Table Of ContentTime and the Biblical Hebrew Verb
Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic
edited by
Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé and Jacobus Naudé
The series Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic is devoted to the ancient
West Semitic languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, and their near
congeners. It includes monographs, collections of essays, and text editions in-
formed by the approaches of linguistic science. The material studied will span
from the earliest texts to the rise of Islam.
1. The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Approaches,
edited by Cynthia L. Miller
2. Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew: An Introduction,
by Joshua Blau
3. A Manual of Ugaritic, by Pierre Bordreuil and Dennis Pardee
4. Word Order in the Biblical Hebrew Finite Clause: A Syntactic and
Pragmatic Analysis of Preposing, by Adina Moshavi
5. Oath Formulas in Biblical Hebrew, by Blane Conklin
6. Biblical Hebrew Grammar Visualized, by Francis I. Andersen and
A. Dean Forbes
7. Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and
Modality in Biblical Hebrew, by John A. Cook
8. Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew, edited by Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé and
Ziony Zevit
Time and the
Biblical Hebrew Verb
The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and
Modality in Biblical Hebrew
John A. Cook
Winona Lake, Indiana
EisEnbrAuns
2012
Copyright © 2012 Eisenbrauns
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
www.eisenbrauns.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cook, John A., Dr.
Time and the biblical Hebrew verb : the expression of tense, aspect,
and modality in biblical Hebrew / John A. Cook.
pages cm — (Linguistic studies in ancient West Semitic ; 7)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-1-57506-256-3 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Hebrew language—Tense. 2. Hebrew language—Verb.
3. Bible. O.T.—Language, style. I. Title.
PJ4659.C66 2012
492.4′56—dc23
2012038996
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1984.♾™
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapter 1. A Theory of Tense, Aspect, and Modality . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Pre-modern Treatments of Tense and Aspect 1
1.2. The R-Point and Modern Tense Theory 4
1.2.1. Jespersen’s Universal Tense Theory 4
1.2.2. Reichenbach’s R-Point Theory 7
1.2.3. Revisions of Reichenbach’s R-Point Theory 10
1.2.3.1. Hornstein: Reducing R-Point Redundancies 10
1.2.3.2. Bull: Multiple R-Points 12
1.2.3.3. Comrie: A Compromise R-Point Theory 13
1.2.3.4. Declerck: A Bifurcated R-Point 15
1.2.4. Summary: The R-Point and Tense Theory 18
1.3. A Primer on Aspect 18
1.3.1. Situation Aspect 19
1.3.2. Phasal Aspect 25
1.3.3. Viewpoint Aspect 26
1.4. The R-Point in Tense-Aspect Theory 28
1.4.1. M. R. Johnson: The Triadic Relationship of E, R, and S 28
1.4.2. W. Klein: The R-Point as “Topic Time” 31
1.4.3. Olsen: Multiple R-Points 33
1.4.4. Summary: The R-Point and Tense-Aspect Theory 36
1.5. The R-Point and Discourse 36
1.5.1. Explaining R-Point Movement with Viewpoint Aspect 37
1.5.2. Explaining R-Point Movement with Situation Aspect 38
1.5.3. Explaining R-Point Movement with (Un)boundedness 41
1.5.4. Summary: The R-Point in Discourse 41
1.6. A Primer on Modality 42
1.6.1. Backgrounds of Modality: Grammar, Logic, and
Speech Acts 42
1.6.2. Defining Modality 45
1.6.3. Categorizing Modality 47
1.6.3.1. Classifications of Modalities 47
1.6.3.2. Modality and Speech Acts 52
1.6.3.3. Modality and Mood Systems 53
1.6.4. Conclusion: Modality and TAM Systems 54
v
vi Contents
1.7. A Model of Tense, Aspect, and Modality 55
1.7.1. Semantics and TAM 55
1.7.2. Time and Space: Temporality and TAM 57
1.7.3. Aspect and Event Time 57
1.7.3.1. Situation Aspect and Event Time 58
1.7.3.2. Phasal Aspect and Event Time 62
1.7.3.3. Viewpoint Aspect and Event Time 65
1.7.4. Tense and Unilinear Time 68
1.7.5. Modality and Alternative Times 70
1.7.6. The Interaction of Tense, Aspect, and Modality 72
1.8. Conclusion 75
Chapter 2. Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew . . . . . . 77
2.1. A Primer on the Biblical Hebrew Verbal System 77
2.2. The Establishment of the “Standard” Theory of the
Biblical Hebrew Verbal System 83
2.2.1. Before Ewald and S. R. Driver 83
2.2.2. Ewald’s “Standard” Theory 86
2.2.3. S. R. Driver’s “Extended Standard” Theory 90
2.2.4. Summary 93
2.3. The Biblical Hebrew Verbal System in Historical
and Comparative Perspective 93
2.3.1. The Linguistic Context of the BHVS 95
2.3.2. East Semitic and the West Semitic Verbal System 97
2.3.2.1. The Akkadian Verbal System 97
2.3.2.2. The West Semitic Verbal System in Light
of Akkadian 99
2.3.3. Ugaritic and the Northwest Semitic Verbal System 105
2.3.3.1. The Ugaritic Verbal System 105
2.3.3.2. The Northwest Semitic Verbal System in Light
of Ugaritic 107
2.3.4. Amarna and the Canaanite Verbal System 110
2.3.4.1. Peripheral Akkadian and the
Amarna Letters 111
2.3.4.2. The Canaanite Verbal System in
Light of Amarna 112
2.3.5. Summary: The BHVS in Light of
Historical-Comparative Data 118
2.4. Biblical Hebrew Verb Theory in the Last Half Century 121
2.4.1. Aspect-Prominent Theory 122
2.4.1.1. Rundgren’s Privative Opposition Theory 122
2.4.1.2. Meyer’s Diachronic Systemüberlagerung
Theory 124
2.4.1.3. Michel’s Synchronic Theory 126
2.4.1.4. Summary 130
2.4.2. Tense-Prominent Theory 130
Contents vii
2.4.2.1. Tense and Diachrony 131
2.4.2.2. Tense and Syntax 132
2.4.2.3. Relative Tense and Modality 135
2.4.2.4. Summary 148
2.4.3. Discourse-Prominent Theory 149
2.4.3.1. Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature 150
2.4.3.2. Discourse Analysis and the Semantics
of the BHVS 156
2.4.3.3. Conclusion 171
2.5. Hebrew Verb Theory at the Beginning of the 21st Century 172
Chapter 3. The Semantics of the Biblical Hebrew Verbal System . . . 176
3.1. Theoretical Considerations 176
3.1.1. Basic Principles 176
3.1.2. Goals of a Semantic Theory 182
3.1.3. Diachronic Typology and Grammaticalization 185
3.1.4 Concluding Remarks and a Look Ahead 190
3.2. The Expression of Aspect in BH 191
3.2.1. Phasal Aspect: The Lexical-Semantic Dimension 191
3.2.2. Situation Aspect: The Stative-Dynamic Opposition 194
3.2.3. Viewpoint Aspect: The Perfective-Imperfective Opposition
and the Progressive 199
3.2.3.1. Perfective Qatal 201
3.2.3.2. Imperfective Yiqtol 217
3.2.3.3. Participle as Adjectival Encoding of
Event Predicates 223
3.3. The Expression of Modality in BH 233
3.3.1. Word Order in BH: An Overview 235
3.3.2. Directive-Volitive Mood System 237
3.3.3. Realis-Irrealis Mood Opposition 244
3.3.3.1. Irrealis Yiqtol 244
3.3.3.2. Irrealis Qatal (Including So-Called Wĕqatal) 249
3.4. The Expression of Temporality in BH 256
3.4.1. The Past Narrative Wayyyiqtol Conjugation 256
3.4.2. The “Default Pattern” of Temporal Interpretation in BH 265
3.5. The TAM System of BH in Diachronic-Typological Perspective 268
Chapter 4. Semantics and Discourse Pragmatics of the
Biblical Hebrew Verbal System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
4.1. On Discourse-Pragmatic Approaches to BH 272
4.2. Some Elements of Discourse Structure 275
4.2.1. Temporal Succession 275
4.2.2. Foreground-Background 283
4.2.3. The Relationship between Temporal Succession
and Foreground 286
4.3. The Semantics of Temporality in BH Discourse 288
viii Contents
4.3.1. Wayyiqtol and Narrative Discourse 289
4.3.2. Wayyiqtol in Poetry 298
4.3.3. Irrealis Qatal and Non-narrative Discourse 304
4.3.4. Discourse יהִיְוַ and הָיהָוְ 309
4.4. The Temporal and Modal Interpretation of Discourse 312
4.4.1. 1 Samuel 8 (Prose Narrative) 326
4.4.2. Exodus 12 (Irrealis Instruction) 332
4.5. Conclusion 337
Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Index of Authors 375
Index of Scripture 380
Preface
A cognate duality marks the coexistence of language and of time. There is a
sense, intuitively compelling, in which language occurs in time. Every speech
act, whether it is an audible utterance or voiced innerly, “takes time”―itself
a suggestive phrase. It can be measured temporally. . . . But this occurrence of
language in time is only one aspect of the relation, and the easier to grasp. Time,
as we posit and experience it, can be seen as a function of language, as a system
of location and referral whose main co-ordinates are linguistic. Language largely
composes and segments time. (Steiner 1998: 135–36)
The origins of this book reach back to my dissertation (Cook 2002), though it
has grown and morphed significantly in the intervening decade. Some portions
of this work bear striking resemblance to its origins, such as the discussion of
the history of tense theory in chap. 1 and the discussion of Biblical Hebrew
verb theory in chap. 2, which has mainly been expanded to treat recent re-
search. By contrast, the discussion in chap. 3 has been completely revised and
rearranged, at times leading to the rejection of my earlier claims; and the latter
portion of chap. 4 represents a framework not even conceived of at the begin-
ning of my interest in the Biblical Hebrew verbal system.
The Biblical Hebrew verbal system continues to exercise scholars, and
though I have attempted to give an accurate picture of the contours of the
discussion, there are undoubtedly various works that I have missed mention-
ing directly. I trust, however, that I have interacted enough with the range of
approaches to the perennial questions on the Hebrew verb to have done them
justice. With respect to the perennial questions, my answers may appear de-
ceptively traditional. For instance, my answer to the long-standing debate of
“tense or aspect” is not drastically different from Ewald’s, though our under-
standing of the perfective : imperfective opposition encoded in Biblical He-
brew qatal and yiqtol is distinguished by the century and a half of intervening
discussion and the rise of modern linguistics. One distinguishing sign is my
employment of the phrase “aspect prominent” (à la Bhat 1999) to describe the
Biblical Hebrew verbal system. The framing of the central question as “tense
or aspect (or modality)” wrongly implies a mutual exclusivity among these
domains of meaning. At the same time, it is unhelpful to claim that they can
never legitimately be separated out in the course of analysis: dissection of the
system does not necessarily imply that any part of the system can function
independently.
ix
