Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 25/09/2005 10:18, Vadim Cherny wrote:

> Can we translate Gen37:15:
>  
> A man asked him, asking, "What dost thou will?"


Not into modern English, you can't. This should be: A man asked him, 
"What do you want?"

Well, according to BDB there seems to be just one case in the Hebrew 
Bible of BQ$ Piel with just an object meaning "desire, demand", 1 
Chronicles 21:3. So that meaning cannot be ruled out. But considering 
the context, a man finding Joseph wandering around looking for something 
rather than asking for anything, it seems far more probable that the 
sense here is the commonest one of BQ$ Piel, namely: ..."What are you 
looking for?"

And in either case the sense is entirely present, not future at all.

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