Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

hi Liz, you wrote:

>Rocine wrote: > My Rashi reads this way:  "...for the word
_re'shit_ never
> > appears in Scripture except when it is annexed to the
> > following word... Here, too you must interpret 'In the
> > beginning Elohim created' as if [it were written] 'At
the
> > beginning of the creating.'
> This is the baro'.

I disagree.   I would say rather that Rashi means that
qatals and infinitives are nearly equivalent in such a case.
I would say that Rashi may understand simply that a qatal is
an expression of the state that the subject was in at the
time being talked about, sometimes rather like the
"noun-ish" infinitive.  I would say that we moderns are
generally not keen to the noun-ish quality of the qatal in
BH, which I say expresses an attribution, almost
adjectivally.  As I have said recently I would say qatal is
"he is/was a killer" rather than "he killed."  "he killed"
is usually vayyiqtol.  I understand the truly fientive or
active verb forms in BH to be the prefixed forms.
>
> Do the grammars address this? I couldn't find a reference
> to it in the ones I have.
>

By now I know that you found something in Gesenius.  I'll
try to look up some otjher references in some grammars I
have (I hope I can find the time <ugh>).

Shalom,
Bryan



B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
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