Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Studium Biblicum Franciscanum <sbfnet AT netvision.net.il>]

On  05/29/99 (Re: die Flucht ins Prasens, Alviero) Moon-Ryul Jung wrote:


>
> Alviero,
> What is the ground for calling welo+gatal "negative wayyiqtol"?
> Moon
>

Dear Moon,

The affirmation that welo'+qatal is a negative wayyiqtol is based on a
number of observations.
First, this is the only negative structure for the past in BH; it is used
to negate not only wayyiqtol but also qatal and (waw-)x-qatal. (Note that
the waw is always optional in this construction; it does not affect its
syntactic function in any way.)

Second, x-qatal is negated with x+lo'+qatal, i.e. the negation lo' remains
tied to the verbform; no X element is not interposed in between. See e.g.
*we'eprayim lô' hôrîsh* in Judg. 1:29; also see 1:30, 31, and 33. (Contrast
1:27 *welo' hôrîsh menashsheh*, which is a negative wayyiqtol.)

Therefore, if we find welo'+qatal inside a string of wayyiqtols, we are
pretty sure that its positive counterpart is wayyiqtol because, on one
side, initial qatal is not used in historical narrative and, on the other
side, x-qatal is negated with welo'+qatal as already mentioned.

A clear case of lo'+qatal as negative counterpart of initial qatal in
direct speech is *lo'-laqax yiSra'el* in Judg. 11:15 (contrasting 1:13).
Here, *lo'-laqax yiSra'el* is clearly a negative initial qatal because a
wayyiqtol is not found at the beginning of direct speech (it is only used
as continuation form) and because the negative counterpart of x-qatal would
be **yiSra'el lo'-laqax*.

One can not exaggerate the importance of word order in BH. A lot of
attention and patience is needed in order to understand the mechanism of
the BH verbal system--close attention to the text and accurate comparison
more than speculation and general linguistics.

I hope this is understandable. Peace and all good.
Alviero Niccacci
Please, in your reply put the addressee name in the subject
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