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Paper read at the SBL Conference in Washington, USA, November 22, 1993. I thank Mr
Dale Rabideau for comments and corrections.
R.E. Longacre, Discourse Perspective on the Hebrew Verb, in: W.R. Bodine (ed),
Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, Indiana, 1992, p. 177-189;
quotation on p. 179. Compare also statements on page 178: "The backbone or storyline
tense ... is the waw-consecutive with imperfect." and " ... a VSO clause may have a perfect when
it encodes a preparatory or resultant action. Perfects may also encode a flashback." Important is
the use of the word "encode".
167
Similarly, F.I. Andersen2 describes how surface text patterns would fit into
categories of discourse. For example, the episode: "In Hebrew, transition to a
new episode in a story is characteristally marked by wayehi ... , followed frequently by
an episode-marginal time reference, ..." and, the paragraph: "... the onset of a new
paragraph is often marked by using an explicit noun subject ... without interrupting
the sequence of WP (wayyiqtol) clauses."
The effect is that various clause types are analysed as linguistic codes with
clear and invariable functions on discourse level. The same is clear from one
of Andersens remarks on circumstantial clauses3: "In order to stage two events
as simultaneous ... it is necessary to break the paragraph-level chain of consecutive
(WP) clauses... A circumstantial clause is dependent on a paragraph-level WP clause,
which it may precede or follow; or it may be marginal to a paragraph as a whole."
One could also compare the analysis by Alviero Niccacci in his Biblical
Hebrew Reader4, where, for example, the text of Judges 6,33-36 is presented
according to the principle: Wayyiqtol is the main story line, W - X - Qatal
represents the secondary line. Niccacci discerns three levels of discourse:
"Livello 1 = linea narrativa principale; Livello 2 = linea secondaria; Livello 3 =
discorso diretto"5.
The question to be answered, however, is whether such general statements on
clause types and their syntactic functions really fit the position they have in
the structure of a text. The text of Judges 6,33-35, mentioned by Niccacci,
exhibits a concentration of four W-X-Qatal clauses in a narrative context. In
my view, it is not possible to claim simply that the wayyiqtols are the main
story line and that the W-X-Qatals constitute a secondary line. Rather, in this
text, the wayyiqtols depend on the W-X-Qatals, as I will try to demonstrate
below.
Clearly Bible translators had difficulties in handling these clauses in a
consistent way. They show the uncertainties one has in establishing the
relationship of clause types and textual organization. What does the W-XQatal mark? Is it the same linguistic function in each case? Background
information? A new paragraph? The introduction of a new actor in a text?
Translators evidently were not inclined to deal with all of these W-X-Qatal
clauses as cases of mere background information. Some translate these clauses
as if they should be read as wayyiqtol clauses. And, conversely, wayyiqtol
clauses are sometimes translated as starting a new paragraph.
2
F.I. Andersen, The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew, (Janua Linguarum, Series Practica, vol.
231), The Hague, 1974, p 63 and 64.
op. cit. p. 65
168
Eep Talstra
italics:
underlining:
Hebrew clause type has been marked in some way in the text of a
translation;
no marking in a translation.
The Holy Bible. Revised Standard version, New York, Glasgow, Toronto, 1952/1971
10
11
The Holy Bible. New International Version, Grand Rapids, 1973, 1978, 1984.
169
12
W. Schneider, Und es begab sich ... Anfnge von Erzhlungen im Biblischen Hebrisch,
Biblische Notizen 70 (1993) 62-87
13
170
Eep Talstra
dialogue: ,
,
or
- interrogative particles
- the
registration of lexical
patterns,
the repetition of lexemes: Cf.
