Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 30/03/2004 04:19, Yigal Levin wrote:

> ...
>
> Several of the commentators that I read, such as Rashi and Ramban, point to
> other examples of the future being used in the past, such as um. 21:17, Josh
> 10:12, 1 Kings 7:8 and 1 Kings 11:7. They understand it as meaning that
> Moses decided to sing, and then sang. Ibn-Ezra says: "it is customary for
> the narrator to put himself in the place of the character - to look at
> things from his prospective".
> Rashi does quote the Talmud (Sanhedrin 91b) as bringing this as proof of the
> future resurrection of the dead, but he takes this to be a secondary
> midrash, not the literal meaning of the verse. Hezkuni quotes Ramban (not in
> his commentary on Exodus) as understanding "then Moses and the Children of
> Israel WILL SING" as meaning that the Song of the Sea is to be sung every
> day for all generations - which certainly reflects Jewish practice since
> antiquity - the Song is recited as part of the daily prayers.
>
> Yigal
>
>
>
>  
It is worth a reminder that this YIQTOL form, although it is a future 
tense in modern Hebrew and probably was to the mediaeval commentators, 
is not in fact a future in biblical Hebrew. It can equally be a 
continuous or habitual past, "Moses and the Israelites WERE SINGING" or 
"... USED TO SING".

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