Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yonah Mishael" <yonahmishael AT gmail.com>]

Dear Bryan:

I would really like evidence from outside of the Torah. I think there
was a large span of time between the penning of the Torah narratives
and that of Judges, and it would account for differences in language.
I do not have time right now to look anything up, but I have assumed
(I know this is risky business) that by the time of the writing of the
Judges narrative, the use of HYH with a lamed prefix had become more
standard. In the language of the Torah, the lamed prefix was not yet
used as the standard mark of change with the HYH verb.

I hope to be able to look into this later, but this is an assumption I
have worked from for a little while. Do you have any information about
HYH plus L-prefix as it may appear either in the Torah or in later
texts?

Todah,
Yonah

On 10/4/06, B. M. Rocine <brocine AT twcny.rr.com> wrote:
> 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
> (W): 315.437.6744
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--
Yonah Mishael ben Avraham
Joplin, MO
yonahmishael AT gmail.com