# Classical Hebrew: וְאַחֲרֵ֣י שָׁתֹ֑ה



## zaw

Hi,

1 Samuel 1:9 is given below

וַתָּ֣קׇם חַנָּ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֛י אׇכְלָ֥הֿ בְשִׁלֹ֖ה וְאַחֲרֵ֣י שָׁתֹ֑ה וְעֵלִ֣י הַכֹּהֵ֗ן יֹשֵׁב֙ עַל־הַכִּסֵּ֔א עַל־מְזוּזַ֖ת הֵיכַ֥ל יְהֹוָֽה׃

Is the word שָׁתֹ֑ה an infinitive absolute or something else? It looks like an infinitive absolute.

Toda raba


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## Drink

Yes.


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## zj73

How can an infinitive absolute not be used adverbially or as an imperative? Those are its only uses.


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## Drink

I'll reverse your question: How could those be its "only" uses if it's used here a different way?


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## Ali Smith

Have you ever seen an infinitive absolute used in this way before, Drink?


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## Drink

I see it used this way here. What more do I need?


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## Ali Smith

Can't it be something else? Like an abstract noun?


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## zaw

It is clearly not an infinitive absolute, because it's parallel to אַחֲרֵ֛י אׇכְלָ֥הֿ . It must be a finite verb.


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## Abaye

I can understand how the traditional interpretation, מקראות גדולות, is inaccessible to many due to language complexity (you could read there that both אכלה and שתה are regarded as infinitive, at least as a reasonable reading), but then also other resources like 1 Samuel 1:9 Hebrew Text Analysis are not used here and instead we see guesswork.


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## Drink

zaw said:


> It is clearly not an infinitive absolute, because it's parallel to אַחֲרֵ֛י אׇכְלָ֥הֿ . It must be a finite verb.


Neither is a finite verb. אכלה here is also an infinite or verbal noun.

And second of all, if it were a finite form, then what finite form would it be? There is no such finite form.


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## Ali Smith

It would be verb 3f.s. SC Qal אכל ‘she ate’.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> It would be verb 3f.s. SC Qal אכל ‘she ate’.


That question was about שתה.

Also, אכלה can't be the 3f.s. because it is a qamatz qatan and shva nach.


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## Ali Smith

Why can't אכלה have a קמץ חטוף followed by a שוא נע?


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## Drink

Because then it would have a meteg next to the qamatz.


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## Ali Smith

Good point. But couldn’t the Masoretes have made a mistake?


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Good point. But couldn’t the Masoretes have made a mistake?


Do you have a reason to believe they made a mistake here? Does a 3f.s. somehow fit the context better than a verbal noun? And if so, the real question is about שתה, and you still haven't given an explanation for it, as it cannot be a 3f.s. no matter how you vocalize it.

And remember, if you assert that the Masoretes made a mistake in a word, then all of the vowel points of the word are in question, not just the lack of meteg.


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## Abaye

Ali Smith said:


> Good point. But couldn’t the Masoretes have made a mistake?


Of course. But a discussion better start from a higher level, not from ground zero, refer to existing material even if only to say that it's mistaken. Therefore, in my opinion, it's crucial to open a dictionary, lexicon, text analysis, traditions, commentators, whatever available, before opinioning or making suggestions. Smart as we may be, I can assure you that Rashi and Gesenius were smarter.


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