Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 12/04/2007 15:59, K Randolph wrote:
> Peter:
>
> My purpose is not to discuss the Greek verbal system. Rather to
> discuss the use of translations as a guide to understanding Hebrew.
>
> Seeing as it is demonstrable that some of the authors of the New
> Testament had less than a literary command of the Greek language, and
> I suspect the same is true of some of the LXX translators, could the
> use of the grammatical future tense have been understood by those
> authors as something other than the future (e.g. continuous present)?
> If so, how far can we use those translations as a guide as to how
> those people understood the Hebrew language?
>
>   
Well, Karl, it is an interesting possibility that some people of Semitic 
background used the Greek future, at least when translating Semitic 
materials, not so much as a future tense but with more of the aspectual 
meaning which Gesenius and I are describing for the Hebrew YIQTOL. But I 
don't know if this has been proved, or even of any real evidence for it, 
such as if a clearly non-future YIQTOL were translated with a Greek 
future in LXX etc.

--
Peter Kirk
E-mail:  peter AT qaya.org
Blog:    http://www.qaya.org/blog/
Website: http://www.qaya.org/