Dear Yigal,
Thank you for the reminder. I added a post script to amend my name to the post,
as I'm sure you noticed. Your moderation of this forum is most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Chris Lovelace
>________________________________
> From: Yigal Levin <[email protected]>
>To: 'C L' <[email protected]>
>Cc: [email protected]
>Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 8:57 PM
>Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] How do I interpret the waw-perfect/weqatal forms in
>Zechariah 8:3?
>
>
>Dear Chris,
>
>Please remember to sign all posts with your full name.
>
>Todah
>
>Yigal Levin,
>
>Co-moderator, B-Hebrew
>
>From:[email protected]
>[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of C L
>Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 12:37 AM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [b-hebrew] How do I interpret the waw-perfect/weqatal forms in
>Zechariah 8:3?
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>I would appreciate any comments or critiques on how to interpret the
>waw-perfect forms in Zechariah 8:3.
>
>Specifically, I am attempting to glean as much information as possible from
>the Masoretic accents.
>
>(I know that several participants on the forum eschew the Masoretic tradition.
>Your position is dutifully and respectfully noted in advance. Since I am
>specifically assessing Masoretic accents and other features here, I'm not
>really asking for feedback on whether the Masorah is worthy of study. That may
>be a question in the future, but not now.)
>
>Here are my questions:
>
>
>
>
>
>Zechariah 8:3 (BHS)
>
>כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה שַׁ֚בְתִּי אֶל־צִיֹּ֔ון וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתֹ֣וךְ
>יְרֽוּשָׁלִָ֑ם וְנִקְרְאָ֤היְרוּשָׁלִַ֨ם֙ עִ֣יר־הָֽאֱמֶ֔ת וְהַר־יְהוָ֥ה
>צְבָאֹ֖ות הַ֥ר הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃ ס
>
>Description of the accents in Zechariah 8:3
>1. וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י has a ṭifḥā˒on the last syllable, whichaccording to Van
>der Merwe, et al. is a disjunctive accent that either 1.) “[i]ndicates either
>the main pause in short verses or [2.) indicates] the final pause before a
>sillûq or ˒atnāḥ.”[1][1]In Zechariah 8:3, the second option seems more likely,
>since בְּתֹ֣וךְ יְרֽוּשָׁלִָ֑ם presents a natural break in the verse before
>the next clause (which begins with וְנִקְרְאָ֤ה).
>a. Since the accent falls on the last syllable in וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י, it
>seems that, according to Waltke and O’Connor (citing David Kimchi), the verb
>should be interpreted as future: “[W]aw-relative in first-person singular and
>second-person masculine singular throws the accent forward to the final
>syllable as much as possible [as we see with וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י in Zechariah 8:3]
>…, whereas waw-copulative does not [throw the accent forward].”[2][2]
>b. Thus, if the waw in וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י were copulative, we would expect
>the accent to be marked on the second syllable (the first syllable following
>וְ), as noted by the tifha beneath shin, as follows: וְשָׁ֖כַנְתּיִ.
>Is my reasoning correct here? I have not worked with the Masoretic accents
>before. I am attempting to determine whether the accents allow any specificity
>to be assigned to the waw:
>Should the waw be taken as merely coordinating שׁכנתיwith the
>qatal/suffix/perfect form שַׁבתּיִ, yielding the idea of “I have returned and
>I have tabernacle” or even an ingressive: “I have returned and I have begun to
>tabernacle…”?
>Alternatively, the waw could be taken as directive: “I have returned, so that
>I [now] tabernacle…”
>NOTE: I am aware that many grammarians take the weqatal verb form as
>coordinate or synonymous with yiqtol, perhaps as part of a paradigm with the
>aspectual pairs qatal/wayyiqtol and yiqtol/weqatal. My investigation here
>involves an examination of the possibility that the verbs in Zechariah 8:3 are
>“tense-prominent” rather than “aspect-prominent.” So, for the sake of
>argument, I would like to know whether we can determine with certainty how
>traditional or tense-oriented/tense-prominent grammars would interpret the
>waw-perfect forms in Zechariah 8:3.
>This leads to the next question, regarding the second waw-prefixed perfect in
>Zechariah 8:3, in which the according to traditional grammar, it is possible
>to view the waw
>2. וְנִקְרְאָ֤ה in Zechariah 8:3 exhibits a mehuppāk on the last
>syllable, which Van der Merwe, et al. list (with mûnaḥand mêrekā˒)among the
>“main conjunctive accents.”[3][3]I take this to mean that וְנִקְרְאָ֤ה has the
>same nuance (i.e., tense, aspect, mood) of the preceding verb וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י.
>Is this correct (that וְנִקְרְאָ֤ה has the same nuance as the preceding verb
>וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י)?
>What then (referring back to part one of my question) is the correct tense in
>which to understand וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י?
>a. The only other instance in the Hebrew Bible of וְנִקְרְאָהoccurs in
>Esther 2:14b,[4][4]which (speaking of Esther) reads:
>לֹא־תָב֥וֹא עוֹד֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ
>כִּ֣י אִם־חָפֵ֥ץ בָּ֛הּ הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ וְנִקְרְאָ֥הבְשֵֽׁם׃
>וְנִקְרְאָהhere should (or at least COULD) be taken as a past tense, as in
>Zechariah 8:3. The verse should probably be translated: "She WOULD NOT RETURN
>(impf, modal) unless the king was pleased/had been pleased (pf) with her and
>she was called/summoned (pf) by name." There is no necessity to translate the
>perfect verb forms here as if they expressed imperfect: "used to," etc. In
>fact, that does not seem to be appropriate here. It seems that she went, came
>back, and did not go again until summoned. Syntactically, then, וְנִקְרְאָ֥ה
>coordinates to the nuance of the perfect form חָפֵ֥ץ.
>
>In short, my question is this: how should the weqatal/waw perfect forms be
>interpreted in Zechariah 8:3?
>Is there a syntactic reason (within the Masoretic notation or elsewhere) that
>would require them to be future, or do they coordinate with the nuance of
>שַׁבתִּיat the beginning of Zechariah 8:3?
>
>
>
>________________________________
>
>
>>________________________________
>
>[1][1]Christo Van der Merwe, Jackie Naudé, Jan Kroeze et al., A Biblical
>Hebrew Reference Grammar, electronic ed. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
>1999), 45.
>[2][2]Michael O'Connor and Bruce K. Waltke, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
>Syntax (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 520.
>[3][3]Christo Van der Merwe, Jackie Naudé, Jan Kroeze et al., A Biblical
>Hebrew Reference Grammar, electronic ed. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
>1999), 45.
>[4][4]According to the Masorah Gedolah, the form וְנִקְרְאָ֥הoccurs only in
>Zechariah 8:3 and Esther 2:14. See Gérard. E. Weil, Massorah Gedolah:
>Manuscrit B. 19a De Léningrad, entry 3161 וְנִקְרְאָה (Rome: Pontificium
>Institutum Biblicum, 2001), 349.
>
>
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