According to Eep Talstra’s ETCBC database In the BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) there are a total of 62 occurrences where:
x-Qatal clauses
in which Conjunctive phrases
with Et asher are followed by a phrase, labelled verbal Predicate
Genesis 9:24
Genesis 18:19
Genesis 27:45
Genesis 28:15
Exodus 10:2
Leviticus 9:5
Numbers 32:31
Numbers 33:4
Deuteronomy 4:3
Deuteronomy 7:18
Deuteronomy 9:7
Deuteronomy 24:9
Deuteronomy 25:17
Deuteronomy 29:15
Joshua 2:10
Joshua 5:1
Joshua 9:3
Joshua 9:24
Joshua 24:7
Judges 14:6
Judges 18:27
1 Samuel 12:24
1 Samuel 15:2
1 Samuel 15:16
1 Samuel 16:4
1 Samuel 25:35
1 Samuel 28:9
1 Samuel 30:23
1 Samuel 31:11
2 Samuel 19:20
2 Samuel 19:38
2 Samuel 21:11
1 Kings 2:5
1 Kings 5:22
1 Kings 8:24
1 Kings 8:25
1 Kings 11:10
1 Kings 18:13
2 Kings 5:20
2 Kings 7:12
2 Kings 8:5
2 Kings 10:10
2 Kings 19:11
2 Kings 20:3
Isaiah 38:3
Isaiah 55:11
Jeremiah 7:12
Jeremiah 23:25
Jeremiah 38:9
Jeremiah 45:4
Jeremiah 51:12
Ezekiel 23:22
Zechariah 12:10
Ruth 2:17
Ruth 2:18
Ruth 2:19
Esther 9:23
1 Chronicles 4:10
2 Chronicles 6:15
2 Chronicles 6:16
Hebrew Bible
1 Kings 17:6 an Orthographic Issue
It would seem that most (if not all) translators follow the ‘Ktiv Menuqad’ of the ‘Masoretic’ text when attempting to render 1 kings 17:6 into English. In doing so translators have either knowingly or unwittingly accepted the Masoretes’ interpretation of scripture. The text that lay before the Masoretes was probably the ambiguous והערבים . Without, the Neqqudot the word could be read either as ‘ravens’ or ‘Arabs’ depending on its literary context or on the interpreter’s decision. However, the Masoretes who added the Neqqudot had to decide whether to point the word with the ‘patach’ vowel under the letter ‘Ayin’ or a ‘Holam’ above the letter ‘Ayin’. A simple change of even a single vowel point can sometimes radically alter the meaning of a word in classical Hebrew and that actually is the only difference between the reading ‘ravens’ or ‘Arabs’.
Examine the image below carefully. The vowel points are in red to make it easier to spot the difference between these two readings/vocalizations/interpretations:
What’s your opinion or take on the above?
Synonymous Parallelism
One may note that the number of stresses in synonymous parallelism (in classical Hebrew) will also often be mirrored in the colas. A very good example of this can be found in Deuteronomy chapter 32. The Penguin book of Hebrew verse commenting on Deuteronomy 32:1-4 notes that “There are 3 + 3 stresses in each of the first two pairs of versets, and 2 + 2 stresses in the last pair (though here the first words are long and could have been pronounced as having a secondary stress, making the lines equivalent to the previous ones)” (page 59).
When words found in parallel in a
it is not immediately apparent that the paired nouns in each of the following two lines are matched in gender:
כסה שמים הודו
His GLORY (m.) covered the HEAVENS (m.),
ותהלתו מלאה הארץ
and the EARTH (f.) was full of his PRAISE (f.) (Hab 3:3)Once the pattern has been noticed by analysis, the poetic device ‘gender-matched synonymous parallelism’ can be recognised. The next essential step, then, is to find out why this poetic device has been used here. Closer inspection suggests it functions as merismus (meaning that certain representative components of a larger object are mentioned instead of the whole). Another look at the couplet shows the polar word-pair ‘heavens//earth’ to be present, and, more significantly, the verb מלא, ‘to be full’. All these elements—gender-matched synonyms, the verb, and the word-pair and the verb ארץ—שמים combine to convey the idea of completeness which fits in with the meaning of the couplet. In other words, the main function of the poetic features identified is to express merismus.
Watson, Wilfred G. E. Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to Its Techniques. Vol. 26. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1986. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series.