long as (you) stand he does not make himself known'; 48:17 (B) D'O ,1J1n ?K n1t:li7J 17'll pm 1i1'PTn' 'Hezekiah fortified his city, while bringing water into it'.

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

269

clear modifier.171 5. From a diachronic point of view it should be noted that the A infins. continue to be used in MH, 172 while B infins. are replaced by constructions with verbal nouns or finite verbs. Thus we find in BH 7nt,l;~:::l and 7nt,l;~~ 'when he goes (went) out', but in MH 7nt,l;'~':::l (m. Ber. 9:4) and t,l;~'iD~ (m. 'Abod. Zar. 3:4). 173 ?t!lp? serving as a complement to an auxiliary or as an attribute to a noun also continues in MH. 174 14.10 THE INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT MODIFYING A NOUN

The infins. discussed in§§ 14.7-14.9 modify either a verb or a whole sentence, but the infin. cstr. can also modify a preceding noun. We can distinguish two constructions: either the infin. is a nomen rectum after a construct noun or it is preceded by -? and functions as an attribute.

A The infin. in a genitive relationship to a preceding noun is attested eight times, seven of which are in temporal adverbials, namely in 3:31 (A)11::11~ ri.il::l1 'andwhenhefalls'; 5:7 (A) opJ Cl1'::l1 'and on the day he takes vengeance', (C) opJ mJ::i.1; 175 12: 15 (A 2) 1~!! n!l 1!! 'as long as (you) stand'; 36:13[18] 7'n::liD ]1::l~ Cl?iD1i' 'Jerusalem, Yourdwelling-place'; 176 40: le (B) 1n~~ Cl1'~ 'from the day he leaves'; 40:ld (B) 1::iw Cl1' 1!! 'to the day he returns'; 40:5 (B) and46:18[19] (B) 1mJ n!l1 'and when he rests /rested'. 177

171 Lyons (1968) 345-350; Hartmann-Stork (1973) 44; cf. Yifrach (1997) 287. 172 Perez Fernandez (1997) 146--147; Segal (1927) § 344, (1936) § 242; cf. above,§ 14.5.1. 173 Perez Fernandez (1997) 58-59, 109, 144; Segal (1927) § 344, (1936) § 242; Mishor (1983) 233; Qimron (2000) 234; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.498-502; Sola-Sole (1961) 83. However, the B infins. did not totally disappear from MH, e.g. Sifre Deut. 348 '701' 'lEI'? 11D1JJJ 'when he stood before Joseph' (thus MS London and the Geniza fragment T-S C2, 211; other witnesses have 1r71'i.lJJJ; see Finkelstein [1969] 406 and Mishor [1983] 331). In QH there is a marked increase of '?t'.lp'?, but constructions with other prepositions like -J, -J, 1JJ, '?JJ, 1r.i, and ',!:l'? are frequent as well; Qimron (1976) 144-145, (1986) 72, (2000) 234 (in this latter publication Qimron deals with the Hebrew of the Copper Scroll, cf. § 1.2); Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 76, 81; Kesterson (1984) 218, 222-228; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 78-79; Leahy (1960) 139, 141-142. But see§§ 15.2, 18.2. In the Targumim we find replacement of preposition+ infin. by another construction in, e.g., Tg. Onq. Exod. 16:10 '?K7iD' 'J:11 KniDJJ '?J OJJ p1K '?''?i.l 1J n1n1 'and when Aaron spoke to the congregation of the Israelites', for MT '?K7ill' 'JJ n1JJ '?J '?K ]7i7K 7J1J 'n'l; Hurvitz (1982) 122-123. 174 Cf. above, § 14.5.1. 175 §§ 20.4.2, 20.7. 176 Cf. Exod. 15:17 7n:iiD'? 1 1Ji.l. For theyodin 7"nJiD see§ 3.7.6. 177 See § 20.5 and Konig (1897) § 400a-c.

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The infin. cstr. governed by a noun is also attested in QH and, as in Ben Sira, the governing noun most often has a temporal meaning. 178 It has disappeared in MH. 179 B. '?~p'? serving as an attribute occurs in the following cases.

7:6 (A+C) ]11! rl':J.illi1'? '?'n 7'? ]'~ Cl~ 'if you have no strength to root out presumption'; 14: 16 (A) i1illll Cl'i1'?~ {'lE:i'?} n1illll'? i1El'ill 7:J.1 ',:,1 'and everything that is fitting to do, do it before God' _180 r11iLlll? is a complement to i1El'. 181 The construction '?~p'? i1El' is also found

in LBH, in Qoh. 5: 17, and in MH. 182 A similar construction occurs in Aramaic with 7'::liLl 'pleasing, beautiful' . 183 15:15 (A+B[txt+mg]) 1l1~7 n1ill.ll'? i1l1:in1 'and the insight that is required

for doing His will'; 184 39:30 (B) [Cl'llill7] Cl'7ni1'? rn~pl :iim 1n::i1 :iipll ]ill n'n 'savage beasts, scorpions, and vipers, and the avenging sword to slay [the wicked] (all these were created to meet a need)'; 41: 1 ([B+ ]M) )1llln '?:ip'? n::i 1:J. 11.ll 'who still has strength to enjoy luxury'; 41:16 ([B+C+]M) ill1:J.'? i11~l rlill:J. ',:,~','not every shame is shameful'. i1~1l (M) / i1~l (B, C)

+ '?~p'? is common in MH.185

42:2 (B[txt+mg]+M) llill7 P'1~i1'? l!!Elill~ '?.ll1 'and (be not ashamed) of justice to acquit the wicked';l86 44: 8 (B [txt+mg]) Dn'?m:i n1.llrlilli1'? Dill 1n'li1 Cli1~ ill' 'some of them have left behind a name, which might be talked about in their inheritance'; 45: 15 (B)

cmill '~'J 1.ll11'?1 1~ill:J. 1~.ll r,~ 71::i.'?1

CJ'?1.ll n'7:J. 1'? 'i1n1 1'? Ji1J'?1 mill'?

'and it became for him a lasting covenant and for his descendants, as Kesterson (1984) 220--221; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 78; Leahy (1960) 141. Segal (1936) § 242; an exception ism. /fag. 2:4 m:it!I Cl1' 'a day for slaughtering'. This bicolon belongs to Hebll; it is also attested in S, but not in G or L; Rliger (1970) 104; cf. Qoh. 9:10, 11:9 (Skehan-Di Lella, but see Backhaus [1993] 43; Delsman [2000] 65). 181 Pace Yifrach (1997) 278-279, who considers it as the subject of the relative clause; cf. Kieviet (1997) 63. 182 Sharvit (1993) 417. 183 Yifrach (1997) 276, n. 13. 184 See above, § 14.6, where other possible interpretations of this verse are given. 185 Yifrach (1997) 277, n. 18. Here, too, Yifrach (1997: 279) regards the infin. as the subject. 186 This verse is problematic in the light of biblical phrases like Exod. 23:7 JJiD7 p•i:;t'I t'I'? 'J 'for I will not acquit the guilty'. The purport of Sir. 42:2 (B[txt+mg]+M) is probably 'do not hesitate to acquit the wicked man when he is proven innocent'. The suggestion made by Baumgarten (1968: 325) that t!IEliDQ JJiJ7 p•i:;;i';, exemplifies the t'it!ln 'sin' mentioned in the preceding verse is not convincing. 178 179 180

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CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

the days of heaven, that he should minister and execute the priestly office and bless His people in His name'; 45:24 (B) tv1pD ';,:,';,:,';, D1?iD I7'"7:l pn D'pi1 1';, DJ p';, 'therefore also for him He established an ordinance, a covenant of peace that he should provide for the sanctuary'; 187 49:7 (B)

tll':lJ "7~1J Dn"7i'J tl:1i11 [:l]'iDi1?1 l)t;JJ? m:i';, p1

1i11JlJ 'J 1i1'i'J"7' 1':l 0"7i1?1 1':ltlli1?1 r1m';,1 tv1r1J?

'through Jeremiah, because they had persecuted him, and he had been made a prophet from the womb, to root out and to pull down, to demolish and to destroy and likewise to build, to plant, and to restore'. 188 14.11 VARIANT READINGS IN THE MANUSCRIPTS

A. Adverbial infinitive constructions

In some cases where an adverbial is made up of a preposition and an infin., we see some variant readings that have (verbal) nouns in place of the infins., others that show variation with respect to the preposition used, and still others that employ entirely different constructions. 13:12[11] A FOJ in'iD m:i"7{i1 }i'J ':l 'for by multiplying his talk (he will make) a trial (of you)'; Saadia 7n,t,:: i10Ji'J n'ill :ii:i ':l 'for by much talk he will test you' . 189 In Saadia' s quotation instrumental -:i occurs instead of ]i'J, the noun :l7 replaces the infin. n7:l7i1i'J and jl'OJ is simplified to i10Ji'J T11t,::.

35[32]:12 Btxt 7' miDi1:l7 'and in the attaining of your hand'; Bmg 1* niDJi1:l7 'and in the approaching'; Bmg 1c I7iD)i1:l; Bmg2* iD')i1:l1; Bmg 2c iD'Ji1:l7. 190 The differences between the variant readings relate to the pattern of the word (a verbal noun of the i1'79pi1 pattern in Btxt and Bmg 1; an infin. cstr. hifil in Bmg 2), its root ()(DJ hifil 'to attain' in Btxt and tliD hifil 'to approach' in the marginal readings), and the preceding preposition (-:i in Btxt and the uncorrected Bmg 1 and Bmg2; -:i in the corrected marginal readings). The parallel in Ezek. 46:7 77' )'ton 7iDt,:::l 'as much as he can afford' argues for the root )(DJ hifil and the preposition -:), 191

187 As in 45: 15 (B) and 45:24 (B) ';,t;1p';, occurs as a modifier of tl'lJ 'covenant' in CD xv 8~9; Kesterson (1984) 268. 188 I.e. he had been made a 'i1"lJ1 p11n ~'Jl' (Yifrach [1997] 286). We can also attribute a final meaning to these infins. (§ 22.2 [Bl). In Jer. 1:10, where we find a nearly identical series of infins., the attributive interpretation is impossible. 189 Ed. Harkavy (1891) 179. 190 In Bmg a supralinear J is written on the top of the J in both iD'li1J1 and tliDli1J1; Beentjes (1997) 61. 191 Cf. above, § 14.4.

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37:31 Btxt+D Cl"n "]01' 7aiDJi1i 'and he who guards himself prolongs his life'; Bmg 7aiDii:l7 'and by guarding oneself'. See above,§ 14.9, and further § 21.7. 38: 16 Btxt Clnl)'7J:l 'at their death, when they die'; Bmg cin•1,:::i 'in their corpse'. 192 B. Infinitives and (verbal) nouns In some cases an infin. is paralleled by a (verbal) noun in another textual witness. We have already seen two examples that can be repeated briefly, followed by two other instances from Sir. 43:8 and 44:8. 13:12[11] A n7J.7{ii}a; Saadia n'iD :l7J.. A has an infin. where Saadia has a noun. 35[32]:12 Btxt mtvii:17; Bmgl r1iDJii:l/J; Bmg2 iD'Jii:l/J7. Btxt and BmgI have a verbal noun of the ii';,t;ipiJ pattern and Bmg 2 an infin. cstr. of the hifil. 43:8 Btxt 7n7JniDii:l ~77J iia 'how wonderful it is in its changing'; Bmg in:i1tvn:i 'in its returning'. The hitpael of iiJiD occurs once in the Bible with the meaning 'to disguise oneself' or 'to change clothes' (1 Kgs. 14:2). 44:8 Btxt nmmtvii?; Bmg 1 nrnntvii?; Bmg2 n7lliDii?. Segal and BBS interpret Btxt's n7JllniDii? as a verbal noun of ]llit! hitp. 'to lean' (with the meaning of the nifal ]llit!J in BH), but this meaning hardly fits the context. Peters interprets it as a histafal of iiJ.!i 'to make oneself talked about' ('sich erziihlen'). Accordingly, Btxt's nmmtvii? is either an infin. cstr. (Peters) or a verbal noun with the abstract -ut ending (Segal); the two marginal readings are infins. of the hitpael and nifal (or hifil) of iilliD. This root has here the meaning 'to tell, recount', which it also has in Late Aramaic (ltpaal) and Syriac (both Ethpeel and Ethpaal). 193

192 Thus Beentjes; cf. Qimron (1988-89). BBS has in Bmg DJ!'1JJ, which would be either a unique verbal noun J!'1l + suffix, or a misspelling for DJ!1lJ (DJ?1p), or a construction with ;JJ!'1l + suffix that is comparable with m1:in + suffix in Hos. 13:2 o;i::in:J 'according to their insight' and ;JtJ7J! + suffix in Job 3:13 01.Jll! 'their craftiness'. Cf. Sir. 44:3 Btxt Dr771Jl, Bmg 011::ii; cf. Segal; GKC § 91 e. 193 Jastrow (1886-1903) 1610b; Levy (1867-68) 2.503a; Payne Smith (1903) 588b; cf. § 11.5 (D) on 1'r71'J!ID 'his discourse' in 38:25 (B). See further the discussion by Dihi (1998) 46-49.

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

273

C. Government There are some variants that are related to the government of the verb. They concern the function of the element governed (subject or object), the type of the element governed (indeterminate noun, suffixed noun, etc.), and the way the object is connected to the infin. cstr. (with or without m::).

40:29 Btxt D'l'i.J 770 'a secret of the inner parts'; Bmg D'l'ii.J 770' 'chastisement of someone who is angry'; M D'l'i.J 770' 'inward torture'. In Bmg the verbal noun 770' is followed by its semantic subject, in M by its object. 41:19[21] Btxt 71'7 '8~ :JiDn?J 'of reckoning the face of thy friend';I94 Bmg 1'8 l'iDil'i.J 'from closing up the mouth of'; 195 Bmg 2 7'1'7 '8 l'iDil 'i.J 'who would cause the mouth of your neighbours to cry out?'; 196 M 71~iD 'l8 n~ :J'iDili.J 'of refusing your own kin'. Bmg' s '8 can be explained as a corruption from Btxt's '8~, which in turn is an Aramaising variant to M's 'm. 197 The readings in Mand B differ not only in respect to the lexemes of the verb and the object, but also in the use and non-use of

rR 42: 17 B"' m~'?m 780'? 'to recount the wonders of the Lord'; M '?J 780'? l"n~'?m 'to recount all His wonders'. 42:25 Bmg 1~1n ~':Ji!'? 'to behold (their) form'; M D77il ~':Ji!'? 'to behold their majesty'. D. Constructions with auxiliaries

5: 11 A p~n'? 7il1J1J il'il 'be swift to hear'; C il:Jl~ ill'li.JiD:J ]1Jl il'il 'be steadfast in a good report'. Elsewhere we have argued that the most probable reconstruction for this colon is ill'li.JiD'? 7i11J1J ii'il. Compare m. 'Abot 5:12 l'li.JiD'? 7i11J and note that both ]'l~il'? in MS A and -:::i ]lJJ in MS C (cf. Ps. 112:7-8, where we also find 711:Jo as in 5:10 [A+C]) are biblicising alterations of the text, while il:Jl~ in MS C is probably added under the influence of Prov. 15:30, 25:25. 198 il:Jl~ is also reflected in GrII. GrI EV cxKpoaCTEt 0ou supports the reading with the abstract noun iil'lr-iD, but 194 Thus Cowley-Neubauer (1897) 11, who read Jvno. as does Beentjes; BBS has JVno; cf. M. In the reading of BBS the defective spelling of the infin. cstr. is remarkable, see§§ 3.7.3, 15.2. 195 Thus Cowley-Neubauer (1897) 11. 196 Thus DCH 1.355b. 197 Smend; Segal; cf. l Sam. 25:23. For the idiom used in M, seep. 244, footnote 20. l 98 Van Peursen ( 1997) 170--171.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

James 1:19 -mxur; dr; 1:0 aKoucrm the reading with the infin. (= L, S). 199 51:18 Q i1pmv~, 'n10i 'I devised to make sport'; B :J'~'i1'? 'n:Jilln 'I thought to benefit'. The two versions of Ben Sira's concluding acrostic differ in respect to the auxiliary verb used (om and :Jilln) and to the construction with the main verb (coordinate and subordinate construction). E. Other variants

For the variation between a perf. and a predicative infin. in Sir. 3: 15, see§ 7.5. 37: 11 Btxt SJ7 ~,~,o '?si ~,ill imw '(do not take counsel with) a useless keeper about one who spreads an evil report'; 200 Bmg ~~o [... ]ill 7'Jill SJ7i; D SJ7i ~~,o '?SJ i1Jill 7'Jill 'with a yearly hireling concerning the going out of seed', i.e. 'with this year's hired person about next year's sowing' .201 The reading of MS Dis preferable because of the context. 41:21[20] Btxt* ill'7no m'?w '?[ ... ]; Btxtcw•1ni10;202 Bmg 1 ,~iwo; Bmg2 1ill'7nm m'?w ,,~wo; M ill'7ni1 m'?w ,~wo. The first word is a ptcp. in Bmg 1 ('?~1iVO) 'from someone who asks (greets)' and an infin. cstr. in Bmg2 ('?,~wo) 'from asking (greeting)', while M's defective spelling leaves open both possibilities. The reading with a ptcp. is supported by S and G (plural ptcp.; MS 248 singular). 203 The third word is in the uncorrected text of Btxt ill'7no 'from a deaf-mute', in the corrected text an infin. cstr. of win hi. 'to be silent' and in Bmg 2 an imprt. of the hitpael. 204 In M it is an infin. cstr., but if we assume exceptional plene orthography it can also be an infin. abs. or an imprt. 205 Accordingly the following readings and interpretations are possible. 1. '?(i)~iVO (Bmg 2+M), an infin. cstr. denoting the reason of the

shame, 206 and ill'7ni1 (M), an adverbial infin. abs.: '(be ashamed of) greeting silently or lowly'. 201 2. '?(i)~iVO (Bmg 2+M), an infin. cstr. that functions as a complement to ill'7ni10 (Btxt) or ill'7ni1 (M), which is an infin. cstr. denoting the reason of the shame: 'of neglecting to greet someone'. The construe199 Riiger (1970) 49. 200 Thus Margoliouth (1899-1900) 19. 201 Skehan-Di Lella; Smend. 202 In Btxt the n of iD'lnno is written between the lines. 203 Also by Btxt if we read with BBS'?[ ... ]. 204 In BH we find mainly the hifil of il!ln; the hitpael occurs only in Judg. 16:2. 205 § 3.4. 206 See above, § 14.7.3. 207

Compare Sir. 6:6[5] (A); m. 'Abot 4:15.

