BinyOn or binyAn adai-ad in one of the sheva brochos?

Question

At a chupah today, in the brocho of “asher yotzar es ho’odom betzalmo” a learned Rabbi said the word “binyOn” before “adai-ad” rather than the more usual “binyAn”. “binyOn” is the text in the Baer siddur. I was told that the word “binyan” cannot be construct in Biblical Hebrew with “adai-ad”. Should I change (if I ever get the brocho)?

Answer 1

I believe you're right that, in Biblical Hebrew, binyan cannot be construct with ade ad:

• For one thing, ade ad is not used as the complement of a construct noun in Tanach.
• For another, ade ad seems to be an adverb:
  • It seems to be used as an adverb wherever it appears (Is. 65:18; Ps. 83:18, 92:8, 132:12,14).
  • Moreover, ade is the same as (the preposition) ad (much as ale asor vaale navel is the same as al asor v'al navel), which would make the use of ade ad as an adverb seem plausible.
  Since a noun can't be used as an adverb (or at least I can't think of a noun used as an adverb: normally, one would need to add a prepositional prefix (clitic), as in l'ol'me ad), that would imply ade ad is not a noun. Then it can't be the complement of a construct noun.

But b'rachos are generally in rabbinic, not Biblical, Hebrew (when they're not paraphrasing Tanach), and rabbinic Hebrew may have different rules about ade ad: I don't know.

You ask what you should do if you're saying this b'racha. For practical guidance, one should always follow his rabbi's ruling, irrespective of what one reads on this site.