Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Dear Prof. Niccacci,

Thank you for your helpful and clear explanations on this list.

I was rather surprised by your explanation of weqatal as non-volitive. 
I have recently worked through the instructional and legal material in 
Exodus-Deuteronomy. There there are many x-yiqtol followed by weqatal 
sequences, e.g. Exodus 26:1ff with its repeated t.a(:a&eh and 
w:(f&iytf. I had assumed that these sequences were in some sense 
volitional, i.e. instructions, rather than simply predictions. But 
according to your theory these are non-volitive. How do you account 
for this?

Surely also the matrix for the priestly blessing, Numbers 6:23,27, as 
well as the blessing itself, is volitive?

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: WEQATAL NONVOLITIVE
Author:  sbfnet AT netvision.net.il at internet 
Date:    26/02/1999 02:50

<snip>

Dear Lee R. Martin,

I think that BH has two distinct sets of "future" verbforms:

- Non-volitive set (simple future):
        = speech-initial form: x-yiqtol (or non-verbal sentence) 
        = continuation form: weqatal
        = secondary-line (or background of a preceding weqatal): x-yiqtol;

- Volitive set:
        = speech-initial: (sentence-initial) yiqtol, or x-yiqtol 
        = continuation form: weyiqtol
        = secondary-line (or background to a preceding weyiqtol): x-yiqtol.

<snip>

The best syntactic setting for the volitive verbforms is the priestly 
blessing in Num. 6:24-26: "May the Lord bless you [SENTECE INITIAL YIQTOL] 
and keep you [WEYIQTOL]" etc. (two more times the same sequence).
Note that the blessing formula is framed by an instruction by God to Moses 
which begins with non-volitve x-yiqtol ("Thus you shall bless the 
Israelites", v. 22) and ends with a non-volitive weqatal followed by its 
background/secondary-line counterpart x-yiqtol: "Thus (Aaron and his sons) 
shall put my name upon the Israelites [WEQATAL] and I, on my part, I will 
bless them [WAW-X-YIQTOL]" (v. 27).

<snip>

Peace and all good.

Alviero Niccacci

Studium Biblicum Franciscanum      Tel. +972 - 2 - 6282 936 
POB 19424 - 91193 - Jerusalem      Fax  +972 - 2 - 6264 519 
Israel

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