Abstract

The particle נָא in biblical Hebrew has been interpreted in various, sometimes opposing, ways. The purpose of this paper is to determine the function of נָא by evaluating all contexts where נָא occurs in the prose portions of the Pentateuch and Former Prophets from a socic-contextual perspective. This study is based on the assumption that there is a semantic and pragmatic distinction between an utterance in which נָא is used, and an utterance in which it is not used. The study provides a plausible explanation for the use of נָא in all occurrences in our corpus and for its absence. It demonstrates that נָא is typically used to mark an utterance as a polite, personal, or emotional request of the addressee.

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