Tag Archives: Ezekiel 1:13

The Hitpael Verb מִתְהַלֶּכֶת in Ezekiel 1:13

Introduction to Ezekiel 1:13 Ezekiel 1:13 presents a striking description of the living creatures in the prophet’s vision, depicting their likeness as burning coals of fire, moving like torches. A key grammatical feature in this verse is the verb מִתְהַלֶּכֶת (mithallekhet), which is in the Hitpael stem, a binyan that often expresses reflexive, iterative, or reciprocal action. This analysis will explore its morphology, syntactic function, and semantic implications within the context of Ezekiel’s vision. וּדְמ֨וּת הַחַיֹּ֜ות מַרְאֵיהֶ֣ם כְּגַחֲלֵי־אֵ֗שׁ בֹּֽעֲרֹות֙ כְּמַרְאֵ֣ה הַלַּפִּדִ֔ים הִ֕יא מִתְהַלֶּכֶ֖ת בֵּ֣ין הַחַיֹּ֑ות וְנֹ֣גַהּ לָאֵ֔שׁ וּמִן־הָאֵ֖שׁ יֹוצֵ֥א בָרָֽק׃ Analysis of Key Words/Phrases The verb מִתְהַלֶּכֶת (mithallekhet) appears in the phrase: הִ֕יא מִתְהַלֶּכֶת בֵּ֣ין הַחַיֹּ֑ות This phrase consists of: הִיא (hi) – “it” (feminine subject pronoun, referring to the fire) מִתְהַלֶּכֶת (mithallekhet) – “it moves about” (Hitpael verb) בֵּ֣ין הַחַיֹּ֑ות (bein haḥayyot) – “among the living creatures” (prepositional phrase) The verb מִתְהַלֶּכֶת is the focus of our grammatical analysis.… Learn Hebrew
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