Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pere Porta <pporta7 AT gmail.com>]

 (Pere)

> 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.
>>
>
> (Karl Randolph)
>


>  Where do you get this idea of intensification? Is it not from
> mis-pointing of Qals as Piels?
>
>>
>>
> (Pere)

In most Hebrew grammars, Karl.
For a sample, in Gesenius Grammar:

"The fundamental idea of Pi'el to which all the various shades of meaning
in this conjugation may be referred, is *to busy oneself eagerly* with the
action indicated by the stem"

a) --a strengthening and repetition of the action:

צחק, *to laugh* (cf Gn 18:13) in qal and *to jest, to make sport* (cf Jdg
16:25) in the pi'el.
שאל, *to ask* (Jdg  5:25) in qal and* to beg* in the pi'el (Ps 109:10)


b) -a causative sense (like Hiph'il):

למד, *to learn* (Is 26:10) in the qal; *to teach* (Ecc 12:9) in the pi'el


Pere Porta
(Barcelona, Catalonia, Northeastern Spain)




>   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).
>>
>
> Yes it does make sense as a simple Qal. If it is pointed as a Piel, the
> points are wrong, which is not uncommon among the Masoretic points.
>
> Pharaoh had no intention of expelling Israel, in fact, Moses was merely
> trying to get permission to leave peacefully. The expelling came later,
> after the death of Pharaoh’s first born.
>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>
> I’m sorry, but that makes no sense.
>
> A distaff is merely a piece of equipment used in spinning fibers into
> thread. There’s no courage or decision to take a simple tool, part of a
> typical woman’s daily domestic tasks. There’s no courage in handling what
> she probably touched almost every day. Decisiveness? Probably very casual.
> Unless the Piel is used as a stative, i.e. indication a habitual action,
> this is another example of a mis-pointed word.
>
>>
>> Heartly,
>>
>> Pere Porta
>>
>>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>



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