Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryan Rocine" <brocine AT earthlink.net>]

Hi Peter,
You wrote:

> I found your definitions given below interesting. It seems
that your
> definition of suffixed forms is now close to that of the
perfect in
> English or (NT/Koine) Greek, as something like an
indication of the
> present result of a past action. This ties up with my
feeling that
> QATAL should nearly always be translated by an English
perfect
> (present perfect or past perfect), or by something
logically
> equivalent e.g. "is sitting" instead of "has sat down".
This, to me,
> applies equally when the QATAL is preceded by HINNE, hence
my problem
> with "Ariyel's Flower".
>
> Thus whoever named the QATAL "perfect" was actually (even
if
> accidentally) spot on! Maybe Hebrew is not so far away
from the three
> aspect system found in Greek and English: QATAL
corresponds to English
> perfect, long YIQTOL to progressive, and short
YIQTOL/WAYYIQTOL to
> simple/aorist. I know this model needs more work, and that
I have left
> modality out of the picture.
>
> To clarify my rough correspondences:
>
> Hebrew          Greek                   English
>
> ya`aseh         poiw, epoioun           s/he is/was doing
> (way)ya`as      epoihsa (poihsw?)       s/he does/did
> `asah           pepoihka, epepoihkhn    s/he has/had done
>
> I wonder how well this corresponds with your thinking?
>
> I am not suggesting that WEQATAL is in any way "perfect".
That, to me,
> is a separate issue.
>

That's an approximation.  I like the name aorist for the
prefixed forms, I think.  I think qatal has greater range
than a true perfect.  For instance, it *can* be used for a
simple, over-and-done-with event, equal in such a case to a
wayyiqtol.  (I do not equate, however, qatal and wayyiqtol.)
Do you think the following are compatible with your
understanding of the perfect qatal: a precative (as in "I
hereby give..."), a (prophetic) simple future, or a
statement of plain fact as so often seen in Psalms?

Shalom,
Bryan


B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13206

(office) 315.437.6744
(home) 315.479.8267