may form part of certain combinations (as a subject, predicate, or object, or even as a genitive,[1] see below); but such a use of the infinitive absolute (instead of the infinitive construct with or without a preposition) is, on the whole, rare, and, moreover, open to question on critical grounds. On the other hand, the infinitive absolute frequently exhibits its character as an expression of the verbal idea by taking an object, either in the accusative or even with a preposition.
[b] Examples of the use of the infinitive absolute:—
(a) As subject, Pr 25 אָכֹל דְּבַשׁ הַרְבּוֹת לֹא טוֹב it is not good to eat much honey; Jer 10, Jb 6, Ec 4; epexegetically, after a demonstrative pronoun, Is 58 f., Zc 14.
[c] (b) As predicate, Is 32 and the effect of righteousness (is) הַשְׁקֵט וָבֶ֫טַח quietness (prop. to find rest) and confidence.
[d] (c) As object, Is 1 לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב learn to do well; Is 7, Pr 15, Jb 9; according to the sense also Jer 9 23:14, as well as Is 5 (הָסֵר and פָּרֹץ virtually depend on the idea of the wish contained in עֹשֶׂה); Is 22, where a long series of infinitives absolute is governed by הִנֵּה, and 59:13 (six infinitives governed by יְדַֽעֲנוּם in verse 12); Dt 28 is strange since the object precedes the infinitive absolute which governs it,[2] also Is 42, where the statement of place precedes the infinitive absolute.—In Jer 9, Jb 13 the infinitive absolute as the object of the verb is placed before it for the sake of emphasis (with the verb negatived by לֹא in Is 57, Jer 49), so also in La 3 where it is the remoter object and co-ordinated with a substantive.
[e] (d) As genitive, Is 14 בְּמַטְאֲטֵא הַשְׁמֵד with the besom of destruction; so perhaps also 4:4 בְּרוּחַ בָּעֵר; cf. further, Pr 1, 21. The infinitive absolute is never used in immediate connexion with prepositions[3] (which as being originally substantives govern the genitive), but always the infinitive construct; but if a second infinitive is co-ordinated by וְ with such an infinitive construct, it has the form of the infinitive absolute (since it is released from the immediate government of the preposition), e.g. 1 S 22 ... בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשָׁאוֹל לוֹ בֵּֽאלֹהִים in that thou hast given him bread ... and hast enquired of God for him; Ez 36; 1 S 25, 33 (after מִן); after לְ Ex 32, Jer 7, 44.
[f] (e) Governing an accusative of the object, e.g. Is 22 הָרֹג בָּקָר וְשָׁחֹם צאֹן slaying oxen and killing sheep; cf. Ex 20, 23, Dt 5, Is 37, Ez 23, and of the examples in a–d, Dt 28 Is 5, 58 f., Pr 25, &c.; followed by a preposition, e.g. Is 7 מָאוֹס בָּרָע וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב to refuse the evil and choose the good; Pr 15 (הוֹכֵחַ לוֹ).
[g] If the object be a personal pronoun, then, since the infinitive absolute can never be united with a suffix (see the note on a), it is affixed by means of the accusative-sign אֵת (אֹת), e.g. Jer 9 וְיָדוֹעַ אֹתִי and knoweth me; Ez 36.
