Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Re:hwh in Hifil

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Re:hwh in Hifil
  • Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 13:02:35 -0700

On 12/08/2003 12:18, Joe Sprinkle wrote:


As for the vowels, it is true that HAYAH as vocalized by the Masorets does not use the A vowel for imperfect preformatives Y, T and N for the Qal imperfect despite the guttural H first consonant. I am not sure that the biblical writers as opposed to the Masorets didn't use the A vowels. You can't tell in an unvocalized text. In any case, even the Masorets do use A vowels for preformatives of some First He forms such as the Qal imperfect of HALAM in Psalm 74:6 and Qal imperfect forms of HAPAK. The form of Yahweh is personal names seem to confirm an A vowel under the initial yod. If Yahweh is a verb (I cannot prove it is, but if it is), I can explain the A vowel as influenced by the first guttural as was in the case of these verbs. I would then posit that Hebrew by the time the Masorets vocalized the text ceased to use the A vowel for preformatives of HYH, but that archaic (perhaps pre-Biblical) Hebrew was using the A vowel preformative when it created the form YAHWEH off of the verb HWH.

I only claim a plausible case for this view, not an airtight one.

Joe

Joe, as far as I can tell (from BDB, Gesenius and Lambdin) the A vowel is in fact common, almost the norm, for the first vowel in the Qal "imperfect" or YIQTOL form of verbs with H as the first root consonant. At least Lambdin (pp. 305, 309) lists this as the paradigm for HPK, HRH and HRG, notes that A or E apprears with HRS, and lists HDR, HGH and HMH as using E regularly. Only HYH is listed as using I, and this could be a deliberate change to avoid saying something too similar to the divine name; or perhaps also by analogy with XYH which may use I in the Qal to avoid confusion with the Hiphil, which would presumably be YAXYEH though this is actually unattested in the "imperfect" - possibly Piel is used instead to avoid sounding like the divine name.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page