Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

1. There is no such thing as "intensity" nor "assertiveness" in Hebrew. 

2. The two consonant root רם RM can have no piel form as it can not 

accommodate the two internal personal pronouns (PP) -I- and -E-. 

For a "heavier" verbal form the root needs first to be extended to the 

three consonant RMM as in Ps. 107:25  

רוח סערה ותרומם גליו  

"raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof"

3. Since the first of the two PP in the hiphil form is external, all is needed 

is but one additional internal PP, as in הרים HE-R-IY-M, 'lifted'.

4. For the root קם KM the a piel form is achieved by turning it first 

to KYM, then to KIYEM, as in Esther 9:31 

לקים את-ימי הפרים האלה בזמניהם, כאשר קים עליהם מרדכי היהודי ואסתר המלכה, וכאשר קימו על-נפשם, ועל-זרעם

"that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, 

as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had 

obligated themselves and their offspring" 

but here the piel form endowed the verb with the sense of 'maintain, 

exist' (compare with the יקום YQUM, 'erect, standing up, alive' of Gen. 7:4.)

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jul 11, 2013, at 7:19 AM, Chris Watts wrote:

I suppose then a classic example of what you are saying is found in  

the verb  רום  where the qal is usually:  lift up, lift oneself up,  

become high, exalt, but the hiphil is:  lift up, elevate, exalt,  

increase ones own power.  The nuance is there I suppose but I  

certainly see little difference between the two except that the  

hiphil might appear More assertive? more referring to raising  

yourself louder, noisier, higher?  (but then I would have expected  

the latter to be in a piel?