Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Stoney:

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 8:50 AM, Stoney Breyer <stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com
> wrote:

> James, you have perhaps forgotten that this discussion was launched by
> Joseph Justiss' inviting comments on a schema which distinguishes between
> narrative and discursive texts.
>
> You’re right. That got lost in other background information and an
unhelpful foray into modern literary practices and English. Sorry, but I
have to indict you as a leader in that red herring chase.

It was not helped by the misuse of terminology. In fact, it was that misuse
of terminology that blinded me to what you mention in this posting. I would
not be surprised if others were likewise blinded. (Shows the importance of
proper use of terminology.)

>
>
> I am interested in the first matter, …
>

To me, it looks as if he is doing a formal, rather than functional, analysis
of the text. And in that, it appears that he is coming to an opposite
conclusion than what I am tending towards.

First of all, functionally, I do not see the yiqtol and wayyiqtol as
separate “tenses”.

Secondly, I see more than one functionality indicated by each of qatal and
yiqtol forms. As a result, these forms appear in both narrative and
discursive texts. The relative frequencies within a text depending on the
function that the author wished to highlight.

Because he is doing a formal, rather than a functional, analysis of verbal
uses, I find I disagree with it. I think I now understand how he came about
his formal analysis and why I should call it formal rather than functional.

>
> Stoney Breyer
>
> Writer / Touchwood Creative
>
> Karl W. Randolph.