Translating Negative Commands
- An imperfect form that is preceded by a negation is a negative imperative
- Hebrew has an imperative form (Lesson 18), but this form is not used for negative commands
- Hebrew has two primary words for negative commands: לֹא and אַל
- לֹא + imperfect is for permanent prohibitions
- לֹא תִּרְצָח Thou shalt not murder (Ex 20:13)
- אַל + Jussive (closely related to imperfect) is usually a temporary or circumstantial prohibition
- אַֽל־תִּשְׁמְע֞וּ אֶל־דִּבְרֵ֣י נְבִֽיאֵיכֶ֗ם Do not listen to the words of your prophets (Jer 27:16)
- Jeremiah is not saying, “Don’t EVER listen to ANY prophets”
- In this circumstance, the people were listening to FALSE prophets
- The specific circumstance of listening to false prophets is what Jeremiah is prohibiting