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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re[2]: wayyiqtol test
  • Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 12:19:42 -0500 (EST)



Dear John,

I accept that you have made a strong case with your Genesis 42 example
for wayyiqtol not being inherently strictly sequential. I would judge
that if you could come up with 2-3 other non-sequential cases as
strong as your number 9 (to reduce the chance that this is a corrupted
text, a seam between sources, or a simple error) your case is well
proved. Bryan's explanation is interesting, but seems a little
contrived; I suppose that authors could deliberately use an otherwise
inappropriate verb form for emphasis, but is there other evidence of
this?

1 Kings 15:17,21 addresses a different issue, that of perfectivity
rather than sequentiality. (Is perfective necessarily sequential? Not
where marked as a "pluperfect" at least.) In verse 17 I think Russian
might well use a perfective verb meaning something like "he did some
building work at Ramah" cf. my "Ivan pochital gazetu" meaning "Ivan
read for a bit from the newspaper", or else another one meaning "he
started to build Ramah" (in fact after writing this I read the actual
Russian translation: it has "began to build", perfective). These
meanings are perfective and not incompatible with verse 21; they also
explain why "and he finished it" is needed at 1 Kings 6:9, for Hebrew
does not have the variety of prefixes which Russian can use to
distinguish different types of perfective action (e.g. starting, doing
for a bit, completing).

This reminds me of a little problem which I came across while listening
to a sermon in English with Russian translation. The preacher quoted
from Genesis 2:2: "on the seventh day God rested". The Russian
translator searched subconsciously no doubt for an appropriate
perfective form and came up with "began to rest", as more appropriate
than the alternative "took a (short) rest". Perhaps he was thinking of
an interpretation, corresponding to Hebrews 4:1-11, in which God's
resting from creation is continuing until today. But the preacher, who
knows Russian and was probably thinking of the seventh day in terms of
a 24 hour period, objected to the translation and obviously tried to
get the translator to translate (as the printed Russian text does)
"took a rest". Now can we actually tell from Genesis 2:2 in Hebrew
(apart from any theological arguments!) which of these meanings was
intended? I suppose only the strictest adherents of sequential
wayyiqtol would want to argue that the wayyiqtols in verse 3 must have
taken place after God had completed his rest. We also have the X qatal
in verse 3 which on my theory means "God had rested", but then perhaps
(especially if we give qatal adjectival force) it means "God was
resting". Quite a complicated little question.

By the way, I would provisionally take wayyiqtol and qatal as
perfective; and suggest that weqatal has two separate meanings
(possibly of different origin), one perfective and one imperfective.

Peter Kirk






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