103 A CIRCUMSTANTIAL CLAUSE IN PSALM 99,4 2. Syntactical approach Clauses opening preferably 16 with the subject and frequently introduced by w 17 may present a fact as subordinate to the main course of a narrative or to the main point of a statement 18. In this case they are called “circumstantial”. Circumstantial clauses can sometimes be taken as independent state- ments. Introductory w may be rendered then by “now” or “for”. Gen 16,1: wl hdly al […] yrfw “Now Sarai […] bore him no children”. Gen 14,12: ~dsb bvy awhw “For he lived in Sodom”. 1 Kgs 11,28: rwbg ~[bry vyahw lyx “Now that man Jerobeam was very able”. By its content a circumstantial clause is often clearly related to the preceding clause. It is generally rendered then by a subordinate clause, the nature of which is to be deduced from the context. Gen 18,1: lhah-xtp bvy awhw “as he sat at the entrance of his tent”. Ps 28,3: ~bblb h[rw “though mischief is in their hearts”. In a clause added in this way, introductory w is sometimes left out. Deut 5,5: […] dm[ ykna “while I was standing between YHWH and you”. 2 Sam 18,14: hlah blb yx wndw[ “while he was still alive in the terebinth”. A short circumstantial clause may be inserted in a sentence. 2 Sam 13,20: ~wlvba tyb hmmvw rmt bvtw “And Tamar, being desolate, remained in Absalom’s house”. Ps 68,10b: htnnwk hta halnw $tlxn “your heritage, when it was weary, you restored it” (insertion after casus pendens). Finally, circumstantial clauses may be put before the clause to which they relate. 1 Kgs 14,17: tm r[nhw […] hab ayh […] “As she came […], the child died”. 2 Kgs 2,11: va-bkr hnhw […] ~yklh hmh yhyw “And it happened as they went on, walking and talking, that a chariot of fire was seen […]”19. If a prefixed circumstantial clause has introductory w, that element is coloured semantically by the function of the clause in its con- text 20. Clauses following a question may demonstrate this. In Gen 50,19 However, cf. S.R. DRIVER, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Heb- 16 rew and Some Other Syntactical Questions (Oxford 31892) 198-199; A.B. DAVIDSON, Hebrew Syntax (Edinburgh 31901) §139. F.I. ANDERSEN, The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew (The Hague 1974) 77- 17 78, considers introductory w essential. Depending on the context, however, clauses of this type may also ex- 18 press emphasis (e.g. Gen 33,3; Ps 13,6), contrast (Gen 4,2; 6,8), or anteriority (Gen 31,19.34). In some texts they could reflect official style (see e.g. Gen 4,18; 10,24). Cf. DRIVER, Tenses, 200-202. See also e.g. Gen 44,3.4; Judg 15,14a; 18,3a. 19 DRIVER, Tenses, 210-211, mentions texts in which the circumstantial 20 clause introduced by w precedes the “main” clause (Judg 3,24; 20,39-40; 1 Sam 17,23; 2 Sam 2,24; 2 Kgs 2,23). However, even Driver, in his elaborate discussion of the circumstantial clause, does not treat this type separately; he probably took w simply as a copula. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati