To: "Liz Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>, "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Gen 1:1, Rashi
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 20:39:25 -0400
hi Liz, you wrote:
>Rocine wrote: > My Rashi reads this way: "...for the word
_re'shit_ never
> > appears in Scripture except when it is annexed to the
> > following word... Here, too you must interpret 'In the
> > beginning Elohim created' as if [it were written] 'At
the
> > beginning of the creating.'
> This is the baro'.
I disagree. I would say rather that Rashi means that
qatals and infinitives are nearly equivalent in such a case.
I would say that Rashi may understand simply that a qatal is
an expression of the state that the subject was in at the
time being talked about, sometimes rather like the
"noun-ish" infinitive. I would say that we moderns are
generally not keen to the noun-ish quality of the qatal in
BH, which I say expresses an attribution, almost
adjectivally. As I have said recently I would say qatal is
"he is/was a killer" rather than "he killed." "he killed"
is usually vayyiqtol. I understand the truly fientive or
active verb forms in BH to be the prefixed forms.
>
> Do the grammars address this? I couldn't find a reference
> to it in the ones I have.
>
By now I know that you found something in Gesenius. I'll
try to look up some otjher references in some grammars I
have (I hope I can find the time <ugh>).
Shalom,
Bryan
B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13206