Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 37:15

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Vadim Cherny <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 37:15
  • Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:55:39 +0100

On 26/09/2005 10:35, Vadim Cherny wrote:

...


There is no future tense inherent in "will", as an independent verb. It is simply a rare synonym of "want" or "decide", which would never be used in such a context.


It is a rare synonym now. In ME, "will" began to form future tense and retained the sense of "want."

but "What dost thou will?" would be grammatical pre-modern English, or else "What wilt thou?". But in this case "will" or "wilt" is acting as an independent verb, and so is not a future tense or in any way "future-oriented".


I recall that "will" acquired its future tense auxiliary role in ME. Thus, at some point it shared functions of independent verb abd tense auxiliary. At that time, "What wilt thou?" is a close analogy to idiomaically employed future tense in Hebrew.

The verb "will" certainly had two different uses, one as a future auxiliary and one as an independent verb. Both uses are common in the King James Bible. But the two uses are clearly distinct, already by 1611, both in syntax (the future auxiliary has no "to" before the following verb, which is mandatory with the independent verb form) and in meaning. It would be possible to translate Genesis 37:15 into King James English with "What does thou will?" or "What wilt thou?", but the syntax as well as the context indicates that this is not the future auxiliary "will" but the independent verb "will".

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





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page