Tag Archives: Judges 21:5

Relative Clauses and the Syntax of Sworn Declarations

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Biblical Hebrew
Introduction to Judges 21:5 Judges 21:5 contains a judicial inquiry framed with a complex syntactic structure involving multiple relative clauses, particularly those introduced by אֲשֶׁר. The layering of relative clauses is critical for understanding Biblical Hebrew’s method of formal legal expression. This verse also demonstrates how relative syntax, when compounded with legal oaths and performative declarations, produces a highly structured and formalized idiom. וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִ֠י אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹא־עָלָ֧ה בַקָּהָ֛ל מִכָּל־שִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־יְהוָ֑ה כִּי֩ הַשְּׁבוּעָ֨ה הַגְּדֹולָ֜ה הָיְתָ֗ה לַ֠אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָלָ֨ה אֶל־יְהוָ֧ה הַמִּצְפָּ֛ה לֵאמֹ֖ר מֹ֥ות יוּמָֽת׃ Analysis of Key Words and Structures מִ֠י אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹא־עָלָ֧ה (mi asher lo-ʿalah) – “Who did not go up.”… Learn Hebrew
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“Who Did Not Go Up?”: Syntax of Sworn Judgment in Judges 21:5

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Biblical Hebrew
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִ֠י אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹא־עָלָ֧ה בַקָּהָ֛ל מִכָּל־שִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־יְהוָ֑ה כִּי֩ הַשְּׁבוּעָ֨ה הַגְּדֹולָ֜ה הָיְתָ֗ה לַ֠אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָלָ֨ה אֶל־יְהוָ֧ה הַמִּצְפָּ֛ה לֵאמֹ֖ר מֹ֥ות יוּמָֽת׃ (Judges 21:5) Introduction: A Syntax of Oath and Outrage Judges 21:5 is steeped in crisis. Following the near-destruction of the tribe of Binyamin, the remaining tribes of Yisraʾel seek to enforce a solemn oath made at Mitspah. This verse opens with a rhetorical question and follows with a causal explanation of a previous vow. The syntax reinforces communal urgency, and the interlacing of clauses, interrogative and declarative, creates a pressure-filled structure that mirrors the narrative tension.… Learn Hebrew
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