Thus far in this book we have treated the syntax of individual words and phrases. By “phrases” we mean the function of individual words and the way they relate to each other in larger units to create noun phrases, verb phrases, adverbial phrases, and prepositional phrases. In most cases, a phrase is a series of words capable of serving the syntactical function of a single word. In this final section, we move beyond phrases to clauses and sentences.

The very definitions of “clause” and “sentence” may be problematic, and so we begin by clarifying a few more terms. Put simply, a clause is a group of words containing a subject and only one predicate. This distinguishes a clause from a phrase, which makes no specific grammatical predication. Having clarified clause and phrase, we need to qualify the statement with which we began this unit, “Thus far in this book we have treated the syntax of individual words and phrases.” Exceptions to this statement exist in our treatment of the finite verbal forms (sections 3.2 and 3.3) and verbal sequences (section 3.5). Since Hebrew finite verbs contain implied subjects (embedded by means of pronominal morphemes), the subject and predicate of a clause are both contained in the verb, making it impossible to study verbal syntax without considering clause-level relationships. Nonetheless, our study of BH syntax prior to this point in the book has been primarily focused on the phrase-level relationships of Hebrew nouns, verbs, and particles.