CONSTRUCT INFINITIVE

275

tion with i1J'7ni1 + ]iJ + infin. cstr. is also attested in 1 Sam. 7:8 Lord'.

i11i1'

'?~ p.llliJ 1liJiJ t1nnr1 '?~ 'do not neglect to cry for us to the

3. '?~(7)iDiJ (Bmg 1+M), a ptcp. denoting the person before whom one is ashamed and iD'7niliJ (Btxt) or iD'7ni1 (M), an infin. cstr. denoting the reason of shame: '(be ashamed) of remaining silent before someone who greets'. With this analysis the colon concerns the answering of a greeting. 208 4. An imprt. iD'7ni1 (M) or 7iD'7nm (Bmg), with either the infin. cstr. ";l(1)~iDiJ (Bmg 2+M), or the ptcp. ";l~(7)iDiJ (Bmg 1+M). However, it is not clear to us what may be the purport of the admonition not to greet someone, or not to answer a greeting. In the second and third interpretation the absence of a preposition before iD'7ni1 (":ll' or ]iJ) in MS M is remarkable, 209 but for MS M they are the only interpretations that do not compel us to assume an orthographical anomaly. 14.12 CONCLUSION

The infin. cstr., like the ptcp., partakes in the nature of both the noun and the verb. One of its nominal traits is its ability to take a subject suffix (CH, not MH), one of its verbal characteristics its ability to govern the object in the accusative (with or without preceding n~). Sometimes the object precedes the infin. (Aramaic, also in LBH and QH). In addition to the usual infin. we find verbal nouns of the typically MH patterns i1'7'0p, ":l1~p, and i1'7~piJ, and some formations that may be due to Aramaic influence like those with the iJ-preformative and those with the abstract ending -ut. In some contexts (e.g. in a :::170-proverb with an infin. cstr. as subject) ":lbp and ":lbp":l (the former diminishing in LBH and PBH) seem to be interchangeable (similarly in BH). After separative ]iJ we find ":lbpo (as in CH) and not ":lbp":io (MH). Once we find an infin. of the type 77(')":l (MH, in place of BH n77":l). As in LBH and PBH (especially QH) we find in Ben Sira the predicative use of the infin., as well as its use as subject in the ":i0p":i (X) construction, both possibly due to Aramaic influence. As verbal com-

r~

Cf. Sir 4:8 (A) Cl771D 7,T:l'IDill 'and answer his greeting' and b. Ber. 6b. Compare the reading in Btxt and vv. 17-19b, 22c, which have the pattern JD+ person for whom one is ashamed+ 7J.I + infin. cstr. indicating the reason of the shame. 208 209

276

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

plement we find ?~p? after verba dicendi (especially in LBH and QH, but also in SBH and MH) and after auxiliaries. The auxiliaries used and their construction with the infin. display a number of parallels with (L)BH, QH, MH, and Aramaic. The coordinate construction with an auxiliary is, though infrequently, attested as well, both with syndesis (CH, still in MH) and asyndesis (only rarely in MH). Adverbials made up of a preposition and an infin. are (1) epexegetical, final, or consecutive (nearly always with -?, continues in MH) or (2) temporal, causal, comparative, or indicating instrument or manner (various prepositions; not in MH). When the infin. cstr. modifies a noun it is either a nomen rectum after a construct noun (CH, not MH), or an attribute, taking the preposition-? (also in MH).

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE ABSOLUTE INFINITIVE

15.1 INTRODUCTION

In addition to the construct infin. Hebrew has another infin., the absolute infin. The differences between the two infins., which are historically unrelated, are both morphological and syntactical. 1 The use of the infin. abs. decreases in LBH and QH. In MH the infin. abs. has disappeared. 2 Like the infin. cstr., the infin. abs. shares characteristics with both nouns and verbs. It is employed as the equivalent of a finite verb (imprt., injunctive tiqtol, indicative yiqtol for the future), 3 but it can also occupy slots that are usually reserved for nouns like that of the subject and the object. 4 The use of the infin. abs. as the subject or object of the main clause is rare, except for the construction with the internal object. To the verbal features of the infin. abs. also belongs its ability to govern the nota obiecti m1:. Unlike the infin. cstr., the infin. abs. does not take pronominal suffixes, nor can it be governed by prepositions.s Nominal uses of the infin. abs. in Ben Sira comprise its use after prepositions (genitive), its use as the object (direct accusative; with one exception always the internal object), and as an adverbial (indirect accusative). 6 Verbal use, the infin. abs. taking the place of a finite verb, is attested only once. 1 On the relation between the two infins. see also Van Bekkum (1983) 248-256; Sola-Sole (1961) 69-71; JM § 49 a; GKC § 45 a; WO§§ 35.1, 35.2.2c; cf. § 14.1. Apart from CH the infin. abs. is only found in Ugaritic and Phoenician. 2 Sola-Sole (1961) 94, 103-104; Muraoka (1985) 90, (2000) 195-196; JM § 49 b; Polzin (1976) 44; Hurvitz (1982) 121-123; Qimron (1976) 145-146, (1986) 47-48; Carmignac (1986); Kesterson (1984) 207, 216--217; Leahy (1960) 143-144; Segal (1927) § 344, (1936) § 242; Perez Fernandez (1997) 144. 3 Sellin (1889) 70-71; Sola-Sole (1961) 92-93; JM § 123 u-w; GKC § 113 y-ff; WO § 35.5. However, the infin. abs. is not an arbitrary substitute for these forms, see Hospers (1991). 4 Sellin (1889) 70; JM § 123 b-c; GKC § 113 b-e; WO § 35.3.3. 5 Sola-Sole (1961) 86--87; JM § 123 t; GKC § 113 g. For exceptions see below,§ 15.2. 6 For the distinction between 'direct' and 'indirect' accusative, see JM §§ 125 a, 126 a; LMP § 79 a.

278

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

15.2 THE INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE GOVERNED BY A PREPOSITION OR A NOUN

In the Bible the cases where the infin. abs. is governed by a preposition or a noun, as in 1 Sam. 1:9 i1niD 'in~7 'after they had drunk', are very rare. 7 In Ben Sira there are four possible examples of this construction. 10: 13 (A) il'?:i 1l! 1il:i'1 'and He struck him utterly' .s

In the expression i1?J 7l!, which is also attested in 2 Kgs. 13:17, 19, and Ezra 9: 14, i1?J has become an adverb, as well as in i1?J? 7.ll, which is attested in 2 Chr. 24:10, 31:I.9 4:31 (C) il11Elp Jilli! r1l!J1 rit~iD'? nt:iiD1~ 71' 'iln ',~ 'let not your hand be stretched out to take, and clenched in time of giving back'; 16:25 (A) 'l!1 mn~ l!J~il:::11 'and I will make known my knowledge by measure'; 10 38:10 (Btxt) CJ'JEl i:iil~1 '?1l!~ i[10] '[tur]n from iniquity and partiality'. 11

In these three cases the analysis of JiDi1, l!J~i1, and iJi1 as absolute infins. is based merely on the defective orthography. In BH the infin. cstr. is generally ?'t:ip iJ and the infin. abs. ?~p iJ, 12 but exceptions do occur. Thus we find ?'~PiJ (with the orthography of the infin. cstr. and the vocalisation of the infin. abs.) both in environments that require the infin. abs. (e.g. Deut. 15: 14 7? p•wr1 P'J.lli1 'you shall richly load him') and in places where we expect the infin. cstr. (e.g. Job 34:35 ?''.J.iDi1J 'with insight'). In the latter environment we even find ?~piJ (with both the orthography and the vocalisation of the infin. abs.), e.g. Deut. 32:8 ?IJJi1J Ci'7~ ]l'?.ll 'when the Most High gave the nations their inheritance'. In QH the use of ?t:ipi1 forms in cases where we expect the infin. cstr. increases considerably. This increase can be explained in terms of a nominalisation process of the infin. abs. This process allowed the infin. abs. to take slots that are usually occupied by nouns, thus taking over Driver (1912) 12; Sola-Sole (1961) 84-85; JM § 123 c; cf. GKC § 113 e. On Sir. 10:13-17 (A), see§ 9.3.3. Thus JM § 123 c; Sola-Sole (1961) 85, 89. It is not right to consider rn'?J 7l.l, which is attested in !QM XI 10--11 nr.ilDK rn';,:, 7J.I 'until sin is destroyed' and !QH XI 22 n'?1J.1 rn';,:, 7J.I 'until iniquity is destroyed', as the QH equivalent of SBH n'?J 7J.I. In these Qumran passages, as well as in Ruth 2:23 and 2 Chr. 29:34, rn'?:, 7J.I (in the biblical passages vocalised as 7 J.I ni'?:,, contrast the pie! inn';,:, 7J.1) is followed by the subject (or object) of the infinitive and means 'till the end of ... ', rather than 'utterly'; pace Carmignac (1986) 259. lO Parallel to •nn '?ptDr.i:::i ;JJ.l'JK 'I will pour out my spirit by weight'. On the meaning of JJJ:; hi. in this verse (different from that in Mic. 6:8 n:,';, JJJ:;n 'to walk humbly'), see Smend. 11 The use of tl'l:l 1::,n in the present context is problematic, since we do not expect someone who is ill (v. 9) to administer justice! For this reason many commentators emend 1:::in1 tl'ElJ 'and purify your hands' on the basis of G Kat Eu0uvov XEtpa~. Compare Sir. 51 :20 (Q) and note that BBS has in Bmg 1:::in1. Beentjes has 1:,n1; cf. Qimron (1988-89). 12 See § 3.7.3. 7

8 9

ABSOLUTE INFINITIVE

279

the function of the infin. cstr. Qimron has established that in QH the

?'~Pil and '?~pi! infins. display complementary distribution: ?'~pi!, the normal form of the infin. cstr., always occurs with the preposition -'?, the 'pseudo-infin.-absolute' '?~pi! in other environments, e.g. '?~pi!:J, '?~pi!o, but ?'~pi!'?. 13 In MH '?~pi! forms ('?~pi!, '?~pi1) function as verbal nouns. 14 The infins. in Ben Sira under discussion also testify to this nominalisation process, because from our orthographical analysis it appears unlikely that they should be analysed as '?~piJ forms with the i of the hifil infin. cstr. spelled defectively . 15 15.3 THE INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE AS OBJECT

The infin. abs. functions as object in 38: 10 (B [txt+mg]) Cl'J=:l iJili '?.!lo i'O[il] ' [re ]move unfaithfulness and partiality'.

The reading given here combines Btxt Ci'JE:l iJilm ?7.!JQ i[70] (above, § 15.2) with Bmg Ci'JE:l iJill 'Q i'0[.], 16 but we have followed Smend by understanding 'Q as an abbreviation of ?.!JO 'unfaithfulness' (= G n:A11µµ£A£tav), because ifwe read ?7.!JO, which is found in Btxt, we have no satisfying explanation for the preposition JO. Like the '?~pi! forms governed by a preposition or noun discussed in the preceding paragraph, 7:Jil can be analysed as a verbal noun or a pseudo-infin. abs., attesting to the nominalisation of the infin. abs. Whereas this use of the infin. abs. is rare in the Bible, the most frequent construction is that in which the infin. abs. of the same root as the main verb constitutes the internal object. This construction is mainly employed in lively conversation and legal texts. 17 It is rare in LBH and QH. 18 The infin. abs., most often placed before the verb, commonly strengthens the modal value of the finite verb, e.g. Gen. 37:8 13 Qimron (1976) 146--148, (1986) 47-48; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 77. See also Kesterson (1984) 210--212; Leahy (1960) 144. Compare lQis• xxxvn 24 ';,JiJ;m 'from understanding' instead of MT 44:18 ';,'JiJi"TQ; Kutscher (1974) 321. 14 Segal (1927) § 251, (1936) § 123; Perez Fernandez (1997) 58. 15 § 3.7.3. Cf. Carmignac (1986) 255; Yifrach (1997) 275. 16 Thus Beentjes; BBS has the ptcp. i'DQ instead of i'D[.] and the imprt. i:m 'purify!' instead of iJi"l (cf. above, footnote 11). 17 Muraoka (1985) 89. 18 Eskhult (1990) 106, (2000a) 29; Polzin (1976) 43-44; Kesterson (1984) 209-210; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 77. The infin. abs. of the internal object is unattested in lQS and found only once in the Damascus Document, in CD 1v 20. See, however, Smith (2000) 265 for attestations in other Qumran documents.

280

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

7J''?l' 7'?Qr1 7'?Qi1 'would you really reign over us?', where the infin. abs. does not emphasise the lexeme 7'?Q, but rather the doubt inherent in the question, thus adding the nuance of improbability. 19 In Ben Sira the infin. abs. of the internal object is employed in connection with the impf. and the imprt.

A With an injunctive impf. 5:11 (C) m1:,i ;mm ;m.1 71~:::i1 'and in patience surely answer what is right'.

[nn 71~:::i =

A] you shall

B. With an indicative impf. 14: 17 (A) 1.tJW .tJ1, 1:1?1.tl p1m ii?:::l' 1,:::i:, 7iD:::li1 ';,:, 'all flesh wears out like a garment and the eternal decree is: they will certainly die'; 20 14: 19 (A) 1'7n~ liD~' 1'7' ?ll::l1 1:::ip1' :::i1p1 1'iDll~ ';,:, 'all his works will certainly perish, and the works of his hands will follow after him'; 21 16:19 (A) 1iDlll' iDlll l:li1'?~ 11::1':::lil:::l ?:in '710'11:l'lil ':::l~p =i~ 'also the roots of the mountains and the foundations of the earth, when He looks upon them they tremble greatly'; 35[32]:23 (B) ll7'' .tJ11, lliDl i11::lm ]17! 1::1:::liD iD'71' 7.tl 'till He destroys the scepter of pride and fully breaks the staff of wickedness into pieces'. 22

C. With an imprt. 31:22 [34:21] (Bmg) ease' .23

l? n1l'1 mp mp

'vomit violently so you will have

15.4 ADVERBIAL USE OF THE INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE

An extension of the use of the infin. abs. as the internal object is its adverbial use for the expression of the manner in which the situation ex-

19 Muraoka (1985) 86-88; JM § 123 d-1; LMP § 78 c 2; see further Goldenberg (1971) 6372; Sola-Sole (1961) 96-102; GKC § 1131-r; WO§ 35.3.1. 20 Smend: '1JJ1l' JJ1l isl in Anfiihrungszeichen zu denken'. Compare Gen. 2: 17 m:in mo 'you will surely die'. 21 Fairly often in the Bible we find passages in which the construction with the infin. abs. of the internal object is repeated, as is the cases here, at the end of the passage on the use of wealth (Sir. 14:3-19). 'In many such places tension of sentiments or solemnity is unmistakably observable'; Muraoka (1985) 88. 22 Here the verbal action itself is reinforced, rather than a modal value of the verb; cf. our translation. 23 It seems likely to us that here, too, emphasis is laid on the verbal action itself, rather than the modal value of the imprt. We prefer to read here an infin. abs., as does Carmignac (1986) 253, but the concordance of BBS interprets :i1p :i1p as two adjacent imprts. If we read one of the two forms as an infin. abs., it should be the second one, because the prepositive infin. abs. does not occur in combination with an imprt.; JM §§ 113 m, 123 d; Goldenberg (1971) 64.

