Depending on the context it could have a few different functions. One such
function is highly rhetorical: it expects a significant answer of "yes" to
the negative question being asked. The corollary of this is that a question
asked with the interrogative particle HA- but which lacks the negative
particle LO) expects a negative answer.
In other cases, it simply marks a positive answer to a previously asked
question. We have idiomatic ways of doing this in English, too. Consider
possible ways you might answer the question, "Who is that woman?":
- "Why, that's Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah."
- "Well, if it isn't Bathsheba, daughter Eliam, wife of Uriah!"
Notice how both these answers employ words which would not normally be
associated with a straight answer, yet when used idiomatically in the given
context, they present no problem at all.
Regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au