# Biblical Hebrew: וְהָיָה֙ מִקֹּ֣ל זְנוּתָ֔הּ וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ



## Ali Smith

שלום

וָאֵ֗רֶא כִּ֤י עַל־כׇּל־אֹדוֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִֽאֲפָה֙ מְשֻׁבָ֣ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל שִׁלַּחְתִּ֕יהָ וָאֶתֵּ֛ן אֶת־סֵ֥פֶר כְּרִיתֻתֶ֖יהָ אֵלֶ֑יהָ וְלֹ֨א יָרְאָ֜ה בֹּגֵדָ֤ה יְהוּדָה֙ אֲחוֹתָ֔הּ וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ וַתִּ֥זֶן גַּם־הִֽיא׃
וְהָיָה֙ מִקֹּ֣ל זְנוּתָ֔הּ וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַתִּנְאַ֥ף אֶת־הָאֶ֖בֶן וְאֶת־הָעֵֽץ׃
וְגַם־בְּכׇל־זֹ֗את לֹא־שָׁ֨בָה אֵלַ֜י בָּגוֹדָ֧ה אֲחוֹתָ֛הּ יְהוּדָ֖ה בְּכׇל־לִבָּ֑הּ כִּ֥י אִם־בְּשֶׁ֖קֶר נְאֻם־יְהֹוָֽה׃
(ירמיהו ג ח-י)

The dictionary says qal חנפ means 'to be defiled; to be polluted' while hif'il חנפ means 'to defile; to pollute'.

Is the verb וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף from qal or hif'il? If it's from the latter, as it appears to be, how can it have a direct object (אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ)?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


----------



## Drink

Before we analyze the syntax, let's start with semantics: What in your view is the _subject_ of this sentence?


----------



## Ali Smith

It’s pretty clear it’s the woman.


----------



## Drink

What woman?


----------



## Ali Smith

Well, the woman who Judah is personified as.


----------



## Abaye

The meaning of this חנף is not fully clear: "המשמעות רחבה ואינה ברורה דיה", although what you wrote (defile) is apparently good approximation.

Look at תנאף את האבן, the parallel of תחנף את הארץ, which poses a similar problem. מצודת ציון says that את האבן = עם האבן, so I guess we can assume that the את of את הארץ is also not a direct object marker.

This still doesn't answer the question. We could treat both את as decorative, drop them altogether and get (maybe) a more meaningful, metaphorical sentence: "the land was defiled, the stone and tree/wood behaved like prostitutes". But would it be correct? IDK.


----------



## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> Well, the woman who Judah is personified as.


_If_ that it is your interpretation, then that would leave us having to say that את here means "with".

It seems that some translations interpret the subject as being the land itself, in which case the word את is superfluous (but such cases are known to happen).


----------



## Ali Smith

Thanks!

וְהָיָה֙ מִקֹּ֣ל זְנוּתָ֔הּ וַתֶּחֱנַ֖ף אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַתִּנְאַ֥ף אֶת־הָאֶ֖בֶן וְאֶת־הָעֵֽץ׃
(ירמיהו ג ט)

Because of the lightness of her fornication she became polluted together with the land and engaged in idolatrous worship of stones and trees.

What is going on morpho-syntactically in ירמיהו ג ט is not clear to me, but the text, as it stands, shows the unusual structure of imperfective introduction וְהָיָה followed by perfective forms, perhaps, as in שמואל א א יג, a true mixed structure in which the context is expressed as imperfective but each event as perfective. The tense is gained from the context, of course.

וְחַנָּ֗ה הִ֚יא מְדַבֶּ֣רֶת עַל־לִבָּ֔הּ רַ֚ק שְׂפָתֶ֣יהָ נָּע֔וֹת וְקוֹלָ֖הּ לֹ֣א יִשָּׁמֵ֑עַ וַיַּחְשְׁבֶ֥הָ עֵלִ֖י לְשִׁכֹּרָֽה׃
(שמואל א א יג)

And as for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart; only her lips were moving, but her voice could not be heard. So, Eli thought she was drunk.


----------



## zaw

Do you think wtḥnp might be hiph'il?


----------



## Ali Smith

This is one of the problematic passages that begin with /wᵊhāyā/ and continue with marked perfectives, perhaps a “mixed” structure for expressing repetition; note the versional evidence for {wtḥnp} being hif'il.


----------



## Drink

What's the "versional evidence"?


----------

