Williams’ Hebrew Syntax This page intentionally left blank Williams’ Hebrew Syntax Third edition Ronald J. Williams Revised and expanded by John C. Beckman University of Toronto Press Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com First edition © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1967 Second edition © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1976 Third edition © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2007 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 978-0-8020-9429-2 Printed on acid-free paper Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Williams, Ronald J. (Ronald James), 1917–1993 Williams’ Hebrew syntax / by Ronald J. Williams ; revised and expanded by John C. Beckman. – 3rd ed. Previous eds. published under title: Hebrew syntax. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8020-9429-2 1. Hebrew language – Syntax. I. Beckman, John C. II. Williams, Ronald J. (Ronald James), 1917–1993. Hebrew syntax. III. Title. PJ4701.W5 2007 492.4'5 C2007–900781-3 University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) Contents Preface to the Third Edition ix Preface to the Second Edition xi Preface to the First Edition ix Introduction xiii Abbreviations xv 1 Syntax of Nominals §1–132 1 A Number §1–16b 1 Singular §1–2 1 Dual §3–5 1 Plural §6–11 2 Pluralizing compound nouns §12–14 3 Repetition §15–16a 4 B Gender §17–27 5 Masculine §17–19 5 Feminine §20–7 5 C Construct Chain §28–30d 7 D Case §31–60 10 Nominative case §32–5 11 Genitive case §36–49 13 Accusative case §50–60 18 E Directive §61–4a 25 ה(cid:3)ָ F Apposition §65–71 26 G Hendiadys §72 29 H Adjectives §73–81 30 Comparative §76 33 Superlative §77–81 33 I The Article §82–93 35 J Numerals §94–9 39 Cardinal numerals §94–7 39 Ordinal numerals §98–9 43 vi Contents K Distribution §100–5 44 L Pronouns §106–32 46 Independent personal pronouns §106–8a 46 Suffixed personal pronouns §109–12 48 Demonstrative pronouns §113–18 49 Interrogative pronouns §119–28 51 Relative pronouns §129–129b 54 Other pronouns §130–2 54 2 Syntax of Verbs §133–237 56 A Stem (Theme) §133–56 56 Qal §133–4 56 Niphal §135–9 57 Piel and Pual §140–6 58 Hiphil and Hophal §147–51 61 Hithpael §152–5 63 Poel §156 64 B Voice §157–60 65 Active voice §157 65 Middle voice §158 65 Passive voice §159–60 65 C Conjugation (Aspect) §161–82 66 Perfect conjugation §161–6 66 Imperfect conjugation §167–75 69 Preterite conjugation §176–7 73 Consecution (verbs with a waw prefix) §178–82 74 D Volitive Moods §183–91 78 Jussive and cohortative §183–7 78 Imperative §188–91 80 E Verbal Nouns §192–222 81 Infinitive construct §192–200 81 Infinitive absolute §201–12 84 Participle §213–22 88 F Verbal Coordination §223–6 90 G Concord of Subject and Verb §227–34b 92 H Synchronism (Simultaneous Action) §235–7 94 Contents vii 3 Syntax of Particles §238–481 96 A Prepositions §238–376 96 §239–54 96 בְּ §255–64 101 כְּ §265–84 105 לְ §285–96 112 לעַ §297–308 115 לאֶ §309–14 118 דעַ §315–27 120 ןמִ §328–37 125 םעִ / §338–47 127 תאֵ (cid:20)תאֶ §348–53 129 תחַ תַּ / §354–6 131 דעַ בַּ דעַ בְּ / §357–62 132 רחַ אַ ירֵ חֲ אַ §363a–b 133 ןעַ יַ §364–8 134 ןעַ מַ לְ §369–73 135 ינֵ פְ לִ §374–6 136 ינֵ פְּ מִ B Adverbs §377–93 137 §378–82 138 םגַּ §383–7 139 ףאַ §388–9 140 ךְאַ §390–3 141 קרַ C Negatives §394–428 142 §395–400 143 אֹל §401–5 145 לאַ §406–11 146 ןיאֵ / ןיִאַ §412–16 148 לבַּ §417–20 149 ילִ בְּ §421–4 149 יתִּ לבִ לְ / יתִּ לְ בִּ §425–7 151 ספֶ אֶ §428 151 המָ D Conjunctions §429–61 152 §430a–42 152 וְ §443 156 וֹא §444–52 156 יכִּ §453–8 160 םאִ ( ) §459a–60 162 וּל ילֵ וּל / אלֵ וּל §461 163 ןפֶּ viii Contents E Relative Particles §462–74 163 §462–9 163 רשֶׁ אֲ §470–4 167 (cid:3)ּ שֶׁ / (cid:3)ּ שַׁ F The Accusative Particle / §475a–h 168 תאֵ (cid:20)תאֶ G The Existential Particle §476–81 170 שׁיֵ 4 Syntax of Clauses §482–598 172 A Substantival Clauses §483–93 172 Nominative substantival clauses §484–8 173 Genitive substantival clauses §489 174 Accusative substantival clauses §490–3 174 B Circumstantial Clauses §494–5b 176 C Temporal Clauses §496–510 177 D Conditional Sentences (if-then) §511–17 180 Apodosis (‘then’) §511 181 Protasis (‘if’) – real condition §512–15 181 Protasis (‘if’) – unreal condition §516a–17 183 E Purpose Clauses (in order that) §518–24 184 F Result Clauses (with the result that) §525–7 186 G Concessive Clauses (although) §528–32 187 H Causal Clauses (because) §533–5 189 I Relative Clauses (that, which, who) §536–40 190 J Interrogative Clauses §541–5 192 K Desire Clauses §546–51 193 L Adversative Clauses (but) §552–5 195 M Exceptive Clauses (unless, except that) §556–7 196 N Restrictive Clauses (nevertheless, but) §558–60 197 O Equational Clauses (is) §561–6 198 P Existential Clauses (there is) §567–9b 200 Q Word Order §570–82 201 Word order in verbal clauses §571–6 201 Word order in verbless clauses §577–82 206 R Ellipsis §583–98 208 References 213 Index of Passages 223 Index of Subjects 233 Index of Hebrew Words 247 Preface to the Third Edition Changes in the Third Edition This third edition changes Williams’ Hebrew Syntax by clarifying it, by directing readers to other literature, and by updating the analysis. The main goal of this edition is to clarify the text by expanding definitions, explaining examples, and subdividing sections. Because members of the target audience for this edition (students in a third- semester Hebrew class) often have modest vocabulary knowledge and parsing skills, most examples have been supplied with an interlinear translation as well as a smoother translation. In both translations, the words that illustrate the grammatical point are italicised or put in . SMALL CAPS Where deemed helpful, additional examples have been provided, and potentially confusing examples have been removed. In this third edition, readers are also directed to additional literature and informed about alternate terminology. Wherever a point is covered in any of five other Hebrew intermediate or reference grammars (BHRG, GBHS, GKC, IBHS, and JM), footnotes point the reader to the appropriate section(s) in those grammars. Footnotes also point the reader to other relevant literature. Because the literature often differs greatly in its terminology and analysis, a cross-reference to another publication indicates that it discusses the same grammatical phenomena, but does not imply that it uses the same terminology or analyses it similarly. To reduce the size of the footnotes, the author-date citation method is used. The grammatical analysis has also been updated. Most changes are made through footnotes that point the readers to alternate analyses. Occasionally, however, changes are made in the main body and noted in the footnotes. These changes have lengthened the text, making it no longer ‘an outline’ (as prior editions were subtitled). For ease of reference, a separate outline is provided for free download at www.hebrewsyntax.org.