Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com>]

Of course, Karl, sure that the Masoretes mistook this and this other word.
But... generally speaking the pi'el marks an intensive (as well as other
nuances) of the qal.

Let us take $ILAX in Ex 8:28. Can this be, does it make sense, the usual
"send"?  No. It is "sending away", "expelling" what makes sense. Paraoh did
not send the people (to Canaan for holidays, for an example), he expelled
it from Egypt!   (I'm writing here in the positive, but in Ex 8:28 the
phrase is in the negative).

In Pr 31:19 does it make sense that the woman send her distaff to, say, a
friend of hers?  No, she "sent her hand with courage, decision..." onto the
distaff.

Heartly,

Pere Porta

.

2011/12/7 K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>

> Pere:
>
> As a group we discussed this issue before, what was the difference between
> Piel and Qal? When reading the unpointed text, it is usually impossible
> from the form to distinguish between the two, except the participle shows
> the difference. How many Qals were wrongly pointed at Piels by the
> Masoretes? How many Piels were wrongly pointed as Qals by the Masoretes?
> Are there any contextual clues that would help us recognize when a Piel is
> meant, or a Qal? For example, Proverbs 31:19 example you list below looks
> like a mispointing of a Qal as a Piel, as the context indicates simple
> action.
>
> At that time, it was generally acknowledged (if my memory is correct) that
> the Piel was not an intensified Qal. The one that seemed to make the most
> sense is that the Piel was stative verb, while Qal simple active.
>
> An example of that is מכתש (Piel participle) is the place where grain was
> pounded into flour, another example being מכתת the place where repeated
> hammering is done, namely a metal smithy. Both are Piel participles
> understood as nouns, where the location is the stative of the action. Same
> with מועד place where a meeting is held.
>
> Even so, there seems to be a fine line between simple active and stative
> uses, as can be seen in “to express” often written in a participle as מדבר
> Piel though also found as a participle דבר Qal.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 7:30 AM, Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Do you know the difference between the qal (pa'al) and the pi'el?
>> Briefly summing it up:
>> Qal ---------- plain -------- to send (look at Gn 42:4 [masculine sing]
>> Pi'el --------- intensive --- to send away -- in Pr 31:19, she stretches
>> out her hands (to the distaff) (NAS), namely with decision, with strength,
>> making her mind up...
>>
>> The dagesh in the L is the sign of the pi'el, so that readers not to
>> mistake for the qal form of verb $LX.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>>
>>
>> Pere Porta
>>
>>
>>


-- 
Pere Porta