Circumstantial Clause
Circumstantial Clause
§ 137. The cir. cl. expresses some circumstance or concomitant of the principal action or statement. Such a circumstance will generally be concerning the chief subject (whether gramm. subj. or obj.) of the main action, but the subj. of cir. cl. may be different, provided what is said of it be circumstantial of the main action—whether modal of it or contemporaneous with it.
The cir. cl. differs from acc. of condition (§ 70) in being a proposition. It forms a real predication, subordinate to the principal sent. in meaning but co-ordinate in construction. Though often corresponding to the classical absolute cases the construction is different.
The cir. cl. may be nominal or verbal, though it is chiefly nominal, and even when verbal the order of words is that of the nominal sent. (§ 103). In such a clause the subj. is naturally prominent, hence it stands first, the order being—vav, subj., pred. This simple vav may need to be rendered variously, as if, while, when, seeing, though, with a verb, or with before a noun. Besides the and a pron. referring back to the subj. of the principal sent. usually connects the clauses (see exx. below). Occasionally the subj. is repeated from the main clause, Deuteronomy 9:15 and the mountain, Genesis 18:17-18, Judges 8:11, 1 Kings 8:14.
§ 138. (a) The cir. cl. may be nominal. Genesis 11:4 נִבְנֶה מִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם let us build a tower with its head in the heavens. Genesis 24:15 behold Rebecca יֹצֵאת וְכַדָּהּ עַל־שִׁכְמָהּ coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder (lit. and her pitcher was, &c.). 1 Samuel 18:23 הַנְקַלָּה הִתְחַתֵּן בַּמֶּלֶךְ וְאָֽנֹכִי אִישׁ־רָשׁ is it a light thing to be son-in-law of the king when I am a poor man? Jeremiah 2:37 תֵּֽצְאִי וְיָדַיִךְ עַל־רֹאשֵׁךְ thou shalt come out with thy hands upon thy head. Genesis 18:12, Genesis 18:27; Genesis 20:3; Genesis 24:10; Genesis 37:2; Genesis 44:26, Genesis 44:30, Joshua 17:14, Judges 19:27. Hosea 6:4, Jer, Hosea 2:11, Amos 3:4-6.
(b) Naturally the graphic ptcp. is much used in such descriptive clauses. Isaiah 6:1 I saw Adonai sitting וִשׁוּלָיו מְלֵאִים אֶת־הַֽהֵיכָל with his train filling the temple. 1 Samuel 4:12 וַיָּֽרָץ אִישׁ וּמַדָּיו קְרֻעִים there ran a man with his garments rent. Genesis 15:2 מַה־תִּתֶּן־לִי וְאָֽנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עְַרִירִי seeing I go childless? Isaiah 53:7 נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַֽעְַנֶה he was oppressed, though he was submissive; cf. Isaiah 53:12 though (while) he bore. Isaiah 11:6 a little child leading them. Genesis 14:13; Genesis 18:1, Genesis 18:8, Genesis 18:10; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 25:26; Genesis 28:12; Genesis 32:32; Genesis 44:14, Judges 3:20; Judges 4:1; Judges 6:11; Judges 13:9, Judges 13:20, 1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Samuel 22:6, 1 Kings 1:48; 1 Kings 22:10, Isaiah 49:21; Isaiah 60:11, Nahum 2:7.
(c) The cir. cl. may be verbal with subj. first. Genesis 24:56 אַל־תְּאַֽחְַרוּ אֹתִי וַֽיהוָֹה הִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכִּי delay me not when Je. has prospered my journey. 1 Kings 1:41 the guests heard וְהֵם כִּלּוּ לֶֽאֱכֹל as they had just finished dinner. Genesis 26:27 why are ye come to me וְאַתֶּם שְׂנֵאתֶם אֹתִי when ye hate me? Rth_1:21. Judges 16:31 he having judged.— Genesis 18:13; Genesis 24:31, Exodus 33:12, Judges 4:21; Judges 8:11, Jeremiah 14:15. Genesis 34:5, Amos 3:4-6.
§ 139. Small emphatic words like negatives may precede the subj., e.g. in the frequent וְלֹא יָדָעוּ unawares (lit. and they, &c., do not know), Isaiah 47:11, Job 9:5, cf. Job 24:22, Psalms 35:8, Proverbs 5:6. So frequently with אין, Isaiah 17:2 וְרָֽבְצוּ וְאֵין מַֽחְַרִיד they shall lie down, none making them afraid, Leviticus 26:6. Isaiah 13:14 וְאֵין מְקַבֵּץ, Jeremiah 9:22 וְאֵין מְאַסֵּף, Jeremiah 4:4, 2 Kings 9:10, Proverbs 28:1, Isaiah 45:4-5, cf. Proverbs 3:28. In particular, it is characteristic to place the pred., when a prep. with suff., or a prep. with its complement, before the subj. Judges 3:16 וַיַּעַשׂ חֶרֶב וְלָהּ שְׁנֵי פֵיוֹת he made a dagger having two edges. 2 Samuel 16:1 a pair of saddled asses וַֽעְַלֵיהֶם מָאתַיִם לֶחֶם with 200 loaves upon them. Isaiah 6:6 וַיָּֽעָף אֶחָד מִן־ הַשְּׂרָפִים וּבְיָדוֹ רִצְפָּה there flew one of the S. with a hot stone in his hand. 2 Samuel 20:8, Ezekiel 40:2, Amos 7:7, Zechariah 2:1. But also in other cases, Psalms 60:11 וְשָׁוְא תְּשׁוּעַת אָדָם for vain is the help of man. But cf. Psalms 149:6.
Rem. 1. The nominal sent. seems in certain cases inverted, pred. standing first, particularly in statements of weight, measure, &c. Genesis 24:22 he took a nose ring בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ its weight a beka. Judges 3:16 he made a dagger גֹּמֶד אָרְכָּהּ length a cubit. The general rule in the nominal sent. is that the determined word is subj.; if both be determined the more fully determined is subj. Cf. § 103.
The view of pred. and subj. was perhaps not always the same as ours, cf. Amr, Mu'all. 1:31.
§ 140. The cir. cl., however, is frequently introduced without and. Exodus 12:11 תֹּֽאכְלוּ אֹתוֹ מָתְנֵיכֶם חְַגֻרִים ye shall eat it with your loins girt. Jeremiah 30:6 מַדּוּעַ רָאִיתִי כָל־גֶּבֶר יָדָיו עַל־חְַלָצָיו why see I every man with his hands upon his loins? Genesis 12:8 וַיֵּט אָֽהֳלֹה בֵּית־אֵל מִיָּם he pitched his tent, Bethel being on the west. Genesis 32:12 פֶּן־יָבוֹא וְהִכַּנִי אֵם עַל־בָּנִים lest he come and smite me, mother with children. Deuteronomy 5:4 פָּנִים בְּפָנִים דִּבֶּר face to face he spoke. Genesis 32:30, Judges 6:22, Numbers 12:8 mouth to mouth, Jeremiah 32:4, 1 Samuel 26:13, Judges 15:8, Isaiah 30:33; Isaiah 59:19.
Especially with shortened expressions. 2 Samuel 18:14 בְּלֵב אב׳ עוֹדֶנּוּ חַי into the heart of Absalom when still alive. Exodus 22:10, Exodus 22:13 אֵין רֹאֶה... וּמֵת and it die, none seeing it, Amos 5:2, and often, as Exodus 21:11 אֵין כֶּסֶף without money. Isaiah 47:1 throneless, Jeremiah 2:32 numberless. Hosea 3:4; Hosea 7:11. Psalms 88:4. Genesis 43:3, Genesis 43:5.
Rem. 1. It is possible that such phrases as face to face, אַפַּיִם אַרְצָה with face to the ground Genesis 19:1, mouth to mouth and the like, may now be adverbial acc. Originally at any rate they were real propositions, face was to face, faces were groundwards, &c. So Ar. says, I spoke to him fûhu (nom.) 'ila fiyya, his mouth (was) to my mouth; but also fâhu (acc.) 'ila fiyya, with his mouth to my mouth. Similarly in Genesis 43:3 בִּלְתִּי אְַחִיכֶם אִתְּכֶם, בִּלְתִּי is a conj., not a prep., except your brother be, &c.
§ 141. The subordinate character of the cir. cl. is generally shown by its place after the principal sent. In some cases, however, the concomitant event is placed first, with the effect of greater vividness. Genesis 42:35 וְהִנֵּה... וַיְהִי הֵם מְרִיקִים and it was, they were emptying their sacks, and behold, &c., ix. as they were emptying, behold. Genesis 15:17 וַיְהִי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בָּֽאָה
וְהִנֵּה and it was, the sun had gone down, and behold, i.e. the sun having gone down. 2 Kings 2:11; 2 Kings 8:5; 2 Kings 13:21; 2 Kings 19:37; 2 Kings 20:4, 1 Samuel 23:26; 1 Samuel 25:20 (והיה = ויהי, so 2 Samuel 6:16), 1 Kings 18:7; 1 Kings 20:39, 1 Kings 20:40. In ref. to fut. 1 Kings 18:12.