ABSOLUTE INFINITIVE

281

pressed by the main verb takes place or its attendant circumstances, as in Num. 6:5 w~, ,~iD s.n:::i .,,~ ii'ii' iD'"rp 'he shall be holy, letting the hair of his head grow long'; 2 Sam. 8:2 ;;::.,~ t::im~ ::i:::iili;:r ',::m::i tl11Q'i 'he measured them off with a cord, casting them down to the ground'.24 In Ben Sira this use is possibly attested in 41 :21 [20] (M) iD'1iiii tli',iD ',~iDQ '(be ashamed) of greeting silently';

but as we have said in § 14.11 (E), we prefer to analyse iD'1iii1 as an infin. cstr. Already in BH some absolute infins., mainly of the hifil, have become pure adverbs, like i1:::J.1i1 'much', J.~'il 'well', t::i:,tvil 'early in the morning', pniil 'far', or nouns, like ~piDii 'quietness', 7QiDi1 'destruction'. 25 This development continued in QH and MH. 26 In Ben Sira this use of the infin. abs. as an adverbial or noun is attested for i1:::J.1i1. Its adverbial use, which is abundantly attested in the Bible, occurs in 51:16 ([B+]Q) np', 'ii~;,Q ii:J1iii 'and I found instruction in abundance'. 27

In BH ii:::J.1i1 functions relatively rarely as a noun. As the object of the main clause it is attested twice in the later books of the Bible, namely in Hag. 1:6 ii:::J.1ii tlii.ll1l 'you have sown much' and Qoh. 5: 11 ',::,~, ii::l1ii tl~i 1:!1.IJQ tl~ 'whether he eats little or much' .28 In Ben Sira this use is attested in 5: 15 (A) iiniDii ',~ ii:J1iii l:!lllQ 'do not spoil little or much'; 29 32[35]:8 (B) ii:J1ii l:!lllm 1Q~', ',::, 'restrain speaking, and use not many

words'. 30 Adjectival i1:::J.1i1 is attested in Sola-Sole (1961) 89-90; JM § 123 r; GKC § 113 h; WO§ 35.3.2. Sola-Sole (1961) 87-89, 93-94; Van Bekkum (1983) 251; JM § 102 e; GKC § 113 h, k; WO§ 35.4. 26 Kutscher (1974) 321; Van Bekkum (1983) 251. 27 Kaddari analyses ,i:n;1 as the object of ~;;r.i and np'? as an apposition to it, i.e. 'I found much, namely instruction'; Kaddari (1991-94) 2.473. 28 Nominalised ,iJ,7,i occurs also in 2 Sam. 1:4 and Jer. 42:2; BOB 915b; Konig (1897) § 318 a; Driver (1912) 232; Kaddari (1991-94) 2.472. 29 From the context it appears that this verse concerns spoiling few or many words. Skehan-Di Lella translate: 'say nothing harmful, much or little'. Compare Prov. 23:8, where the object of nn!D pi. is D'i.l'!!l,i 7'7J,7 'your pleasant words'. 30 Literally: 'diminish many', i.e. 'diminish the many words you have to say to only a few ones'. However, ,iJ,7,i can also be interpreted as an adverbial. Thus Schechter-Taylor (1899: xxxix) translate: 'restrain speaking, diminish it exceedingly'. 24 25

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

33:27 [30:37] (E) [... iliD]il' ill'i il:Jiil 'J 'for [idleness] do[es] much evil'.

In the Bible this use of i1J,7i1 is mainly found in the later books, e.g. Ezra 10:1 i1:lJ, i1J,7i1 'much weeping', with the adjective preceding the noun, as in the verse from Ben Sira under discussion, probably on the analogy of :n.3 1 15.5 THE INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE WITH IMPERATNAL FORCE

The infin. abs. with imperatival force is mainly attested in the Bible in legal contexts or divine commands. 32 Muraoka has pointed out that it is often paralleled by the vetitive. 33 Thus we find in the Decalogue Exod. 20:8-10 ilJti.';,a ';,:i iliDl'rl ti;';, (••. ) rl:JiDil l:l1' nti. i1Ji 'remember the Sabbath( ... ) you shall not do any work'.34

The use of the infin. abs. for the expression of a command, which has disappeared in LBH and QH, 35 is attested at least once in Ben Sira. 36 3: 17 (C) 71';,il i11Jl):J 7'r1Jti.';,a ';,:i nti. 'J:J 'my son, in all your affairs go

humbly!' 37

15.6 VARIANT READINGS IN THE MANUSCRIPTS

3: 17 A 7'?i1rli1 'walk!'; C 71'?i1. Chas an infin. abs. gal, A an imprt. of the hitpael, see § 10.12 (A). 4:31 A 1m 71m i17mp1 '(let not your hand be) clenched in the midst of 31 BOB 915b; Kaddari (1991-94) 2.470---472; Konig (1897) § 318 e; Kropat (1909) 44, 74; cf. D'Jl preceding the noun in 11:5 (A), 6 (A), 44:2 (B+M), 51:3 (B). In addition to his examples from the Bible Konig refers to the adjectival use of ;JJ7;J in MH (e.g. m. Ber. 6:4; m. 'Abot 2:16; cf. Segal [1936] § 375) and a similar use of Syriac~; see Noldeke (1898) § 215; Payne Smith (1903) 360b. See also Hoftijzer-Jongeling (1995) 2.1108-1109 on Aramaic il'JIIJ. 32 See § 12.5. 33 Muraoka (1985) 84-85. 34 Therefore we prefer to read Exod. 20: 12 i;p 'honour!' as an infin. abs. as well (Muraoka [1997c] 243). In the remaining commandments we find a vetitive ten times and l!i';, with the full impf. of the 3rd pers. once. 35 JM § 123 u; GKC § 113 bb; WO§ 35.5.1; Kropat (1909) 23; Polzin (1976) 43; Smith (2000) 260. Contrast, e.g., 1 Chr. 21:10 7'? 'go!' as against 2 Sam. 24:12 71';,;i. In lQS and CD there is only one example in a quotation from Deut. 5:12 in CD x 16; Kesterson (1984) 213; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 77. 36 But many ';,t!lp or ';,1t!lp forms that we interpret as imprts. could in theory be absolute infins. as well. 37 Kister (1990: 314-315) suggests an alternative interpretation, which takes 7'nJl!i';,i.1 with the meaning 'ways' as an internal object ('walk humbly in all your ways'); cf. Gen. 33:14 MT ;J:Jl!i?i.l, G 1t6prncrt~. According to Skehan-Di Lella Tn:il!i';,1:1 ';,:i nl!i 'appears to be a clumsy retroversion from G' (cf.§ 2.7); differently Ruger (1970) 29-30; Schrader (1994) 48.

ABSOLUTE INFINITIVE

giving'; C i177::lp

:JiDi1 m,::::i,

283

'clenched in time of giving back'. See§ 20.7

(D).

5:11 A mmi :JiDi1 nn 71~::::i, 'and in patience give an answer'; C i1lll 71~::::i, i1J1JJ i1J.lm 'and in length (patience) you shall surely answer what is right'. See§ 10.12 (B). 38:10 Btxt Cl'J~ 7Ji11J1 ?1l'O 7[10] '[tur]n from iniquity and partiality'; Bmg Cl'J8 7Ji11 'O 7'0[i1] '[re]move un(faithfulness) and partiality'. In Btxt the infin. abs. is governed by a preposition (indirect object), in Bmg by a verb (direct object). See above, §§ 15.2, 15.3. 15.7 CONCLUSION

One of the typical features of CH is the use of the infin. abs. This use, which is in particular found in SBH, is attested several times in Ben Sira, most often as the internal object (1'?t!lp' ?1t!lp ). Of the infin. abs. with imperatival force, common in SBH in legal texts and divine commands, there is only one certain example. Some abs. infins. that take the form of an infin. abs. but function as a verbal noun (governed by a proposition, noun, or verb) are to be considered as pseudo-abs.-infins., attesting to a nominalisation process which is also attested in QH (cf. '?t!lpi1::::i versus ?'t!lpi1'?) and which reaches its completion in MH. i1:J7i1, originally an infin. abs. of i1:J7 hi., functions once as an adverb (abundantly attested in BH), twice as a noun (object; LBH), and once as an adjective (LBH, MH).

PART THREE THE USE OF THE TENSES IN VARIOUS KINDS OF CLAUSES

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

INTERROGATIVE AND EXCLAMATORY CLAUSES

16.1 INTRODUCTION

In CH and MH interrogative clauses are (a) unmarked, or (b) introduced by the particle -iJ (rare in MH1), or (c) construed with interrogative pronouns or adverbs such as '0 'who', i10 'what', and T~ 'how'. In Ben Sira extensive use is made of the interrogative pronouns '0 and i10. Questions with iJ do not occur. 2 We find the interrogative adverb i1i'~ in the poorly preserved text of 33:32 [30:40] (E) [71]1 i1i'~J 'by which way (will you seek him)?' This sense of i1!'~ ( < '~ + i1i, cf. below,§ 16.3) is also found in LBH and MH, whereas in earlier literature i1i'~ means 'where?' .3 The lengthened form of'~, i.e. i1'~, is found in another damaged text, in 11:22[24] (A)'?~ 'i1' []10]~ i1[']~ 'w[he]re is the h[arm] that will happen to me?' This use of i1'~ where the answer 'nowhere' is expected, is often found in poetic or elevated style in the Bible. 4 In the present chapter our main focus will be on the use of tenses in interrogative clauses and in the closely related class of exclamatory clauses, but we will also touch upon some related syntactical issues. 16.2 VERB FORMS USED IN INTERROGATIVE CLAUSES

In § 7.3.2 we mentioned briefly the relation between the modal value of the impf. and its frequent use in interrogative clauses. In interrogative clauses, which by their very nature contain the notion of epistemic modality, many languages use modal forms. 5 That in BH interrogative 1 Segal

(1927) § 461, (1936) § 350. There are six cases of K?;J, but the analysis of this particle as the interrogative -,1 with the negative I':? is, at least at a synchronic level, not undisputed; cf. JM § 161 c, n. 1. 3 Segal (1908-09) 661-662, (1927) §§ 82,419, (1936) § 94; Perez Fernandez (1997) 35-36; JM § 143 g; Hurvitz (1982) 90---91; for a different evaluation see Schoors (1992) 57-58. 4 BDB 32b. 5 Palmer (1986) 78-81; Lyons (1968) 307-308. 2

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

clauses often require the use of the impf. appears from many cases where a question with the impf. is followed by an answer with the ptcp., as in the classic example Gen. 37: 15 iDp:m i10 'what are you looking for', answered by v. 16 iDp:m 'JJ~ 'n~ n~ 'I am looking for my brothers' .6 In Ben Sira yiqtol in interrogative clauses is abundantly attested in the following cases.7

A '0 'who?' + impf.: 5:3 (A), 10:29a (A+B), 29b (A+B), 12:13 (Ac), 14:5 (A), 16:17 (A), 16:20 (A), 16:22 (A), 31[34]:lOe[g] (B), 36:8 [33:10] (B), 36:26[31] (B+C+D), 37:13 (Btxt), 42:25 (Bmg+M), 43:3 (B+M); in an indirect question: 12: 1 (A). 8 B. i10 'what?'+ impf.: 5:4 (A+B), 10:9 (A), 11:21[23] (A), 12:13 (A*), 13:2c (A), 2e (A), 13:17 (A), 30:19 (Bmg), 36:8 [33:10] (Btxt[+mg]); in indirect questions: 6:36 (A), 8:18 (A), 9 11:19 (A); in cases where i10 approximates the meaning of~?: 35[32]:22 (Bmg), 38:21 (B), 38:25 (B); and where it is nearly the equivalent of?~: 13:2a (A), 2b (A), 32[35]:4 (B 2), 41:4 (B). C. i10? 'why?'+ impf.: 31[34]:28 (F), 37:8 (B+D); similarly where i10? is used in place of ?~: 10 11:10 (A+B); and in negative final clauses: 11 8: I (A 1+2), 11:33 (A), 12:5 (A), 12: 12b (A), 12d (A), 30:12 (B). D. 'm 7.\l 'until when, how long?'+ impf.: 51:24 (B). Sometimes the modal nuance of capability is involved as well. 12 Thus we find with the verb ?J' 'to can, be able' 5:3 (A) 1n::i ';,::,1' '~ 'who can withstand my strength ['n::i]'and 31 [34]: lOe[g] (B) 70 ~';,1 710? ';,::,7, '~ 'who was able to stray but did not?'

and further 43:3 ([B+M]) ';,';,1::,n' '~ 1:nn 'J:i';,1 'who can bear its fiery heat?' 46:3 (B) J~'n' 1'J:l? ~1il '~ 'who was able to stand before him?'

Note that in 46:3 (B) and probably also 31[34]:lOe[g] (B) yiqtol refers to the past. 13 Against these forty-four examples of '0, i10, and i10? followed by the impf., we find only three occurrences with the perf. or the ptcp. Qotel is 6 Hoftijzer (1974) 20; Cohen (1984) 300, 306-307; Joosten (1997) 58; JM §§ 113 d, 121 d; GKC § 107 t; Warren (1998) 77; see also§ 7.3.2. 7 We have also included indirect questions introduced by 'D or ;m, on which see § 18.4 (B). 8 In 12:1 (A) and 14:4 (A) we find 'D?. 9 Though formally 7?' can also be read as a perf. IO For the use of;io and ;io';, in place of~';, and';,~, see Van Peursen (1999) 231-233. 11 § 22.4 (H). 12 Cf. § 7.3.2. 13 § 7.2.3; Van Peursen (2003b).

INTERROGATIVE AND EXCLAMATORY CLAUSES

289

found once in 16:21 (A) in the common phrase .l.'77' 'Q 'who knows?' 14 and qatal twice, in 15:11 (B 2 ) 'n'?l'El ;m 'what have I done?' and 31[34]:lOc[e] (B) 1:nJ 'Q 'who has blessed him?', both with perfect aspect, 15 and, in contrast to the two examples of yiqtol in 31 [34]: lOe[g] (B) and 46:3 (B), without modal value. Thus in the four interrogative clauses referring to the past, yiqtol is employed the two times modality is involved and qatal the two times it is not. 16.3

OTHER SYNTACTICAL PECULIARITIES OF INTERROGATIVE CLAUSES

In BH the demonstrative i7l is often added to an interrogative word, e.g. Gen. 18:13 ii7tD

iipn~ ii! iiQ';,

'why has Sarah laughed?'

similarly with ~7i7: Isa. 50:9 'll''tD7' Ps. 24: 10 71::lJii

~1ii 'Q 'who will condemn me?' 7';,Q ii! ~1ii 'Q 'who is the king of glory?' l6

In Ben Sira we find 37:8 (B+D) ';,1::l' ,,';,~ iil ;m';, 'why should it fall to his advantage?' and 46:3 (B) ::l~'rl' 1'JE:i';, ~1ii 'Q 'who was able to stand before him?' The phrase iii ~7i7 'Q, but without a following (extrapolated) noun, which is also found in Esth. 7:5, 17 occurs in 31:8 [34:9] (Btxt) 7l7tD~l1 and

iii ~1ii 'Q

'who is he? that we may praise him' 18

14 The use of the ptcp. in interrogative clauses is well-attested in LBH, see Smith (1999) 309. According to GKC § 151 a, the ptcp. is used in rhetorical questions of the type Ps. 59:8 J.IQti 'Q 'who listens', i.e. 'no-one listens'. JJ71' 'Q occurs predominantly in LBH. It is found in 2 Sam. 12:22; Joel 2:14; Jonah 3:9; Ps. 90:11; Prov. 24:22; Qoh. 2:19, 3:21, 6:12, 8:1; Esth. 4: 14. The five occurrences in Proverbs and Qoheleth function as a strong denial 'no-one knows!'. According to Crenshaw in these cases 'the rhetorical question functions overwhelmingly as an expression of the skepticism'. In the other cases JJ71' 'Q 'leaves a door open to possible response'; Crenshaw (1986), citations from pp. 274-275, 278. See further BDB 567a; Schoors (1992) 206. 15 See § 5.2.2. 16 Muraoka (1985) 134-137; Goldenberg (1977) 129-130; GKC §§ 136 c, 150 I; JM §§ 143 g, 144 a, n. 1. Compare m·~ < ;n ·~ (§ 16.1) and MH 1;-ir~ (< ~1;-i ;n ·~); Segal (1927) § 80. 17 Compare also in the Proverbs of AJ:iiqar

C 1.1 :91 ;JQJ.I ';,~ 'i i;i';, •;i1a1p t11p' 'i 1;-i iD 'who is he that could stand before him but he with whom El is?' See Muraoka-Porten (1998) 170 and our observation in§ 11.4 that the question ;n ~1;-i 'Qin 31:8 [34:9] (B) implies that the person sought for (someone who is both rich and righteous) is a rarity. 18 See § 11.4.

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

31 :9 [34: 10] (Btxt) 1:i p:iiJiLl ill im 'O 'who is he that cleaves to it?' 19 In the Bible the interrogative occasionally takes non-initial position, especially in poetry ,20 e.g. Prov. 24:22 .\J11' 'O t:lil'JiLl 1'El1 'and who knows the calamities those two will bring?' In Ben Sira this use occurs a number of times, e.g. 16: 17 (A) 'Ji:,r 'O t:li70J1 'and who will remember me in heaven?' 16:20 (A) p1:::irr 'O ,:,,1:::i1 'and who will be attentive to my ways?' and further in 10:19 (B), 14:5 (A), 16:22 (A), 43:3 (B+M), and with i!D as the equivalent of a negative particle in 13:2a (A), 2b (A), 32[35]:4b (B 1+2), 35[32]:22 (8mg), and possibly with i10? in 31[34]:28 (F),2 1 The extrapolated element is in casus pendens in 22 10:29 (A+B) 1Jp'1'.;;' '0 1iDElJ lJ'iD70 'he who condemns himself - who will acquit him?' 16:22 (Ac) 1J1')' '0 [']pi:; iliLl.\JO 'my righteous deed- who will tell it?' 23 The extraposition of an element before the interrogative pronoun is a feature of the language of Ben Sira that is possibly due to Aramaic influence; it is found in Biblical Aramaic (Dan. 3:33), Syriac, and other Aramaic dialects.24 16.4

EXCLAMATORY CLAUSES

Closely related to the interrogative clauses are the exclamatory clauses. Many particles that function as interrogatives can also be used as exclamatory particles, e.g. Ps. 3:2 1:l7 i1D 'how numerous they are!' .25 In Ben Sira we find i10 before an adjective in 41: 1 (B) 7[0] i10 'how bitter!' and 41:2 (M) :m;i i10 'how good!' More often a verb form is used26 and whereas the verb form in the interrogative i10-clauses discussed above is nearly always yiqtol, in the exclamatory i10-clauses it is commonly qatal or qotel. The perf. is found in 46:2 (B) and 50:5 (B) 77i1J i10 'how glorious he was!', 47:14 (B) m:>n i10 'how wise you were!', 48:4 (B) i1D Bmg has p:i,i;i, see§ 8.11. Sappan (1981) 142-144; JM § 161 k. The reading and interpretation of this verse is difficult, see the commentaries and Beentjes (1993) 173. 22 The element preceding 'D is resumed by the object suffix; see our definition of 'casus pendens' in § 13.3.2 (B). 23 Unless the suffix of1l7'l' refers to God ('who will tell Him my righteous deed?'). 24 Thus Sappan (1981) 143; see Brockelmann (1908-13) 2.198; Noldeke (1898) § 331. 25 JM §§ 144 e, 162 a; GKC § 148 a-b; WO§ 18.3f. 2 6 Cf. JM § 162 a, n. 1. 19 20 21

INTERROGATNE AND EXCLAMATORY CLAUSES

291

'how awesome you were!' and the ptcp. in 43:2 (B) and 43:8 (B) i1Q 'how awesome! '27 The exclamatory use of i1Q in phrases like 77i1J i1Q and ~77J i1Q is typical of the so-called hymnic genre. 28 Hence it is not surprising that of the seven examples of exclamatory i1Q two occur in Ben Sira's Hymn on Creation (42:15--43:33) and four in the Praise of the Fathers (Sir. 44:150:24). ~?i1, which is used in interrogative clauses when a positive answer is expected, can have an exclamatory nuance as well, 29 e.g.

