From: George Athas (gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au)
Date: Thu Jan 01 1998 - 21:58:39 EST
Greetings Eric!
Weingreen is correct in his comments about the Hebrew construct. The
definiteness or possession of the word in construct is determined by the
definiteness or possession of the noun in the absolute. However, it must
also be born in mind that the construct chain is to be treated as a
unit. So either the whole thing is definite and/or possessed, or it
isn't.
So, _elohey y'shu`ati_ means "the God of my salvation" or "my God of
Salvation". Either meaning would be correct because the possession and
definiteness belong to both nouns. _y'shuati_ is definite because it has
a possessive suffix, so this would also apply to the _elohey_, as would
the possessive aspect.
Hope this helps a little.
Best regards,
George Athas (University of Sydney)
< gathas@mail.usyd.edu.au > (ICQ #5866591)
(Visit the Tel Dan & Bytyhwh Ostracon sites at)
(http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~gathas/TelDan.htm)
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