BBH Chapter 20 — Qal Infinitive Construct

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Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Pratico & Van Pelt
Data: MACULA Hebrew WLC (~4,029 Qal Infinitive Construct tokens OT-wide)

1. Function (BBH §20.2)

The Infinitive Construct (IC) is a verbal noun — it has the properties of both a verb (it takes subjects, objects, and aspect) and a noun (it can be governed by prepositions). It never inflects for person, number, or gender on its own; those are expressed by suffixes (see Ch19).

Key diagnostic: Look for a preposition (לְ, בְּ, כְּ, מִ, עַד) before a form that looks like a verb but has no prefix — that is the Infinitive Construct. The most common signal in narrative is לֵ/אמֹ֑ר ("saying") after a verb of speech (over 800 times in the Torah alone).

2. Form — Diagnostic Markers (BBH §20.3–20.5)

The Qal Infinitive Construct resembles the Qal Imperative 2ms in most strong roots:

• Strong root (A-class): שְׁמֹר — identical to Imperative 2ms (context distinguishes)
• Strong root (B-class): שְׁמֹעַ — patach before guttural R3 (but holem on R2)
• With לְ prefix (most common): לִ/שְׁמֹר — hireq under lamed; shewa under R1
• III-ה roots: רְאוֹת / לִ/רְאוֹת — ה replaced by וֹת (holem-waw + taw)
• Biconsonantal roots: שׁוּב / בֹּא / קוּם — full long vowel preserved; bare IC = same as imperative
• I-י roots: לֶ/כֶת (הלך) / צֵאת (יצא) / שֶׁ/בֶת (ישב) — irregular contracted forms
• I-נ roots: סְפֹר (ספר, I-נ behaves normally in IC) / but נְסֹ֣עַ — some I-נ verbs are irregular
• I-aleph roots: אֱמֹר / אֱכֹל — hateph-seghol under aleph (same as Imperative)

3. Paradigm

Full paradigm tables are in the paradigm reference file.

4. Real Forms — שָׁמַר (to keep/guard)

Critical distinction: שְׁמֹר alone is ambiguous between Imperative 2ms and Inf.Construct. Context resolves: if the form is the subject or object of another verb, or follows a preposition, it is the IC. If it is addressed to a second person with command force, it is the Imperative.

5. Most Common Lemmas — Qal Infinitive Construct in the Torah

Corpus: Genesis–Deuteronomy · ~1,081 Qal IC tokens (including connector morphemes)

6. Example Passages

Complementary Infinitive (after modal verb)

Complementary — Gen 2:16–17 — מִכֹּ֛ל עֵ֥ץ הַ/גָּן אָכֹ֖ל תֹּאכֵֽל
"From every tree of the garden you may surely eat."
→ אכל Qal IC (Infinitive Absolute as intensifier here — but note next verse): וּמֵ/עֵ֗ץ הַ/דַּ֤עַת טוֹב֙ וָ/רָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ — "you shall not eat from it"; מֵ/עֵץ = "from the tree" — preposition + noun + IC follows.

Complementary — Gen 19:22 — מַהֵ֣ר הִמָּלֵ֣ט שָׁ֑מָּה כִּ֣י לֹ֤א אוּכַל֙ לַ/עֲשׂ֣וֹת דָּבָ֔ר
"Hurry, escape there! For I am not able to do anything…"
→ עשה Qal IC (לַ/עֲשׂוֹת); complementary after יכל; the angel's limitation before Sodom.

Purpose / Result (לְ + IC)

Purpose — Gen 11:5 — וַ/יֵּ֣רֶד יְהוָ֔ה לִ/רְאֹ֥ת אֶת-הָ/עִ֖יר
"And the LORD came down to see the city."
→ ראה Qal IC (לִ/רְאוֹת → III-ה; וֹת ending); לְ + IC = purpose clause; divine descent to Babel.

Purpose — Exo 3:8 — וָ/אֵרֵ֞ד לְ/הַ/צִּיל֣/וֹ מִ/יַּ֣ד מִצְרַ֗יִם
"And I came down to deliver him from the hand of Egypt."
→ נצל Hiphil IC (לְ/הַ/צִּיל); purpose; God's self-declaration of intent.

Purpose — Deu 6:18 — לְמַ֣עַן יִיטַב֙ לָ֔/ךְ וּ/בָ֕אתָ וִ/ירַשְׁתָּ֖ אֶת-הָ/אָ֣רֶץ הַ/טֹּבָ֑ה
"…so that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land…"
→ ירש Qal IC implied in context; לְמַעַן introduces a purpose clause with finite verb following.

Temporal — When (בְּ + IC)

Temporal bᵉ — Gen 19:17 — וַ/יְהִ֕י כְ/הוֹצִיאָ֥ם אֹתָ֖ם הַ/ח֑וּצָה
"And when they had brought them outside…"
→ יצא Hiphil IC (כְּ/הוֹצִיאָ֥ם) + 3mp subject suffix; temporal clause opening narrative.

Temporal bᵉ — Gen 39:19 — וַ/יְהִ֣י כִ/שְׁמֹ֣עַ אֲדֹנָ֗יו אֶת-דִּבְרֵ֤י אִשְׁתּ֙/וֹ֙
"And when his master heard the words of his wife…"
→ שמע Qal IC (כִּ/שְׁמֹ֣עַ); B-class; כְּ + IC = temporal; standard Hebrew narrative technique.

Temporal — As / When (כְּ + IC)

Temporal kᵉ — Gen 37:18 — וַ/יִּרְא֥וּ אֹת֖/וֹ מֵ/רָחֹ֑ק וּ/בְ/טֶ֗רֶם יִקְרַ֤ב אֲלֵי/הֶם֙
"They saw him from a distance, and before he came near them…"
→ Context for בְּטֶרֶם + imperfect (not IC here, but common temporal pairing with IC).

Temporal kᵉ — Exo 19:1 — בְּ/יוֹם֙ הַ/זֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִ/דְבַּ֣ר סִינָ֑י … לְ/צֵ֥את בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵ/אֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם
"…in their going out from the land of Egypt."
→ יצא Qal IC (לְ/צֵ֥את); I-י IC form (צֵאת = going out); temporal + origin.

Quotative Formula (לֵאמֹר)

Quotative — Gen 1:22 — וַ/יְבָ֧רֶךְ אֹתָ֛/ם אֱלֹהִ֖ים לֵ/אמֹ֑ר
"And God blessed them, saying:"
→ אמר Qal IC (לֵ/אמֹ֑ר); I-aleph; the quotative לֵאמֹר follows verbs of speech to introduce direct discourse; ~2,600× OT-wide — the single most common IC form.

Until (עַד + IC)

Until — Gen 26:13 — וַ/יֵּ֤לֶךְ הָ/אִישׁ֙ הָלֹ֣ךְ וְ/גָדֵ֔ל עַ֥ד כִּֽי-גָדַ֖ל מְאֹֽד
"The man grew and grew until he became very great."
→ גדל Qal Perfect — עַד כִּי + finite verb (IC also used: עַד + IC = "until [action]").

7. Conjugation Distribution — Qal (OT-wide)

Teaching note: The Infinitive Construct (4,029 tokens, 8.7% of Qal) ranks fifth among Qal conjugations — more common than the Wayyiqtol! This reflects the heavy use of לְ-infinitives as purpose/complementary clauses, temporal constructions (בְּ/כְּ + IC), and especially the quotative לֵאמֹר (~2,600 tokens), which follows almost every verb of speech in Hebrew narrative. Mastering the IC unlocks the structure of most Hebrew temporal clauses and speech formulas.

8. Parsing Quick Reference