104 TH. BOOIJ Joseph says, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?” He goes on to say: hbjl hbvx ~yhla h[r yl[ ~tbvx ~taw “Even though you in- tended to do harm to me, God intended it for good” (v. 20). Josh 22,24- 25: “What have you to do with YHWH, the God of Israel? – hwhy-!tn lwbgw hwhyb qlx ~kl-!ya […] ~kynybw wnnyb – As YHWH has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you […], you have no portion in YHWH”. Ezek 18,19: “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” An- swer: hyxy hyx […] hf[ hqdcw jpvm !bhw “Because the son has done what is lawful and right […], he shall surely live”. That introductory w is not simply a conjunction can also be seen in Job 1,13-14: wynbw ~wyh yhyw ab $almw […] ~ylka wytnbw “It happened one day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine […], that a messenger came”. Ezek 2,4: […] xlwv yna […] ~ynp yvq ~ynbhw “As the sons are impudent and stubborn, I am sending you to them”. Apparently the “sons”, as sons of Is- rael and the “fathers”, had already been blamed for rebellion in v. 3; there- fore, and on account of the repeated “I am sending you”, the first clause in v. 4a may be considered to be logically subordinate to the second 21. Sim- ilarly Hab 1,10: qxfy rcbm-lkl awh […] slqty ~yklmb awhw “As he scoffs at kings and makes sport of rulers, he laughs at every fortress”. Ps 40,18: yl bvxy ynda !wybaw yn[ ynaw “As I am poor and needy, may the Lord take thought for me”. Statements in which w plus pronoun, a form of rma and a quotation are followed by a clause opening with $a or !ka are a special category. Isa 14,13-15:drwt lwav-la $a […] trma htaw “You said indeed in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven […]’. But you are brought down to Sheol”. Isa 49,4: […] yjpvm !ka […] ytrma ynaw […] “I said indeed, ‘I have laboured in vain […]’. Yet surely my cause is with YHWH” 22. Ps 31,23: ynaw […] t[mv !ka […] ytrma “I said indeed in my alarm, ‘I am driven far from your sight’. Yet you heard my supplications”. In this construction the circumstantial clause seems to have relative independence. In some texts, as may have been noted, the main clause 23 is introduced by waw apodosis (1 Kgs 14,17; 2 Kgs 2,11; Job 1,14). This is often the case when a clause is preceded by a circumstantial clause expressing time There could be a similar case in Gen 41,56 (cf. v. 55a). Texts like 1 Kgs 21 13,20 and 2 Kgs 8,21b suggest that a circumstantial clause can be logically subordinate to a clause with consec. imperfect following it. It is hard to decide whether this also applies to clauses with introductory w and finite verb. The situation in Isa 14,13-15; Ps 31,23; 82,6-7 conveys the impression 22 that, contrary to what translations suggest, the quotation only includes v. 4a. “Main” in a logical rather than a grammatical sense. 23 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati