The System of the Verb in Standard Biblical Prose

This article surveys the system of the verb in the Former Prophets starting from the premises (advanced by others) that there are two indicative "tenses", each represented by a "simple" and a "consecutive" form in complementary distribution, and one modal system, repres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hebrew Union College annual
Main Author: Revell, E. J. 1934- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
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Published: HUC 1990
In: Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1989, Volume: 60, Pages: 1-37
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:This article surveys the system of the verb in the Former Prophets starting from the premises (advanced by others) that there are two indicative "tenses", each represented by a "simple" and a "consecutive" form in complementary distribution, and one modal system, represented by the imperative, jussive and cohortative forms, also in complementary distribution. The main thesis is that the indicative and modal systems are fully independent because (1) imperfect forms with modal value are distinguished from indicatives by their position in the clause, (2) a perfect form with waw "consecutive" following a modal has a value different from that of a modal in the same position. The article begins with a survey of the indicative system intended to set this thesis in its proper context by showing that (1) the value of any verb form depends heavily on its syntactic/semantic context, (2) despite the distinct values of the "tenses", in many contexts either may be used to represent the same occurrence — the choice is determined by the viewpoint of the author, or by the particular implications he intends to convey. The article concludes with a survey of the way this system developed to the end of the Biblical period.
Contains:Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual