אל and לא
- Thread starter JAN SHAR
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In terms of meaning? It seems לא is more general, like a law. אל is more immediate, relevant to the present or other specific moment or instance.
They're also different morphologically. If I'm not mistaken, אל is used with the jussive form, while לא is used with the ordinary prefix-conjugation form.
They're also different morphologically. If I'm not mistaken, אל is used with the jussive form, while לא is used with the ordinary prefix-conjugation form.
Thank you, but I just checked, and it turns out that the use of the jussive with אל is optional. You can use the indicative as well. For example, Lambdin gives the sentence אל־תשתה את־המים. You can see that he used the indicative, not the jussive, even though it means Don't drink the water!
Lambdin should be taken with a grain of salt. For instance, he gives the following sentence in one of the exercises:
ונשב ונאכל ונשתה
"And (then) we sat down and (then) we ate and (then) we drank."
The last verb should have been ונשת because after the waw-retentive you always use the short form of the verb (if one exists).
Similarly, after a negative command with אל you have to use the short form if it exists. So, Lambdin is wrong; it should have been אל־תשת את־המים, not אל־תשתה את־המים.
ונשב ונאכל ונשתה
"And (then) we sat down and (then) we ate and (then) we drank."
The last verb should have been ונשת because after the waw-retentive you always use the short form of the verb (if one exists).
Similarly, after a negative command with אל you have to use the short form if it exists. So, Lambdin is wrong; it should have been אל־תשת את־המים, not אל־תשתה את־המים.
No, sometimes we find in the Bible the long form where we would expect the short form. I distinctly remember coming across the long form of לשתות to drink where the short form was expected because it was after a vav-conversive. I can't remember where I saw it though.
So, don't be surprised if you see a long form after אל.
So, don't be surprised if you see a long form after אל.
You were right:
וַיָּ֖קׇם וַיֹּ֣אכַל וַיִּשְׁתֶּ֑ה וַיֵּ֜לֶךְ בְּכֹ֣חַ ׀ הָאֲכִילָ֣ה הַהִ֗יא אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יוֹם֙ וְאַרְבָּעִ֣ים לַ֔יְלָה עַ֛ד הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים חֹרֵֽב׃
(מלכים א יט ח)
And he got up and ate and drank and walked on the strength of that meal forty days and forty nights as far as God's mountain, Horeb.
That's not to mention that first person forms have an even stronger tendency towards the "long form", even in earlier texts.