Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Stephen Shead <srshead+bh AT gmail.com>]

Oh, and a little postscript on Joshua 11:20: The active causative sense is
even stronger than I said, because of the beginning of the verse. A literal
rendering would be something like: "for it was from the LORD to harden their
heart to..." - variously translated "it was the LORD's doing" (ESV), "the
LORD determined to" (NET Bible), "it was the LORD's intention" (Holman
Bible). The whole point is to leave no doubt about the LORD's active causing
of the hardening!

Best regards,
Stephen Shead
Centro de Estudios Pastorales
Santiago, Chile

On 9 September 2010 15:46, Stephen Shead
<srshead+bh AT gmail.com<srshead%2Bbh AT gmail.com>
> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> I absolutely agree with Barry. Whether or not the particular verb form in
> question (the pi'el) ever has a "permissive" nuance, in this case of this
> particular verb it is very clearly causative.
>
> * In the "qal" form (something like the "basic" sense), it normally means
> "be strong" or "grow strong", with various nuances and extensions of this
> meaning - for example, the idiom "for one's hands to grow strong" means "to
> have courage". In the case of Pharaoh, "his heart grow strong" has the sense
> "his heart grew hard" (Ex. 7:13 etc.).
>
> * In the "pi'el" form, the normal sense is something like "make strong,
> make firm, strengthen". In the instances I scanned, it makes no sense at all
> to try to have it mean "allow to be strong"! Examples:
> - Psa 147:13, "For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your
> children within you" - but "For he lets the bars of your gates be strong"???
> - Isa 35:3, "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees" -
> but "Allow the weak hands to grow strong, and the feeble knees to grow
> firm"???
> - Judg 16:28, "Then Samson called to the LORD and said, 'O Lord GOD, please
> remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be
> avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes'" - but "Please remember me and
> please allow me to be strong only this once"??? How exactly will God not be
> the active cause in Samson regaining his strength?
>
> When we come to the "hard heart" sense of the pi'el form, most of the
> instances relate to Pharaoh. However, Joshua 11:20 does not, and once again,
> it is extremely contrived to force a "passive" reading on the text:
>
> - Josh 11:20, "For it was the LORD's doing to harden their hearts  that
> they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be
> devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as
> the LORD commanded Moses."
>
> The problem with a passive reading ("let their hearts be hard") is that the
> statements of purpose which follow are very strong: "*that* they should
> come ... *in order that* they should be devoted to destruction, completely
> destroyed". A contrived passive reading doesn't succeed in softening the
> impact of the verse, and doesn't make sense anyway: the Lord has determined
> to do all these things with a very definite purpose. He doesn't just "let"
> them happen.
>
> So returning to verses like Exodus 4:21, "I will let his heart be hardened"
> runs completely contrary to the sense of the verb in the pi'el - both in the
> more common senses, and in the "hardened heart" sense in Joshua 11:20.
>
> And an incidental note for group members: From a brief scan to remind
> myself, this exposition of חזק pi'el is completely in line with Waltke &
> O'Connor's theory of the pi'el in the Hebrew verbal system ... though I
> don't know why I'm being silly enough to bring up such a contentious subject
> ... :)   <runs ducking for cover>
>
> Best regards,
> Stephen Shead
> Centro de Estudios Pastorales
> Santiago, Chile
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: "Barry H." <nebarry AT verizon.net>
>> To: "Chris Echols" <chrisechols AT gmail.com>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:43:32 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Is there any such thing as
>> "permissive"/"causative" tenses in Biblical Hebrew?
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Echols" <chrisechols AT gmail.com>
>> To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 7:30 PM
>> Subject: [b-hebrew] Is there any such thing as "permissive"/"causative"
>> tenses in Biblical Hebrew?
>>
>>
>>  This permissive vs. causative theory says that this verse would better be
>>> translated "...* but I will let his heart be hardened*..." as to remove 
>>> from
>>> God any active action in doing something evil.  To further drive home the
>>> point, we see that Rotherham's Emphasized Bible translates this verse 
>>> as...
>>> “And Yahweh said unto Moses, When thou goest to return to Egypt, see as
>>> touching all the wonders which I have put in thy hand, that thou do them
>>> before Pharaoh—*but, I, will let his heart wax bold*, and he will not 
>>> suffer
>>> the people to go.” —Exodus 4:21 Rotherham
>>>
>>
>>  What is your take on this phenomenon?
>>>
>>
>> I think it's a theory based on theology, not Hebrew.
>>
>> N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat...
>> Classics and Bible Instructor, TAA
>> http://www.theamericanacademy.net
>> (2010 Savatori Excellence in Education Winner)
>> V-P of Academic Affairs, TNARS
>> bhofstetter AT tnars.net
>> http://www.tnars.net
>>
>> http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog
>> http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry
>>
>
>