Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bryan Rocine <brocine AT earthlink.net>]

B-Haverim,

A couple questions about Eze 37:1-14.  There are probably too many
questions for one little e-mail, but they are all closely related.  I
would appreciate your thoughts on any or all of the questions.  I have
written excerpts of the passage for you below including only those
clauses that are "narrator's text" (i.e., no direct speech is included)
and contain either wayyiqtol or qatal verb forms. The clauses with qatal

or weqatal are at the left margin, and the clauses with wayyiqtol are
indented.  Qatal is abbreviated as *QTL* and Wayyiqtol as *WAY*.  The
clause are numbered by verse.

1a. And the hand of YHVH was (QTL) upon me
                               b. And He brought me (WAY)...
                               c. And He set me (WAY)...
2. And He passed me over them (weQTL)
                               3a. And He said (WAY)...
                               b. And I said (WAY)...
                               4. And He said (WAY)...
7a. And I prophesied (weQTL)...
                               b. And a sound happened (WAY)...
                               c. And the bones approached (WAY)...
8a. And I looked (weQTL)
b. And flesh had come up (QTL)...
                               c. And skin spread over them (WAY)...
                               9. And He said (WAY)...
10a. And I prophesied (weQTL)...
                               10b. And the Sprit came into them
(WAY)...
                               10c. And they lived (WAY)...
                               10d. And they stood (WAY)...
                               11 And He said (WAY)...

My main question:  How do you explain the co-occurrence of
clause-initial qatals (including the weQTLs) and wayyiqtols, something
that is relatively rare in "Standard Biblical Hebrew" (Gen-Kings)
narrator's text?

I can break the above question into a number of questions:

Are the qatal and weqatals in this passage equivalent in verbal meaning
and function to each other?

Are the qatals and weqatals in this passage equivalent in verbal meaning

and function to the wayyiqtols?

If the clause-initial qatal is equivalent in meaning and function with
the wayyiqtols, would we explain this as a feature of Late Biblical
Hebrew, such as in Qohelet?

Can I sneak in a couple more questions?
I notice that the weqatals in the narrator's text in this passage have
the stress on the second to the last syllable whereas the weqatals in
the charater's text (or direct speech passages) on the last syllable
(cf. v. 6's "character's text" venataTI and v. 7's "narrator's text"
niBE'ti )  Should we take this as a confirmation that we have two
verbally distinct weqatals here, one in the narrator's text and one in
the character's text?

Might the verb forms be taken as having an organizing effect on the
whole discourse?  It seems to me that the clause-initial qatal in the
narrator's text here correlates with paragraphing.

Thanks for your thoughts, and shalom,
Bryan