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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 a classic Biblical Hebrew feature: the predicate precedes the subject. This inversion, far from arbitrary, serves to emphasize the declaration of guilt, casting it like a legal verdict upon the “soul” that transgressed.
This article explores the syntactic impact of predicate-subject reversal and the role of the feminine perfect verb אָשְׁמָה as a theological marker in contexts of moral accountability.… Learn Hebrew
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