#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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| (C) Dr Hendel, Summer 2000 |
| http://www.RashiYomi.Com |
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VERSE: Gn07-23a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn27-03a Gn24-65a
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: To Alfred (Moshe) Silberman for bringing to
--------------- my attention the enigmatic Rashi on Gn24-65a
I believe the information below fully answers Moshe.
BACKGROUND:
----------
The first thing you learn in a Hebrew course is that the Hebrew
language is made up of 3 letter roots. Each root can be
CONJUGATED in various forms. The CONJUGATION can tell you up
to 7 items about the meaning of the root:
(a) WHEN did it happen(past, present, future, command,ongoing)
(b) TO WHOM did it happen
(c) WHO did it(me, you or him),
(d) HOW MANY did it (Singular or plural)
(e) THE GENDER of who did it (male or female)
(f) the MODE of activity (passive-active-intense-reflexive)
(g) the NUANCES of the activity (eg crying vs mourning vs shock)
In a Hebrew course you would learn HOW to conjugate each root.
These conjugations can also be found in popular books which
contain charts of root conjugations.
Many students suffice with learning 1 set of conjugation rules.
However the Bible frequently has ALTERNATIVE sets of conjugation
rules. Rashi will step in and give these ALTERNATIVE conjugation
rules, especially if they are rare.
RULE
----
(a) The conjugation for "HE WILL DO IT" is ADD A PREFIX YUD
EXAMPLE: The root BNH means to BUILD
The word YBNH means HE WILL BUILD
Psalms 69-36 contains an example of this conjugation
(This is 3rd person singular("he"),future("will"))
(b) An alternative rare conjugation of "HE WILL DO IT" is
to BOTH ADD A PREFIX YUD and REMOVE A SUFFIX HEY
EXAMPLE: The word BNH means to BUILD
The word YBN (not YBNH) means HE WILL BUILD
Gn02-22 contains an example of this conjugation
Thus YBNH and YBN, one with an "H"(Hey) and one without an
H(Hey) are examples of alternative conjugations.
COMMENT: The most remarkable thing about this alternative
conjugation rule is that most of the examples occur only
once or twice in Tnach. Thus it is really a rare form.
Rashi was truly the King of Databases.
EXAMPLES
--------
{LIST1} {Rashi on Gn07-23a brings the following list of
roots*1. Each root has 2 conjugations for
"HE WILL DO IT"--the normal conjugation found
in grammar books and a very rare alternative
conjugation. Three of the examples only occur once
in the Bible.}
--------------------------------------------------------------
Examples of alternative conjugations for the phrase
"HE WILL DO IT" (eg YiVNeH and YiVeN)
--------------------------------------------------------------
First type 2nd type
of of
Mean CONJUGATION CONJGTION
3 Letter root ing END IN Hey VERSE NO END-HEY VERSE
------------------ ----- ------------ ------- ---------- -------
[Beth]-[Nun]-[Hey] Build Ve Yi V Ne H Ps69-36 Va Yi Ve N Gn02-22
[Pay] -[Nun]-[Hey] Face Ve Yi P Ne H - *2 - Va Yi Pe N Ju15-04
[Mem] -[Cht]-[Hey] Erase Yi M Ce H 2K21-13 Yi Ma C Ps109-13
[Koof]-[Nun]-[Hey] Buy Yi K Ne H Lv22-11 Va Yi Ke N Gn32-19
[Gmel]-[Lmd]-[Hey] Reveal Yi G Le H Jb33-16 Ve Yi Ge L Jb36-15
--------------------------------------------------------------
Examples of alternative conjugations for the phrase
"SHE LET IT BE DONE TO HERSELF" (TiTCaS vs TiTCaSeH) *3 *4
--------------------------------------------------------------
First type 2nd type
of of
Mean CONJUGATION CONJGTION
3 Letter root ing END IN Hey VERSE NO END-HEY VERSE
------------------ ----- ------------ ------- ---------- -------
[Cof]-[Smch]-[Hey] Cover TiThCSeH - *2 -- TiTCaS Gn24-65
NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi brings 4 examples. I supplemented this list with the
example GLH
*2 The normal conjugation is to PREFIX A YUD and leave the
the SUFFIX HEY. In these 2 examples there is no Biblical
example of the normal form---only the abnormal form
occurs. (Nevertheless it occurs rarely)
*3 All the other examples (brought on Gn07-23) are future
3rd person active (HE WILL DO IT). On Gn24-65 Rashi
extends this method to future 3rd person reflexive
(SHE DID IT TO HERSELF). To the best of my knowledge
and belief this is the only example in the whole Bible
of this alternative conjugation applied to a reflexive
conjugation.
*4 Although the above examples explain all the grammar
we have left to deal with Rashis style. Rashi on
Gn07-23 gives other roots that are conjugated
similarly (HE WILL DO IT). But on Gn24-65 Rashi,
to illustrate a conjugation of a REFLEXIVE MODE,Rashi
uses examples in the PASSIVE MODE. This mixing
of modes (REFLEXIVE vs PASSIVE) appears strange (at
first glance).
But this is easily remedied when we remember that
the REFLEXIVE MODE can sometimes be used to indicate
a PASSIVE MEANING. Here are the details.
The Root CSH means to COVER. Gn24-65 says that
Rivkah COVERED HERSELF with her veil. So it is
possible that the reflexive mode in this verse
refers to reflexive activity (doing something
to oneself--covering oneself). This would
be similar to the modern Hebrew "dress oneself"
which occurs in the reflexive.
But it is equally plausible that Gn24-65 means
"And she took the veil and LET HER MAIDS COVER
HER". In other words the REFLEXIVE VERB could
have a borderline PASSIVE-REFLEXIVE meaning
here. In fact this suggestion finds support
in the explicit mixing of passive and
reflexive modes in Prv26-26
Does this prove the Rashi?
Well Rashi made TWO points--1 grammatical & 1 semantic
He suggested that there are alternative CONJUGATIONS
This **HAS** been proven with the above {LIST1}
Rashi also suggested that the MEANING of CSH in this
verse is "let herself be covered by others". This
is conjectural with however support.
If all the reader believes that Rashi showed an
alternative conjugation then we still have accomplished
something.
RULE USED: GRAMMAR
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Volume 7 Number 2
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
Volume 7 Number 2