~77J ~77J

42:22 (M) [t:l']1am

1'ilHJQ ";,:, ~1?il

'how lovely are all His works!'

~,·m

It is also used in a quotation formula as in 1 Kgs. 15:7 t:l':nn:, tli1 '(as is known) these are written ... ' .30 In Ben Sira ~?i1 serves four times to introduce a text from the Bible. In two of these cases qatal is used, referring to a biblical event in the past: 38:5 (Btxt) tm 1p'nDil y.l.):::i ~?il 'was it not by the wood that the water was sweetened?' (cf. Exod. 15:25); 46:4 (B) iLlOiLlil 70.l.) 11':::l ~?il 'was it not by his hand that the sun stood still?' (cf. Josh. 10: 13). The other two cases contain a statement of general truth, for which yiqtol is used: 14: 15 (A) 7'?'n :::ll.l.)n 1n~? ~?il 'will you not leave your wealth to others?' (cf. Ps. 49: 11 D?'n D'ln~? 7:::ll.l.)1 'and they leave their wealth to others'); 35[32]:18 (B) 11n 'n? ?.l.) il.l.)07 ~?il 'does not the tear run down on the cheek?' (cf. Lam. 1:2 il'n? ?.l.) iln.l.)071 'her tears are on her cheeks'). In the two remaining cases of ~?i1, it introduces a well-known fact, in 31[34]:19 (B 1+2 )3 1 one from Greek literature and in 37:2 (Btxt+mg+D) one from the Book of Ben Sira itself (cf. 5:15, 6:8 and 6:11). 32

27

In 11 :29 MS A has two readings, one with the perf., one with the impf., see below,

§ 16.5.

28 To the hymnic style also belong the 'rhetorical questions designed to express the incomparability of the Fathers', as in 46:3 (B); Lee (1986) 73, 222-223; Gunkel (1933) 54-55. 29 JM § 161 c. In MH the particle is usually preceded by the conjunction -1 (i!i'?:-r1); Segal (1927) § 461, (1936) § 350. 30 JM § 164 d; GKC § 150 e 31 In the manuscript B2 comes after 31[34]:22b. 32 Thus Beentjes; see the extensive survey of Ben Sira's use of i!i'?:-r in Beentjes (1981) 21-29.

292

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

16.5

VARIANT READINGS IN THE MANUSCRIPTS

11:29 A 1 '?:m ['ll~]:l 7J7 iiiJl 'how many are the wounds inflicted by the slanderer!'; A2 ll~7J 'lliD:l 7J7' iiO; b. Yebam. 63b ';,:,77 'll~:l 7'ii D'Jl. See § 5.3 (A). 12: 13 A* 77iVJ 7J7n ]ii7' iiO 'how would a charmer who has been bitten be pitied?'; Ac 'O. To the lectio difficilior '0 one can compare Amos 7:2 JPll' D1P' 'O 'how can Jacob survive?' ,33 but according to Smend Jril' originated from ]7n' as a consequence of a corrupted reading iiO instead of '0.34 37:13 Btxt 7JOO JO~ 7'? ro~· 'O 'who will trust you more firmly than it (your own heart)?'; 35 Bmg+D 7JOO ]70~ D~ 'J 'for there is no-one more true to you'. Because of the context the reading of Bmg and D is preferable. Skehan-Di Lella emend to read mo ]70~ 7'? 'J on the basis of G, but this is not necessary, since D~ can be interpreted as a negative asseverative particle (a usage which developed from its function as a hypothetical particle in conditional clauses). 36

r~

41 :2 Btxt TPii J7~ 'J mo'? n~ii 'alas Death! for your decree is good'; M [... ] J7~ iiO rno'? ;.,[ .. ]; M's exclamatory iiO is supported by part of the G tradition 37 and S. 43:2 B ~77J iiO 'how awesome!'; M ~77J '?J 'an awesome vessel'. M's reading is preferable, being the lectio dijficilior; it is supported by G and S. B's reading is probably influenced by Ps. 66:3. For the use of '?J in this verse, Kister refers to 4QPrQuot (= 4Q503) 1-6 III 9 '?J ri{1 }J70ri 77~ 'the revolutions of the luminaries' 38 and the Aramaic ~'OiD 'J~O 'vessels of heaven, luminaries' in 4QEnastrbar (4Q209) 23:7. 39 43:8b B ~77J iiO 'how awesome!'. G and S suppose ~77J '?J 'an awesome vessel', with the same variation as in 43:2, where M has '?J.

Note also the use of'D in place ofnD in MH; Segal (1936) § 95. 'Zu no stimmt das passivische ;nr, es isl aber nur in Folge des fehlerhaften no aus j1r;' entstanden'. If we read no we can interpret it as part of the comparative idiom p ... no, see § 24.2. 35 The translation and interpretation of this reading is difficult, cf. Margoliouth (18991900) 20 ('who shall stand more firm to thee than it'), 33 ('who shall show thee faithfulness'), but see Ryssel (1901) 566. 36 Cf. Muraoka (1985) 128; JM § 165 j; GKC § 149 e; DCH l.304a-b. 37 But the Armenian translation has 'because'. 38 DJD 7, p. 106. Note also·';,:: in 4QDibHam" (= 4Q504) 15 u 2 (DJD 7, p. 164). 39 1 Enoch 77:3; Milik (1976) 289; Kister (1983) 142. Note also the use of '?J in Sir. 43:8c (B+M). 33 34

INTERROGATIVE AND EXCLAMATORY CLAUSES

293

16.6 CONCLUSION

In Ben Sira, as in BH, interrogative clauses most often take yiqtol, a usage that is related to the modal function of this form. When the modal nuance of capability is involved, yiqtol is even used in the past, but otherwise past qatal is employed. In exclamatory clauses, which are closely related to interrogative clauses, the picture differs considerably, for in these clauses qatal and qotel are very common. A feature in the language of Ben Sira that it shares with biblical poetry and that is possibly due to Aramaic influence is the extraposition of an element before the interrogative pronoun. Another feature that connects Ben Sira's language to the poetic idiom of the Bible is the use of i1'1'l: 'where?' with the answer 'nowhere' expected, whereas the use of i1i'l'l: in the meaning 'which?' and the non-use of interrogative -i1 connect it to LBH and MH. The use of rhetorical questions and exclamatory clauses belongs to the features that lend a hymnic character to Ben Sira's Hymn on Creation and his Praise of the Fathers.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 17.1 CLASSIFICATION OF SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

In CH we can differentiate between several kinds of subordinate clauses, according to their function in the main clause. Thus we distinguish between the following classes. 1 1. Substantival clauses: clauses that occupy the slot of a noun; these are mainly subject and object clauses but also clauses taking the slot of a genitival attribute (Chapter 18). 2. Relative clauses: clauses that occupy the slot of an adjectival attribute (Chapter 19). 3. Adverbial clauses: clauses that occupy the slot of an adverb. To this class belong temporal, conditional, final, consecutive, and comparative clauses (Chapters 20-24). We will employ this tripartite division because it is helpful for our grammatical description, though we do not deny its theoretical difficulties, especially in the distinction between the first and the second group, which is based on the artificial distinction between substantives and adjectives. The border-line between substantival and relative (adjectival) clauses is particularly thin in case of substantivised relative clauses, where a governing noun before the relative clause is missing, asin Gen 38: 10 i1iDi.l 7iD~ Lord's sight'.2

i11i1' 'J'J)J JJ7'1

'but what he did was wicked in the

We will follow the common practice of regarding these clauses as 'independent relative clauses' and discuss them in the chapter on relative clauses, though a strong case can be made for describing these clauses as belonging to the first group (substantival clauses), rather 1 LMP

§ 83 a; see also JM § 153.

2 Cf. JM § 158 a*.

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

295

than to the second.3 The third group of subordinate clauses contains those cases where a finite verb is subordinated to the main clause by means of a conjunction. However, a temporal, final, conditional, causal, or comparative relationship can also be expressed by other means, especially by a preposition with an infin. ('?t;ip'?, i'?t;ip:i, etc.). We will include these constructions in our discussion of subordinate clauses, leaving aside the question as to whether it is right to call them 'clauses' or not. Apart from these two types of subordination we find many cases where a clause that is logically subordinated is grammatically coordinated, either syndetically or asyndetically, the logical relationship between the two clauses being either simply implied, or made explicit by means of an adverbial expression. 4 These will be included in the following chapters too. Not denying the disadvantages of this departure from a strictly formal approach, we think that this is the best way to do justice to the rich variety of forms and constructions found in Ben Sira and to compare them in an illuminating way with the other forms of Hebrew we know. 5 From this brief survey of constructions, which are all attested in Ben Sira, it appears that the grammatical diversity in case of logically subordinate clauses relates to the following matters: 6 A clause that is logically subordinate can be grammatically either subordinated or coordinated; in case of parataxis, the coordination can be syndetic (with the conjunction waw) or asyndetic and the logical relationship involved can remain implicit or be made explicit by means of an adverb; with subordinate clauses a major distinction can be made between the constructions with a preposition + infin. and those with a conjunction + finite verb. 7 In our discussion of subordinate clauses our main focus will be on the following issues. 1. The use of constructions with infins. and with finite verbs as two alternative means for the expression of a subordinate relationship. 2. The question of what verb forms are employed in subordinate LMP § 84 f; Meyer (1992) § 115.Sc. Cf. Palmer (1986) 200. 5 On the strictly formal approach see also JM § 167 a, n. 3. 6 Cf. JM § 153. 7 With subordinate clauses, too, the logical relationship between the two clauses can be more or less explicit. Thus in case of the temporal or final use of 1iDI'; the subordination is grammatically marked, but it must be deduced from the context whether the relationship to the main clause is temporal or final. 3 4

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clauses and to what extent their use is conditioned by the syntactical environment in which they occur. 3. The question of what verb forms are used in the main clause and whether the choice for one or another form is related to the preceding or following subordinate clause. 17.2

DIACHRONIC OBSERVATIONS

Before we investigate the subordinate clauses in Ben Sira some observations on the distribution of the constructions mentioned above, in particular from a diachronic perspective, are in order. The grammatical coordination of logically subordinate clauses is common in BH, but in MH there is a strong tendency towards subordination by means of conjunctions. When the coordinate construction is employed in MH, it is usually asyndetic. 8 The non-expression of the logical relationship between two clauses is characteristic of succinct style. It is well-attested in biblical poetry. 9 LBH and PBH display an increase of infin. constructions with -'? at the expense of coordinate final or consecutive constructions. '?~p'? replaces not only the SBH consecutive tenses wayyiqtol and weqatalt{, but also weyiqtol. Compare 2 Sam. 6:6 1::t m~'1 t:l'i1?~i1 ]1i~ ?~ ark of God and took hold of it',

~lll

i1?iD'1 'and Uzzah reached out to the

for which 1 Chr. 13:9 has ]1i~i1 n~ m~'? 17' n~ ~w n'?iD'1.10 The increase of '?~p'? at the expense of coordinate constructions is also abundantly attested in MH. 11 In§ 14.7.2 we discussed the use of'?~p'? as a verbal complement. After verbs of commanding, allowing and the like constructions with '?~p'? instead of direct speech are found with growing frequency in LBH. 12 The complement of an auxiliary verb is in BH either a coordinated finite verb or an infin. construction with-'?. In MH the asyndetic coordinate construction has disappeared while in addition to '?~p'? we find '?~p 'iD. 13 8

410.

Perez Fernandez (1997) 184-185. For examples with syndesis, see Segal (1936) §§ 405-

9 See the comment on 10:10 (A) in § 21.3 and our remark on juxtaposed comparative clauses in§ 24.2; see also Konig (1897) § 357 a; Tsevat (1955) 13-14; Murphy (1981) 65. 10 Kieviet (1997a) 52-57. 11 Perez Fernandez (1997) 230---236. 12 § 14.7 .2 (beginning). 13 § 14.7.2 (after E).

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

297

Whereas '?t;ip':, is increasingly employed in LBH and PBH, the infin. with another preposition or without one at all falls out of use. Although the statistical evidence does not support the generally accepted view that the use of -:::i and -:i etc. with an infin. cstr. is on the decline already in LBH, 14 it is worth noting that the Chronicler tends to turn infin. constructions in his sources to subordinate clauses with finite verbs, e.g. 1 Kgs. 8:33 '?~iiLl' lQ.ll =pli!::l 'when Your people Israel are defeated', but 2 Chr. 6:24 '?~iiLl' lQ.ll =pl' ci~1;1s similarly with an attributive infin.: 2 Sam. 7 :6 T1'?.lli1 Cl1'Q', 'from the day I brought up', but 1 Chr. 17:5 'rr'?.lli! iiLl~ Cl1'i1 ]Q. In QH infins. governed by prepositions other than -'? are well-attested. However, where the orthography allows for a distinction between the infin. cstr. and the infin. abs., the latter is employed. These infins. are best analysed as verbal nouns ('pseudo-infinitive-absolutes' ), rather than exceptional ('real') absolute infins. 16 In MH infin. constructions like ,'?t;ip:::i and ,'?t;ip:, hardly ever occur. Instead, one finds constructions with verbal nouns or finite verbs. In addition to the examples given in§ 14.9 we can mention here Mek.19:13'?::im 71iDQ'iDJ 'whentheram'shomsoundslong ', in place of Exod. 19: 13 ?:::l'i1 1iD1J:J; 17 Sifre Deut. 311 mm~', ci'?1.ll il"::!Pil '?'nliliDJ 'when God gave the world as

an inheritance to the nations', l 8

rephrasing Deut. 32:8 0'1' ]1'?ll '?mi1:::i 'when the Most High gave the nations their inheritance'; and Mek. 14:12 Cl'i~Q::l 1l11::l.lliLl 'our enslavement in Egypt' and 7::l1Q::l 1mr1'Q

'our death in the wildemess',19

in the comment on Exod. 14: 12 7::l1Q::l 1lrlQQ Cl'i~Q n~ 1::l.ll 1i', ::i1~ 'J 'for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert',

14 Kieviet (1997) 11, 157; pace Polzin (1976) 45; Saenz-Badillos (1993) 119 and others.

15 Thorion (1983: 424) relates this replacement to the increased use of o~ in the book of Chronicles; cf. § 21.4.2. 16 § 15.2. 17 Ed. Horovitz-Rabin (1960) 213. 18 Ed. Finkelstein (1969) 352. 19 Ed. Horovitz-Rabin (1960) 93.

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

the verbal nouns 1J71:JlliD and 1Jnr7'1J replacing the infins. 7:Jll and 1JnrJ.20 The substitution of subordinate clauses with finite verbs for constructions with an infin. is also attested in the Targumim and the Peshitta. 21

°

2 For more examples see Bendavid (1967-71) 1.378-379, 2.499-502 and Hurvitz (1982) 122-123. 21 See Hurvitz (1982) 122-123 and the examples in§§ 14.9 (after F), 22.4 (G) (footnote 61).

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SUBSTANTIVAL CLAUSES 18.1

INTRODUCTION

By substantival clauses we mean clauses that occupy the slot of a noun in the main clause. 1 They can be asyndetic or syndetic, introduced by 7iD~ or ''.:l. They function most often as the object of the main clause. 2 To the class of substantival clauses also belong the substantivised relative clauses, which we will discuss in chapter 19 on relative clauses, and the indirect interrogative clauses. 3 18.2

SUBJECT CLAUSES

A substantival clause may function as the subject of the main clause, e.g. Qoh.5:411n ~';,

7iD~

:nt!I 'it is better that you do not vow'; 4

similarly with a substantival relative clause: Isa. 41:24 CJ:i::::i.

1n::::i.' n::::i.!l1r7

'he who chooses you is abominable' .5

In Ben Sira we find three sentences in which an asyndetic independent relative clause is the subject and iD' or Di11) iD' the predicate, in 11: 16[18] (A), 44:8 (B+M), and 48:16 (B), and one syndetic independent relative clause with 7iD~ as the subject in 38:15 (B). 6 18.3

CLAUSES DEPENDING ON A NOUN OR A PREPOSITION

Substantival clauses can also take the position of a noun that depends on another noun in the construct state or on a preposition, as in I§ 17.1. 2 JM § 157 a; GKC § 157. 3 Cf. WO§ 18.2c. 4 JM § 157 a; Gaenssle (1915) 72-73. 5 In the Bible this use is rare and poetic, see§ 19.2.2. 6 These verses are quoted and discussed in §§ 19.2.2, 19.3.3.

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

1 Sam. 25: 15 Cintl; them'.7

1J:J'?i1m

'1)' ',:,

'all the days we were going about with

In Ben Sira we find the following structures.