,
in Ju. 6,33ff.
and
in II Ki 9,16ff.
text-syntactical markers:
- topicalization: PP or NP on first position of the clause
(or directly
after the
conjunction)
for the marking of an actor, e.g. ...
in II Ki. 9,1; ...
in II Ki.9,10
- the presence of a NPdet (determinated Noun Phrase) for the explicit
marking of the subject (in agreement with the verb);
- the order of phrases (= the pattern of words or phrase from the first
position up to and including the verb (or the order of NP and PP in a
171
This type of syntactic research concentrates on procedures for a computerassisted (re)construction of textual hierarchy. These procedures give help in
testing linguistic theories on the balance of these different parameters. The
search for a balance of distributional observations and proposals of their
communicative effects as demonstrated in the syntax part of Schneiders
Grammatik has largely influenced this project.14
The schema of Judges 6,33ff. presented below, is based on the effects of the
markers mentioned above and traced in the text. The clauses are listed with
their syntactic features (f.) and with the morphosyntactic or lexical arguments
that constitute the connection between each clause and one of the preceding
clauses. The connection (c.) itself is described by mentioning the verbal forms
involved. The result of this analysis is a proposal of a syntactic structure that
could be used for further discourse analysis.
The clause connections proposed are labeled with a code that has been
generated from internal codes in the database that are used to indicate verbal
forms, conjunctions or clause-initial prepositions.
Some codes used15:
200: parallel clauses
372: conjunction
(code:3), wayyiqtol (:7), qatal in preceding clause (:2)
322: conjunction (code:3), qatal (:2), qatal in preceding clause (:2)
64: infinitive construct, introduced by
999: start of direct speech section
The codes are combined with an indication of the distance between the two related
clauses in the text.
14
E. Talstra, Text Grammar and Biblical Hebrew: the viewpoint of Wolfgang Schneider, in:
Journal of Translation and Textlinguistics (JOTT) 5 (1992) 269-297.
15
For an extensive list of computer-generated codes used to for a formal marking of clause
connections, see: J.A. Groves, H.J. Bosman, J.H. Harmsen, E. Talstra, User Manual Quest.
Electronic Concordance Application for the Hebrew Bible, Haarlem: Netherlands Bible
Society, 1992, p. 128f.
172
Eep Talstra
173
;
[!#"%$'& ] [!)(+*-,/. ] [..! ..!879&:"%3;2=< ] [! ] Ju 06,33a-----|-----------|
change of actants
[dep]
[par]
[!?>A@5=& ] [! ] Ju 06,33b-----|
[par]
[ 2A,%5B>'CD&E0%3-5'@ ] [!F.$'& ] [! ] Ju 06,33c-----|
;
[7F!G5A"IHKJ-, ] [L%M-@N2 ] [L=!#L'&E$=!?> ] [! ]
change of actants
[>A(4!#M-@ ] [ 5A0%J'& ] [! ]
sub-
sub-
|
|
|
|
Ju 06,34a-----|-----|-----|
[dep] [par][dep]
Ju 06,34b-----|
|
|
[par]
|
|
Ju 06,34c-----|
|
|
|
|
Ju 06,35a-----|-----|
|
[dep] [par]
|
Ju 06,35b-----|
|
|
|
|
Ju 06,35c-----------|
|
.....
|
.....
|
Ju 06,36a-----------|-----|
174
Eep Talstra
label or function
W-X-Qatal + NPdet:
W-X-Qatal - NPdet:
, change of actants
introduction of background information; it becomes
a sub- when continued by a wayyiqtol
, (re-)introduction of actants
continuation
wayyiqtol
wayyiqtol
+ NPdet:
- NPdet:
Though the labels background and foreground are still applicable, they do
not indicate absolute levels of the narrative. The W-X-Qatal of verse 33, for
example, opens a background paragraph with respect to the preceding part of
the story. The sequence of wayyiqtols refers to foreground, though only
within the paragraph just started. Background and foreground therefore, are
to be interpreted with reference to the level of the story line one is actually
reading, which need not always be the main story line.
For this reason, I think that Niccacci, in his narrative syntax, should allow for
more embeddings in a story than only a main story line and background
information. In Judges 6,33ff, it can be concluded from the absence of new
subject noun phrases that the wayyiqtols are secondary to the W-X-Qatal
clauses and do not imply a return to the main story line. One can still hold
that the wayyiqtols constitute a story line, but deriving its level cannot come
from the clause type (wayyiqtol) alone. The lexical and morphological
information on clause hierarchy has to be used also.16
16
Compare, however, Niccaccis comments (in The Syntax, p. 48) on a similar construction
in I Samuel 28,3, where the wayyiqtols in between of two W-X-Qatal clauses are seen as
continuation of the background information rather than a shift back to the main level of
the story. Niccacci says that "This is a exception". I would suggest that this is a normal
situation.
