Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG]

If we follow the regular understanding of N + qatal in 1 Kings 11:1, 
the point is not that Solomon "had a thing for" foreign women or 
"habitually fell in love with them". I guess that would require a 
participle. Here, rather, the sense is pluperfect: at some time 
previous to the events described in the previous passage, Solomon "had 
fallen in love with" many foreign women and so was, at the narrative 
time, in a state of love regarding them - cf an English or Greek 
perfect or pluperfect tense. Indeed, they had become his wives and 
concubines. I understand Bryan's conception of the qatal as stative as 
relating in that way to its pluperfect "flashback" sense - is that 
right, Bryan? Maybe the older grammarians were not as wrong as we 
sometimes think in calling the qatal form "perfect".

On the other hand there are cases where qatal cannot be stative e.g. 
Exodus 36:11 where wayyiqtol and qatal are parallel. Or is Bryan 
suggesting that all such cases are late?

Peter Kirk