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 2527 אָכֹל דְּבַשׁ הַרְבּוֹת לֹא טוֹב it is not good to eat much honey; Jer 105, Jb 625, Ec 417; epexegetically, after a demonstrative pronoun, Is 585 f., Zc 1412.
[c] (b) As predicate, Is 3217 and the effect of righteousness (is) הַשְׁקֵט וָבֶ֫טַח quietness (prop. to find rest) and confidence.
[d] (c) As object, Is 117 לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב learn to do well; Is 715, Pr 1512, Jb 918; according to the sense also Jer 923 23:14, as well as Is 55 (הָסֵר and פָּרֹץ virtually depend on the idea of the wish contained in עֹשֶׂה); Is 2213, where a long series of infinitives absolute is governed by הִנֵּה, and 59:13 (six infinitives governed by יְדַֽעֲנוּם in verse 12); Dt 2856 is strange since the object precedes the infinitive absolute which governs it,[2] also Is 4224, where the statement of place precedes the infinitive absolute.—In Jer 94, Jb 133 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 5720, Jer 4923), so also in La 345 where it is the remoter object and co-ordinated with a substantive.
[e] (d) As genitive, Is 1423 בְּמַטְאֲטֵא הַשְׁמֵד with the besom of destruction; so perhaps also 4:4 בְּרוּחַ בָּעֵר; cf. further, Pr 13, 2116. 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 2213 ... בְּתִתְּךָ לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשָׁאוֹל לוֹ בֵּֽאלֹהִים in that thou hast given him bread ... and hast enquired of God for him; Ez 363; 1 S 2526, 33 (after מִן); after לְ Ex 326, Jer 718, 4417.
[f] (e) Governing an accusative of the object, e.g. Is 2213 הָרֹג בָּקָר וְשָׁחֹם צאֹן slaying oxen and killing sheep; cf. Ex 208, 2330, Dt 512, Is 3719, Ez 2330, and of the examples in a–d, Dt 2856 Is 55, 586 f., Pr 2527, &c.; followed by a preposition, e.g. Is 715 מָאוֹס בָּרָע וּבָחוֹר בַּטּוֹב to refuse the evil and choose the good; Pr 1512 (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 923 וְיָדוֹעַ אֹתִי and knoweth me; Ez 363.
