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b-hebrew - Re: Re[4]: The form of weqatal

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  • From: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Re[4]: The form of weqatal
  • Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 09:19:22 -0700


Peter wrote in part:

> Similarly, W:LO)-NOWTAR can be understood with a past meaning. This is
> an interesting one which ties up with Bryan's idea of QATAL being
> stative, a state arrived at as a result of a previous event. The
> English idiom is actually similar. "No-one is left" appears to be
> present tense, but is actually perfect, for "left" is the passive past
> participle of the verb "leave". Similarly "no-one will be left" also
> has a past element. If we look at the reference time, in a verse like
> 2 Samuel 17:12, which is the time of the observation, the observers
> say that in the battle which is already past the attackers did not
> leave anyone alive, and so in that sense "no-one will be left" is past
> relative to the reference time. This is basically the same argument as
> with ):A$ER NIMCF) but slightly more subtle. These subtleties need to
> be looked at carefully by those trying to understand the Hebrew verb
> system, and certainly not rejected as "example[s] of how people
> holding traditional viewpoints defend these with questionable means"
> or as fighting "with tooth and nail".

If you mean "past from the POV of the battle already being seen as
over" I agree. In this case, I wonder if the English future perfect
wouldn't be a better choice: "We will attack them wherever we will
have found them", and "No one will have been left alive."

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
A Bible that's falling apart means a life that isn't.




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