Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>]

>===== Original Message From Andy Warren <andy_warren AT sil.org> =====
>Funnily enough, I read it exactly the opposite way round!
>
>6:11 Go in - speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he will have to let the
>Israelites leave his country.
>(normal yiqtol long-form [not jussive] with modal force of future obligation
>[epistemic modality]. 3rd-person jussives can only be used in addressing a
>potential agent/causer - you can say to God, "May my enemies be put to
>shame!" (because God has the power to effect this), but not to Moses, "May
>Pharaoh release the Israelites" (because Moses has no power to make this
>happen).

Hmm. I haven't heard that one before. But generally speaking, you can tell a 
jussive from an imperfect, even if it doesn't show formal distinctions, by 
its 
position at the beginning of a clause.

[snipped]
>
>As for 'imperfect with obligative force' (what others call the 'preceptive
>imperfect') as in the Decalogue and elsewhere, what's wrong with English
>'must'?

I suppose it gets most of the idea, but I'm not sure whether it carries the 
same idea of reference beyond the immediate speech situation.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics