Biblical Hebrew Forum

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 On  04/14/99 (Job 1) Lee R. Martin wrote:


> Dear Professor,
> I have tried to apply your method to chapter 1 of Job.  Line numbers are
> attached for ease of discussion. Please suggest any corrections to my
> syntactical descriptions.
> A few specific questions:
> Line 3: Is the weqatal of HYH habitual, or does it indicate setting?
> Lines 1-9 seem to be entirely antecedent information.  If so, are lines
> 5-6 continuation wayyiqtols?
> Are lines 11and 12 a double sentence?
> Line 18: Does weqatal designate habitual actions within direct speech?
> Line 35: Is it correct to identify the negative of qatal as negative
> wayyiqtol? Is neg. wayyiqtol a main-line verb form in direct speech?
> Lines 36and 37: Do these x-qatals specify the nature of the "hedge" in
> the previous line? Or do they signify circumstance?
> Lines 46-47 form a double sentence.  Does the double sentence function
> here as antecedent to "wayomer" in the next line?
> Line 49: Does this qatal of HYH begin the oral report, or is it
> antecedent?
> Line 53: Is this x-qatal subordinate to line 52? Would you classify it
> as "circumstance"?
> Line 73: Direct speech does not usually begin with participles.  Would
> this line be classed as antecedent for the report? Setting?
> Lines 87 and 88:  These x-qatals seem to be independent sentences.  Are
> they emphatic with emphasis on x?
> Lines 90-91: Is it correct to name these verbs (L'O + Qatal) as
> "negative wayyiqtols"?
> 
> Please make your answers as short or as long as you wish.  Thank you
> very much.
> 
>     VERB     SYNTAX     TRANSLATION
>     FORM
> 1  x-qatal    antecedent        There was a man in the land of Utz,
> 2  nominal
>     clause     antecedent         Job was his name;
> 3  weqatal   habitual             and that man was perfect and upright,
> 4  wyyqtl     main-line      And there were born unto him seven sons and
> three daughters.
> 5  wyyqtl     main-line      His property also was seven thousand sheep,
> 
> 6  wyyqtl     main-line      so that man was the greatest of all the men
> of the east.
> 7  weqatal   habitual            And his sons would go and make a feast
> in their houses, every one his day;
> 8  weqatal   habitual            and they would send
> 9  weqatal   habitual            and they would call  for their three
> sisters to eat and to drink with them.
> 10 wyyqtl    new parag   And it was,
> 11 x-qatal   compound        when the days of their feasting were gone
> about,
> 12 wyyqtl    main-line     that Job sent
> 13 wyyqtl    main-line     and sanctified them,
> 14 weqatal  habitual             He would rise up early in the morning,
> 15 weqatal  habitual            and he would offer burnt offerings
> according to the number of them all:
> 16 x-qatal   background      for Job said,
> 17 x-qatal   past                          It may be that my sons have
> sinned,
> 18 weqatal  habitual                    and cursed God in their hearts.
> 19 yiqtol     habitual             Thus Job would do always.
> 
> 20 wyyqtl    new parag.  Now there was a day
> 21 wyyqtl    main-line     the sons of God came to present themselves
> before the LORD,
> 22 wyyqtl    main-line     and Satan came also among them.
> 23 wyyqtl    main-line     And the LORD said unto Satan,
> 24 x-yiqtol   present                    Whence comest thou?
> 25 wyyqtl    main-line     Then Satan answered the LORD,
> 25 wyyqtl    main-line     and said,
> 26 infinitive                                  From going to and fro in
> the earth,
> 27 infinitive                                  and from walking up and
> down in it.
> 28 wyyqtl    main-line     And the LORD said unto Satan,
> 29 x-qatal   begin report               Have you set your heart upon my
> servant Job,
> 30 nominal  present                      that there is none like him in
> the earth,
> 31 nominal  present                      a perfect and an upright man,
> 32 wyyqtl    main-line     Then Satan answered the LORD,
> 33 wyyqtl    main-line     and said,
> 34 x-qatal   begin report               Has Job feared God for nought?
> 35 negative
>     wyyqtl    main-line                    Hast not thou made an hedge
> about him,
> 36 x-qatal   specification               It is the work of his hands
> that thou hast blessed,
> 37 x-qatal   specification               and it is his substance that is
> increased in the land.
> 38 imperative volitive                    But put forth thine hand now,
> 39 imperative volitive                    and touch all that he hath,
> 40 x-yiqtol   future                        and he will curse thee to
> thy face.
> 41 wyyqtl     main-line   And the LORD said unto Satan,
> 42 nominal  present                      Behold, all that he hath is in
> thy power;
> 43 jussive    volitive                      only upon himself you may
> not forth thine hand.
> 44 wyyqtl    main-line    So Satan went forth from the presence of the
> LORD.
> 
> 45 wyyqtl    new parag. And there was a day
> 46 ptc.        compound        when his sons and his daughters were
> eating & drinking...
> 47 x-qatal   antecedent        a messenger came unto Job,
> 48 wyyqtl    main-line    and said,
> 49 x-qatal   begin report               The oxen were
> 50 ptc.        concurrent                 plowing (ptc), and the asses
> feeding beside them:
> 51 wyyqtl    continuation               And the Sabeans fell upon them,
> 52 wyyqtl    continuation               and took them away;
> 53 x-qatal   circumstance              while they slew the servants with
> the edge of the sword;
> 54 wyyqtl    continuation               and I only am escaped alone to
> tell thee.
> 
> 55 ptc         compound        While he was yet speaking,
> 56 x-qatal    antecedent        also another came,
> 57 wyyqtl    main-line     and he said,
> 58 x-qatal   begin report                The fire of God fell from
> heaven,
> 59 wyyqtl    continuation                and burned up the sheep, and
> the servants,
> 60 wyyqtl    continuation                and consumed them;
> 61 wyyqtl    continuation                 and I escaped, I alone to tell
> thee.
> 62 ptc         compound          While he was yet speaking,
> 63 x-qatal   antecedent          also another came,
> 64 wyyqtl    main-line      and said,
> 65 x-qatal    begin report                The Chaldeans made out three
> bands,
> 66 wyyqtl   continuation                   and fell upon the camels,
> 67 wyyqtl   continuation                  and they carried them away,
> 68 x-qatal   circumstance                 while they slew the servants
> with the edge of the sword;
> 69 wyyqtl   continuation                  and I escaped, I alone to tell
> thee.
> 70 ptc        compound           While he was yet speaking,
> 71 x-qatal   antecedent           also another came,
> 72 wyyqtl    main-line     and said,
> 73 ptc         concurrent                    Thy sons and thy daughters
> were eating & drinking...
> 74 x-qatal   begin report                  And, behold, a great wind
> came from beyond the wilderness,
> 75 wyyqtl    continuation                  and smote the four corners of
> the house,
> 76 wyyqtl    continuation                  and it fell upon the young
> men,
> 77 wyyqtl    continuation                  and they died;
> 78 wyyqtl    continuation                  and I escaped, only I alone
> to tell thee.
> 79 wyyqtl    main-line      Then Job arose,
> 80 wyyqtl    main-line      and rent his mantle,
> 81 wyyqtl    main-line      and shaved his head,
> 82 wyyqtl    main-line      and fell down upon the ground,
> 83 wyyqtl    main-line      and worshipped,
> 84 wyyqtl    main-line      And said,
> 85 x-qatal   begin report                    Naked came I out of my
> mother's womb,
> 86 x-yiqtol  future                              and naked shall I
> return thither:
> 87 x-qatal    specification                   It is the LORD who gave,
> 88 x-qatal    specification                   It is the LORD who took
> away;
> 89 jussive    volitive                           may the name of the
> LORD be blessed.
> 
> 90 neg. wyyqtl main-line   In all this Job did not sin.
> 91 neg.wyyqtl  main-line   He did not assign folly  to God.

