Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bearpecs AT aol.com]

In a message dated 2/5/2005 9:36:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
kwrandolph AT email.com writes:

The  above pattern has neither the place nor the need for a "shafel"  form.


The "above pattern" is a late construct.  The niph'al, for example,  was 
originally a reflexive, not a passive.  Of course you "have found that  
pattern to 
fit the use in Hebrew quite well", because it was created to fit the  
then-current use.  The pattern was not intended to incorporate diachronic  
reality.  
The idea that Tanakh retains some archaic verb forms is no more  surprising 
than that it occasionally retains archaic words.