Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] 2Sam24:1 v. Gen18:1-3

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Read, James C" <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk>
  • To: "Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] 2Sam24:1 v. Gen18:1-3
  • Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 22:36:36 +0100

Yitzhak wrote:
I am not sure what Peter Kirk holds, I hold and think I have stated in
this regard
here that a series of "wayyiqtol"s or the wa- prefix, when applied to
a verb, marks
a sequential action that begins after the last action had completed.
Gen 18:1-3 is a
good paragraph illustrating the various ways this concept is put to practice.

In Gen 18:2, Abraham raises his eyes, "and sees" ("wayar)"). It should be
clear
that he cannot see the three men before raising his eyes. But the linguistic
sequence conveys that. Similarly, in the later part of 18:2, he sees them,
runs
to them, and then bows before them. He cannot run to them, before seeing
them,
and he bows to them only after he finishes running. In both these cases we
have
a sequence of "wayyiqtol"s which convey sequential action.

But in 18:1 we do not have such a sequence. In 18:1, instead of
saying "wayye$eb"
it says "and he sits."
END QUOTE

JCR: Good! But we would never say in English 'and he sits' but something like
'while he was sitting' or
'when he was sat/sitting'. And so the rather inflexible view that 'wa' must
be translated as 'and' as if it
is always a sequence of events is unreasonable. As you have shown the
translation of 'when' or 'while' much
better fits the context on many occasions.

This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
Security System.



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page