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Grammar Analysis: Genesis 9:3-4

Text

Hebrew (v.3): כָּל־רֶ֨מֶשׂ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוּא־חַ֔י לָכֶ֥ם יִהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָ֑ה כְּיֶ֣רֶק עֵ֔שֶׂב נָתַ֥תִּי לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־כֹּֽל׃

Hebrew (v.4): אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשֹׁ֥ו דָמֹ֖ו לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃

KJV (v.3): Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

KJV (v.4): But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Word-by-Word Parsing

Genesis 9:3

# Hebrew Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 כָּל כל Noun.ms.Cst whole
2 רֶ֨מֶשׂ֙ רמשׂ Noun.ms.Abs creeping animals
3 אֲשֶׁ֣ר אשׁר Conj.+NAN relative
4 הוּא הוא PersPron.3ms.+NAN he
5 חַ֔י חי Adj.ms.Abs alive
6 לָכֶ֥ם ל Prep.+2mp to
7 יִהְיֶ֖ה היה Verb.Qal.Impf.3ms be
8 לְ ל Prep to
9 אָכְלָ֑ה אכלה Noun.fs.Abs food
10 כְּ כ Prep as
11 יֶ֣רֶק ירק Noun.ms.Abs greens
12 עֵ֔שֶׂב עשׂב Noun.ms.Abs herb
13 נָתַ֥תִּי נתן Verb.Qal.Perf.1s give
14 לָכֶ֖ם ל Prep.+2mp to
15 אֶת את Prep object marker
16 כֹּֽל כל Noun.ms.Abs whole

Genesis 9:4

# Hebrew Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 אַךְ אך Adv.+NAN only
2 בָּשָׂ֕ר בשׂר Noun.ms.Abs flesh
3 בְּ ב Prep in/with
4 נַפְשֹׁ֥ו נפשׁ Noun.fs.Abs.+3ms his/its soul
5 דָמֹ֖ו דם Noun.ms.Abs.+3ms his/its blood
6 לֹ֥א לא Neg.+NAN not
7 תֹאכֵֽלוּ אכל Verb.Qal.Impf.2mp eat

Key Grammatical Features

1. כָּל־רֶמֶשׂ — construct totality phrase

  • Form: כָּל is masculine singular construct governing רֶמֶשׂ, masculine singular absolute.
  • Significance: The phrase forms the subject of יִהְיֶה: "every/all moving thing." The totalizing force is supplied by construct כָּל, while the lexical head is רֶמֶשׂ.
  • Grammar reference: construct-state.
  • Word study: H7431-remes. Related but non-occurring lexical contrast: H8318-sherets.

2. אֲשֶׁר הוּא־חַי — relative adjectival clause

  • Form: אֲשֶׁר introduces a relative clause. הוּא is 3ms subject pronoun; חַי is masculine singular absolute adjective.
  • Significance: The relative clause qualifies רֶמֶשׂ by living status. The parser treats it as an adjectival clause, not as the main predication of the verse.
  • Word study: H2416-chay.

3. יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה — Qal imperfect with predicate lamed

  • Form: יִהְיֶה is Qal imperfect 3ms of היה; לְאָכְלָה is lamed + noun, functioning as predicate complement ("for food").
  • Significance: The living moving thing is predicated as becoming/being for food for the addressed plural לָכֶם. The grammatical subject remains singular because רֶמֶשׂ is singular, though the reference is distributive.
  • Grammar reference: qal-imperfect.
  • Word study: H402-oklah.

4. כְּיֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב — comparison phrase

  • Form: כְּ introduces comparison; יֶרֶק and עֵשֶׂב are adjacent masculine singular nouns. The parser treats the phrase as an adjunct to נָתַתִּי.
  • Significance: The permission/grant is compared with the prior plant-food grant by an explicit comparative preposition, not by a finite verbal parallel.
  • Word studies: H3418-yereq, H6212-eseb.

5. אַךְ ... לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ — restrictive prohibition with fronted object

  • Form: אַךְ is a restrictive adverb; לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ is negation plus Qal imperfect 2mp of אכל. The object phrase בָּשָׂר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ דָמוֹ stands before the negative predicate.
  • Significance: Verse 4 is syntactically restrictive: the prohibition is not a new subject-predicate statement about blood alone, but a fronted object phrase followed by a plural addressee prohibition. נַפְשׁוֹ and דָמוֹ both carry 3ms suffixes referring back to בָּשָׂר/the living creature.
  • Grammar reference: qal-imperfect.

Clause Structure

Genesis 9:3

  • Clause 1: XYqt: subject כָּל רֶמֶשׂ; complement לָכֶם; predicate יִהְיֶה; predicate complement לְאָכְלָה.
  • Clause 2: adjectival relative clause: אֲשֶׁר הוּא חַי, with 3ms subject and adjective predicate complement.
  • Clause 3: xQt0: comparison adjunct כְּיֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב; predicate נָתַתִּי; complement לָכֶם; object אֶת־כֹּל.

Genesis 9:4

  • Clause 1: xYq0: fronted object אַךְ בָּשָׂר בְּנַפְשׁוֹ דָמוֹ; negation לֹא; predicate תֹאכֵלוּ.

Construct Chains

  • כָּל־רֶמֶשׂ — construct totality phrase, "every moving thing."
  • No construct chain was found by the parser in Genesis 9:4.

Cross-References