§ 130. Wider Use of the Construct State.

a

The construct state, which, according to § 89 a, primarily represents only the immediate government by one substantive of the following word (or combination of words), is frequently employed in rapid narrative as a connecting form, even apart from the genitive relation; so especially —

(I) Before prepositions,1 particularly in elevated (prophetic or poetic) style, especially when the nomen regens is a participle. Thus before B.àryciQ'B; tx;m.fi the joy in the harvest, Is 9:2 2 S 1:21, y Ps 136:8 f.; in participles, Is 5:11: 9:1, 19:8, y Ps 84:7, and especially often when B. with a suffix follows the participle, e. g. y Ps 2:12 Ab yseAx-lK'; cf. Na 1:7, Jer 8:16 (y Ps 24:1); y Ps 64:9 (unless ha,ro should be read); 98:7.2—Before l., Ho 9:6 (but read probably ~P's.k; yDem;x]m;); y Ps 58:5 (before Aml'); Pr 24:9, Jb 18:2, La 2:18 (before %l'); 1 Ch 6:55, 23:28; in participles, Ez 38:11, Jb 24:5; before l. with an infinitive, Is 56:10, and again before l. with a suffix, Gn 24:21, Is 30:18 64:3; 3—before -la,, Is 14:19, Ez 21:17—before -ta, (with) Is 8:6; —before !mi, Gn 3:22, Is 28:9 (a participle); Jer 23:23, Ez 13:2, Ho 7:5; —before -l[;, Ju 5:10; —before yTil.Bi, Is 14:6; —before the nota accus. ta, Jer 33:22; —before a locative (which in such cases also serves as a genitive), Ex 27:13, Jer 1:15.

b

(2) Before waÒw copulative, e. g. Ez 26:10; but tm;k.x' Is 33:6, tl;yGI 35:2, and tr;kuv. 51:21 may be cases of an intentional reversion to the old feminine ending ath, in order to avoid the hiatus Îw"Рw> h¤'.

c

(3) When it governs the (originally demonstrative) pronoun rv,a]; so especially in the combination rv,a] ~Aqm., Gn 39:20, 40:3, the place where (prop. of that in which) Joseph was bound; cf. § 138 g; or rv,a] ~Aqm.Bi Lv 4:24, 33, 2 S 15:21 1 K 21:19, Jer 22:12, Ez 21:35, Ho 2:1. we should expect rv,a] ~AqM'h;àrv,a] ~AqM'B;, as in Gn 35:13, &c., at the place which ², cf. § 138; but rv,a] is treated as a nomen rectum instead of as an attribute. Cf. also ä a ~AYmi followed by a perfect in 1 S 29:8, and ä a ymey> Lv 13:46, Nu 9:18.4

d

(4) When it governs independent sentences (cf. § 155), which virtually stand to the construct state (as nomen regens) in a sort of genitive relation, e. g. Ex 4:13 xl'v.Ti-dy:B. prop. by the hand of him whom thou wilt send; Nu 23:3 ynIaeñr>Y:-hm; rb;D> the matter of that which he shall slow me, i. e. whatever he shall; Is 29:1 dwId' hn"x' ty:r>qi the city where David encamped; Jer 48:36, y Ps 16:3 (if the text be right), 65:5 (Pr 8:32), y Ps 81:6, Jb 18:21 the place of him that knoweth not God; Jb 29:16, La 1:14 (if the text be right) into the hands of those against whom I cannot stand.5 In Gn 39:4 (Al-vy<-lK') the -lK' takes after it a noun-clause, and in Ex 9:4, still more boldly, a subst. with l..—Very often a time-determination governs the following sentence in this way; thus yrex]a†; followed by a perfect, Lv 25:48, 1 S 5:9; ~AyB. y Ps 102:3 (before a nounclause), Ex 6:28, Nu 3:1, Dt 4:15, 2 S 22:1, y Ps 18:1, 59:17, 138:3 (in every case before a following perfect), y Ps 56:10 (before an imperfect); ~AYmi followed by the perfect, Jer 36:2; ymey>-lK' Lv 14:46, 1 S 25:15, Jb 29:2 (ymeyKi as in the days when ²6; cf. tAmyKi and tAnv.) before a perfect, y Ps 90:15); t[eB. before a perfect, Jer 6:15 (cf. 49:8, 50:31); before an imperfect, Jb 6:17; tL;xiT. before a perfect, Ho 1:2.

