תוארי הפועל "יחדיו", "יחד" ו"ביחד" במגילות מדבר יהודה

• Published in: לשוננו 2019, Vol.פב (א), p.23-42
• Format: Article
• Language: Hebrew
• Subjects: מאמרים / Articles
• ISSN: 0334-3626

This paper describes the linguistic development of the adverbs יחדיו and יחד, from Biblical Hebrew to the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the nature and usage of the adverb ביחד in the Scrolls. Starting with the adverb יחדיו, the article shows that its use in the Scrolls is archaistic, occurring but a handful of times and only in biblical citations and biblical-like texts. Although mostly spelled plene in line with postexilic practice, it functions as in Biblical Hebrew; namely, it shows no semantic or syntactic change. The article then demonstrates that the adverb יחד is used, on the one hand, like its biblical counterpart, but, on the other hand, has undergone meaningful transformations which characterize the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls, such as its wide distribution, its use as a noun and a verb, along with the new collocation יחד עם, ‘together with’. In closing, the article argues that ביחד stands out as a new form characteristic of a language stratum that is reflected in the War Scroll, the Thanksgiving Scroll, the Community Rule, and in several Cave 4 manuscripts. In these corpora, the adverb ביחר (< יחד) was created in line with the standard morphology of adverb formation in the Second Temple period and beyond, in which the preposition bet is prefixed to a word. Perhaps its occurrence can be attributed both to the disappearance of יחדיו and the semantic and syntactic innovations of יחד in these texts. Moreover, four differentiated uses of ביחד are pinpointed: (a) it is employed instead of יחדיו and יחד in accord with biblical usage; (b) it occurs in the collocation ביחד עם, ‘together with’; (c) it denotes dual meaning, namely, it serves, simultaneously, as an adverb and a reference to the sectarian group; and (d) it is used in construct phrases like ביחד שמחה, ‘in communal joy’.