John Zhu-En Wee, «Hebrew Syntax in the Organization of Laws and its Adaptation in the Septuagint», Vol. 85 (2004) 523-544
The Hebrew of the Pentateuch exhibits a hierarchy of
discourse markers that indicate different organization levels in the legal
texts. This organization elucidates the relationship (whether coordination or
subordination) of legal stipulations with each other. The markers studied
include X+yk+Pred and X+r#)+Pred
constructions, yk and M)
clauses, as well as a specialized use of the particle
hnh. The Greek translators may have been sensitive to the use of these
markers and even modified them in order to express their particular
interpretation of the text.
528 John Zhu-En Wee
sacerdotal laws to the lengthier nature of these laws, which require
additional levels of organization not attained by yk and µa clauses
alone (12).
There are two apparent discrepancies that involve the use of a
X+yk+Pred or X+rça+Pred clause in a topic that has already been
introduced by a yk clause. The most serious difficulty is Lev 25,25-28.
Verse 25 (yk clause) introduces the law whereby one may redeem a
kinsman’s possession that has been sold. The next verse, which
considers the possibility of there being no kinsman, surprisingly
begins with a X+yk+Pred pattern, instead of a yk or µa clause. It is
conceivable that Lev 25,26 begins a new section of its own, under
which the µa clause in v. 28 is subsumed. The close semantic link
between verses 25 and 26, however, makes this explanation seem
somewhat implausible. The other passage is more easily explained.
Num 15,22-29 begins with a yk clause and describes offerings for sins
of ignorance or negligence. Num 15,30, speaking of the unmitigated
destruction of one who has sinned defiantly, begins with the
X+rça+Pred pattern. It is possible, however, that Num 15,18-29 is to
be taken as one long section on various offerings. Num 15,30 thus
presents a notable break in thought by introducing a case where no
offering is available. As will be shown later, this may have been how
the translators understood the passage.
Rule 3: The X+yk+Pred pattern is preferred over the
X+rça+Pred pattern to begin a section.
The rule is particularly striking in passages that begin with a single
X+yk+Pred clause followed by a sequence of X+rça+Pred clauses:
Lev 15,2-13.16-18.19-24.25-28; Num 19,14-22. In all these passages,
the introductory X+yk+Pred pattern is not repeated anywhere else in
the same section. This rule, however, does not seem to apply when the
subject X is çpn, çya, or the doubled çya çya (13).
I propose the following reason for the preference of X+yk+Pred.
More than rça, the particle yk is capable of having a conditional
nuance. Indeed, in the legal texts, yk clauses function in a very similar
(12) A chart after this section on rules lists the verse references for various
laws in the Pentateuch. A cursory study will illustrate that the laws in Leviticus
and Numbers that deal with the “sacral-legal sphere†are significantly longer than
those that deal with “civil†matters.
(13) These exceptions are found in Lev 7,20; 17,3.8.10.15; 20,2.9; 21,17;
22,3.18; 23,29.