Parenthesis in Biblical Hebrew as Noncoordinative Nonsubordination

Abstract

Though little attention has been given to parenthesis in BH grammatical studies, various modern language translations make it clear that scholars and translators perceive a great many parenthetical constructions in the Hebrew Bible. Such parentheses are distinguished by modern punctuation conventions, often with curved brackets or commas and sometimes with dashes. And yet, it is often difficult to discern what principle(s) ties together clauses or phrases set off as parenthetical. This essay will situate BH parenthesis within the context of the linguistic study on parenthesis, parentheticals, and the features of nonsubordination versus coordination. The result is the identification of an initial set of criteria for distinguishing examples in the text of the Hebrew Bible.

Publication Type

Journal Name

Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics

Volume Number

12

ISSN/ISBN

1876-6633