Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryan Rocine" <596547 AT ican.net>]

B-Haverim:

May I make some comments:

16:6 `ereb vida`tem...  "(sun-)setting: and then you will be the ones that
know..."
16:7 uboqer ur'item...  "and morning: and then you will be the ones that
see..."

These are interesting in their use of pre-posed temporal adverbs with
vavved verb forms!  We, of course, expect yiqtol forms for future whenever
there is an element pre-posed to the verb (like in v. 12).  Such a case as
above is evidence, it seems to me, that the choice of a prefixed verb form
versus a suffixed is not conditioned *only* by the presence or absence of
an "emphasized," pre-posed element.   We are encouraged by such an example
to think the natural thought: that a weqatal itself means something
different than a yiqtol. These particular constructions utilize the
attributive nature of the weqatal form as opposed to the fientic nature of
the yiqtol.  I suspect the syntax sounds emphatic and perturbed in the ears
of the congregation.  The knowing and the seeing of the congregation will
be the sure consequence of the coming evening and morning.

V. 13 compare:

vayhi ba`ereb vata`al haslav...  "and it happened at the setting and the
quail came up"

 and 

ubaboqer haytah $ikbat hatal...  "and in the morning the settling of the
dew had come..."

The quail are presented as "coming up" after the setting of the sun as we
should have expected from the prediction that they would be eaten at
twilight (beyn `ereb is just after `ereb).  In contrast, "in the morning"
the dew had already come.  There is a subtle and precise chronology set up
by the verb forms in these two examples.  

Shalom,
Bryan


B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13208

315-437-6744(w)
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