Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>]

Randall Buth wrote


>[rolf wrote]
>>We could perhaps argue
>>for unboundedness by postulating iterativity or habituality, but both
>>YIQTOLS in the verses below are stative so that does not work There are a
>>host of similar examples. Also the passages below militate against the
>>traditional view of aspect.
>
>but these are iterative. statives events can repeat.
>
>>(3)  Num. 9:15,21 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud
>>covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was
>>(YIQTOL) over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.
>And
>>sometimes the cloud remained (YIQTOL) from evening until morning; and when
>>the cloud was taken up in the morning, they set out, or if it continued
>for
>>a day and a night, when the cloud was taken up they set out.
>
>
>15 cloud covered [(one occurrence)-past qatal]... at evening it was being
>[open-ended yiqtol] over the dwelling ...
>16 thus it would be [iterative yiqtol] ...
>21...the cloud would be [iterative yiqtol] from evening to morning and
>would lift [iterative veqatal], and they would set out [iterative veqatal]
>...
>
>`ata baHatsi ha-layla. ani `ayyef ve`alai lishon. elex veshaxavTI
>venirDAMti .
>layla tov lexulxem.
>


Dear Randall,

It seems to me that your interpretation is somewhat forced. Iterativity
implies dynamicity or change, but a state is per definition nondynamic; it
is something that continues without any input of energy. Do you say that
HAYA in this text is fientic? I am aware of an ingressive use of the word
(the entrance into the state, become, happen), but not of a fientic use. Do
you have any examples of that? Would you also interprete all the 19 YIQTOLS
with past meaning in the chapter as iterative, and if not, why are so many
YIQTOLS with past meaning used?

A related question: Why are YIQTOLS with past meaning often used to
describe something  being or moving in the air? Just look at Ezekiel
chapters 1 and 10.  In these chapters there are 30 YIQTOLS, 15 WAYYIQTOLS,
7 QATALS  and 3 active participles, all with past meaning ( and 1 yiqtol
with present meaning, 1:28), in a situation not very different from the one
found in Numbers chapter 9. (There are 24 examples of clusters of YIQTOLS
with past meaning in the MT) Are all these iterative? Why are so many
YIQTOLS used with past meaning? A comparison of the YIQTOLS and the
WAYYIQTOLS in these two chapters strongly suggest that there is no
difference either in time reference or aspect between the two groups.


Regards
Rolf


Rolf Furuli
Lecturer in Semitic languages
University of Oslo