Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>]

Dear Jonathan,

When the same term is used both for a form and a function, confusion may 
arise. There is also confusion when the same terms are used with different 
meanings. For example, in Akkadian the vowel "u" at the end of some verbs is 
said to mark the subjunctive. This "u" is attached to verbs in dependent 
clauses, and the verbs where it is found are for the most part not modal. 

As you know, Hebrew has three modal forms: cohortative-1st person, 
imperative-2nd person, and jussive-3rd person. Cohortative and imperative can 
clearly be distinguished by their forms (imperatives can also be short). 
Jussive is described as a short YIQTOL, but the problem is that some of these 
short YIQTOLs do not have a modal functions, whereas some normal YIQTOLs are 
modal. This may cause confusion when the word "jussive" is used. My Gramcord 
Hebrew text has the following search subjects: "jussive form," "jussive 
meaning," "jussive both." When we use the word "jussive," we should specify 
what we refer to, either form or function.

The term subjunctive is not a grammatical term of Classical Hebrew. 
Therefore, when someone uses the term in connection with Hebrew, the person 
may use it in an illustrative way; s/he may for example have in mind the 
distinction between subjunctive and optative in Greek. The term "subjunctive" 
has been used in connection with other Semitic languages, and when the term 
is not explained, the result may be confusion.

The conclusion is that your question cannot be given a definite answer.  Both 
"jussive" and "subjunctive" can be subsumed under the heading "modality." The 
terms may have similar or a different references, and this must be gathered 
from the context. But your question reminds us of being careful in our use of 
grammatical terms, and that we explain what we really mean.


As for C. R. Khramalkov (Phoenician-Punic Grammar 2001), he is not always 
clear in his use of terms, whether he refers to form or function. In addition 
to using "subjunctive" and "jussive," he also uses "optative," and 
"cohortative." The terms "subjunctive" and ""optative" may have been borrowed 
from the Indo-European tradition. He connects the different terms with 1st, 
2nd, and 3rd person, as in Hebrew. For example, he says (p. 191): ""The first 
person, Suffixing form B. may express the cohortative, a wish or strong 
future declarative assertion. The verb may receive a proclitic particle l-, 
which is also used with Form B expressing the Jussive/Optative."



Best regards,



Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway


 
 
Torsdag 30. Mai 2013 07:48 CEST skrev Jonathan Mohler 
<jonathan.mohler AT gmail.com>: 
 
> 
> To all who have contributed to this discussion:
> 
> I would like to add my own contribution, but before I do so I would like us 
> to define the difference if any between subjunctive and jussive.  This is a 
> source of confusion for me, even after four years of Greek and Hebrew.  I 
> recently worked through Robert Chisholm's workbook on Jonah and Ruth.  
> Chisholm often uses the expression "this imperfect is jussive in meaning."  
> I suppose he means the form is imperfect, but the pragmatic use is jussive. 
>  I would prefer if he just called the form a yiqtol or wayyiqtol.  
> 
> As to the issue with the subjunctive, I have never heard a clear definition 
> by an English speaking teacher.  Does subjunctive refer to form or 
> function? I was raised in the French part of Belgium. I took Dutch as a 
> second language and German as a third.  As an adult I spent 12 years in 
> Kenya, where I learned Swahili and Luyia.  I speak English, French and 
> Swahili natively, and the others conversationally.  Every one of these 
> languages uses subjunctive to express a jussive.  For this reason I think I 
> am confused as to the difference between the two.
> 
> Jonathan E Mohler
> Baptist Bible Graduate School
> Springfield, Missouri, US
> 
> 
> On May 29, 2013, at 11:00 AM, John Leake wrote:
> 
> > Indeed, Krahmalkov maintains that the tripartite distinction between 
> > indicative, subjunctive and jussive was strictly maintained in 
> > Phoenician, and that this continued into Neo-Punic. In the last phases of 
> > Punic the subjunctive was orthographically represented, but the 
> > subjunctive and jussive were always distinguishable from the indicative 
> > since Phoenician maintained the final nun of the 2nd and 3rd persons 
> > plural in the indicative prefix form)
>