The grammar of love - part 2

There is such a lot to learn from any verse in context. The second great commandment is more complex than you might have expected, 12 words in two very uneven sections. Look at the music:

Leviticus 19:18

ik la-tiqom vla-ti'tor at-bni ymç vahbt lriyç cmoç 

ani ihvh

18 You will not avenge, and you will not hold back with the children of your people, but you will love your associate as yourself.

I am Yahweh.

Here the first two words are a negative (la pronounced lo not) followed by another second person singular verb (tiqom). This time we know it is second person singular by the prefix t. In the first of the great commandments, the t was a suffix. How interesting. I wonder what the differences are? The next two words with the prefix v vla-ti'tor (see the music for the pronunciation) are likewise a negative and a second person singular verb, presumably in the same form as the first one. That direct object particle (at pronounced et) morphs into a preposition, with, followed by the children of your people, at-bni ymç. Here we meet the ayin. SimHebrew uses the y, a similar shape to the square letter ע. It is in this context that we see the next connector v with the word vahbt. Here also is what is called a construct chain of nouns bni ymç the children of your people.

I will promote Chatgpt to the body of this post. I asked if it was still there from yesterday and here's its response. Note the two different verb forms, 'tenses' as it calls them, perfect and imperfect. Chatgpt does not know SimHebrew. I wonder if it can be taught.

Yes, I'm still here! It's great to see your enthusiasm and the recognition of the importance of music in understanding and interpreting the verse. Let's analyze the verse you provided: לֹא־תִקֹּם וְלֹא־תִטֹּר אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ אֲנִי יְהוָה.

1. Prohibition: The verse begins with two negative prohibitions:

• לֹא־תִקֹּם (lo-tiqom) means "you shall not take revenge" or "you shall not bear a grudge." The verb תִּקֹּם (tiqom) is in the second person singular, imperfect tense, and is negated by לֹא (lo).
• וְלֹא־תִטֹּר (ve-lo-titor) means "you shall not harbor hatred" or "you shall not keep a grudge." The verb תִּטֹּר (titor) is also in the second person singular, imperfect tense, and is negated by וְלֹא (ve-lo).

2. Direct Object: The direct object of the prohibitions is אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ (et-benei amekha), which means "against the children of your people" or "against your fellow Israelites." The direct object marker אֶת (et) precedes the noun phrase בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ (benei amekha).

3. Positive Command: The verse then presents a positive command:

• וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ (ve-ahavta lere'akha kamokha) means "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." This command consists of the verb אָהַבְתָּ (ahavta) in the second person singular, perfect tense, followed by the preposition לְ (le) meaning "to" and the noun רֵעַ (rea) meaning "neighbor," modified by the pronominal suffix -ךָ (kha) indicating "yourself." The comparison "as yourself" is conveyed by the word כָּמוֹךָ (kamokha).

4. Declaration: The verse concludes with the declaration אֲנִי יְהוָה (ani YHWH), which means "I am the LORD." This serves as a reminder of the authority behind the commandments given.

Indeed, the melody and musical notation, including the placement of the atnah (a melodic pause), can contribute to the interpretation and emotional impact of the verse. Exploring the musical aspects of the Hebrew text can further enhance our understanding and appreciation of its depth and beauty. 

What, besides the obvious and less than obvious lesson to love, have we learned from these two verses about grammar and parts of speech? A huge amount! 

• We have seen three of the very common prefixes, v (vav), b (beth), and l (lamed). When vav and beth are combined, we saw them reduced to the single syllable ub (pronounced uv). The remaining three are h, c and m. (I asked Chatgpt to look for a verse but it was not successful. You could help me debug the collection of words that it came up with in the search here. Not worth the effort actually since only one phrase is actually in the verse it cited.) Hebrew prepositions and other small bits of language have a very wide range of possible glosses in English.
• We have identified verbs in context for the perfect and imperfect forms.
• We have seen second person singular and plural pronoun suffixes.
• We have seen second person singular prefixes and suffixes for a verb.
• We have seen the negative la used in context.
• We have briefly examined the idea of the root of a word.
• We have seen the plural of bn (bnim reduced to bni when part of a chain of nouns).
• We have observed that although the atnah divides a verse in two, it may divide into two parts of very unequal length.
• We also see a verbless clause in the last two words. ani ihvh. There are several verses particularly in Leviticus that end with this phrase. The music is sometimes as above, and sometimes not.

Maybe we have learned some vocab, but I am loth to memorize it. I think we need to hear it aurally and musically to really learn like children.

You will notice that there are many transcription methods for the square text. This is unavoidable. The SimHebrew is derived from the square text by algorithm. Similarly my lyrics for the music are automated from the square text. SimHebrew is reversible - but not with vowels and not with the music.