# meaning of ל followed by infinitive construct



## Sharjeel72

Hi

The preposition le means "for", of course. When it is followed by the infinitive construct what does it mean? For example at the end of this

ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל צבאם ויכל אלהים ביום השביעי מלאכתו אשר עשה וישבת ביום השביעי מכל מלאכתו אשר עשה ויברך אלהים את יום השביעי ויקדש אתו כי בו שבת מכל מלאכתו אשר ברא אלהים לעשות


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## Drink

Do you mean in general or do you mean in this specific case?

Firstly, ל doesn't just mean "for", it also (in fact more often than not) means "to". And the ל followed by infinitive construct is actually an idiomatic and morphologically fused form (unlike with ב or כ) pretty similar to the English "to"-infinitive.

The particular verse you quote here, however, is a tricky one to understand. There are probably many possibilities of interpreting the function of this infinitive.


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## Ali Smith

וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃

“…because on it God ceased from all of his work which he had done in creation.”


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃
> 
> “…because on it God ceased from all of his work which he had done in creation.”



This is maybe a possible interpretation, but frankly it's hard to see it in the words.


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## JAN SHAR

How would YOU translate it, drink?


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## Drink

As I said before:



> The particular verse you quote here, however, is a tricky one to understand. There are probably many possibilities of interpreting the function of this infinitive.


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## Ali Smith

Lambdin says that לְ followed by the infinitive construct can have the following meanings:

1. purpose (German: damit/um zu), e.g.

באו לשמע
They came to hear.
Sie kamen um zu hören.

2. sequence (German: sodass)

לא יכלו ללכד
They could not capture.
Sie konnten nicht einnehmen.

3. means (German: indem/dadurch, dass)

תשמר את־דרך יהוה לעשות צדק
You shall observe the way of Y----- by doing righteousness.
Du sollst auf den Weg des Y----- achten, indem du Gerechtigkeit tust.

In light of this we can revisit

וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃

which probably means

“And (then) God blessed the seventh day and (then) sanctified it because on it He ceased from all of his work which God had created by bringing about.”


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## JAN SHAR

And how does ל in לא יכלו ללכד mean sequence???


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## Drink

Furthermore, what does "which God had created by bringing about" even mean? Seems like you're replacing one confusing sentence with another equally confusing sentence.


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## Abaye

Ali Smith said:


> Lambdin says that לְ followed by the infinitive construct can have the following meanings:
> 
> 1. purpose (German: damit/um zu), e.g.
> 
> באו לשמע
> They came to hear.
> Sie kamen um zu hören.
> 
> 2. sequence (German: sodass)
> 
> לא יכלו ללכד
> They could not capture.
> Sie konnten nicht einnehmen.
> 
> 3. means (German: indem/dadurch, dass)
> 
> תשמר את־דרך יהוה לעשות צדק
> You shall observe the way of Y----- by doing righteousness.
> Du sollst auf den Weg des Y----- achten, indem du Gerechtigkeit tust.


I suspect this is more about introducing Hebrew to German speakers than describing Hebrew. Following the ל can be any verb and as such any meaning, not necessarily the three above.


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## Ali Smith

JAN SHAR said:


> And how does ל in לא יכלו ללכד mean sequence???


Okay, maybe here it's superfluous, for לא יכלו ללכד and לא יכלו לכד mean exactly the same thing, namely 'They could not capture.'.

But it _can_ denote sequence, even though here it's not.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> But it _can_ denote sequence, even though here it's not.


Do you have an example?


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## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> Furthermore, what does "which God had created by bringing about" even mean? Seems like you're replacing one confusing sentence with another equally confusing sentence.


The form/structure that you refer to in Genesis 2:3 is known as the “epexegetical infinitive”, i.e. it somehow expands on the previous form or even explains it. Though I am no Hebrew Bible person, I believe that the exegetes tell us that what is going on in the verse is that עשׂה, a verb with broad semantics, is explained here as being of the ברא-type, itself a debated explanation because the precise semantics of ברא is a discussed topic.


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## Drink

Are there other examples of such an "epexegetical infinitive"?


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