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Relative Clauses and the Syntax of Sworn Declarations
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
Posted in Grammar, Theology
Tagged Judges 21:5, relative clauses
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