A Substantivised relative clauses governed by a preposition. 1. After '?ll: 25 :21 (C) i1'? ill' '?ll1 'and on that which is hers'. 2. After -J, either functioning as a verbal complement, as in 3:22 (C) i1ri'iD71i1 7iDtl;J 'in what has been committed to you' and 15:16 (A+B) r~nn 7iD~J 'to whatever you desire', or as an adjunct indicating place, as in 36:26[31] (B+D) J7ll' 7iD~J 'where evening falls'.8

B. Negative existential clauses taking the slot of a noun. 1. After a noun in the construct state: 37:25 (Dtxt+mg) 7~01) ]'~ '1)' 'days without number'. 2. After the preposition -J with locative meaning: 3:25a (A) ]1iD'~ r~::i 'without a pupil', 3:25b (A) nll7 ]'~J1 'and without knowledge', 8:16 (A) '?':m ]'~J1 'and with no-one to rescue', 11:9 ([A+B]) i1~ll ]'~J 'without counsel', 36:25[30]a (B[+C+D]) 7'7' r~::i 'without a hedge', 36:25[30]b (B+C+D) i1iD~ ]'~J1 'and without a wife'. 3. After''? of state': 9 51:5[4] (B) i1n~ r~'? 'without a trace of it remaining'. IO 4. After causal ]1): 20:6 (C) i1Jl)i') r~i') 'because he has nothing to answer' .11 5. As an independent relative clause after-'?: 41:2 (M) Cl'J'1~ r~['?] 'to him who has no might'.12

C. Prepositions used as conjunctions, i.e. which are followed by a nominal clause or a finite verb, like temporal '?~p' i:n~(::i) (5x) and 71' '?~p' (5x), 71' with a nominal clause (lx), and final '?~p' ]llr)'? and 71::lll '?~p•.13 D. Subordinate clauses with compound conjunctions like 35[32]:21 (Bmg) ll,n ':J 71'1 'until it reaches', which can be analysed as the preposi7 JM § 129 p-q; GKC § 130 d; Gaenssle (1915) 47-49; Peretz (1967) 123-124; cf. Muraoka-Porten (1998) 227, 332. The substantival clause can be said to be in the genitive, see LMP § 74 b. 8 'In (a place) for which holds: it becomes evening (there)'; see the discussion of this verse in§ 7.1.2. On ltil~J see also BDB 82b; Peretz (1967) 170-171; Konig (1897) § 380 n-o. 9 BDB 35a. see further§ 20.4.1. and to On the constructions with 11 §§ 14.5.2 (end), 23.3. 12 In the Bible we find 'to the one who has no ... ' three times in the later books of the Bible, namely in Isa. 40:29, 2 Chr. 14:10, and Neh. 8:10; Van Peursen (1999) 237. 13 See §§ 20.2.3, 22.2.

r~:i

r~'?

r~'?

SUBSTANTIVAL CLAUSES

301

tion 7.17 plus a substantival clause introduced by 'J; 14 similarly with 7.17 7iDtl: (4x).15 E. Substantivised relative clauses following '7iDtl:: 25:8 (C) tl:'?iD '7iDtl: ]liD'?J '?m 'blessed is he who does not slip with his tongue'. 16 F. Finally we should mention here constructions with a limiting asyn-

detic or syndetic relative clause like 41:19 (B[+M]) 77Jn mpa 'your dwelling-place' or 31[34]:16 (B) 7m'? CiiDiD 7J7 'what is put before you', where mpa and 7J7 can be interpreted as construct nouns. 17 18.4 OBJECT CLAUSES

A Substantival clauses can take the position of a noun that is governed by the verb (accusative), e.g. Lev. 9:6 iliD.!.ln illil' ill~ liD~ 7J1il ill 'this is the thing which the Lord has commanded you will do (= has commanded you to do)'; 18 2 Sam. 11:26 iliD'~ i1'71~ rir.i 'J i1'71~ niD~ .!JDiDm 'and Uriah's wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead'. The asyndetic construction is rare in BH, except for direct speech as the object of verba dicendi. 19 Syndetic object clauses are introduced mainly by 'J, less often by 7iDtl:. Object clauses with liD~ are found with growing frequency in LBH, especially in Esther and Nehemiah. 20 In Qoheleth we find in addition to liDtl:-clauses also iD-clauses. 21 In MH -iD introducing an object clause is very common. 22 In Aramaic (')T, (')7 fulfils this function. 23 In Ben Sira we find the following structures. 1. Asyndetic object clauses governed by 7JT in 7:16 (A), 8:7 (A),

31[34]:15 (Btxt), 41:3 (M), and by .!J7' in 31[34]:15 (Btxt). 24 2. Object clauses introduced by 'J and governed by 7JT in 7:11 (A), 8:5 Williams (197 6) § 311. § 20.2.3. 16 § 19.2.1 (end). 17 Gaenssle (1915) 48-50; cf.§§ 19.2.1, 19.3.2. 18 JM § 157 b; GKC § 120 c. 19 JM § 157 b; GKC § 157 a. 20 BDB 83b; Bergey (1985) 61-64; Polzin (1976) 128; Kropat (1909) 65; Rooker (1990) 111-112; Gaenssle (1915) 73-75; cf. § 19.3.1. 21 Schoors (1992) 138-139. 22 Segal (1927) § 423, (1936) 435; Perez Fernandez (1997) 51; -'iJ introducing an object clause is also attested in 4QMMT and in Mur 46:9; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 74; Bergey (1985) 62. 23 E.g. Dan. 5:14. In Aramaic documents from the Achaemenid period we find also 'tJ, see Folmer (1996); see further Bauer-Leander (1927) § 109 a-d; Hoftijzer-Jongeling (1995) 1.314215; Muraoka-Porten (1998) 272, 327, 331-332; Bendavid (1967-71) 1.62. 24 See §§ 12.4, 18.5. 14 15

302

CHAPTER EIGillEEN

(A), 9:12 (A), 14:12 (A), 31:12 [34:13] (Btxt), and 41:3 (B), by .!l7' in 9:13 (A), 31:12 [34:13] (Bmg), 36[33]:5 (B), 36:17[22] (Btxt), 46:6 (B), 10 (B), and by i1~7 in 33:18 [30:26] (E), 36:17[22] (Bmg), 51:27 (B).25

3. Two object clauses introduced by -iD in 16:15 (A) and 31[34]:16 (B), both governed by the verb .!J7' .2 6 4. Two complementary final 7iD~-clauses functioning as the object in 37:15 (B+D) and 38:14 (B), both governed by 7t!l.!l (7't!l.!li1) 'to pray'.27 B. The object clause can also be an independent relative clause as in Deut. 5: 11 ~1iD? 1QiD n~ ~iD' 7iD~ n~ i11i1' i1PJ' ~? 'J 'for the Lord will not leave unpunished he who uses his name in vain'; or an indirect interrogative clause as in Gen. 21:26 this' .28

i1li1 7:::l7i1 n~ iliDll 'Q 'nll7' ~?

'I do not know who has done

In Ben Sira we find 1. Two independent relative clauses introduced by 7iD~ (n~) in 15: 11

(A) and 15:17 (A). The governing verb is i1iD.!l in 15:11 (A), 1m in 15:17 (A). 2. An independent relative clause introduced by ill in 42: 15 (B+M) governed by 7::llJ 'recount' in MS B and by ]Jill 'to teach incisively' in MS M. 29 3. Indirect questions introduced by the interrogatives '1J and i1rJ, 30 in 6:36 (A), 8:18 (A), 9:11 (A), 12:1 (A), 37:8 (B+D), 37:27 (B+D). In 6:36 (A) and 37:27 (B+D) the governing verb is i1~7, in the other places it is .!l7'. C. In BH there are cases where the subject of the object clause is directly governed by the verb in the main clause, e.g. 25 The 'J-clause in 38:9 (Btxt) ~Ell' ~1:-r ':J ';,~ ';,~ ':i':iEJm is either an object clause ('pray to God that He may heal you') or a causal clause expressing a general truth(' ... for He heals'). 26 On the construction in 16:15 (A) see below; on 31[34]:16 (B) see§ 12.4. 27 See § 22.2 (E). 28 Gaenssle (1915) 44--47; Peretz (1967) 166; Konig (1897) § 379 a. 29 See the discussion of 42:15 (M) in§ 6.5. On 6:37 (A) jDJn' :-rrw~ 7i1!~1 'and He will make you wise as you wish [:-Tn'1~]', see§ 24.4 (end). 30 JM § 161 g; WO§ 18.2c; Peretz (1967) 168; on the distinction between direct and indirect questions, see GKC § 150 i, n. 2. In these cases 'D or :-TD can often be interpreted as an indefinite pronoun. Thus we can translate, e.g., 37:27 (B+D) ;-r';J Jll :-TD with 'that which is evil for her'; cf. WO § 18.2c on embedded interrogative clauses: 'this use is sometimes called "the relative use" and presents a blending of a relative with an interrogative sense'. See further Peretz (1967) 144-145; Schoors (1992) 59-60; Bauer-Leander (1927) §§ 23 e, 108 m.

303

SUBSTANTNAL CLAUSES

Gen. 1:4 :rn;i 'J 71~ii n~ Cl'ii?~ ~7'1 'and God saw the light, that it was good'.

This usage is possibly found in 38:22 (Btxt) 7pn ~1ii 'J 1pn 71Jl 'remember his fate, that it will also be your fate'. 31

With a retrospective suffix pronoun in the object clause, as in

r~

Job 2:3 r1~J 1iiQJ 'J J1'~ '7:J.ll ?~ 7:J? iiQiDii 'have you considered my servant Job, that there is no-one like him on earth' ,32

we find 16: 15 (A) Cl'QiDii mn )''?m 1'iD.ll1JiD 1.ll7' ~'? 7iD~ 1.ll7El J? mi iiiDpii "' 'the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, who did not know about Him, that His works are manifest under the heavens'. 33 16: 15 (A) This verse belongs to the expanded text of Ben Sira. It continues the list of notorious sinners of the Old Testament in the preceding verses and links up with "')7ll iiiDf1~ in 16:11 (A). It is found in MS A (Hebll), Grll, and S, but not in GrI and L. 3 For the content of this verse one can compare 3 Mace. 2:6 'You tested the insolent Pharaoh, who enslaved Your holy people Israel, with many different punishments and You made known to him Your mighty power' and further Exod. 5:2, 7:3.35

As far as the verb forms in object clauses are concerned, it should be noted that BH has no consecutio temporum. Thus for 'and Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman', one says Gen. 29: 12 ~1ii ii'J~ 'i1~ 'J '?n7'? JP.ll' in, and not ii'ii ii'J~ "n~ •:, or something similar.

Similarly for 'and Saul saw that he was succeeding' one says 1 Sam. 18: 15 ?'JiDQ ~1ii 7i17~ ?1~i17 ~7'1, not ?'JiDQ ii'ii or the like. 36

This means that the use of the ptcp. in an object clause in 46:6 (B) onan'?a "' iim;; 'J 01n '1" ',:, n[.ll7] pa'? 'so that all the doomed nations would know that the Lord was watching over their battles'

on

31 I.e. 7pn l':i;J 1pn •:, 77:JT (Segal); cf. G µv71cr0rrn 10 1. For the verb forms used, i.e. yiqtol weqataltf, see, e.g., Exod. 33:5 7'n''?:::>1 7::i.1p::i. n'?i,~ in~ i,n 'should I go up in the

midst of you only a moment, I would destroy you'.27

13:12[11] (A): 71pm 7'? pniD7 is also found in Saadia's quotation of this verse. According to Segal pniD may be a ptcp. as in v. 5; others, however, emend pmiD1 in v. 5 to pniD7 (weqataltf).

In other cases the waw apodoseos is separated from the verb and hence it cannot be analysed as a waw consecutive, e.g. Num. 23:20 ilJ::l.'iD~ ~',1 71:i1 'if He blesses, I cannot reverse it'; Isa. 41 :8 iD'~ ]'~1 ~7~1 'and if I look, there is no-one'. 28

This type is attested five times in Ben Sira, in 10: !Ob (A) ?1El' 1nm Cl1'i7 7'?D 'a king today - tomorrow he dies'; 29 13:2 (A) 7::1.iDJ ~,m 1:i iDp1J ~1i1 7iD~ '(for which holds:) if this smites that, it is dashed in pieces'; 13:22a (A) Cl'J7 1'7Ul1 7J1D 7'iDJJ 'if a rich man speaks, his supporters are many'; 13:22d (A) Cl7pD 7? ]'~7 ?'JiDD 7J17 'and (even) if he speaks wisdom [lit.: a wise man speaks], there is no place for him';

24

196. 25 26 27 28

Driver (1892) 185-187, 192-193; Dahood-Penar (1970) 426; Segal (1932) 192, 195JM § 167 b.

On the volitive use of the perf. cons. in the apodosis see § 8.8. GKC § 159 c.

Examples from Driver (1892) 187, 192. 29 For this translation of '?m, see Smend.

352

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

31 [34]:20 (B) in~ wm1 1p:::i:::i petite is again with him'. 30

cip1

'if he stands up in the morning, his ap-

6:27 (A) il:lln ',~1 i!npmi11 is taken in G as a conditional sentence as well: 'and when you have grasped her, do not let her go', but we regard it as a continuation of the preceding imprts., see § 8.2.

10: 10b (A): This colon consists of two clauses with a conditional relationship which can be paraphrased with 'for whom holds: A (today king), for him holds: B (tomorrow he dies)'. 31 G also has Kat at the beginning of the colon, with which one can compare the conditional sentences with both the protasis and the apodosis introduced by waw. 32 In the preceding a-colon ~:l17 ::J'il::O' il'?nrJ fDiD, the verb :J.il::o hifil can be interpreted transitively: 'a slight illness disturbs the physician', 3 3 but it can also be taken intransitively: 'a slight illness - the doctor becomes worried' ( our preference). 34 As is often the case in Ben Sira, the style is succint and the functional relationship between the two clauses is not made explicit. We prefer to interpret the a-colon as a very short conditional sentence as well: 'when A (there is a slight illness), then B (the doctor is worried)' _35 13:2 (A): The 7iD~-clause follows 7'1J ',~ 717:l 1:::in { n}' i!D 'how can an earthen pot associate with the cauldron?' in the a-colon. We take 7iD~ as the relative conjunction (not: pronoun), 36 marking the relative clause beginning with ~7i1: the cauldron [for which holds:] when this (the cauldron) smites that (the earthen pot), it (the earthen pot) is dashed in pieces' _3 7

Altogether, three out of nine times the protasis is preceded by waw as well (i.e. the type waw + protasis - waw + apodosis, as in Gen. 44:22. Num. 23:20, Isa. 41:28, quoted), in 13:12[11] (A), 13:22d (A), and 31[34]:20 (B), all taking initial weqataltf. 38 If 6:27b (A) is regarded as a

°

3 For the meaning of tD!JJ in this verse (and also in 6:2, 4 [Al), see Segal. 31 Cf. Van den Born (1968) 'wie vandaag koning is, is morgen al dood'. Compare Prov. 18:22, quoted above in § 21.2, 'for whom holds: A ('he has found a wife'), for him holds: B ('he has found something good'). 32 See above, at the beginning of this paragraph. 33 For :i;i;; hi. in the sense 'to anger, disturb', see Moreshet (1980) 303; cf. Segal: 'the illness angers and enrages the physician, who does not know how to heal it'. 34 The intransitive use of :i;i;:; hi. is well-attested in MH, see Jastrow (1886-1903) 1264b. G has crKwrr-i:Et 'jests', which yields an opposite effect: 'a slight illness - the doctor jests', that is to say, 'what on one day is simply a report of the king's illness about which the physician is not worried (10a), terminates the next day in the death of the patient (l0b)' (Skehan-Di Lella [1987] 225). Ben Sira probably had in mind the sudden and painful death of Ptolemy IV in 203 BC, see the commentaries of Smend and Skehan-Di Lella. 35 Cf. Peters' translation: 'ein wenig Krankheit - es strahlt der Arzt' parallel to 'Konig heute - und morgen tot'. See further the extensive discussion of this verse by Taylor (190203) 457--460. 36 Cf. JM § 145 a; GKC § 138 a; Meyer (1992) § 115.4. 37 For the use K7i1 in the 7tDK-clause, compare 2 Kgs. 25:19 l'P!J K1i1 ltDK li!K 0'70 'an eunuch [for whom holds:] he was an overseer', Num. 9:13 71i1tci K7i1 7tDK tD'Ki11 'and the man [for whom holds:] he is ritually clean', Gen. 7:2 K1i1 i17i1tcl K? 7tDK i1r.li1:Ji1 'the animal [for which holds:] it is not pure', parallel to i171i1tcii1 i1Di1:li1 ';,:o 'every pure animal'; JM § 158 e, g; Peretz (1967) 87. For different analyses of Sir. 13:2 (A), see Fassberg (1997) 60. 38 Pace Fassberg (1997) 60---61: 'in contrast to Biblical Hebrew, there are no examples of a

CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

353

conditional sentence, then it belongs here too.39 Apart from these three weqataltf' s we find in the protasis an impf. once, a ptcp. three times, and a nominal clause once. 40 In the apodosis we find a perf. cons. four times, an impf. once, and a ptcp. once.41 In the remaining three cases the apodosis consists of a nominal clause.42 21.4 TYPE 3: SENTENCES WITH CONDITIONAL PARTICLE AND WITHOUT WAW APODOSEOS

21.4.1 The protasis introduced by Cl~

The third type of conditional sentence we distinguish are those consisting of a protasis introduced by a conditional particle and an apodosis without preceding waw. This type is the most common in Ben Sira. The particle used is commonly D~ (§ 21.4.1), occasionally 'J (§ 21.4.2). In BH, conditional clauses with introductory D~ expressing a condition that is regarded as possible or real in the future usually take yiqtol. Occasionally we find a perf., e.g. Judg. 16:17 'n:, iJrJrJ 707 'nn'?, o~ 'if my head were shaved, then my strength would leave me'. 43

In QH and MH future qatal (futurum exactum) in the protasis of a conditional sentence is more frequent, 44 possibly under the influence of Aramaic, while '?t!ip' Cl~ is unusual. 45

waw introducing both the protasis and apodosis of a conditional sentence'. 39 See above, the comment on 6:27 (A), and § 8.2. See also the observation on 10: 10b in G in the passage in small print. 40 Impf.: 13:7 (A); ptcp.: 13:2 (A), 13:22a (A) (S qotel); passive: 38:23 (B) (qatul S); nominal clause: 13:6 (A). 41 Perf. cons.: 13:6 (A), 13:7 (A), 13:12[11] (A), 38:23 (B); impf.: 10:lOb (A); ptcp.: 13:2

(A).