175
italics:
underlining:
the Hebrew clause type has been marked somehow in the translation;
no marking in the translation.
176
Eep Talstra
II Ki.09,24 W - X - Qatal
[J%M04@ ] [!#"'& ] [ ,-243 ] [ ,6!#L'& ] [! ]
NBG:
Maar Jehu omklemde de boog...
Bu.:
Jehu aber hatte seine hand schon voll am Bogen ...
NEB:
Jehu seized his bow and ...
NIV:
Then Jehu drew his bow and shot ...
RSV:
And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength ...
II Ki.09,27 W - X - Qatal
[L-,B> ] [(L%"=!#L'&EZ+243 ) L'&9C#$-, ] [! ]
NBG:
Toen Ahazia, de koning van Juda, dat zag,
Bu.:
Kaum sahs Achasja Knig von Jehuda, floh er auf dem Weg ...
NEB:
When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled ...
NIV:
When Ahaziah king of Juda saw what had happened ...
RSV:
When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this ...
II Ki.09,29 W - X (PP) - Qatal [L%"=!#L'&V2A5 ] [L'&9C#$-, ] [Z+243 ] [...] [L/>-[N5\J%$-,\JI.M-@ ] [! ]
NBG:
Ahazia nu was koning geworden over Juda in het elfde jaar van Joram de zoon
van Achab.
Bu.:
Die Knigschaft ber Jehuda aber hatte Achasja im elften Jahr der Jahre
Jorams Sohns Achabs angetreten.
NEB:
In the eleventh year of Jehoram son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over
Judah.
NIV:
(In the eleventh year ... Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)
RSV:
In the eleventh year ... Ahaziah began to reing over Judah.
II Ki.09,30 Wayyiqtol + NPdet
[L+2A,%5B>'CD& ] [ ,6!#L'& ] [ ,6!)@A& ] [! ]
NBG:
Jehu kwam te Jizrel.
Bu.:
Als Jehu nach Jesreel kommen sollte ...
NEB:
Jehu came to Jezreel.
NIV:
Then Jehu went to Jezreel.
RSV:
When Jehu came to Jezreel ...
II Ki.09,30 W - X - Qatal
[L-5A3%M ] [ 2=@4CD&#, ] [! ]
NBG:
Toen Izebel dit vernomen had,
Bu.:
... und Isabel es hrte,
NEB:
Now Jezebel had heard what had happened;
NIV:
When Jezebel heard about it,
RSV:
..., Jezebel heard of it, ...
II Ki.09,31 W - X - Qatal
[>+5AM-@ ] [ ,'@ ] [ ,6!#L'& ] [! ]
NBG:
Toen Jehu de poort binnenkwam, riep zij:
Buber:
Wie Jehu ins Tor kam, sprach sie:
NEB:
As Jehu entered the gate, she said:
NIV:
As Jehu entered the gate, she ...
RSV:
And as Jehu entered the gate, she said ...
As was the case with Judges 6, 33ff., it is not possible to read this text linearly.
It is not just a sequence of wayyiqtol clauses, i.e. a main story line, only
interrupted now and then by a number of W-X-Qatal or similar clauses. The
changes of clause types and the pattern of actants create a textual hierarchy
that can be established with the help of various linguistic markers present in
the surface text.
The use of explicit noun phrases in wayyiqtol clauses shows great variation. For
example, in verse 11 - 13, one sees it only once whereas, in verse 14 - 16, the
combination of wayyiqtol and a corresponding NPdet (]+^_N` ) is used three
177
a
Compare verse 30f., where we find
and (re-)introduced as the
main actors in the text following the report of Jehus entering the city in verse
30. After their introduction we find no further NPdet marking an explicit
subject up to the end of the section in verse 37. So the entire section can be
read as a sub-paragraph to the Wayyiqtol clause that opens verse 30. Similarly
one could argue from verse 1, where, in the first W-X-Qatal clause, we find
Elisha reintroduced, that this makes the entire chapter 9 a separate paragraph
that should be read as a continuation of II Kings 8,25. This is, in fact, what
Buber does in his translation.
