My understanding of Gen 1:1-3
Andrew & Debby Kulikovsky
hermeneutics at kulikovskyonline.net
Fri Aug 16 19:00:20 EDT 2002
On 03:38 PM 16/08/2002 -0600, Dave Washburn wrote:
> > Dave, I am simply repeating what I have heard about this from a
> > colleague, who has a Ph.D. in linguistics. I am not trying to claim that
> > WAYYIQTOL is always consecutive, simply that it often is, and that there
> > is no reason to interpret it otherwise either in Gen 1:3 or in the
> > opening verses of historical books which continue the historical
> > narrative.
>
>But that's precisely the point: "often is" doesn't account for all
>usages. Syntax generally has some kind of unifying factor, some
>common thread within a form's usage that explains all, or virtually
>all, instances (idiomatic usages, such as Mark's historic present,
>may provide exceptions but don't really negate the unifying-factor
>principle). In the HB, it is not the *form* of the wayyiqtol that
>denotes sequence, but the *context* in which it most commonly
>appears. It also appears in other nonsequential contexts - relatively
>often in fact, so such contexts do not appear to be aberrations or
>idiomatic - which strongly suggests that its unifying factor is
>something other than sequentiality. Again, the biggest problem with
>recent studies of it is that sequentiality is assumed, then
>nonsequential occurrences are manipulated to fit the sequence
>mold. I submit that if we want to progress in our understanding of
>the Hebrew verb system, it's time to throw away the mold and look
>for a new one.
Dave, I believe the "unifying factor" is that the wayyiqtol form moves the
narrative forward - it is essentially the glue that holds together the
narrative. Now since narrative tells a story and stories are inherently
sequential, this mean that most wayyiqtol forms are sequential. However,
narrated stories often have "flashbacks" and "closeups", hence the
pluperfect and epexegetical usages.
cheers,
Andrew
--
Andrew & Debby Kulikovsky
Check out my Biblical Hermeneutics web site:
http://hermeneutics.kulikovskyonline.net
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