!3:22a (A), 22d (A), 31[34]:20 (B). Driver (1892) 178; Qimron (1986) 84; JM § 167 h, n. 1; GKC § 159 b; WO§ 31.6.lb; Segal (1932) 198. In Judg. 16:17 the perf. is probably chosen to express 'real-remote epistemic modality', see Hendel (1996) 173. 44 Van Peursen (2000) 213-217; cf. § 5.2.6. 45 Qimron (1986) 84-85; Kesterson (1986) 38-39; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 71, 85-86; Perez Fernandez (1997) 126, 215; Mishor (1983) 57-58; cf. Segal (1927) §§ 310,313,486, (1932) 199-200, (1936) §§ 217,219,451. On Aramaic see Muraoka-Porten (1998) 324-326; Folmer (1991), (1995) 394-415, and on Syriac Niildeke (1898) § 258. The studies by Folmer show that the use of the perf. in the protasis is frequent in documents from the Achaemenid period, while in Old Aramaic, as well as in the Middle Aramaic dialects (Nabatean, Palmyrene, Qumran Aramaic) the impf. prevails; cf. Segert (1975) 431; Bauer-Leander (1927) § 111 a, d. Occasionally the Targumim and the Peshitta render a Hebrew impf. in the protasis of a conditional sentence by a perf., e.g. Num. 35:20 MT 1l!l1i1' i1!:IJID:J 01:11 'and if he pushes him in hatred', Tg. Onq. ';rn1 i1!:lllJ:J 01:11, Pesh. ,m...=>:> .-t!ip' j!l in 9:lb, 3b, 3d, 4a, Sa, 6a. See also below, § 22.3.

364

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

3:28 (A) i1~1:l1 il? ]'~ ,:::, 1'? n:::,D l71~:l1? y11n ?~ 'do not make haste to heal the wound of the scorner, for there is no healing for it',

where the infin. l77~:l7? indicates a result sought for, but not realisable,5 and 37:3 (B+D) l7'D1[l7] '?::m 'J=l ~?D? n,:;rn .\l17D .\l7 '1il 'alas! my intimate, why were you formed, to fill the earth with deceit?' ,6

where the infin.-clause is an elaboration of the why-question (for what purpose?). 22.2 CONSTRUCTIONS EXPRESSING POSITNE PURPOSE AND RESULT

In BH several constructions are used for the expression of a final or consecutive relationship. A main distinction is that between coordinate and subordinate constructions. The coordination of a final-consecutive clause may be syndetic or asyndetic and the finality or consecution involved is either simply implied or made explicit by an adverbial expression. A subordinate final-consecutive clause consists either of a preposition with the infin. cstr. or of a conjunction followed by a finite verb. Prepositions used are most often-?, also JllD?, and less frequently 77:::J,.li:::J, and 77:::J,.\l:::J,?. As final-consecutive conjunctions function JllD?, JllD? 7iD~, 77:::J,.\l:::J,, 7iD~ 77:::J,l)J,, 7iD~, and -iD.7 The finite verb following a finalconsecutive conjunction is nearly always yiqtol. 8 Of the various forms to express purpose or result found in BH only ?~p? and, less frequently, ?~p'7 continue to be used in MH. 9 Purpose and result are further expressed by the infin. constructions ?~p? ?'J,iDJ, and ?~p? '7:) and the finite constructions ?~P'iD, ?~P'iD '7::i, ?~P'iD ?'J,iDJ,. 10 In Ben Sira we find multiple coordinate constructions expressing purpose and result. Subordinate constructions containing an infin. most often have the preposition-?, twice J.liD?, and once-? 77:::J,.li:::J,. Subordinate constructions with finite verbs are made up by the impf. with the particles J.liD?, 77:::J,.li, 77:::J,.li:::J,, and 7iD~. 11 5 For a different interpretation of this verse, taking r11n as an auxiliary, see§ 14.7.2 (D). 6

Emended text in the a-colon, see§ 19.6 (C).

7 Fassberg (1990) 273; (1994) 76-102. 8

There are a few exceptions; Fassberg (1994) 83; GKC § 165 c.

9 A marked increase of '?t:ip'? at the expense of '?t:ip'1 can already be discerned in QH; Kes-

terson (1984) 116-119, 255-258, 261-266; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 83; Leahy (1960) 138-139. IO Fassberg (1994) 124, (1998) 151-156; Segal (1927) §§ 514-516, (1936) §§ 406-407, 439; Perez Fernandez (1997) 230--236; Azar (1995) 127-128. 11 Cf. Fassberg (1994) 122, (1997) 68-70. Fassberg does not include '?t:ip' 11:::u,:i, which is attested only in the difficult 40: 10 (B ).

FINAL AND CONSECUTIVE CLAUSES

365

A. Coordinate constructions. The two consecutive tenses weqatalt{ and wayyiqtol contain the notion of temporal or logical succession. 1 2 Hence they are particularly apt to express result. However, the consequence (as well as the purpose) of a certain situation can also be expressed by other constructions, which do not mark the final-consecutive relationship grammatically, like weyiqtol, w-X yiqtol, w-qtol, and w-X qotel. In addition to the examples of the alleged indirect volitives weyiqtol and w-qtol given in §§ 11.3.1 and 12.3, we can mention here 4: 10 (A) p. 7~1p' ';,~1 (... ) tl'07r1'? ::i~:i i1'i1 'be like a father to orphans ( ... ) and God will call you His son'; 13 4:28 (A) 7'? cin'?J "'7 p1~i1 ?1' i1~1''i1 n70i1 11' 'till death fight for justice and the Lord will battle for you'; 51 :30 (B) 1r11'::l ci:i,:itv ti:i'i ]n7J ~7i17 i1p1~::i 7iD1' tl:l'iDl'O 'do your works in righteousness and He will give you your reward in His time' . 14

B. '?t:ip'?. -'? + infin. cstr. is by far the most frequent final-consecutive construction. Four times '?t:ip'? follows a verb of movement, namely f7~ in 11:10 (A+B), ?EJJ in 12:15 (A), 15 ::liiD in 33:21 [30:28) (E), and mp in 37:9 (B+D). 16 Sometimes we find a series of two or more '?bp'? forms, as in 49:7 (B)

~'::iJ ,~1J cin,o ~1;,1 [::!]'iDi1?7 l)t:)J? rn::i';, p1

7i17J1' ':l 7i1'01' ,,::i 01i1?7 1'::l~i1?7 r1rn';,1 iD7nJ?

'through Jeremiah, because they had persecuted him, and he had been made a prophet from the womb, to root out and to pull down, to demolish and to destroy, and likewise to build, to plant, and to restore' .17

C. ]i-'O?. In Ben Sira we find final '?t:ip' j.liO? twice (7:32[A], 32[35]:2 [B+F]) and '?bp po'? twice (46:6[B], 10 [B)). 18 With a verbal noun after ].liO? we find 38:14 (B) i1'i10 ].liO? 'that it may give life'. 19 Fassberg has §§ 8.1, 9.1 and above,§ 22.1. Other examples of (positive) w-Xyiqtol occur in 3:18 (A+C), 31[34]:22f[a] (B), 22h[b] (B), 36:16(21] (B). 14 On 4:28 (A) and 50:30 (B) see further§ 13.2.1 (B). 15 But many commentators emend '?7!l' to '?1:i', see§ 21.7 (A). 16 Cf. Fassberg (1994) 136. In MH '?0p'? is the only positive final-consecutive construction used after verbs of motion; Fassberg (1998) 152. 17 Cf. Jer. 1: 10. It is also possible to interpret the '?0p'? forms as attributive infins., see § 14.10. Other examples of a series of '?0p'? forms are found in 45:9 (B), 46: 1 (B), 48: 10 (B). 18 With 46:6 (B) 01n 'll ':,:, n[JJ7] jl!r.l'? 'so that all the doomed nations might know' and 46:10 (B) :ipl!' l!7i ':,:, nl!7 jl!r.l'? 'so that all the seed of Jacob might know', compare Josh. 4:24 and 1 Kgs. 8:60 r11!;,1 '1:ll! ':,:, nl!7 jl!r.l'? 'so that all the peoples of the earth may know'. 19 And not 'for his subsistence' (L: propter conversationem illorum); cf. Beentjes (1980a) 264. On two other cases of jl!r.l'? + infin. cstr. in 43:14 (Btxt) and 43:26 (B[txt+mg 2]), see below,§ 22.6. 12 13

366

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

pointed out that p,a, followed by either '?tip or '?t!ip' is employed frequently at the end of the First Temple Period and in the period of the Exile, but that its use diminishes in post-exilic literature. '?t!ip' p,a, is mainly found in poetry. 20 '?t!ip' 7iDt,ll p,a, has disappeared in LBH.21 In Ben Sira, too, it is unattested. D. (-'?) 77:::J.ll(J). Ben Sira employs '?t!ip' 77:::J.ll in 3:8 (A) m::11::i ';,::, 7mv' 71::Jl) 7'::l~ 7::JJ i1iD.1Ji'.:IJ1 ,r.i~r.i::i 'JJ 'my son, in word and deed honour your father, in order that every blessing may come upon you';

and '?t!ip'? 77:::J.IJJ in 38:5 (B) in:, iD1J~ ';,::, .IJ'71i1';, 71::Jl)J CJ'i'.:I 1P'ni'.:li1 f.lJ::l ~';,i1 'was it not by the wood that the water was sweetened, in order to cause all men to know His power'.

An example of '?t!ip' 77:::J.IJJ is found in 40: 10 (B) i1';,J iD1i'.:ln 71::Jl)J1 i1.IJ7 i1~7JJ .IJiD7 ';,[.IJ] 'for the wicked evil was created (and) in order that destruction may afflict (him)'.

Bmg has i1.ll7 'n 777J.IJJ7. The interpretation of this verse is very difficult. The usual meaning of the root iDm 'to depart' or 'to stay far' ,22 does not fit the context of either Btxt ('and in order that destruction may stay away') or Bmg ('and because of him evil stays away'). CowleyNeubauer, Smend and others add t,li':,, comparing this verse with Prov. 17: 13 (Q) 7n'Ja i1.ll7 iD7an t,li':, 'evil does not stay away from his house'. The text as it stands in the manuscript only makes sense when iDmn is related to the root iDiDa 'to afflict, to strike'. If we read 77:::J.IJJ (cf. Btxt 77J.IJJ7) this yields 'in order that destruction may afflict (him)' and if we read with Bmg 777:::J.IJJ, we can translate 'and because of him evil comes (upon him)'. In that case we can consider G 1m1 8t' auwuc; (Ms 672 ch' auwu) EYEVE'to o KaWKA,uaµ6c; 'and because of them (him) the flood happened' as a free rendering of the Hebrew text. 23 77:::J.ll without prefixed -:::i does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, but it 20 Fassberg (1990) 275, n. 11, (1994) 88-89, 98-99; Yifrach (1997) 284, n. 50. In lQS and CD the only example of '?t!ip Jlla'? is CD n 11; Kesterson (1984) 228; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 79. 21 Fassberg (1994) 93; Kropat (1909) 70. 22 See§ 12.12 (D). 23 See the extensive discussion of the verse by Kister (1983) 135-137 and Riiger (1970a); on the root iDiDa see Yalon (1971) 26-28; Moreshet (1980) 216-217. Another possibility is that we should read with Bmg 111:Jll:Jl and analyse it as an infin. cstr. of 1:Jll (= BH 11:!J?:;11; on the form of the infin. cstr. see Qimron [1976] 174--175, [1986] 54-55): 'and when he passes away'; see Kister ibid. and (1989) 48.

FINAL AND CONSECUTIVE CLAUSES

367

is used in paitanic literature. 24 ?~P' 77:::JJ.l:::J is the more frequent construction with 77:::Jl)J in the Bible, occuring nine times. ?~p? 77:::Jl)J is found only once, in 1 Chr. 19:3, parallel to ?bp 77:::Jl'J in 2 Sam. 10:3. Apart from this place, where the use of 77:::Jl)J can be explained from the Chronicler's sources, 77:::Jl)J does not occur in LBH. 25 In the Hebrew Bible we find further '?bp 77:::Jl)J (4x), ?bp 77:::Jl'J? (4x), and ?~P' 7tD~ 77:::Jl'J (lx).26

E. 7tD~. In the Bible 7tD~ alone sometimes introduces a final or consecutive clause. This use increases from the end of the First Temple period onwards. 27 In Ben Sira it is possibly attested in 45:24 (B)

w1pa ';,:::,';,:::,';, m';,w n'1::i r:i';,1l) 7!l i1?rn i1l7i1:J

pn w'pi1 1';, r:i, p';, 1l)7l?1 1? i1'i1n 7Wtl:

'therefore also for him He established an ordinance, a covenant of peace that he should provide for the sanctuary, that to him and his descendants should belong the high priesthood forever'

The 7tD~ clause can be analysed as a final-consecutive clause, or as a relative clause governed by the preceding pn and n'7:::J. 2 8 Another type of final-consecutive 7tD~ occurs in 37:15 ([B+D]) 7'7!l~ mtl:J P' 7Wtl: ?tl: ?tl: 7n!li1 i1?tl: ';,:::, tl!l1 'and with all this pray to God (so) that he will steady your steps in truth'; 38:13b-14a[l4ab] (Btxt) i17W~ 1';, n';,~, 7Wtl: l'n!l' ?tl: ?tl: tl:1i1 r:i, ':J 'for he too prays to God (so) that his cure may be successful'. 29

In these two examples the 7t!J~-clauses are what Gaenssle calls 'complementary final clauses'. These are substantival clauses that function as necessary complements to verbs of swearing, commanding and the like (unlike 'pure' final clauses, which occur in sentences that al24

Segal (1958) 14.

25 Fassberg (1994) IOI. The formation of the compound preposition-? 77:JJJJ in Chronicles

is related to the general process by which the preposition-';, became an inseparable part of the infin. See Bendavid (1967-71) 2.496; Kropat (1909) 43, and further§ 13.4 (C) (on-? 7JJ in 40:3 [Btxt]) and § 14.5.1. On compound prepositions see also JM § 133 j. 26 JM § 168 e; BOB 721a; Fassberg (1994) 90-92, 101-102, (1997) 70; Gaenssle (1915) 136. 27 Fassberg (1994) 92-93; cf. further JM § 168 f; WO§ 38.3b; BOB 83b; Gaenssle (1915) 82-83, and our remark above on the increase of final-consecutive 71ZJ~ in LBH. 28 Van Peursen (2003b ). Compare the attributive infin. ';,:hJ';, in the preceding colon. Final ':it:ip' ~';, 71ZJ~ is possibly attested in 50:24 (B), see below, § 22.4 (F). 29 For our translation see Kister (1990) 343; contrast, e.g., Skehan-Di Lella 'that his diagnosis may be correct', which reflects the usnal interpretation. According to Beentjes (1980a) 38:13-15 is a later addition to 38:1-12, which was inserted in the text of Ben Sira at most six decades after the composition of the book, since it is already attested in Grl. Skehan-Di Lella consider 38:1-15 as a unity, marked by the inclusio of ~El77 'physician' in v. 1 (Btxt+mg+D) and v. 15 (B).

