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Comparative Particles and Temporal Subordination in Qohelet’s Reasoning
וְשַׁבֵּ֧חַ אֲנִ֛י אֶת־הַמֵּתִ֖ים שֶׁכְּבָ֣ר מֵ֑תוּ מִן־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֛ר הֵ֥מָּה חַיִּ֖ים עֲדֶֽנָה׃
(Ecclesiastes 4:2)
And I praised the dead who had already died more than the living who are still alive.
Ecclesiastes 4:2 presents a comparison between the dead and the living, asserting that the dead are better off. The verse is marked by layered comparative and temporal clauses, joined by particles such as מִן (“than”) and עֲדֶנָה (“still”). The grammatical structure illustrates how Qohelet constructs philosophical comparisons through concise and ambiguous Hebrew syntax.… Learn Hebrew
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