Anticipatory Pronominal Agreement and Qumran Hebrew Phraseology

Abstract

Against a recent suggestion that 4Q252 1.4 בו ביום ההוא ‘on that day’ is a case of prolepsis or anticipatory pronominal agreement in Qumran Hebrew, the present study contends that the evidence for the suggestion is rather weak. An examination of Qumran Hebrew calendrical phraseology shows that בו refers to a preceding phrase, whereas ביום ההוא constitutes the beginning of the next sentence. The two other alleged instances of prolepsis in Qumran Hebrew (4QRPc 12b iii 2 כאשר צוהו יהוה את מושה and 11QT 66.4 מצאה האיש את האשה ) also prove to be highly uncertain.