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  • From: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum <sbfnet AT netvision.net.il>
  • To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Job 1
  • Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 19:22:39 +0200

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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  • Job 1, Lee R. Martin, 04/14/1999
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: Job 1, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 04/15/1999
    • Re: Job 1, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, 04/16/1999

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