Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Yes, to your second question: in prose at least, the contexts of 
yiqtol are overwhelmingly non-past or frequentative and imperfective, 
and the contexts of wayyiqtol are overwhelmingly past, sequential and 
perfective. I accept that context does not imply function as the 
context may be pragmatic implicature, but it would be very odd (from a 
statistical point of view at least) if 97% of wayyiqtols happen to be 
in perfective contexts and 90%+ of yiqtols happen to be in 
imperfective contexts if in fact the forms do not function to indicate 
perfectivity or imperfectivity. (I continue to define perfectivity in 
the generally accepted way.) Thus I would suggest a parse of wayyiqtol 
something like conjunction + perfective marker + yiqtol. The 
perfective marker may even be the definite article, as suggested by 
Galia.

As for your list of weyiqtols with past meaning, I can find only one 
which is neither late nor in poetry, and that one, 1 Kings 13:33, can 
easily be interpreted as volitive "and would consecrate them in order 
to become a priests of high places". (I can't find a weqatal in 2 
Samuel 1:10). Obviously the Masoretes were able to correctly point the 
sequential perfective forms as wayyiqtol.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: The conjunction "and" and sequence.
Author:  furuli AT online.no at internet 
Date:    12/03/1999 09:28

<snip>

Dear Peter.

The Hebrew style is terse, no question about that. Even though Aramaic is a 
different language, it illustrates how a simple conjunction can move the 
story forward. Drop the provosio and tell me: Would the simple Hebrew 
conjunction w be able to move the story forward if it was attached to 
yiqtols just as do wayyiqtols. To state it differently: Is there any 
function of the wayyiqtol which is not compatible with the view that the 
construction simply is w+yiqtol?

Regards
Rolf


Rolf Furuli
Lecturer in Semitic languages
University of Oslo



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