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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT sil.org
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: weqatal in Jdg 3:23
  • Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 00:24 -0500 (EST)


Interesting question. I wondered if we have been confused by the verse
break between 3:23 and 24. (Obviously this means the Masoretes were
confused also, but then clearly the construction is anomalous.) For
there is something odd about the time ordering. Did the upper room
have one or two entrances? Was the lock inside or out? Did they have
locks which could be operated from both sides at that time? Was the
_mapt."ax_ of verse 25 something stronger than a key? Did Ehud calmly
walk out and lock the door behind him, in such a way that the servants
thought it had been locked from inside?

My picture is the following (have I watched James Bond etc too much?):
The upper room has a main entrance and also a balcony or terrace (very
suitable for a summer palace). Ehud went in by the main entrance. The
king's servants left by the main entrance and shut the door behind
them. Ehud killed the king. He then locked (more likely, bolted or
barred) the main door (already closed) behind him, went out on to the
balcony (misd.:rown) and shut the balcony doors behind him. Then he
made his escape down a drainpipe or something (well, there must have
been an outlet from the toilet in the inner room).

This makes locking the main door come before shutting the balcony
door, and the time sequence has been disturbed. So perhaps _w:nf(fl_
(two qamets in pause) should go with the following _w:hw.) yfcf) ..._
to mean something like "He had locked (the door) as he left, and so
when the (king's) servants came (they found that) the doors of the
upper room were locked.". Now this is not, I guess, the normal
construction for this, we might expect _w:hw.) nf(al wayy"c")_ or
something. But maybe this is a clue that this "weqatal" form is more
like the flashback "qatal" than the narrative "wayyiqtol". Just a few
thoughts from someone trying to learn these issues.

Peter Kirk




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