Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <06peterson AT cua.edu>]

Dave wrote:

> I don't know how much of a case can be made for a cohortative,

Well, the form certainly fits either way. And the tendency is that bare
prefixal forms appearing at the beginning of an utterance are volitive.

> but the use of
> an imperfect in this context could easily hint at such an idea.  The very
> fact that we can speculate about whether it means "I Am" or "I
> will be" shows
> the vagueness of the form, a vagueness that in this passage may be a
> deliberate way of expressing some rather abstract theological notions.

I'm not asking for a vague allowance. I know the form can allow for this
reading. My question is whether we can get the reading from the form alone.
I don't mind if someone wants to read this statement as an indication of
some concept of eternality. I would just like to make sure that we know
where the reading comes from.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics