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  • From: James Spinti <jspinti AT eisenbrauns.com>
  • To: George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>
  • Cc: "b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Alleged "prophetic tense"
  • Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2012 09:40:39 -0600

Barry,

In addition to John Cook's book, you might want to check out Joosten's new
book on the Hebrew verb:
The Verbal System of Biblical Hebrew: A New Synthesis Elaborated on the Basis
of Classical Prose
by Jan Joosten
Jerusalem Biblical Studies - JBS 10
Simor, Ltd., 2012

The Hebrew verbal system is the subject of a large amount of disagreement
right now, so finding a consensus will be difficult…but I would say that
most/all would agree with you that there is no "prophetic perfect" encoding.
The context is what determines the interpretation.

HTH,
James
________________________________
James Spinti
E-mail marketing, Book Sales Division
Eisenbrauns, Good books for more than 35 years
Specializing in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Studies
jspinti at eisenbrauns dot com
Web: http://www.eisenbrauns.com
Phone: 260-445-3118
Fax: 574-269-6788

On Dec 2, 2012, at 2:03 AM, George Athas wrote:

> Barry,
>
> I'm with you. I don't think there is such a thing as a prophetic perfect.
> However, I think this because I do not believe that the Qatal is encoded
> for perfective aspect. I would instead argue for it encoding a 'definite'
> (as opposed to indefinite) aspect. Its functional usage usually refers to
> the past, but this is not intrinsic to the verb form itself. Rather, it has
> to do with its syntax and context. The Qatal breaks momentum in a
> narrative, and this is usually caused by a break in the narrative to give
> some significant information (usually something in the past). However, the
> Qatal in and of itself doesn't preclude the possibility of the verb
> referring to the future. However, given its functional usage, this would be
> highly irregular.
>
> You should check out the new book on the Hebrew verb by John Cook published
> by Eisenbrauns (though I disagree with John's perfective–imperfective
> aspect polarity), as well as articles by Alexander Andrason.
>
>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> Dean of Research,
> Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
> Sydney, Australia
>
>
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