A Quantitative Study of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions in the Hebrew Bible

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A Quantitative Study of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions in the Hebrew Bible A Quantitative Study of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions in the Hebrew Bible by JengZen Huang A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Biblical Department of the Toronto School of Theology In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology awarded by Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto © Copyright by Jengzen Huang 2015 A Quantitative Study of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions in the Hebrew Bible Jengzen Huang Doctor of Theology Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto 2015 Abstract This dissertation presents a quantitative study of the vocalization of the Hebrew inseparable prepositions ( beth , kaf , and lamed ). Both synchronic and diachronic dimensions are addressed. After a synchronic survey and analysis, a few regularities of the vowels of the inseparable prepositions in the Tiberian text are discovered. These regularities are mostly syntactically, rather than semantically, based. The vowels of the inseparable prepositions tend to be heavy, and light vowels are employed only in a certain syntactical constructions. The observation that these syntactical constructions usually prescribe a lack of definite article indicates a connection between the audio feature of the light vowel and the textual feature of the absence of definite article. This in turn argues for an early dating of the vowels of the inseparable prepositions. The diachronic survey covers the vocalization in the Babylonian and Palestinian traditions, the Greek transliteration in the second column of Origen’s Hexapla, and the Greek translation in Aquila’s recension. The vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the Babylonian, and Palestinian texts is found to adhere closely to that of the Tiberian text. The transliteration in the Hexapla also indicates that a substantial portion of the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the Masoretic Text has an origin as early as the date of the Greek transliteration. In the survey of Aquila’s translation, although a correspondence cannot be unquestionably affirmed between the ii vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the Masoretic text and the use of Greek definite articles, the finding that Aquila’s employment of the Greek definite articles depends heavily on the grammatical function of the Hebrew inseparable prepositions suggests the plausibility that some of the ancient perspectives about the Hebrew inseparable prepositions had exercised considerable influence on the fixation of the vocalization. As a whole this study affirms the credibility of the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions as preserved in the Masoretic text. iii Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Appendices ........................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 Regularities in the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions ................................. 16 1 The concept of definiteness and the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions .................... 16 2 The light-vowel approach .......................................................................................................... 19 3 The regularities of the light vowels ........................................................................................... 22 3.1 Nouns/adjectives conventionally prefixed by inseparable prepositions exclusively with a light vowel ...................................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Idiomatic employment of light vowels for distributive reference ...................................... 24 3.3 The light vowels in the syntax of the “transitional lamed ” ................................................ 26 3.4 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax ........................................................................ 29 3.4.1 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax involving a modifying adjective or participle ............................................................................................................... 30 3.4.2 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax involving a prepositional phrase ......... 35 3.4.3 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax involving an infinitive construct ......... 39 3.4.4 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax involving an implicit relative clause ... 39 3.4.5 The light vowels in the conjunctive syntax involving a short phrase of negation ... 41 3.4.6 The regularity in the conjunctive syntax involving an explicit relative clause (with a relative particle) ........................................................................................ 42 3.4.7 The regularity in the conjunctive syntax involving a noun ...................................... 43 3.5 The light vowels in series and parallel constructions ......................................................... 46 3.6 The light vowels for a properly indefinite reference .......................................................... 51 3.7 The light vowels that cannot be confined in the regularities ............................................. 52 4 Syntactical correspondence beyond the sphere of the inseparable prepositions ........................ 56 iv 5 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 3 Consistency of the Vocalization of the Inseparable Prepositions within the Masoretic traditions .................................................................................................................. 61 1 The vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the Babylonian tradition ........................... 62 1.1 Available texts of Babylonian vocalization ....................................................................... 62 1.2 Preliminary observations on the inseparable prepositions in the Babylonian tradition ..... 66 1.3 Variants and analysis .......................................................................................................... 68 1.3.1 The inseparable prepositions prefixing a construct noun deliver the least amount of variants .............................................................................................................. 69 1.3.2 No prominent Babylonian feature can be attested by the observed variants concerning the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions ................................ 70 1.3.3 Several variants are incoherent within the Babylonian texts ................................... 72 1.3.4 A survey of the coherence of the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions within the Babylonian text as presented in the modern printing .......................... 77 1.3.5 A survey of the distribution of variants among the Babylonian manuscripts .......... 80 1.4 Regularities of the lightly vocalized inseparable prepositions in the Babylonian texts ..... 83 2 The vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the Palestinian tradition ............................ 85 2.1 Available texts of Palestinian vocalization ........................................................................ 85 2.2 Variants and analysis .......................................................................................................... 87 3 The commonality of the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions within the Masoretic tradition as a whole .................................................................................................................. 90 4 The vocalization of the inseparable prepositions in the reading tradition of the Samaritan Pentateuch ................................................................................................................................ 91 Chapter 4 Witnesses of the Pronunciation of the Inseparable Prepositions in Ancient Greek Transliteration and Translations ............................................................................................... 94 1 The pronunciation of the inseparable prepositions witnessed in the second column of the Hexapla .................................................................................................................................... 94 1.1 The general characteristics of the Greek transliterations in comparison with the Tiberian vocalization ........................................................................................................ 97 v 1.1.1 The generally high level of coherence of sounds between the Greek transliterations and the Tiberian vocalization ....................................................... 98 1.1.2 The more diversified correspondences in the Greek transliterations to the sound prescribed by the Tiberian sh ĕwa ....................................................................... 101 1.2 The sound of the Hebrew inseparable prepositions in the Greek transliterations ............ 103 1.3 Conclusion of the survey of the Greek transliteration ..................................................... 107 2 A survey of the distinction between a heavy and a light pronunciation of the inseparable prepositions in the Ancient Greek translations ...................................................................... 109 2.1 Methodological
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