========================================================================
Dear Lee Martin,

Thank you for your interest in my method. I appreciate your effort, especeially because Job 1 is not the easiest text to begin with . In my _Syntax_ #90 you shall find an analysis of Job 1:1-5 (= 1-19 in your numbering).

==First, I make some suggestions concerning your analysis; afterwards, I shall try to answer your questions.

2	nominal	circumstantial to the previous antecedent x-qatal = whose name was Job.
3	weqatal, habitual--shift to description = That man was
4	wayyiqtol, *narrative* among antecedent constructions = There were born
7	weqatal, habitual--shift to description = Now his sons would go
10	wayyiqtol *narrative* among antecedent constructions = it happened once
11	ki+qatal, protasis
12-13	wayyiqtol, apodosis + continuation wayyiqtol = ... and sanctified them.
14	weqatal, habitual--shift to description = He would rise
18	weqatal, habitual--circumstantial to the preceding = because they used to 'bless' God (it expresses a possibility)

Job 1:1-5 (= 1-19) conveys antecedent information with secondary-level constructions--x-qatal, nonverbal clauses, weqatal and x-yiqtol. Weqatal and x-yiqtol are used to describe habitual actions. Inside this antecedent, a narrative develops twice--in 4 and in 10. However, the text basically remains antecedent because the wayyiqtols are framed by weqatals. This *narrative* inside an antecedent is what Schneider in his grammar calls *Sprosserzaehlung*.
In Job 1:6 the main narrative line starts.

