[b-hebrew] HITPAEL as mutual action

Isaac Fried if at math.bu.edu
Tue Mar 31 23:20:25 EDT 2009


It appears to me so too, that HITPAEL is reserved for an act done by  
an actor upon himself, but then there is the example of TIT-RA)-U of  
Genesis 42:1, brought by Jason, and also WA-YI-TRA)-U PANIM, 'faced  
each other, looked one another in the face', of 2 Kings 14:11. Is, in  
light of this supposed nature of HITPAEL, the literal translation of  
WA-YI-TRA)-U, 'each showed his own face (to the other)'? Is there a  
case in the Hebrew bible where HITPAEL, in the singular, can be  
construed as a mutual (HADADI) action? Is HIT-XATEN such an example?
As I said, spoken Hebrew has HIT-XABEK, 'he was engaged in hugging  
someone who hugged him back',  which is by now fully entrenched and  
even condoned.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Mar 31, 2009, at 7:40 PM, Vadim Cherny wrote:

> IMO, all instances of hitpael in Hebrew are reflexive: doing  
> something to someone or, more specifically, to cause someone to  
> cause something. That is the only plausible interpretation of the  
> suffix ht = hh, two casuatives (double hiphil, so to say).
> That sense of reflective action is obfuscated in translation  
> because equivalent English words lack the sense of reflexion, but I  
> venture that careful examination shows such sense for every hitpael.
>
> Vadim Cherny
>
> Isaac Fried wrote:
>> In present day Hebrew the BINYAN of HITPAEL is often used for  
>> mutual action, for example, HIT-XABQ-U, 'they embraced, XBQ,  each  
>> other'. Is there an instance of similar usage in the Hebrew bible?
>>
>> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>>
>>



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