# Biblical Hebrew: לַמּוֹעֵ֤ד הַזֶּה֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה



## Ali Smith

שלום

וַתַּ֥הַר הָאִשָּׁ֖ה וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן לַמּוֹעֵ֤ד הַזֶּה֙ כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר אֵלֶ֖יהָ אֱלִישָֽׁע׃
(מלכים ב ד יז)

KJV with Strong's: And the woman conceived and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her according to the time of life

New American Standard Bible: The woman conceived and bore a son at that season the next year, as Elisha had said to her.

King James Bible: And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

Holman Christian Standard Bible: The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at the same time the following year, as Elisha had promised her.

What is the grammatical relationship between לַמּוֹעֵ֤ד הַזֶּה֙ and כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה? And is כָּעֵ֣ת חַיָּ֔ה itself a construct chain? If so, does it mean "at the time of a living thing"?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


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## JAN SHAR

The first word, כָּעֵ֣ת, cannot be in the construct state for the simple reason that it has the definite article (look at the vowel under the first letter).


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## Ali Smith

Then is חַיָּ֔ה an attributive adjective of כָּעֵ֣ת?


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## zaw

Yes, what else could it be?


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## Abaye

The meaning of כעת חיה is disputed: some say "one year from now" or "at this time in a year to come", other say "nine month from now" (duration of pregnancy). The function of חיה is also difficult, explained sometimes as יולדת (giving birth). Onqelos translates to כְּעִדָּן דְּאַתּוּן קַיָימִין, according to this כעת חיה means "in the future while you are still alive and well".
תנ"ך - מקראות גדולות הכתר - בראשית פרק יח פסוק י


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## Ali Smith

Thanks, but can’t כָּעֵת mean “now”, just as it does in modern Hebrew?

I know עֵת by itself means “time” in Biblical Hebrew.


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## radagasty

Literally, כָּעֵת means ‘at about the time’, so yes, it can mean ‘now’, _e.g._, Jud 14:23

לוּ חָפֵץ יְהוָה לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ לֹא לָקַח מִיָּדֵנוּ עֹלָה וּמִנְחָה וְלֹא הֶרְאָנוּ אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה וְ*כָעֵת* לֹא הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ כָּזֹאת׃

But the expression in question here is not כָּעֵת by itself, כָּעֵת חַיָּה, literally ‘at the living time’. What this means, as Abaye pointed out, is uncertain. An alternative interpretation that has been proposed is ‘in spring’, for instance.


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## Ali Smith

radagasty said:


> Literally, כָּעֵת means ‘at about the time’, so yes, it can mean ‘now’, _e.g._, Jud 14:23
> 
> לוּ חָפֵץ יְהוָה לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ לֹא לָקַח מִיָּדֵנוּ עֹלָה וּמִנְחָה וְלֹא הֶרְאָנוּ אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה וְ*כָעֵת* לֹא הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ כָּזֹאת׃
> 
> But the expression in question here is not כָּעֵת by itself, כָּעֵת חַיָּה, literally ‘at the living time’. What this means, as Abaye pointed out, is uncertain. An alternative interpretation that has been proposed is ‘in spring’, for instance.


It could not mean "at the living time" because that would imply that חַיָּה is an attributive adjective of עֵת, which it clearly is not, for the latter is definite.


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## radagasty

Ali Smith said:


> It could not mean "at the living time" because that would imply that חַיָּה is an attributive adjective of עֵת, which it clearly is not, for the latter is definite.



So what do you think it means?


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