e

(5) Connected with a following word in apposition; certainly so in such cases as !AYci-tB; tl;WtB. the virgin, the daughter of Zion, Is 37:22; Cf. 23:12, Jer 14:17; also 1 S 28:7 bAa-tl;[]B†; tv,aeñ a woman, possessor of a soothsaying spirit; cf. Dt 21:11.—Gn 14:10, Ju 19:22 (but read probably ~yvin"a] with Moore, as in Dt 13:14, Ju 20:13, 1 K 21:10); 2 K 10:6, 17:13 QereÖ; Jer 46:9, y Ps 35:16 (?), 78:9, Jb 20:17 b (unless yreh]n); or yleh]n); be a gloss).

f

Rem. Some of the above passages may also be explained by supposing that there exists a real genitive relation towards the preceding construct state, which has been, as it were, provisionally left in suspenso, in consequence of the insertion of some interrupting word, e. g. Is 37:22, &c.; Jb 20:17 a. Elsewhere (Dt 33:19, y Ps 68:34) the nomen regens probably governs the following construct state directly.7

g

(6) The numeral dx;a; one for dx'a, in close connexion, and even with small disjunctives, e. g. Gn 3:22, 48:22, 1 S 9:3, 2 S 17:22, Is 27:12, Zc 11:7.

The character of these passages shows that the numeral here cannot be in the construct state, but is merely a rhythmical shortening of the usual (tonelengthened) form.

Footnotes:

1[1] Cf. König, 'Die Ueberwucherung des St.-constr.-Gebrauchs im Semit.,' ZDMG. 53, 521 ff.

2[2] In Ju 8:11 the article is even used before a construct state followed by B., in order to determine the whole combination ~ylih'a\b†' ynEWkv. tent-dwellers, taken as one word; cf., however, the remarks in § 127 f–i on similar grammatical solecisms.

3[3] These are to be distinguished from the cases where l. follows a construct state, which in conjunction with !mi (and the following l.) has become a sort of preposition or adverb of place; thus, we have l.-tyBemi Ex 26:33 (for which in Ez 1:27 merely l. tyBe) meaning simply within; l. !ymiymi (2 K 23:13, Ez 10:3) on the right hand (i. e. south) of; l. !ApC.mi (Jos 8:11, 13, &c., Ju 2:9) on the north of ; cf. also Jos 15:11 and !mi ynEp.li Neh 13:4.

4[1] In Dt 23:5 the construct state governs a sentence introduced by the conjunction rv,a] (rv,a] rb;D>-l[; by reason of the fact that, i. e. because); so also in 1 S 3:13.

5[2] Probably Gn 22:14 is also to be so explained (contrary to the accents), and certainly (contrary to the very unnatural division of the verses) 2 Ch 30:18, which should read on thus: !ykihe Abb'l.-lK' d[;B. rPek;y> bAJh; hAhy> the good Lord pardon every one that setteth his heart to seek God. [See Wickes' Accentuation of the Twenty one Prose Books of the Old Testament, p. 140.]

6[3] Cf. Na 2:9 ayhi ymeymi, usually explained to mean from the days that she hath been, but the text is evidently very corrupt.

7[4] So also Is 28:16 a corner stone of the preciousness (tr;q.yI is a substantive not an adjective) of a fixed foundation, i. e. a precious corner stone of surest foundation.—In 2 S 20:19 the text is wholly corrupt; in y Ps 119:128 read ^yd,ñWQPi-lK'.