Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew

by John A. Cook

Publisher:

Eisenbrauns

, 2012

Overview

In this book, John Cook interacts with a range of approaches to perennial questions on the Hebrew verb. Some of his answers may appear traditional, such as his perfective-imperfective identification of the qatal-yiqtol opposition, but his approach is distinguished by its modern linguistic foundation. One distinguishing sign is his employment of the phrase “aspect prominent” to describe the biblical Hebrew verbal system. As with almost any of the world’s verbal systems, this aspect-prominent system can express a wide range of aspectual, tensed, and modal meanings. He argues that each of the forms can be semantically identified with a general meaning and that the expressions of specific aspectual, tensed, and modal meanings by each form are explicable with reference to its general meaning.

Cook eschews statistical means of validation, pointing out their weaknesses along the way, and draws on diachronic typology as an “external” means of validating his theory. These fields have provided a wealth of data on verbal systems and diachronic changes to these systems in the world’s languages. Given the inescapable diachronic dimension that is part of studying the ancient, composite corpus of the Hebrew Bible, diachronic typology is an especially suitable approach and a particularly useful means of escaping the subjectivity of translation-based statistical approaches.

After a decade of research and creative thinking, the author frames his discussion with the question, “What is the range of meaning for a given form, and what sort of contextual factors (syntagm, discourse, etc.) help us understand this range in relation to a general meaning for the form?” Although the general meaning may be an abstraction (just as a morpheme or phoneme is an abstraction), it gives us a better understanding of the array of specific meanings a form may exhibit and predicts the types of contexts in which these specific meanings may appear.

In order to account for the contextual character of specific meanings, Cook addresses long-standing issues involving interaction between the semantics of verbal forms and their pragmatic functions. More importantly, he proposes a theory of discourse modes for biblical Hebrew. These modes account for various temporal relationships that are found among successive clauses in biblical Hebrew. Fittingly, his account of this theory of discourse modes ends on an exegetical note with an explication of the interaction of verbs and their discourse context in two passages from the Hebrew Bible.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“3.3.3.2. Irrealis Qatal (Including So-Called Wĕqatal)” (Page 249)

“foregrounding is a discourse-pragmatic feature of wayyiqtol;” (Page 297)

“In conclusion, there is neither a semantic marking nor a complete discourse correlation between wayyiqtol and temporal succession. The high degree of coincidence between wayyiqtol and temporal succession is explained first of all by the semantics of wayyiqtol; namely, its default perfective aspect regularly contributes to the expression of temporal succession. Secondly, as the narrative verb, wayyiqtol is the preferred form in narrative discourse, in which the ordo naturalis (i.e., temporal succession) normally holds between successively described events.” (Page 297)

“discourse studies have been criticized for too-quickly making the leap from correlation to causation” (Page 273)

“stative verbs default to present temporal reference when conjugated with qatal; that” (Page 198)

Product Details

• Title: Time and the Biblical Hebrew Verb: The Expression of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Biblical Hebrew, Vol. 7
• Author: John A. Cook
• Series: Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic
• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Language, style; Hebrew language › Tense; Hebrew language › Verb
• Resource ID: LLS:TMBBLCLHBRWVRBX
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T06:22:03Z

About John A. Cook

Dr. John A. Cook is assistant professor of Old Testament. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to coming to Asbury Seminary, Dr. Cook was on the faculty at Asian Theological Seminary in the Philippines from 1993 to 1996. He and his wife, Kathy, have four children.