Biblical Hebrew Forum

[colin AT s-m-i-t-h.com]

>In my research on the meanings of words, I have found, for example,
>that the Hiphil always means causative of the Qal. So far, I have

The "exceptions" are numerous.  For example:

HIGGID (from N.G.D) is not causative.  I means "to say."

HIGDIL (from G.D.L) has a sense of "do great things," not "make big."
("Higdil Adonai la'asot....")

Even a seemingly causitive verb like HORISh (from Y.R.Sh) means
"bequeath," not "cause to inherit," just as HOLID (from Y.L.D) means
"give birth to" (a.k.a. "beget"), not "cause to be born."  For
example, "YHWH holid et yitzchak" does not describe the situation in
Genesis, even if you think that YHWH caused Isaac to be born.


We should also bear in mind that the D stem or 'pi`el is also used for
denominative verbs, that small category of verbs derived from nouns, and
for verbs derived from or connected with adjectives. If I remember
correctly, Waltke-O'Conner refer to this function as 'factitive.' These
verbs, such as G.D.L. will not necessarily display a causative notion.

shalom

Colin Smith