147 Incomplete Sentences

§ 147. Incomplete Sentences.

a

1. Sentences are called incomplete, in which either the subject or the predicate or both must in some way be supplied from the context.¹ Besides the instances enumerated in § 116 s (omission of the personal pronoun when subject of a participial clause) and the periphrases for negative attributes § 152 u, this description includes certain (noun-) clauses introduced by hNEhi (see b below), and also a number of exclamations of the most varied kinds (see c below).

Rem. Incomplete sentences are very common in Chronicles, but are mostly due to the bad condition of the text; cf. Driver, Introd.⁶, p. 537, no. 27. Thus in 2 Ch 11:22 b restore bv;x', with the LXX, before Akylim.h;l.; in 35:21 add yTaB'ñ, with the LXX, after ~AYh; and read tr'P. for tyBe; in 2 Ch 19:6 and 28:21 the pronoun aWh is wanted as subject, and in 30:9 the predicate Wyh.y)i; cf. also the unusual expressions in 1 Ch 9:33 (Ezr 3:3), 1 Ch 15:13 (ye were not present?), 2 Ch 15:3, 16:10, 12 (bis), 18:3.

b

2. The demonstrative particle !heÃ hNEhi en, ecce may be used either absolutely (as a kind of interjection, cf. § 105 b) before complete noun- or verbal-clauses, e. g. Gn 28:15 %M'[i ykinOa†' hNEhiw> and, behold ! I am with thee; 37:7, 48:21, Ex 3:13, 34:10, or may take the pronoun, which would be the natural subject of a noun-clause, in the form of a suffix, see § 100 o. Whether these suffixes are to be regarded as in the accusative has been shown to be doubtful in § 100 p. However, in the case of hNEhi the analogy of the corresponding Arabic demonstrative particle 'inna (followed by an accusative of the noun) is significant.² If hNEhi with a suffix and a following adjective or participle (see the examples in § 116 p and q) forms a noun-clause, the subject proper, to which hNEhi with the suffix refers, must, strictly speaking, be supplied again before the predicate.³ Sometimes, however, the pronoun referring to the subject is wanting, and the simple hNEhi takes the place of the subject and copula (as Gn 18:9 lh,aoñb' hNEhi behold she is in the tent; 42:28), or there is no indication whatever of the predicate, so that the sentence is limited to hNEhi with the suffix, as in the frequent use of ynINEòhiÃ yNIN<ñhi here am I, in answer to an address. Elsewhere a substantive follows hNEhi (or !he Gn 11:6, Jb 31:35), and hNEhi then includes the meaning of a demonstrative pronoun and the copula, e. g. Gn 22:7 vaeh' hNEhi ~yci[eh†'w> here is the fire and the wood, &c.; 12:19 behold thou hast thy wife ! Ex 24:8; with reference to the past, e. g. Am 7:1 ägw vq,l,ñ hNEhiw> and lo, it was the latter growth, &c. By a very pregnant construction the simple hNEhi is used as the equivalent of a sentence in Jb 9:19, lo, here am I !

c

3. Examples of exclamations (threatening, complaining, triumphing, especially warlike or seditious) in which, owing to the excitement of the speaker, some indispensable member of the sentence is suppressed, are — (a) with suppression of the predicate (which has frequently to be supplied in the form of a jussive), e. g. Ju 7:20 a sword for the Lord and for Gideon ! (verse 18 without br,x,ñ); 2 S 20:1 and 2 Ch 10:16 (cf. also 1 K 22:36) every man to his tents, O Israel ! (i. e. let every man go to or remain in his tent); without vyai 1 K 12:16; moreover, Is 1:28, 13:4 (on the exclamatory lAq equivalent to hark ! cf. § 146 b); 28:10, 29:16 (~k,K.p.h; O your perversity ! i. e. how great it is !); Jer 49:16 (if ^T.c.l;p.Ti be equivalent to terror be upon thee !); Jo 4:14, Mal 1:13 (ha'l'T.m; hNEhi behold what a weariness !); Jb 22:29; perhaps also Gn 49:4 ~yIM;ñK; zx;P;ñ a bubbling over as water (sc. happened), unless it is better to supply a subject hT'a; (thou wast). — (b) With suppression of the subject, Ju 4:20, cf. § 152 k; Jb 15:23 hYEa; where sc. is bread ? — (c) With suppression of both subject and predicate, Ju 7:18 (see above); 1 K 12:16 (see above); 2 K 9:27 Atao ~G: him also ! explained immediately afterwards by WhKuh; smite him ! Ho 5:8 after thee, Benjamin ! sc. is the enemy (differently in Ju 5:14); y Ps 6:4, 90:13, Hb 2:6 yt;m'-d[;; y Ps 74:9 hm'-d[;.— On aolw" and if not (unless Wlw> is to be read), 2 S 13:26, 2 K 5:17, see § 159 dd.

d
Rem. I. To the class of incomplete sentences naturally belong exclamations introduced by interjections Hh'a]Ã yAaÃ yAhÃ sh;;⁴ cf. § 105. After the first two the object of the threat or imprecation follows regularly with l. (cf. vae tibi) or -la, or -l[;, e. g. Wnl'ñ yAa woe unto us ! 1 S 4:8, Is 6:5; cf. also ~AYl; Hh'a] alas for the day ! Jo 1:15; on the other hand, the object of commiseration (after yAh) follows mostly in the vocative, or rather in the accusative of exclamation (cf. vae te in Plautus); so in lamentation for the dead, yxia' yAh alas, my brother ! 1 K 13:30, Jer 22:18; ajexo yAG yAh ah, sinful nation ! Is 1:4, 5:8, 11, 18, 20, 22 (ah ! they that f). — For sh; cf. Hb 2:20, Zp 1:7, Zc 2:17.

e
2. Finally, instances of noun-clauses shortened in an unusual manner may perhaps occur in ~h,ydey> and ~h,yleg>r; y Ps 115:7, for ~h,l' ~yId;ñy" they have hands, &c.; cf. verses 5 and 6 ~h,l'-hP†,, &c. Perhaps also Avg>l;yp†iW Gn 22:24, and Ayl.x'w> Ec 5:16 are to be regarded in the asme way, but hardly ~k,a]yb†in> Nu 12:6; Cf. § 128 d above.

Footnotes:

¹[1] This does not apply to such cases as Gn 33:8, where an infinitive with l. appears alone in answer to a question, the substance of the question being presupposed as a main clause; cf. also Gn 26:7, where ayhi must again be supplied after yTiv.ai.

²[2] On the same analogy any substantive following hNEhi would have to be regarded as originally a virtual accusative. Since, however, Hebrew does not possess case-terminations (as the Arabic does, and uses the accusative necessarily after 'inna), it is very doubtful whether, and how far, substantives following hNEhi were felt to be accusatives.

³[3] That these are real noun-clauses and that the participle (e.g. tme in tme ^N>hi Gn 20:8) cannot be taken as a second accusative (as it were ecce te moriturum), is also shown by the analogy of Arabic, where after 'inna with an accusative the predicate is expressly in the nominative.

⁴[1] We do not consider here the cases in which these interjections (e.g. sh; Ju 3:10, Am 6 o) stand quite disconnectedly (so always xa' and xa'h,).