To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: WeHFYUW in Ruth 1:11
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 08:58:21 -0500
Hi Paul,
you wrote:
> We looked up in W&O the section which discusses the weqatalti
> after nominal clauses (32.2.4), which treats the WeHFYUW in Ruth
> 1:11 as introducing a consequent situation. However, we played
> with some other ways that the concept here could have been
> expressed and possible differences in translations. How would
> you compare and contrast the form found here (weqatalti) with the
> following possibilities: 1) a "normal" relative clause
> introduced by KIY, and 2) a completely separate question,
> introduced by a second heh-interrogative? Am I off-base to see
> this use of the weqatalti as falling somewhere in between the
> relative clause and the completely separate question?
I don't know about ki, but how about this?
ha`od li banim beme`ay 'a$er yihyu lakem la'ana$im
"Are there still sons in my belly who will become husbands for you?
or
ha`od li banim beme`ay hayihyu lakem la'ana$im
"Are there still sons in my belly? Will they become husbands for you?"
I would say that the text as it stands represents consecutive propositions.
"Are there still sons in my belly? And then they will be husbands for you?"