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THE CONSTRUCT FORM |
EXAMPLE 119: Gn24-02a the ELDER OF his house
EXAMPLE 120: Gn29-27a wait the WEDDING WEEK
EXAMPLE 121: Gn07-14a any FLYERS OF wings(including Grasshoppers
BACKGROUND
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Hebrew and English words have two forms
-the ORDINARY form -eg And Abraham was OLD (Gn24-01)
-the CONSTRUCT form-eg THE ELDER of his house(Gn24-02)
In other words the word OLD by itself is OLD. But when
it occurs as part of a phrase modifying or modified by
other phrases, as in eg the phrase THE OLD ONE OF HIS HOUSE,
then the word OLD becomes ELDER -- that is the phrase is best
translated as THE ELDER OF HIS HOUSE.
RECOGNITION
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You can usually recognize the fact that a word is
modifying other phrases by the word OF( eg elder OF his house)
The above example was in English. The corresponding example
in Hebrew are the Hebrew words ZaKayN vs ZeKaN (OLD vs ELDER).
REFERENCES
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Almost any good Hebrew grammar book will have a discussion on
this. My favorite terse summary may be found at the back of
the Ibn Shoshan Dictionary in the table FORMS FOR NOUNS.
FORM 2 is in fact the above example from Rashi (OLD vs ELDER)
THE LIST
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We now review Rashis that comment on CONSTRUCT grammatical forms
In particular we explain WHY Rashi chose to comment on the
CONSTRUCT form in these cases. We will present a different
reason every day.
In the LIST presented today, either
-the construct form occurs in the same verses with the
non-construct form. A reader could easily get confused and
hence Rashi commented on the construct. Or,
-The construct leads to a different meaning which is why
Rashi had to comment
Here is the LIST. The 3rd column labelled D refers to the
IBN SHOSHAN Dictionary. If the CONSTRUCT form is listed
there the number of that form is exhibited. Otherwise NA
is placed there (NOT APPLICABLE)
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| VERSE |
TEXT(Construct CAPPED) |
D |
WHY RASHI COMMENTED |
| Gn24-02a |
the ELDER OF his house |
2 |
Gn24-01:02 have both forms |
| Dt32-14f |
the MILK OF cows |
1 |
Dt32-14 contains both forms*1 |
| Gn29-27a |
wait the WEDDING WEEK |
65 |
vs WAIT 7 MORE YEARS *2 |
| Gn07-14a |
any FLYERS OF wings |
63 |
Includes grasshoppers*3 |
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COMMENTS |
*1 Dt32-14f has a rare construct form because the word contains
a guttural letter
*2 These verses deal with Jacobs working for Rachel 7 years.
Recall that Jacob worked for 7 years to obtain Rachel,
but was double crossed and given Leah. When
confronted Laban said a verse which has two possible
interpretations
-FILL the WEDDING WEEK OF THIS ONE & I WILL GIVE YOU RACHEL
-FILL(ie WORK) THESE NEXT 7 YEARS & I WILL GIVE YOU RACHEL
In other words the Hebrew word MALAY could mean FILL or WORK
Similarly the phrase THIS 7 could means THESE 7 YEARS or
THE 7-DAY WEEK OF THIS ONE.(Note that in Hebrew the word
for week is 7; the SEVEN could mean the WEEK)
Rashi points out that the construct is used. Hence the
correct interpretation is FILL THE WEDDING WEEK OF THIS ONE
(that is Leah) AND I WILL GIVE YOU RACHEL.
Rashi further explains that Laban knew that Jacob was angry
and was afraid he would leave. So Laban offered that if
Jacob filled the wedding week and kept Leah then he would
give him Rachel provided he worked another 7 years.
Thus the construct has invested the verse with new meaning
*3 Without the construct the verse would read
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Birds, (with) ALL wings
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With the construct the verse reads
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any FLYERS OF wings
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Thus the construct interpretation includes grasshoppers.
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