Thank you for the question, “I am learning Hebrew by reading the Old Testament in the original. Much of what seems explicit in the KJV is actually inferred and implicit in the Hebrew text. Is this a widespread characteristic of Biblical Hebrew?”
There may be a variety of usages or meaning to a world. Context would help in determining what word would be used in the translation. As far as I know, nearly every word in the Hebrew and in the Greek text has been parsed and examined by textual critics. Scholarly papers have been written on a singular word or phrase.
Will you please give an example or two of what you understand as explicit by the KJV and implicit or inferred in the Hebrew text. This would be very helpful to me in understanding your interpretation of the text that would be different from the KJV. (Personally, the KJV is one translation of the Hebrew and Greek text, not that I believe that the KJV is the only or the best translation). Thanks.
-Kingston