Biblical Hebrew Forum

["B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>]

Dear Yonah:

Certainly, the root HYH does not require the complement le- to mean 
"become."  See Gen 3:22:

hen ha'adam hayah ke'axad mimmennu
"Look the man has become like one of us..."

Gen 19:26:
vattehiy netsiyb melax
"And she became a pillar of salt."

Gen 21:20
vayhiy robeh qashshat
"And he became an archer."

On the matter of a wayyiqtol of HYH specifically:  We can't have it two 
ways at once.  If HYH is a copula, it would rarely if ever move the 
story time of a narrative forward. If that's the case, the idea that 
wayyiqtol is a storyline verb is weakened.  On the other hand, if we 
accept wayyiqtol as the storyline verb form, the idea that wayyiqtol of 
HYH must refer to a happening or an occurrence of some sort is 
strengthened.  Wayyiqtol of HYH would refer to a situation that 
"completed" or "became complete."

Shalom,
Bryan


Yonah Mishael wrote:
> I would assume that the form WYHYW ויהיו in Judges 16:30 functions as
> most wa-cons forms do in a narrative—that is, it establishes this as a
> part of the main story line, by which the author is providing primary
> information. The point is the culmination of Samson's life as a fight
> against the Philistines, the loss of which caused the destruction of
> even more of his enemies than the entire period of his life had
> realized. This is what I get from it anyway. I don't think it
> necessarily has any "becoming" associated with it.
>
> Wouldn't it be most common by the time that the Judges was penned to
> express "become" with the HYH plus the L-prefix?
>
> Yours,
> Yonah


B. M. Rocine
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13026
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