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ready contain 'a complete thought' in themselves). They are chiefly attested in LBH, e.g. Esth. 2: 10 1'm ~', iiD~ i1''?.lJ i11~ 'J1iQ 'J 'for Mordechai had commanded her that she should not make it known'; Neh. 7:65 1',:i~' ~', iiD~ Cli1'? ~niDirli1 iQ~'1 'and the governor told them that they should not eat' _30

In Sir. 37:15 and 38:14 as well as in 45:24 G has Yva where the Hebrew text has iill~. Compare the final-consecutive constructions µ11 Ei8ivm m'n6v 'so that he would not know' and onmi:; av yvma8ft EV£pyfiµarn a1nou 'so that His works would become known' in 16:15 (GrII) where MS A has 1.1.'1' ~', iill~ and ]'?1'D 1'illl'Qill respectively.3 1 22.3 DISTRIBUTION OF THE POSITIVE FINAL-CONSECUTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

In his study on final-consecutive constructions in the Bible Fassberg has demonstrated that the distribution of these constructions largely depends on the syntactical environment. '?t:lp'1 is predominant after an imprt., while '?t:lp'? and '?bp ]l'Q', are more common after weqatalt[ and wayyiqtol. 32 In Ben Sira the situation appears to conform to BH. Weyiqtol does not occur after qatal, wayyiqtol, or weqatalt[. It occurs a number of times after yiqtol, eight times after an imprt., once after a prohib., and two times after a jussive.33 '?t:lp'? and '?bp ]l'Q', occur mainly after indicative forms. Twice we find '?bp ]ll~? following qatal or wayyiqtol; 34 '?t:lp'? is found twice after qatal, seven times after wayyiqtol, once after weqatalt[, twice after yiqtol, and four times after a ptcp. 35 '?t:lp'? and '?bp ].I.'~? do not follow an Gaenssle (1915) 83-84. On 16:15 see Smend (1906) 149. According to Smend 71D~ in v. 15a is relative or causal, wrongly interpreted as final by G and S. On the theological significance of the final interpretation of -ID and 71D~ in 16: 15 (A), by which the hardening of Pharaoh's heart itself becomes a manifestation of God's works, see Philonenko (1986) 218-319; Prato (1990) 335. On 47: 13 (B) see Smend (1906) 332 and Reiterer (1980) 224. 32 Fassberg (1994) 78-80, 95-100. The final-consecutive constructions employed in MH appear to be interchangeable to a considerable extent, except that only '?t!lp'ID is attested after imprts.; Fassberg (1998) 160. 33 See chapter 11. However, in the majority of the examples a final-consecutive relationship with the preceding impf. or volitive cannot be discerned. And even in those cases where it can be discerned it is a logical, not a grammatical relationship. See below, our comment in small print. 34 46:6 (B), 10 (B). 35 After qatal: 42:17 (B+M), 46:1 (B); after wayyiqtol: 38:6 (B), 45:5 (B), 45:9 (B), 45:16 (B), 47:5 (B), 47:23[24] (B), 50: 16 (B); after weqataltf: 37:9 (B+D); after yiqtol: 8:8 (A), 12:15 (A 1); after a ptcp.: 11:10 (A+B), 31[34]:3 (B) (ifwe analysewithBBS'?DJJ inBmg as a 30 31

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369

imprt. or a jussive. After a prohib. we find consecutive ?0p? six times and final ?0p? once.36 After indicative verb forms we find further numerous cases of the consecutive tenses weqataltf and wayyiqtol, once ?0p? 77:J.!':J, and once final-consecutive 7tD~. 37 After an imprt. we find in addition to weyfqtol twice ?0p' 1.!'D?, once ?0p' 77:J.!', and once ?0P' 7tD~. 38 Weqataltf occurs twice after an imprt. and once after a prohib.39 Fassberg's analysis is based on the assumption that weyiqtol is a syntagm that expresses purpose or result. Hence his explanation for the alternation with (other) final-consecutive constructions concerns only syntax, not semantics. However, in § 11.3.1 we have argued that weyiqtol is unmarked as to the logical relation to the preceding verb. At times it is used for a situation that is the logical purpose or result of the action expressed by the preceding verb, at times it signifies an action that is parallel to it. Thus finality or consecution is not involved in many cases in Ben Sira of weyiqtol following another yiqtol or an imprt. For this reason we see no fundamental difference with other grammatically coordinate clauses expressing logical purpose or consequence, like w-X yiqtol, w-qtol, or w-X qotet. 4 0

After a prohib. the final-consecutive construction indicates either the purpose or result of the action discouraged, or that of following the advice of not doing that action. This distinction is hardly paid any attention in grammatical descriptions of final-consecutive clauses in BH. In Ben Sira the only time weqataltf occurs after a prohib., it denotes the consequence of not doing the action discouraged: 42:le+S (B[+M]) m~::i i'i1l r7"i11 (..• ) tvi:m '?~ i1'?~ ',s., 7~ 'but of the following things do not be ashamed( ... ) and you will be truly careful'.

However, weyiqtol indicates the purpose or result of the action discouraged in 6: 1 [2] (A) 7'?1' 7'?'n i1::ll'm 7tvE:Jj 7'::l ?iE:lrl '?~ 'do not fall into the hands of your own desire, so that it would make you reckless'; 41

similarly the seven times that an infin. construction follows a prohib., e.g. ptcp.), 48: 10 (B), 51:12i (B). In 45:9 (B) and 47:5 (B) we find a sequence of two '?tc1p'? forms and in 45: 16 (B), 46: 1 (B), and 48:10 (B) there is a sequence of three infins. 36 ';,t;1p';, expresses consequence in 5:1 (A), 5:2 (A), 5:5 (A+C), 8:11 (A), 9:2 (A), 33:21 [30:28] (E), and purpose in 4:31 (A+C). 37 '?tc1p'? 71:Jll:J in 38:5 (B); '?tc1p' ltD~ in 38:14 (B) (a complementary final clause; above, § 22.2 [El); for examples of weqatalt[ and wayyiqtol see the chapters 8 and 9. 38 '?tcip' ]llD? in 7:32 (A), 32[35]:2 (B+F); '?tcip' 71:Jll in 3:8 (A); '?tc1p' ltD~ in 37:15 (B+D) (also a complementary final clause). 39 After an imprt.: 6:27 (A), 42:1 (B+M); after a prohib.: 42:8 (B+M); § 8.2. 40 See above, § 22.2 (A). 41 See§ 11.3.2. Similarly w'yiqtol after a vetitive in 11:33 (A). In 6:1[2] (A).

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71' 'i1n ?~ 'do not let your hand be stretched out to take'; 8:11 (A) 7'l:l? J71~J 1J'iD1i1? f? 'l:lO mm ?~ 'do not depart from a scorner, so that you would make him lie like an ambush against you'.

4:31 ([A+]C) n~iD? r70iD10

In these constructions the negative ?~ extends its force to the purpose or result indicated. 42 Positive final-consecutive constructions expressing the (unintended) consequence of the discouraged action are logically related to negative final-consecutive clauses. Thus in the examples quoted we could rephrase i1::l!lt77 in 6: 1[2] (A) with *i1::l!ln ]5:l and 7::l'ill7i1? in 8: 11 (A) with *7::l'ill7n ]5:l, etc.43 22.4 CONSTRUCTIONS EXPRESSING NEGATIVE PURPOSE AND RESULT

To express a negative purpose or result one uses several constructions, partly parallel to the positive final-consecutive constructions discussed in § 22.2. Thus we find syndetically coordinated clauses with ~?7 (or ?~1), infin. constructions with the preposition 'r7?::l? (which is the negative equivalent of -?), and subordinate clauses introduced by a conjunction. The main negative final-consecutive conjunction is ]5:l, but we find also~? added to the positive final-consecutive conjunctions ]!JO?, lill~ ]!JO?, and lill~, e.g. ?0p' ~? ]!l0?. 44 The use of 'r7?::l? and ]5:l, both frequent in SBH, decreases in LBH. 45 As with the positive constructions, the finite verb following the conjunction is nearly always yiqtol. 46 In MH we find the constructions ?0p? ~?ill, ?t:JP' ~?ill, ":lt:lp' ~?ill '7::>, and ?t:JP' ~?ill ?'::lill::l. 47 The use of]Ei and 'r7?::l? further recedes. The use of the former is restricted to quotations from the Bible. 48 42 Cf. § 11.3.2. The underlying intent of these verses can be represented by « may not happen [you fall into the hands of your own desire + it makes you reckless (consequence)]», « may not happen [your hand is open + it takes (purpose)] », and« may not happen [you lose your temper+ he lies in an ambush against you (consequence)]» respectively. In BH similarly with weqatalt[, e.g. Ps. 143:7 77::J '77' Cll' 'r7'?iDDl7 'lDD j'l!:l 7r70r7 '?K 'do not hide Your face from me, so that I would be like them that go down into the pit', i.e. « may not happen [You hide Your face from me + I am like them that go down into the pit (consequence).] ». 43 See also § 23.5 (C). Note that in MS A we find '?t!lp'? ... '?t!lpr7 '?K in 8: 11 and 9:2 surrounded by '?t!lp' j=l ... '?t!lpn '?Kin 8:10, 15, and 9:1, 3-6 (5x). 44 Fassberg (1990) 274-275, (1994) 103-118. 45 On 'r7'?:i';, see Hurvitz (1982) 121-123; Fassberg (1994) 117; Yifrach (1997) 285, n. 54; on 1;:i see Fassberg (1994) 112; Kropat (1909) 70. 46 Fass berg (l 994) 280. 47 Fassberg (1994) 124-125, (1998) 151, 156-159; Segal (1927) §§ 514-516; Perez Ferrnindez (1997) 230--236; Azar (1995) 127-128. 48 E.g., m. 'Abot 4:19 = Prov. 24:17-18; Fassberg (1990) 287; Perez Fernandez (1997) 144. Of final-consecutive '?t!lp' K'?7, which is still frequent in QH, there is only one example in the

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371

In Ben Sira we find grammatically coordinated ?0P' ~?7 and '?0p' ?~7, one example of '?tip 'r7?J?, the subordinating conjunctions ].lli'J?, -'tJ, and possibly also 7'tl~ followed by ~?, and the negative final conjuctions ]El and i1i'J?. 49 A In his article on dependent clauses in Ben Sira Fassberg lists four cases of final-consecutive '?0p' ~?7, e.g.

n ii'?,a:i 1'? i1'ii 'be to him as a revealer of secrets, and he will not be able to destroy you'.50

12: 11 (A) 7rrnilli1'? ~~a' ~'?1

B. '?0p' ?~7 indicating purpose or result is rare in BH; one of the few examples is 1 Sam. 12:19 mai '?~1 7'ii'?~ ii1i1' '?~ 7'1:J.ll 1.ll:J '?'?Elm 'pray for your ser-

vants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die' .51

In Ben Sira final-consecutive '?0p' ?~7 appears after another volitive in 7: 1 (A) ii.ll7 l''ill' '?~1 ii.ll7 7'? ill.llrl '?~ 'do no evil, then shall no evil come upon thee'; 52 with the impf. of the 2nd person ('?0pn ?~7) we find 9:13 (A) ma '1nEl inEiri '?~1 ,11;;'? ~[''?ill] ill'~a pn, 'keep far from the man

that has [powe]r to kill and you will not have to fear the fears of death'.

Mostly, however, '?0p' ?~7 after another volitive is logically coordinated to the preceding clause.53 C. Other coordinate constructions. Since neither '?0p' ~?7 nor '?0p' ?~7 has in itself final-consecutive value, there is in principle no difference with other coordinate constructions that from the context appear to indicate the purpose or result of a preceding action, e.g. l?)' ~'? ]10~ ',:,1 l11l~ ii'ii Till.Ila '?:i::i 'in all your deeds be moderate, and no harm will afflict you'. 54

31[34]:22 (B) 7::i

entire Mishnah (m. Seb. 4:10); Fassberg (1998) 159; Kesterson (1984) 117-118. 49 Fassberg (1994) 122-124, (1997) 69-70. 5 Fassberg (1997) 69; the three other cases are found in 4:5 (A) (but see§ 12.10), 15:4 (A), and 38: 12 (Btx.t). 51 Other examples: Num. 11:15; Ps. 69:15; 2 Chr. 35:21; JM § 116 j; cf. Dahood-Penar (1970) 398-399. 52 Thus Oesterley (1916); similarly 38:12 (Bmg), where the reconstruction of an imprt. in the a-colon is probable; see§ 12.12 (D) and below,§ 22.6. 53 Similarly in BH, see JM § 116 j; Fassberg (1994) 107; GKC § 109 g; see also § 12.5. For other occurrences of';,~ in places where we expect~';,, see Van Peursen (1999) 236. 54 Another example of w-X lo' yiqtol is found in 7:36 (A).

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D. The only example of 'ri'?J.? occurs in 44: 18 (B) liDJ. ',:, n"niDn ThJ.'? 1Q.\J m:,J 0'?1.1J m~J. 'by a lasting sign was a covenant made with him, that never should all flesh be destroyed' .55

E. '?~p' ~', ].\JO? is characteristic of the exilic and post-exilic period. 56 It is found two times in Ben Sira, in 38:8 (Btxt)

nnp1D i1iD1.\J npn pi en~ 'JJ.D i1'iD1m

J.1~:,Q n'J' ~::in onJ. 1i1iD.\JD r,J.ID' ~';, J.lla'?

'with them the physician eases pain and similarly the apothecary prepares his medicines, in order that His work will not cease, and healing from among the sons of man', and 45:26 (B) Cl:JJ.1~ n:JiD' ~';, ].\JQ? J.'? rn:,n o:,';, ]n'1 'and may He give you wisdom of mind, in order that your benefits will not be forgotten' _57 F. In the Bible we find final '?~p' ~', liDt:; four times.58 In Ben Sira there is one possible occurrence of this construction in 50:24 (B)

om'::i n'7J. 1'? op'1 IJ'QiD 'Q'J

non )1.\JQiD D.\J ]Q~' 1.\J7i'?1 1'? nl:J' ~';, liD~

'may His kindness remain with Simon and may He establish for him the covenant with Phinehas, that it may not be cut off for him and his descendants as the days of heaven' _59 G. With -iD instead of liDt:; we find '?~p'

t:;',tl)

in

33:26 [30:34] (E) nm iDPJ.' ~'?iD 71J..1J 7J..\Ji1 'make your servant work, that he may not seek rest'; 33:28 [30:35] (E) 717Q' ~'?iD 71J..\J 7J..\Ji1 'make your servant work, that he may not rebel'.

In LBH there is one occurrence of this syntagm in the expression

?l'

'?~p' t:;',tl) n7J.7 'for the matter that not. .. ' in Qoh. 7:11.60 In MH final '?~p' t:;',t:, is common. 61 55 Thus Fassberg (1997) 70; pace Yifrach (1997) 285, who considers 'Jl ·r.';JJ'-;, as an attribute to mK. 56 Fassberg (1994) 112-113; Hurvitz (1972) 147-148; Qimron (1980) 248; Rooker (1990) 172-173; JM § 168 d. 57 Between these two cola G has 'to judge His people in righteousness' and S 'to judge His people in His name'. 58 Gen. 11:7; Exod. 20:26; Jer. 42:14; Qoh. 7:21. See Gaenssle (1915) 82-84; WO§ 38.3c; GKC § 165 b; Fassberg (1994) 113. 59 See the discussion in § 12.13. 6 Compare the positive final -iD in Qoh. 3:14 and Biblical Aramaic '7 rn:i--; 'n, 'for the matter that'; Schoors (1992) 143; Fassberg (1994) 94; Perez Fernandez (1997) 230; Segal ( 1936) § 446. 61 Fassberg (1998) 158; Perez Fernandez (1997) 232, 236. Compare also Biblical Aramaic final K';, '7 in Dan. 2:18, 3:28, 6:18 and in Targum Aramaic Tg. Ps.-1. Deut. 4:21 7:J'JJK K';,1

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H. Six times iiO? introduces a final-consecutive clause, e.g.

12:5 (A) 7'?~ ?'::!.P' CJ:!. i10? 1', ]rlrl ',~ on'? '?J 'do not give him a weapon so that he may not attack you with it'. 62 In the Bible this use of iiQ? is mainly found in sapiential instruction and other forms of direct speech. 63 22.5

DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEGATIVE FINAL-CONSECUTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

As with the constructions denoting positive purpose or result, the distribution of some negative final-consecutive constructions is syntactically conditioned. In BH ?~P' ~?7 is, unlike the positive ?~p'7, rare after imprts. or prohibs. It occurs frequently after the impf. (also with volitive force) and even more after the perf. cons. 64 ?bp 'r1?'.:!.?, too, is mainly found after indicative verb forms, its use after a volitive being far less frequent than that of its positive counterpart ?~p?. Frequent after an imprt. or a prohib. are ?~P' j:l and ?~P' ii0?. 65 In MH, where these constructions are largely replaced by other ones, syntactical conditioning is only apparent after imprts., where ?~P' ~?ill occurs exclusively. 66 In Ben Sira we find after indicative verb forms twice final-consecutive ?~P' ~?7 and further ?~P' ~? pm?, ?bp •rh:h, and ?~P' j:l, all three constructions occurring once. 67 After volitive verb forms, however, ?~P' j:l is by far the most frequent, occurring nineteen times, 68 followed by ?~P' iiO?, which is attested six times. 69 After volitives we further find ?~P' ?~7 and ?~p· ~?ill, both attested twice, 70 and ?~p- ~? pa? and ~?7 'that I should not cross' for MT '7JJJ •n',J',; Hurvilz (1982) 122. 62 After a prohib. ;ir.h is further found in 8:1 (A 1+2 ) (parallel to ':?tc1p· j::l in 8:2 [Al), 12:12 (A) (2x), and after an imprt. in 11:33 (A) and 30:12 (B). Sec the more extensive discussion in Van Pcursen (I 999) 232-233. 63 Van Peursen (1999) 233; JM § 161 h; GKC § 150 e; WO§ 18.3c; Schoors (1992) 137138. 64 Fassberg (1990) 275-278, (1994) 103-107. 65 Fassberg (1990) 280---284, (1994) 109-110, 113-114; Azar (1981) 20---23. 66 Fassberg (1998) 160. 67 ',~p· K?l after a perf. cons. in 15:4 (A+B) (Fassberg [1990] 286, n. 37) and after an impf. (vetitive) in 4:4-5 (A); ',~p· K? jJJ~', after a ptcp. in 38:8 (B); ':?tcip •n',J', after a perf. in 44: 18 (B ), and ',~p· j::l after a vetilive in 9: 13 (A). 68 After an imprt. in 30:13 (B), 42:11 (Bmg), and after a prohib. in 7:3 (A), 7:6 (A), 8:2 (A), 8:4 (A), 8:10 (A), 8:15 (AC), 9:1 (A), 9:3b (A), 9:3d (A), 9:4 (A), 9:5 (A), 9:6 (A), 9:9 (A), 13:l0a (A), 13:!0b (A), 31[34]:16 (Btxt+mg), 31[34]:17 (B). 69 After an imprt. in 11:33 (A) and 30:12 (B); after a prohib. in 8:1 (A 1+2 ), 12:5 (A), 12: 12b (A), 12: 12d (A). 70 ',~p· ?K'. after an imprt. in 9:13 (A); after a prohib. in 7:1 (A); note also 38:12 (Bmg) where an imprt. preceding ',~p· ?Kl should probably to be reconstructed; '?~p· K?iD after an imprt. in 33:26 [30:34] (E), 33:28 [30:25] (E).