The relation of the two events (concomitant and principal) to one another is still more vividly expressed when the clauses containing them are placed parallel to one another, with no introductory formula like and it was. Genesis 44:3 הַבֹּקֶר אוֹר וְהָֽאְַנָשִׁים שֻׁלְּחוּ the morning broke, and the men were let go, i.e. when the morning broke (had broken) the men, &c. 1 Samuel 9:27 הֵמָּה יֹֽרְדִים וּשְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר as they were coming down S. said. Genesis 29:9 עוֹדֶנּוּ מְדַבֵּר וְרָחֵל בָּֽאָה as he was still speaking R. came. Particularly when the subj. of both clauses is the same. Judges 18:3 הֵמָּה עִם־בֵּית מִיכָה וְהֵמָּה הִכִּירוּ as they were at the house of Mic. they recognised. Genesis 38:25, 1 Samuel 9:11.
Rem. 1. In some cases the accentuation wrongly makes the following noun or pron. subj. to the introductory ויהי, e.g. 2 Kings 20:4, 1 Kings 20:40, Genesis 24:15, 1 Samuel 7:10, 1 Kings 18:7; other passages show that ויהי is impersonal, 1 Samuel 25:20, 2 Kings 13:20-21, cf. 2 Kings 19:37; 2 Samuel 13:30.
Rem. 2. The construction is the same with or without the introductory formula. The second clause in the balanced sent. always begins with vav, the first most commonly without. It is the first cl. that to our modes of thought appears circumstantial. 1. When the first cl. has a perf. the two events were contemporaneous or the circumstance had just occurred when the main event happened. 2. When the first has a ptcp. or a nominal sent. equivalent, the main event occurred during the action expressed by the ptcp. 3. When both clauses have ptcp. the two actions, main and subordinate, were going on simultaneously. Some ex. of perf. in first cl.: Genesis 19:23, cf. Genesis 27:30 for a more precise way of stating that the circumstance had jusi happened (cf. Judges 7:19). Genesis 24:15; Genesis 44:3-4, Exodus 10:13, Joshua 2:8 (טרם with impf. = perf., Genesis 24:15), Judges 3:24; Judges 15:14; Judges 18:22, 1 Samuel 9:5; 1 Samuel 20:36, 1 Samuel 20:41, 2 Samuel 2:24; 2 Samuel 6:16; 2 Samuel 17:24, 2 Kings 20:4. Some ex. of ptcp. in first cl.: Judges 19:22 (11), 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 9:14, 1 Samuel 9:27; 1 Samuel 17:23; 1 Samuel 23:26; 1 Samuel 25:20, 2 Samuel 13:30; 2 Samuel 20:8, 1 Kings 1:14, 1 Kings 1:22; 1 Kings 14:17 (? or, ptcp. = perf.); 1 Kings 18:7; 1 Kings 20:39-40; 2 Kings 2:11, 2 Kings 2:23; 2 Kings 4:5; 2 Kings 8:5; 2 Kings 9:25; 2 Kings 13:21; 2 Kings 19:37. With עוד Genesis 29:9, 1 Kings 1:14, 1 Kings 1:22, 1 Kings 1:42, 2 Kings 6:33, cf. Job 1:16-18.—In 1 Kings 13:20 the consn. is unusual ויהי הֵם יֽשְׁבִים וַיְהִי דְּבַר י׳, cf. the usual one 2 Kings 20:4.
Rem. 3. On the use of perf. in attributive and circ. clauses where other languages would use ptcp. cf. § 41, R. 3; on similar use of impf. § 44, R. 3. The impf. is much used in circ. cl., cf. Numbers 14:3, 1 Samuel 18:5 went out prospering, Isaiah 3:26 sitting on the ground, Isaiah 5:11 wine inflaming them, Jeremiah 4:30 beautifying thyself, Psalms 50:20 sattest speaking, Job 16:8 answering to my face. The finite tense must be used with neg., Leviticus 1:17 not dividing, Job 29:24; Job 31:34 not going out. In Ar. the circumstantial impf. may express an accompanying action of the subj. or one purposed by him, and Job 24:14 יִקְטָל־עָנִי seems = to kill, lit. he will kill. Perhaps Job 30:28 is rather, I stand up crying out, cf. Psalms 88:10; Psalms 102:14. See § 82.
Obs.—The use of this and of circumstance is common in language.
And shall the figure of God's majesty
Be judged, and he himself not present I
How can ye chaunt, ye little birds,
An' I sae weary, fu' o' care!
Played me sic a trick,
An' me the El'r's dochter!