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Recent Articles
- “Stand on the Paths and Ask”: The Grammar of Refusal in Jeremiah 6:16
- “My Brothers Have Dealt Treacherously Like a Stream”: The Grammar of Betrayal in Job 6:15
- “Peace, Peace”—The Syntax and Irony of Faux Healing
- Syntax of Judgment: Divine Legal Language in Genesis 6:13 (Onkelos)
- “Beware, Lest You Forget”: The Grammar of Warning in Deuteronomy 6:12
- The Cup That Overflows: Emphatic Repetition and Divine Wrath in Jeremiah 6:11
- The Sons of Noah: Morphological Patterns and Narrative Precision in Genesis 6:10
- The Logic of Signs: Conditional Syntax and Theological Doubt in 1 Samuel 6:9
- “Whom Shall I Send?” — The Grammar of Divine Inquiry and Human Response in Isaiah 6:8
- Erasure by Divine Speech: Volition, Object Marking, and Decreation in Genesis 6:7
- On the Heart and from the Mouth: Command Syntax in Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy 6:6
- “With All Your Heart, Soul, and Might”: The Grammar of Total Devotion in Deuteronomy 6:5
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The Edges of Desire — Imperatives and Spatial Metaphor in Biblical Warning
הַרְחֵ֣ק מֵעָלֶ֣יהָ דַרְכֶּ֑ךָ וְאַל־֝תִּקְרַ֗ב אֶל־פֶּ֥תַח בֵּיתָֽהּ׃
Unveiling the Boundary
Some warnings do not describe danger — they draw maps around it. Proverbs 5:8 sketches a moral geography with two commands: one urging distance, the other forbidding approach. The target is a figure already introduced in the chapter — the forbidden woman — yet she is not directly named here. Instead, her domain is circled with negations Read more [...]
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The Hebrew Verb דָּאַג: To Worry, Be Anxious, or Concerned
The Hebrew verb דָּאַג (root: ד־א־ג) means “to worry,” “to be anxious,” or “to be concerned.” It is used to describe emotional unease, often tied to fear, responsibility, or care for others. In the Tanakh, this verb usually expresses internal distress or care for someone's well-being.
The verb is primarily found in the Qal binyan (basic stem), typically describing a state of mind rather than physical action. It is one of the core verbs in biblical and modern Hebrew that Read more [...]
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Poetry of Parallelism: The Enigmatic Syntax of Job 5:7
כִּֽי־֭אָדָם לְעָמָ֣ל יוּלָּ֑ד וּבְנֵי־֝רֶ֗שֶׁף יַגְבִּ֥יהוּ עֽוּף׃
Job 5:7 stands as one of the most cryptic and evocative verses in the Book of Job. The verse presents two parallel poetic lines that pair abstract metaphors with declarative truths:
“For man is born to toil, and the sons of Reshef fly upward.”
The poetic force lies not only in the stark imagery but also in the grammar. This article examines the syntactic structure Read more [...]
The Hebrew Verb גָּשַׁם: To Rain or Cause Rain
The Hebrew verb גָּשַׁם (root: ג-ש-ם) means “to rain” or “to pour rain.” It refers to the act of rainfall, both literal and, in prophetic literature, symbolic. The verb is relatively rare in the Tanakh and is most frequently used in poetic or descriptive passages. It is the verbal form of the noun גֶּשֶׁם, meaning “rain.”
In biblical usage, it generally appears in the Hiphil binyan (causative stem), meaning “to cause to rain,” indicating divine action in sending Read more [...]
The Guilty Soul: Predicate-Subject Inversion and Verbal Emphasis in Numbers 5:6
דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ אִ֣ישׁ אֹֽו־אִשָּׁ֗ה כִּ֤י יַעֲשׂוּ֙ מִכָּל־חַטֹּ֣את הָֽאָדָ֔ם לִמְעֹ֥ל מַ֖עַל בַּיהוָ֑ה וְאָֽשְׁמָ֖ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִֽוא׃
Numbers 5:6 opens a passage dealing with trespass against YHWH, yet its power rests not only in theological content but in grammatical subtlety. The final clause—וְאָשְׁמָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא—contains Read more [...]
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The Hebrew Verb גֵּרֵשׁ: To Drive Out, Expel, or Divorce
The Hebrew verb גֵּרֵשׁ (root: ג-ר-שׁ) means “to drive out,” “to banish,” “to expel,” or “to divorce.” It appears in both physical and legal contexts throughout the Hebrew Bible—from expelling people from a land to the formal act of sending away a spouse.
The verb most commonly appears in the Piel binyan (intensive), indicating strong or forceful expulsion. Less frequently, it appears in the Qal and Niphal stems with similar connotations of removal or separation.
Piel Read more [...]
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Tagged גרש
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The Demonstrative זֹאת as Subject: Deixis and Emphasis in Ezekiel 5:5
כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהֹוִ֔ה זֹ֚את יְר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם בְּתֹ֥וךְ הַגֹּויִ֖ם שַׂמְתִּ֑יהָ וּסְבִיבֹותֶ֖יהָ אֲרָצֹֽות׃
Ezekiel 5:5 opens with a demonstrative pointer that doubles as the subject: זֹאת יְרוּשָׁלִַם—“This is Jerusalem.” But unlike simple identification, the Hebrew demonstrative here carries rhetorical and prophetic force. It draws the audience’s attention like a Read more [...]
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The Hebrew Verb גָּרַם: To Cause, Bring About, or Result In
The Hebrew verb גָּרַם (root: ג-ר-ם) means “to cause,” “to bring about,” or “to result in.” It conveys the idea of producing an outcome, especially one that happens indirectly. In Biblical Hebrew, it may also carry the meaning of "dragging along" or "drawing," while in Rabbinic and Modern Hebrew, it develops the abstract sense of "causation."
This verb is primarily used in the Qal binyan, meaning “to cause,” and in Modern Hebrew it also appears frequently in common speech Read more [...]
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Verbs of Begetting: The Syntax of Sequential Wayyiqtol in Genealogies
וַיִּֽהְי֣וּ יְמֵי־אָדָ֗ם אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הֹולִידֹ֣ו אֶת־שֵׁ֔ת שְׁמֹנֶ֥ה מֵאֹ֖ת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיֹּ֥ולֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֹֽות׃
At first glance, Genesis 5:4 may seem like a simple entry in the antediluvian genealogy of Adam: he lived 800 years after fathering Seth, and he fathered sons and daughters. Yet beneath this record lies a grammatical rhythm that governs much of biblical narrative prose—the sequence Read more [...]
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The Hebrew Verb גָּעְגַּע: To Long For, Yearn, or Miss
The verb גָּעְגַּע (root: ג-ע-ג) means “to long for,” “to yearn,” or “to miss deeply.” It expresses an intense emotional desire, often toward someone who is absent. This verb is highly expressive and poetic in nature, conveying emotional attachment and deep internal yearning.
It typically appears in the Hitpael or Hithpael stem (reflexive-intensive), as in הִתְגַּעְגֵּעַ, meaning “he yearned” or “he longed.”
גָּעְגַּע Does Not Read more [...]
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