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'?0p', both occurring once.71 From these figures it appears that, as in BH, a negative final-consecutive clause after a volitive is most often introduced by ]El. We have seen in chapter 12 that Ben Sira employs the imprt. and the prohib., which are characteristic of the geme of instruction, considerably more often than the infin. abs. with imperatival force, the injunctive impf., and the vetitive, which are more common in legal texts. These two factors put together, namely the frequent use of the imprt. and the prohib. and the fact that these verb forms are often followed by ]El, account for the fact that final-consecutive clauses introduced by ]El occur frequently in Ben Sira, compared with, for example '?~p' ~',1.7 2 A similar situation is found in the biblical book of Proverbs, in which '?~p' ]El is attested sixteen times and '?~p' ~',1 only once, whereas in, for example, Leviticus '?~p' ~',1 occurs fifteen times and '?~p' ]El is absent. 73 22.6 VARIANT READJNGS lN THE MANUSCRIPTS

In some cases the manuscripts show variation in the use of constructions or particles. In 3: 17 MS A has weyiqtol and MS C w-X yiqtol, 74 and in 38:12 Btxt has '?0p' ti;'?7, but Bmg '?0p' '?ti;7. 75 In its quotation of Sir. 42:9-10, b. Sanh. 100b has ti;QiV, where MSS Band M have ]~.7 6 In two cases we find a final-consecutive construction with p.7Q', that is textually doubtful. In 43:14, where Btxt has ti;7J. ]t'Q'? 'in order to create' (?), we should read with Bmg and M 7Jt'Q'? 'on His account', and in 43:26, where Btxt has 7ti;'?Q n'?~' 7Jt'Q'? 'for His sake His messenger succeeds', Bmg 1 7i1Jt'Q'? (cf. Prov. 16:4), and Bmg2 ]t'Q'?, we should follow the reading of Btxt or Bmg 1, for the reading of Bmg 2 does not fit the context. A doubtful example of '?0p' 77::J.t'J. occurs in 40:10, where Btxt has il'?::i iVmn 77::J.t'J.7 'and in order that destruction may afflict (him)' and Bmg ilS.77 'n 777::J.t'J.7 'and because of him evil afflicts (him)'. However, unlike most commentators we do not consider the readings of Btxt and Bmg to be impossible.77

71 ';,~p· t-11'? ]lli.l? after a jussive in 45:26 (B); '?tc1p' t-11'?1 after an imprt. in 12:11 (A). Note also 7:36 (A) and 31[34]:22 (B), where we find '?tc1p' t-11'? X-1. 72 ]=l occurs twenty times, nineteen of which come after an imprt. or a prohib. and once after a vetitive, not including its use after expressions of fear and the like; '?tc1p' t-11'?1 occurs three times, two of which come after an indicative verb form and one after a volitive. 73 See further Fassberg (1994) 111. 74 See § 11.5 (C). 75 See § 12.12 (D) and above, § 22.4 (B). 76 After expressions of fear and the like t-lii.ltv is the MH equivalent of biblical j=l; Segal (1927) §§ 302,475, (1936) § 308; Perez Fernandez (1997) 235; Van Peursen (1999) 231. 77 See above, § 22.2 (D).

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22.7 CONCLUSION

In Ben Sira, as in BH, various constructions are employed for clauses expressing purpose or result. The following constructions are used for positive final-consecutive clauses: The consecutive tenses weqatalt{ and wayyiqtol (CH, not MH); other coordinate constructions with the final-consecutive relationship unmarked like weyiqtol (one of the few constructions that survived in MH), w-X yiqtol, w-qtol, and w-X qotel; infinitive constructions like ?t;1p? (the most frequent construction, increasing considerably in PBH, but already very common in BH), j.l)1J? ?tip (disappearing in LBH), ?t;1p? 77:J..ll:J. (once in LBH, for the rest 77:J..ll:J. disappears in LBH); constructions with a finite verb like ?t;1p' ].ll1J? (in BH mainly in poetry, on the decline in LBH), ?t;1p' 77:J..ll (unattested in BH and MH; occurs in later paitanic literature), ?t;1p' 77:J..ll:J. (like the other constructions with 77:J..ll:J. typical of SBH), and ?t;1p' 7iD~ (LBH, cf.

MH?t;1p'iD). For negative final-consecutive clauses we find the coordinate constructions ?t;1p' ~?7 (CH and MH), ?t;1p' ?~7 (occasionally in BH) and others. With the infin. we find once ?tip 'rl?J.? (mainly in SBH), and with subordinate conjunctions followed by a finite verb we find ?t;1p' ]El (mainly SBH), ?t;1p' i11J? (BH; both ]El and i11J? a number of times in sapiential instruction), ?t;1p' ~? ].ll1J? (LBH), ?t;1p' ~? 7iD~ (LBH), and ?t;1p' ~?iD (MH; one example in Qoheleth). The distribution of all these constructions is partly determined by rules that are also at work in BH. Thus we find after volitives most often ?t;JP'l, ?t;1p' ]El, and ?t;1p' i11J?, whereas after an indicative verb form ?t;1p?, ?tip ].!J1J?, and ?t;1p' ~?7 are more common.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CAUSAL AND EXPLICATIVE CLAUSES 23.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we will discuss clauses that express the logical antecedence of what is said in another clause. There are several ways in which one situation constitutes the basis for another, thus we can distinguish between reason (the reverse of purpose) and cause (the reverse of result) and between clauses where the cause is new information transmitted (English because, Frenchparce que, German weil), and where it is supposed to be known (English since, French puisque, German da). 1 Some authorities use the term 'causal' in a broader sense, including purpose and effect.2 Logically, final-consecutive clauses can indeed be considered as a sub-group of causal clauses. In BH the distinction between final-consecutive and other causal clauses is generally maintained, but some particles cross the borderline between the two groups. Thus 7i:::!..ll:::!., which usually denotes purpose, is also used with a causal meaning, 3 and even the most frequent negative final particle, ]:l, can be analysed as a causal, rather than a final particle. 4 With causal clauses we meet the same variety of constructions we saw in the preceding chapters. Thus a causal clause can be coordinated or subordinated. The coordination can be asyndetic or syndetic. For subordination both prepositions and conjunctions are used. In BH prepositions denoting a causal relationship are ].ll', ?.ll, -:::!., and ]rJ. They are put either before an infin. (or noun) or before a substantival clause introduced by 'J or7iD~ ('J ].ll', 7iD~ ].ll', 'J ?.ll, 7iD~ ?.ll, etc.; further 'J nnn, 7iD~ nnn, 7iD~ 'J:lrJ, 7iD~ 7:::!.7 ?.ll and others). The ordinary conjunction expressing causality is 'J. 5 In MH 'J is no longer used as causal con1 Clement (1993); on the expression of supposed known causality in BH, see JM § 170 h, note 1. 2 Thus, e.g., Hartmann-Stork (1972) 33. 3 § 22.2 (DJ and below,§ 23.3. 4 Thus Azar (1981). 5 JM § 170; GKC § 158; Williams (1976) §§ 533-535.

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junction, nor are the compounds with ':l or 7iD~ or the construction with a preposition and an infin. Instead, -iD is commonly used as a causal or explicative conjunction, as well as compounds with -iD like -iD 'ill, 'lElO -iD, -iD 'i'JiDJ, -iD DiD 'ill and others.6 23.2 COORDINATING CONSTRUCTIONS A reason for a recommendation can be asyndetically juxtaposed to a clause containing an imprt. or a prohib., e.g. 7:15 (A) ilp';,m ';i~::i 'il i17JJ) n::i~'?D ~:::i~:::i r~n ';,~ 'do not abhor [y1pn] service of laborious work, for it has been assigned by God ['?~D] '; 9:8 (A) 7':i ~';, 'El' ';,~ ~':in ';,~1 ji1 ntD~D j'J) u''?J)il ~il'?n tD~:::i il'Jil~

pi

c·:::i, mntD[il] iliD~ iJ)J

'hide your eyes from a comely woman and do not gaze at a beauty which is not yours, for through a woman many have been ruined and likewise she scorches by fire those who love her';7 3 8: 17-18 (B) j1J) 71:::lll:::l ClnJi17 illlD7 77:::JJ)J u'liD1 t:17' ilJ~J) ill:::l' :::i:::i';, J)i

p

j10~ ~~7' j'7D

'a day or two days for weeping and then be comforted from your grief []77], 8 for out of grief []17D] comes forth harm, and thus heartache builds sorrow'. 9 6 Braverman (1997); Azar (1995) 124-126; Perez Fernandez (1997) 222-227; Segal (1927) § 481, (1936) §§ 438-439, 446; Bendavid (1967-71) 2.500-501. In Chronicles 'J sometimes replaces other conjunctions. Thus it occurs in 1 Chr. 13:11 in place of 2 Sam. 6:8 '7iJI!: 'n1, in 1 Chr. 19:2 instead of 2 Sam. 10:2 1iJl!:J, and in 2 Chr. 6:24 instead of 1 Kgs. 8:33 liJI!:; Kropat (1909) 68. In QH, even in Qumran Mishnaic (§ 1.2), 'J is still the most common causal conjunction; Qimron-Strugnell (1994) 85. 7 Cf. § 5.2.3. 8 Thus G AUTCTJS- According to Kister MS B's j1!! presupposes the baraitha found in b. Mo'ed Qar. 27b :-riD':iiJ 7::S'J I!::-: 71!!'1DJD 7i11' ,';, ,71li1 ':il!:1 '1!:7D lr.1' m';, 7J::Ji1 ':ii!: i1"Jp;; lDI!: j':i'l!:1 il!:XI rlll;JO!l':i, 11:n';, D'iJ':iiJl 7s::;i';, i1!!:::liJ1 'JJ';, D'D' 'lDD 7!77' 1:::l D'JDnl 0171!: 'I!:

'do not weep for the dead - more than appropriate; and be not moved because of him - beyond measure; how is that? three days - for weeping; and seven - for mourning; and thirty - for (not) cleaning clothes or cutting the hair; and thereafter God says, You are not more compassionate towards him than I'. From this passage, which has a considerable number of correspondences with Sir. 38: 17-18, it appears that the jl!! mentioned in Sir. 38:17 (B) is mourning over a dead person more than appropriate and thus, as it were, opposing God, surpassing His measure of compassion. Kister suggests that the original reading in Sir. 38: 17 may have been j'!! 71J!!J 'because of the eye', i.e. 'to spare the eye'; Kister (1990) 343-345; sec also Schechter-Taylor (1899) 62; Segal. 9 For this use of ;;;J compare Ps. 89:3, where ,:n 'kindness' is the subject of ;i::::i nifal. Since the asyndetic construction is attested in BH as well as elsewhere in Ben Sira, there is no need to emend an additional 'J on the basis of G yap and S -, ~ ; pace Smend, Segal. For other occurrences of yap where the Hebrew text does not have 'J, see Ruger (1970) 27-28. The opposite phenomenon, i.e. 'J in the Hebrew text umeflected in G or S, is attested as well, see Ruger (1970) 71.

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With the conjunction -7 we find, for example,

r~,

11:10 (A[+B]) i1pJ' ~', m::iii1'? 7pilll' i1J7r, i1D'? 'JJ 'my son, do not multiply your business, for he who is swift to multiply his possessions will not be blameless'; 11 :28 (A) ill'~ 7:JJ' 1r1'7rT~J1 ,::i, 7ill~n ',~ mo 'J=J'? 'call no-one happy before his death, for by his end a man is known'. 23.3 CONSTRUCTIONS WITH PREPOSITIONS In Ben Sira the prepositions -J and JD combined with an infin. are occasionally used for the expression of causality. Constructions with other prepositions like j.l.l' and ',l) do not occur. 10 Some examples: 11:16[18] (A) r11Jl'r1i1Q 7illl)r10 ill' 'there is one who becomes rich by humbling himself'; 45:23 (B) 1Ql) f7=JJ 7Ql''1 '?:J m',~', 1~Jp::i 'because he was zealous for the God of all, he stood in the breach for his people'; 48:2 (B) t:lt!l'l'Di1 m~Jp::i1 'and because he was zealous, he diminished them'. 11

]1J and -:. are also used before a noun. They occur in parallelism in 20:22 (C) i1Jill'71' CJ'J=J r,',1~::i, r1ill1JQ 1ill=JJ r,~ 7J~Q ill' 'there is one who destroys his own life out of shame and ruins it by folly of face' . 12 Causal ]1J governing a substantival clause occurs in parallelism to a causal 'J-clause in 20:6 (C) r1l' i1~7 ':J ill'7rTD ill'1 i1Jl'D r~o ill'7no ill' 'one is silent because he has nothing to answer and another is silent because he observes the proper time' . 13 Constructions with other prepositions combined with nouns or adverbials occur as well. Thus we find p ?ll 'therefore' nine times, p 77JllJ

IO QH reflects a similar situation; Yifrach (1996) 290; Kesterson (1984) 220-222, 225-226; Thorion-Vardi (1985) 78-79. For causal and explicative -:::i in BH see Jenni (1992) 350, 354-355; BDB 91a. According to Kropat (1909: 39) causal -:::i is typical of LBH; contrast 1 Kgs. 9:8 ;ir.i ?ll 'why?', but 2 Chr. 7:21 ;ir.i:::i. Note that in the first example from Ben Sira the difference with instrumental Jr.I is very small, cf. § 14.9 (E). 11 On the main verb 1r.lll'1 (wayyiqtol) in 45:23 (B) and tlt!l'llr.1,1 (qatal) in 48:2 (B), see § 20.6 and Van Peursen (2003b). In both examples the preposition -:::l can also be assigned a temporal sense, cf. § 20.4.2. 12 For this meaning of "17' hifil see BDB 440a. 13 Cf.§ 18.3 (B). For r~r.i 'from lack of', see Isa. 50:2, Jer. 7:32, 19:11, Ezek. 34:8; BDB 35a.

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twice, and p'? once. 14 Before suffixes and nouns also the prepositional \locutions 77Jl'J and ??JJ are used. Causal 'J:JQ is probably attested in 31[34]:13ef[fg] (Btxt) iln'? OJ ?J 'J::JIJ p ?.ll '?~ p'?n ~';, j'.ll!J .ll7 'nothing more evil than the (evil) eye God has created, therefore its freshness flees because of all things'. 15 From the context is appears likely that i1i1? OJ refers to the flowing of tears; cf. G 8aKpua 'it sheds tears'. The Hebrew idiom recalls Deut. 34:7 iln'? OJ ~';,1 1J'.ll ilni1J ~';, 'his eye had not grown dim and his freshness had not fled'; but where the MT has i1h?, Ben Sira probably read i1Q?, i.e. the freshness of the eye. 16 The use of this idiom in combination with ';,:, 'J:JQ suggests a wordplay on 07l 'to flee'; cf.';,:, 'l::JQ in Prov. 30:30 ';,:, 'J::Jr- J1iD' ~';,1 'and he does not retreat before anything'. 17 31[34]:13ef[fg] (Btxt): According to Skehan-Di Lella 13e[f] ';,~ p'?n ~';, j'l'O l'7 is a variant to 13a[b] '?~ ~l1iD p l'7 'God hates him whose eye is evil', and 13f[g] i1TT? Ol ';,:, 'l::Ji.l p ?l' a contracted alternative for 13cd[de] l'1Tn 7:::17 ';,:, 'l::JO ill 'J l'07n ill'07 c•mm p 'therefore the eye drops (tears) because of all things and from the face it sheds tears'. 18 According to Segal, however, 13b-d is secondary, 13b being an addition from 12:6 Cl'l'7 ~l1iD ';,~ o, •:, 'for God, too, hates the wicked' (thus MS A), 13b[c] a variant to 13e[f], and 13cd[de] a duplication and extension of 13f[g]. According to Smend i1i 'J in 13c[d] makes no sense, and we should read ?ll 'J ill (cf. ill ?l' in Esth. 6:3), but Segal considers it as a 'Syriac expression' with the same meaning asp ?l'. Compare Syriac r 6 m ~ , r and '::>t:ip' j!l constructions in the surrounding verses and see § 22.3. Note also that in 8:9, 14 S has «hand in 8:14 G has µfi for 'Jin MS A. 39 See § 14. 9 (end; the third difference between the two classes of infin. constructions discussed there). 35

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23.6 VARIANT READINGS IN THE MANUSCRIPTS

A In some places the textual witnesses differ in the use or non-use of causal •:,. Thus in 4:21 MS A has•:,, but C does not. In 38:1 Bmg1+2 have •:,, but Btxt does not. 4 0 B. In 14: 12 MS A has mm ?7~iDJ, ~? •:, 'for in Sheol there is no pleasure' with causal •:,, but the citation of this verse in b. 'Erub. 54a has ]'~iD J7J.lln ?7~iDJ,, with -ilJ.41 C. On 41:2 Btxt TPn :::i,1~ •:, n7i'J? n~ii 'alas Death! for your decree is good'; M [... ] :::i,7~ iii'J n7i'J? ll[ .. ], see§ 16.5. 23.7 CONCLUSION

In Ben Sira, as in BH, causal and explicative clauses are either coordinated (syndetically or asyndetically) or subordinated. Before an infin. we find -J, and p, before a finite verb •:, (BH, not MH) and occasionally 7iD~ (rare in the Bible, except in Qoheleth; cf. MH -iD, Aramaic '7). Before suffixes and nouns we find, in addition to -J, and ]i'J, the prepositions 77:::J,lJJ,, ??JJ,, and 'JEli'J. Causal adverbials are p ?ll, p 77:::J,ll:::J,, and p\ perhaps also iir •:, (cf. Syriac r