Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Matt wrote:
> 
> In searching for answers for my own question, I have found a very good
> example of interrupted wayyiqtols (with no verbs of motion). 2 Sam 11.17
> has:
> 
>       wayyillachamu           'et-yo'ab       wayyapol        min-ha`am ...
>       and they battled        Joab            and they fell   some of the 
> people
>       wayamot         gam     'uriyyah.
>       and he died     also    Uriah.
> 
> It is quite impossible that there was a battle THEN some of the army died
> THEN Uriah died! Do you think these wayyiqtols are "functionally"
> imperfective? If not, what are they aspectually? 

I don't think aspect is in view.  Aspect in Hebrew depends on 
context and the meanings of the verbs used.

and If so, how would the
> reader know not to link these sequentially, or to see them as perfective.

The reader would know not to link these sequentially because a 
native speaker would have known that the wayyiqtol is not 
sequential.  The wayyiqtol is the simple clause: "They did battle.  
Some people fell.  Uriah also died."  There are no syntactic 
dependencies or other types of connection (temporal, causal, 
result, apposition), each clause says what it says.  Doing battle is 
an inherently non-perfective action, so the aspect is contained in 
the meaning of the verb.  Some people were killed, Uriah among 
them.  These are events that are inherently perfective (the act of 
dying tends to have a definite terminus) so their aspect is 
contained in the meanings of the verbs, as well.  In the context, the 
people falling and Uriah dying clearly happened during the battle, 
so context tells us that these things happened before the terminus 
of the battle.  None of this is contained in the syntax of the 
wayyiqtol.

> Why isn't the Hebrew, wayhi behillachem wayyapol ...?

Without asking the author we can't be sure, but I suspect that the 
rapid-fire change of verbal subjects may have something to do with 
it.  The soldiers came out of the city, engaged Joab in battle, some 
Israelites fell, Uriah died also.  Bing, bang, boom.  Considering 
what David told Joab to do to Uriah, this quick run-down of the 
action following the siege tells us in very blunt language and 
structure that David's plan to get rid of Uriah worked just the way 
he planned it.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"No good deed goes unpunished."