Tag Archives: Hosea 4:4

Jussive Negation with אַל and the Function of Double Prohibition

אַ֥ךְ אִ֛ישׁ אַל־יָרֵ֖ב וְאַל־יֹוכַ֣ח אִ֑ישׁ וְעַמְּךָ֖ כִּמְרִיבֵ֥י כֹהֵֽן׃ (Hosea 4:4) Yet let no man contend, and let no man rebuke, for your people are like those who contend with a priest. Hosea 4:4 stands at the beginning of a prophetic indictment. It opens with a forceful double prohibition, warning against judgmental contention, followed by a striking comparison between the people and the priest. The grammatical structure uses the particle אַל to negate jussive verbs twice in parallel, creating a rhetorical double command.… Learn Hebrew
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