It seems possible to find more consistency in the translation of several clause
types when specific syntagmatic clause features are included. The following
translations, therefore, are proposed:
- "Now X had ..." for W-X-Qatal clauses that introduce a new actant or a new
combination of actants (verse 1, 16, 30, etc.).
- "And when X had ..."
for W-X-Qatal clauses where preceding actors are reintroduced (verse 11 and 31, possibly also verse 27).
- "Then X did ..." for Wayyiqtol clauses (re-)introducing an actor in the
storyline.
18
19
178
Eep Talstra
mentioned subject:
. Verse 22, where the actors, already present in this
episode, meet and are re-introduced, would then mark a major paragraph
break, not an episode.
The syntactical schema below does not present the entire grammatical
structure the text of II Kings 9, but only those verses from which the
conclusions on the larger textual structure are drawn. Translations for a
number of clause types and clause features are based on the proposals
mentioned above. Determinated Noun phrases marking the subject of a clause
are underlined. Unmarked subjects are indicated with: [ /
0 ].
4. Conclusion
A combination of clause-level features can be analyzed as marking divisions
and subdivisions in a text but, not the clause types defined solely by reference
to the verbal forms. It is not possible to take a clause type in itself as a marker
of a paragraph or an episode. The marking of the subdivisions of a text is a
more complicated procedure, depending on both syntagmatic (clause type)
and on paradigmatic data (verbal forms, pronominal references, lexical
connections). Background and foreground reference is of a relative nature: it is
valid within the boundaries of a paragraph only.
Functional labels should be applied on the basis of distributional data.
179
vs. 11 13
W X Qatal "And when Jehu came back .."
sub
[^G`Ddah]q`fhNcnrkj] ] [ ]sj` ] [ ]+^_N` ] [^ ]
9,11
9,11
vs. 14 15
wayyiqtol + NPdet "Then Jehu made a conspiracy against .."
9,14
[^k ]
[ /
0 ] [ lAg]` ] [^ ]
(vs. 14)
W X Qatal + Ptc. "Now Joram had been .."
sub
[hnjk%z{y|gl=c ] [ l4gjo ] [_N`f_ ] [bl6^G` ] [^ ]
9,14
9,15
9,15
[ ]+^_N` ] [ l4g]` ] [^ ]
[bp~ovd ] [
o ` ] [
b ] ]
9,15
9,15
9,16
9,16
9,16
vs. 15
wayyiqtol + NPdet "Then Jehu said .."
vs. 16
wayyiqtol + NPdet "Then Jehu drove away .."
(vs. 16)
W X Qatal "Now Ahazia had come .."
sub
[hl=` ] [(_jh^_N` }kpg ) _`:i] ] [^ ]
9,16
[ /
0 ] [ ]jl=` ] [^ ]
9,17
9,17
9,21
vs. 17 21
W X Ptc. "The watchman was standing.."
sub-
[( kj]jnjl6G`#c ) k|h-zg_rkjn ] [h|gn ] [_pv|s_ ] [^ ]
[ ]+^_N`ynNvoy] ]
[(_jh^_N`
180
Eep Talstra
vs. 21 29
Wayyiqtol Prep + Infin "The moment Joram saw Jehu .."
[`f_N` ] [^ ]
[ ]+^_N`y] ] [ bl6^_N` ] [ y+^]jl4~ ]
[ /
0 ] [ lAg]` ] [^ ]
9,22
9,22
9,22
9,23
9,23
9,23
(vs. 24 26)
W X Qatal "Now Jehu had taken the bow .."
sub
[y|oxmNc ] [^hN` ] [ ]jkpg ] [ ]+^f_N` ] [^ ]
9,24
9,24
[wYza_ryN`#c}lAh ] [ 0
/ ] [-df` ] [^ ]
[ ]+^_N` ] [^G`lAi] ] [j
hl=` ] [^ ]
9,27
9,27
9,27
[b|o ] [ 0
/ ] [y|gp` ] [^ ]
[_|gkpoj^l=` ] [^G`fhNcxn ] [^y] ] [^#c~l'` ] [^ ]
9,27
9,28
9,29
vs. 30 37
Wayyiqtol + NPdet "Then Jehu arrived at Jizreel .."
