Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew

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Title:	Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew
Description:	The eponymous protagonist of the biblical story of Ruth, a Moabite widow, is so desperate to follow her widowed mother-in-law back to Israel that she swears an oath. Regardless of the translation one may choose, the sense is the same: Ruth promises to stick by Naomi's side for at least as long as they both shall live. Ruth's intention with respect to the two widows'proximity once they cross the final river is not so unanimous in the translations, however. According to the NRSV, Ruth says:(1) “May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”The njpsv is representative of many other translations with its rendering:(2) “Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you.”The difference may seem trivial, but the contradiction between the italicized phrases is total. Either death will not ultimately separate them, or it will, in Ruth's view. The issue here is not a theological one, nor is this an archaeological issue. Rather, the issue is of a linguistic nature. What does the Hebrew phrase mean?The solution to the problem is fairly straightforward. The first step is to recognize that Ruth's statement is an oath. Oaths often employ formulaic, elliptical phrases. Therefore, it is necessary to gather together in one place as many of these formulas as possible so that the patterns, tendencies, and divergences may be seen within a larger matrix. Conklin's study intriguingly compiles precisely these phrases and formulas in order to solve the mystery of interpreting Biblical Hebrew oath formulas.
Authors:	Blane Conklin
Resource Type:	eBook.
Subjects:	Bible. O.T.--Language, style, Hebrew language--Syntax, Hebrew language--Morphology, Oaths in the Bible
Categories:	HISTORY / Ancient / General
Database:	eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)

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Items	– Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: The eponymous protagonist of the biblical story of Ruth, a Moabite widow, is so desperate to follow her widowed mother-in-law back to Israel that she swears an oath. Regardless of the translation one may choose, the sense is the same: Ruth promises to stick by Naomi's side for at least as long as they both shall live. Ruth's intention with respect to the two widows'proximity once they cross the final river is not so unanimous in the translations, however. According to the NRSV, Ruth says:(1) “May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”The njpsv is representative of many other translations with its rendering:(2) “Thus and more may the Lord do to me if anything but death parts me from you.”The difference may seem trivial, but the contradiction between the italicized phrases is total. Either death will not ultimately separate them, or it will, in Ruth's view. The issue here is not a theological one, nor is this an archaeological issue. Rather, the issue is of a linguistic nature. What does the Hebrew phrase mean?The solution to the problem is fairly straightforward. The first step is to recognize that Ruth's statement is an oath. Oaths often employ formulaic, elliptical phrases. Therefore, it is necessary to gather together in one place as many of these formulas as possible so that the patterns, tendencies, and divergences may be seen within a larger matrix. Conklin's study intriguingly compiles precisely these phrases and formulas in order to solve the mystery of interpreting Biblical Hebrew oath formulas. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Blane+Conklin%22">Blane Conklin</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bible%2E+O%2ET%2E--Language%2C+style%22">Bible. O.T.--Language, style</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hebrew+language--Syntax%22">Hebrew language--Syntax</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hebrew+language--Morphology%22">Hebrew language--Morphology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Oaths+in+the+Bible%22">Oaths in the Bible</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22HISTORY+%2F+Ancient+%2F+General%22">HISTORY / Ancient / General</searchLink>
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RecordInfo	BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 492.4 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Bible. O.T.--Language, style Type: general – SubjectFull: Hebrew language--Syntax Type: general – SubjectFull: Hebrew language--Morphology Type: general – SubjectFull: Oaths in the Bible Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Blane Conklin – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Blane Conklin IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2011 – D: 04 M: 02 Type: profile Y: 2014 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781575062037 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781575066288 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 00005 Titles: – TitleFull: Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew Type: main
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