20	wayyiqtol, narrative = It happened
hayyom, protasis = one day
21	wayyiqtol, apodosis = that the sons og God came
24	x-yiqtol, question--expressing surprise? = Whence *in the world* do you come?
31	noun phrases, apposition
34	x-qatal (stative = present) with emphasis on 'x' = (How would you express this?) Is it for nought that Job fears God?
35	halo' + x-qatal of report = Have you not made an hedge
36	x-qatal (maybe still governed by halo'--not emphatic) = Have you (not) blessed the work
40	x-yiqtol = [and we shall see] if he will not 'bless' you; or: will he not 'bless' you...?
45	narrative wayyiqtol = It happened
hayyom	protasis = one day (as in 20)
46	nonverbal clause with ptc., second protasis = when his sons ... were
47	waw-x-qatal, apodosis = that a messenger came
50	nonverbal clause with ptc., circumstantial to the preceding x-qatal = while the asses were feeding
55	nonverbal clause with ptc., protasis
56	waw-x-qatal, apodosis
--the same 62-63, and 70-71
87-88	two x-qatals balancing one another, not necessarily emphatic in direct speech = The Lord gave, the Lord took
90	x + negative qatal, a background construction marking the end of a paragraph = Now in all this Job did not sin
91	neg.wayyiqtol, continuing the preceding = and did not assign...

Note that in 20 the construction *hayyom wayyabo'* is the same construction as *bayyom ha$$eli$i wayyiSSa' 'abraham 'et-`enayw* (Gen. 22:4). The phrase preceding the wayyiqtol functions as the first member of a double sentence, which I call "protasis", while the following wayyiqtol is the apodosis. In 20 a *wayehi* is added in front of the double sentence, which therefore becomes verbal; that is the double sentence does not break the main narrative line of wayyiqtol. However, the double sentence is complete in itself without *wayehi*. Therefore, *hayyom* is not the subject of *wayehi*. The subject of this *wayehi* is the whole double sentence following it, i.e. "It happened the fact that one-day-- the-sons-of-God-came." This is the so-called *macrosyntactic wayehi*.
The same happens with weqatal, e.g. *`ereb (protasis) wida`tem ... (apodosis) / uboqer (protasis) ure'item ... (apodosis) "Tonight--you shall know ... / and tomorrow--you shall see ..." (Exod. 16:6-7).
A double sentence is also attested in 45-47. Here we find two protases while the apodosis is with waw-x-qatal.
The double sentences in 55-56, 62-63, and 70-71 are without a preceding *wayehi*.

The yiqtol in 24 is puzzling. Actually, for "Whence do you come?" we find both *me'ayin tabo'* (with yiqtol) and "ne'ayin ba'tem* (Gen. 42:7, with qatal). In this and similar cases I suppose that the yiqtol is colloquial, expressing surprise or the like.

In 35 *halo'* is the interrogative particle; the following x-qatal is the normal construction. While it is positive in itself, x-qatal is rendered negative by the prefixed *halo'*. Actually, the negation *lo'* is not separated by the verform when this is negated. One such case is in 90: *bekol-zo't lo'-xaTa' 'iyyob*, which is a x+neg.qatal--not a neg. wayyiqtol. A neg. wayyiqtol would not tolerate a 'x' element in front of it. In 91 *welo'-natan tiplâ* is indeed a neg. wayyiqtol continuing the previous secondary-line construction.

Finally, not every wayyiqtol and weqatal need to be translated with "and... and... and...." One shall also translate without any conjunction, or choose "thus," "afterwards." etc. according to the circumstances. It is not certain that the prefixed wayy- and we- is the same as the conjunction waw.

==With what precedes, I already answered most of your questions.
In Line 3: the weqatal is habitual and indicates setting. The two things go together at the beginning of a story.
Line 18: Yes, weqatal designates habitual actions when the text is a narrative--an oral narrative (distinct form the historical narrative).
Line 49: the qatal begins the oral report.
Line 53: Yes. I classify it as "circumstance" to show that it conveys a specification of the previous wayyiqtol. Maybe my language is not appropriate, sorry. I mean that the sentence "while they slew the servants with the edge of the sword" is not on the same level with the previous wayyiqtol; the x-qatal is related to, and depends on, the preceding wayyiqtol as the background to the foreground. In other words, the two informations are not conveyed as separate but rather as related items. -- The same happens in Gen. 1:5, a text that was discussed in this list: "Then God called (*wayyiqra'*) the light day WHILE the darkness he called (*welaHo$ek qara'*) night." If we had two yayyiqtols the rendering would be: "Then God called the light day AND THEN he called the darkness night." In the latter case, the naming of the light and that of the darkness were two separate, unrelated items.
Line 73: It could also be classed as antecedent. I have classed as a report for the present. Actually direct speech is found to begin with participles; see e.g. Gen. 25:32; 48:21; 50:5.

Sorry for the long answer. I hope it helps. Peace and all good.

Alviero Niccacci


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