9,30
[^G`njl6w:`#c ] [bl6^_N`y] ]
[ /
0 ] [}N` ] [^ ]
(vs. 27 - 28)
W X Qatal "And when Ahashia had seen it .."
sub
[_]jl ] [(_jh^_N` }kpg ) _`:i] ] [^ ]
(vs. 29)
W X (PP) Qatal "In the eleventh year .. Ahaziah had become king .."
sub
bl6^G`k ] [_-do ] [_l4nyjij]y-doc ] [^ ]
(vs. 30)
W X Qatal "Now Jezebel had heard it .."
sub
[_npgjo ] [ kc|G`] ] [^ ]
[_N`Ddf`n ] [}^vpc ] [ /
0 ] [b|xy ] [^ ]
9,30
9,30
[b^kpo ] [_ ] [ /
0 ] [ lAg]|y ] [^ ]
[w)^k|ij_kj] ] [^#D` dv ] [ /
0 ] [ ]p` ] [^ ]
9,31
9,31
9,32
(vs. 31)
W X Qatal "and when Jehu had entered the gate .."
sub
[ l-nNoc ] [ ]c ] [ ]+^_N` ] [^ ]
181
Literature
F.I. Andersen,
The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew,
(Janua Linguarum, Series Practica, vol. 231), The Hague, 1974
B.L. Bandstra,
Word Order and Emphasis in Biblical Hebrew Narrative: Syntactic Observations on Genesis 22
from a Discourse Perspective, in: Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, W. Bodine (ed.), Winona Lake,
1992, p. 109 - 124
W. Gesenius, E. Kautzsch,
Hebrische Grammatik,
Leipzig, 1909-28
J.A. Groves, H.J. Bosman, J.H. Harmsen, E. Talstra,
User Manual Quest. Electronic Concordance Application for the Hebrew Bible, Haarlem: Netherlands
Bible Society, 1992
P. Joon, T. Muraoka,
A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Subsidia Biblica 14/1-2), Rome, 1991
R.E. Longacre,
Discourse Perspective on the Hebrew Verb
in: W.R. Bodine (ed), Linguistics and Biblical Hebrew, Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, Indiana, 1992, p.
177-189
R.E. Longacre,
Joseph, a Story of Divine providence: A Text Theoretical and Textlinguistic Analysis of Genesis 37 and 3948, Winona Lake, Indiana, 1989
T. Muraoka,
Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew, Jerusalem/Leiden, 1985
J.A. Naud,
A syntactical Analysis of dislocations in Biblical Hebrew, Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages
16 (1990) 115-130
A. Niccacci,
A neglected point of Hebrew Syntax: yiqtol and position in the sentence,
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Liber Annuus 37 (1987) 7-19
A. Niccacci,
Letture sintattica della Prosa Ebraico-Biblica. Principii e applicaztioni (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum
Analecta 31), Jerusalem, 1991
W. Schneider,
Und es begab sich .. Anfnge von Erzhlungen im Biblischen Hebrisch, Biblische Notizen 70
(1993) 62-87
E. Talstra,
Towards a Distributional Definition of Clauses in Classical Hebrew, EThL 63 (1986) 95-105
E. Talstra,
"Text Grammar and Computer. The Balance of Interpretation and Calculation", in: Actes du
Troisime Colloque International Bible et Informatique: "Interprtation, Hermneutique, Expertise",
Tbingen 28-31 aout 1991 (Paris / Genve 1992) p.135-149
E. Talstra,
Text Grammar and Biblical Hebrew: the viewpoint of Wolfgang Schneider, in: Journal of
Translation and Textlinguistics (JOTT) 5 (1992) 269-297.
B. Waltke - M. OConnor
Biblical Hebrew Syntax
Winona Lake, 1991.