Verbs: The Infinitive Construct

The Infinitive Construct In English, the infinitive is usually preceded by “to”, for example: to walk to talk to laugh to take She wants to walk to the store. He went to talk to the man. They tried to climb Mt. Everest. I’m going to take Hebrew 331 next semester. No person, number or gender. She wants to walk. He wants to walk. They want to walk. We all want to walk.

The Infinitive Construct No person, number or gender. No past, present, or future tense (which is where we get the first part of the name) Past: In the past, I tried to take Hebrew 331, but I couldn’t get in. Present: Right now, I want to take Hebrew 331, but I don’t quite know enough. Future: In the future, I plan to take Hebrew 331 because I want to be able to read the Bible in its original language. Infinite Time = Infinitive Construct

The Infinitive Construct Usually, infinitive constructs are coupled with another verb. She wants to walk. He wants to walk. They want to walk. We all want to walk. We tried to hike up to 18,500 feet, but the weather was too harsh. He convinced the Sherpas to stand in his picture with him. Our group travelled far to accomplish our goal. I wanted to eat but I was too nauseous from altitude sickness. I bought a native dress to wear when we give our fireside to the youth.

The Infinitive Construct In Hebrew, the Infinitive Construct can also act as a noun. Usually, when an Infinitive Construct acts as a noun, it ends with “-ing” Hiking to base camp is very difficult. or To hike to base camp is very difficult. Running is great training for the Everest base camp hike. Praying can be done by spinning prayer bells in the Himalayas. Flying into Lukla was the most frightening part of the whole trip. Stuffing the Yaks’ bells keeps them quiet during the night. Buying apple pie at base camp was an unexpected treat.

The Infinitive Construct Let’s try to make this next point very clear… כְּתֹב Imperative (ms) כְּתֹב Infinitive Construct (you) write! to write, writing Identical! Use Context to Determine a Translation

The Infinitive Construct Infinitive Construct Imperative (2ms) to write/writing כְּתֹב (you) write to remember/remembering זְכֹר (you) remember to eat/eating אֱכֹל (you) eat to stand/standing עֲמֹד (you) stand to call/calling קְרֹאקְרָא (you) call Wait—what’s going on with that last word? The imperative קְרָא maintains the vowel change (qamets) brought about by the presence of a III- א. The infinitive construct vowel pattern is shewa-holem despite the presence of the III- א. Let’s look at some examples on pg. 127 of Lambdin.

The Infinitive Construct Infinitive Construct = Construction We can build prefixes and suffixes onto Infinitive Constructs. Prefixes - to add Prepositions Suffixes - to add Pronominal Suffixes כָּתְבִי my writing כָּתְבֵנוּ our writing כָּתְבְךָ your (ms) writing כָּתְבְכֶם your (mp) writing כְּתָבֵךְ your (fs) writing כָּתְבְכֶן your (fp) writing כָּתְבוֹ his writing כָּתְבָם their writing כָּתְכָהּ her writing כָּתְבָן their writing Infinitive construct with pronominal suffixes as a subject: as an object: כָּתְבִי writing me כָּתְבֵנוּ writing us כָּתְבְךָ writing (ms) you כָּתְבְכֶם writing (mp) you כְּתָבֵךְ writing (fs) you כָּתְבְכֶן writing (fp) you כָּתְבוֹ writing him כָּתְבָם writing them כָּתְכָהּ writing her כָּתְבָן writing them They are identical – context! Note the vowel change.

The Infinitive Construct An indefinite noun that directly follows an infinitive construct can serve as either the subject or the object of the verb. For example: כְּתֹב אִישׁ writing a man (or) a man’s writing The above example is ambiguous and requires context to determine a proper translation. When the noun is definite, the presence of the definite object marker אֶת indicates the noun’s place as the object of the verb. For example: כְּתֹב אֶת־הָאִישׁ writing the man (or) (to) write the man (object) כְּתֹב הָאִישׁ the man’s writing (subject)

The Infinitive Construct שָׁמְרִי אֶת־הָאִישׁ my observing the man הָאִישׁ שְׁמֹר אֹתִי the man observing me מָצְאוֹ אֹתִי his finding me קָרְאִי אֹתוֹ my calling him לִבְּחֹר מִקְנֵה to choose cattle לִבְּחֹר אֶת־מִקְנַי to choose my cattle לִשְׁמֹר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה to keep the law שָׁמְרוֹ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה his keeping the law The use of pronouns with infinitive constructs is slightly more complex. The following examples provide some clarification for possible translations:

The Infinitive Construct Combined together, the infinitive phrase can be any of the following things. 1. The subject of a sentence. For example: טוֹב לִשְׁמֹר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה It is good to keep the law. (or) To keep the law is good. 2. The object of the preposition. For example: עַד־קָרְאִי אֹתוֹ until my calling him 3. The object of the verb. For example: יָכֹלְתִּי לִבְּחֹר אֶת־מִקְנַי I was able to choose my cattle.

The Infinitive Construct Prefixes - building a preposition onto an Infinitive Construct: Often, the infinitive construct is prefixed with בְּ (in, by, with), לְ (to, for), or כְּ (like, as, according as). When בְּ and כְּ are prefixed to an infinitive construct, the result is an adverbial clause that is usually temporal in meaning. For example: כְּכָּתְבוֹ when he wrote בְּעָמְדוֹ when (while) he stood In these instances, בְּ and כְּ have the same translation value, and each is commonly used. However, certain verbs, such as שָׁמַע, prefer כְּ.

The Infinitive Construct לִבְּחֹר בָּא he came to choose לֹא יָכֹלְתִּי לִבְּחֹר I could not choose When לְ is prefixed to an infinitive construct, the meaning is an expression of purpose, result or goal. For example: לְבִלְתִּי בְּחֹר רָעָה not to choose evil לְבִלְתִּי שְׁבֹר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה not to break the law Instead of using לוֹ to negate the infinitive construct, בִּלְתִּי is prefixed with the preposition לְ before the infinitive construct. For example: