{"id":862,"date":"2020-07-05T23:24:56","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T20:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/?p=862"},"modified":"2020-07-30T04:58:23","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T01:58:23","slug":"mood-and-word-order-in-biblical-hebrew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/2020\/07\/mood-and-word-order-in-biblical-hebrew\/","title":{"rendered":"Word order in Biblical Hebrew pt. 3(b): Real\/Irreal Mood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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REAL\/IRREAL MOOD AND WORD ORDER<\/h3>\n

In the last post<\/a>I introduced the concept of real and irreal mood in Biblical Hebrew.  In  this post, we’ll take a look at real and irreal phrases and clauses in the Bible.<\/p>\n

Recall that certain grammatical words at the beginning clauses indicate irreal mood.  These include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The negatives \u05d0\u05b7\u05dc<\/span> and \u05dc\u05b9\u05d0<\/span>;<\/li>\n
  2. Conditional clause markers (\u05d0\u05b4\u05dd<\/span> and \u05db\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9<\/span> \u05d0\u05b4\u05dd<\/span>)<\/li>\n
  3. Volitional forms: Imperatives (second-person), jussives (second- or third-person), traditionally-called cohortatives (more properly, first-person jussives).<\/li>\n
  4. Purpose clause markers, such as \u05dc\u05b0\u05de\u05b7\u05e2\u05b7\u05df<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Both the Imperfect and Perfect forms can express irreal mood. <\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

    THE IRREAL IMPERFECT (yiqtol)<\/em><\/h3>\n

    In addition to the more-common irreal perfect (see below),  express irreal mood.  Very often, the irreal imperfect carries the nuance of a command or instruction: that is, something one should or should not do. Perhaps the most prominent examples of the irreal imperfect is the Ten Commandments. Note that since these clauses are null-subject clauses, verb-subject inversion is not present:<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    You shall have no other gods before me.<\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05bd\u05a3\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b7\u05bd\u05e2\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c2\u05a8\u05d4\u05be\u05dc\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u05a5\u05a3 \u05e4\u05bc\u05b6\u05e1\u05b6\u05dc<\/span><\/p>\n

    You shall not make for yourself an idol\u2026<\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05bd\u05d0\u05be\u05ea\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05d7\u05b0\u05d5\u05b6\u05a5\u05a3\u05d4 \u05dc\u05b8\u05d4\u05b6\u0596\u05dd\u05ae \u05d5\u05b0\u05dc\u05b9\u05a3\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b8\u05e2\u05b8\u05d1\u05b0\u05d3\u05b5\u0591\u05dd\u0592<\/span><\/p>\n

    You shall not bow down before them and you shall not serve them\u2026<\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05a5\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b4\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c2\u059b\u05d0 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05e9\u05b5\u05bd\u05c1\u05dd\u05be\u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05a5\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b6\u0596\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u0591\u05d5\u05b0\u05d0<\/span><\/p>\n

    You shall not bear the name of the LORD your God for nothing\u2026<\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05a5\u0596\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05bf\u05e8\u05b0\u05e6\u05b8\u05bd\u0596\u05d7\u05c3 <\/span><\/p>\n

    You shall not kill.
    \n\u05dc\u05b9\u05a3\u0596\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05bf\u05e0\u05b0\u05d0\u05b8\u05bd\u0591\u05e3\u05c3 <\/span>
    \nYou shall not commit adultery
    \n \u05dc\u05b9\u05a3\u0596\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05bf\u05d2\u05b0\u05e0\u05b9\u05bd\u0594\u05d1\u05c3 <\/span>
    \nYou shall not steal\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05bd\u05d0\u05be\u05ea\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e0\u05b6\u05a5\u05d4<\/span><\/p>\n

    >You shall not bear false witness\u2026<\/p>\n

    \u05dc\u05b9\u05a5\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b7\u05d7\u05b0\u05de\u05b9\u0596\u05d3 \u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05a3\u05d9\u05ea \u05e8\u05b5\u05e2\u05b6\u0591\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b9\u05bd\u05d0\u05be\u05ea\u05b7\u05d7\u05b0\u05de\u05b9\u059e\u05d3 \u05d0\u05b5\u05a3\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05ea \u05e8\u05b5\u05e2\u05b6\u0597\u05da\u05b8<\/span><\/p>\n

    You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor\u2026<\/p>\n

    THE IRREAL PERFECT (weqatal)<\/em><\/h3>\n

    A very common verb form that triggers SV inversion is the irreal perfect (traditionally called waw <\/em>consecutive imperfect).  It is so-called because it indicates irreal mood, in that it can make a verb function as an imperative (traditionally viewed as future \u201ctense\u201d) or conditional.  Let\u2019s look at this example from Deut 6:5-9, the famous Shema:<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u0594<\/span> \u05d0\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b6\u0591\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05db\u05b8\u05dc\u05be\u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05d1\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u05a5 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05db\u05b8\u05dc\u05be\u05e0\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05da\u05b8\u0596 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05db\u05b8\u05dc\u05be\u05de\u05b0\u05d0\u05b9\u05d3\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05d9\u059e\u05d5\u05bc<\/span> \u05d4\u05b7\u05d3\u05b0\u05bc\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u0597\u05dc\u05b6\u05bc\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a8\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b8\u05e0\u05b9\u05db\u05b4\u05a7\u05d9 \u05de\u05b0\u05e6\u05b7\u05d5\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u059b \u05d4\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u0596\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05d1\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3 \u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05e0\u05b7\u05bc\u05e0\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u05a3\u05dd<\/span> \u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05e0\u05b6\u0594\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d3\u05b4\u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05e8\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u0596 \u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u0591\u05dd<\/span><\/span> \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05d1\u05b0\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u05a4 \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05d1\u05b5\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u0599\u05da\u05b8\u0599 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05dc\u05b6\u05db\u05b0\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u05a3 <\/span>\u05d1\u05b7\u05d3\u05b6\u05bc\u0594\u05e8\u05b6\u05da\u05b0 \u05d5\u05bc\u05bd\u05d1\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05db\u05b0\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u0596 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05e7\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3 \u05d5\u05bc\u05e7\u05b0\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05e8\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u05a5\u05dd<\/span> \u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u0596\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b6\u0591\u05da\u05b8 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05d9\u05a5\u05d5\u05bc<\/span> \u05dc\u05b0\u05d8\u05b9\u05d8\u05b8\u05e4\u05b9\u0596\u05ea \u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05a5\u05d9\u05df \u05e2\u05b5\u05d9\u05e0\u05b6\u05bd\u05d9\u05da\u05b8\u05c3 \u05d5\u05bc\u05db\u05b0\u05ea\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u059b\u05dd<\/span> \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05de\u05b0\u05d6\u05d5\u05bc\u05d6\u05b9\u05a5\u05ea \u05d1\u05b5\u05bc\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u0596\u05da\u05b8 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b6\u05bd\u05d9\u05da\u05b8\u05c3 \u05e1<\/p>\n

    The verbs in red are traditionally called waw<\/em>-consecutive perfects or the weqatal<\/em> form. It is traditionally taught that if the Past Narrative conjugation indicated past tense, the waw<\/em>-consecutive imperfect indicates future tense. But I now see these as irreal<\/em> perfects, meaning that the form indicates a situation further removed from the reality of the speaker.  In other words, these are not merely future tense verbs, but they carry an imperatival nuance:<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u0594<\/span> \u05d0\u05b5\u0596\u05ea \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05a3\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b6\u0591\u05d9\u05da\u05b8<\/span> \u2013 You shall love the LORD your God\u2026: i.e., Love the Lord your God.<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05d9\u059e\u05d5\u05bc<\/span> \u05d4\u05b7\u05d3\u05b0\u05bc\u05d1\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05a3\u05d9\u05dd \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u0597\u05dc\u05b6\u05bc\u05d4<\/span> \u2013 These shall be the words\u2026 i.e., \u201cHere are the words that I\u2019m telling you \u2013 go and do them!\u201d  Also, the commands that YHWH is about to issue the people of Israel are forthcoming \u2013 get ready to listen and obey them [this also parallels the first verse of the Shema \u2013 Israel is supposed to listen (\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05de\u05b7\u05e2<\/span>) or, perhaps more properly in this context, obey<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b4\u05c1\u05e0\u05b7\u05bc\u05e0\u05b0\u05ea\u05b8\u05bc\u05a3\u05dd \u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05e0\u05b6\u0594\u05d9\u05da\u05b8<\/span> \u2013 \u201cRepeat them for your children!\u201d<\/p>\n

    As we see in the Shema, <\/em>many verbs in the weqatal<\/em> form carry an imperatival sense – there isn’t necessarily a “future” sense encoded in them.<\/p>\n

    [FORWARD LOOK:<\/strong> In another blog post<\/strong><\/a>, we talked about how grammatical words at the heads of clauses trigger inverted word order to SV. In this case, the SECOND inversion of the clause indicates that the author is drawing attention to \u201cwhom\u201d (Moses) is giving the commandments.  In other words, it\u2019s as if to say \u201cI<\/strong> am the one commanding you these things  – listen to what I<\/strong>, Moses, am getting ready to tell you. This is called \u201cfocus\u201d (more traditionally, \u201cemphasis\u201d, which will be discussed in a future post. Focus is the final grammatical feature which triggers inverted word order.<\/p>\n

    \u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05a8\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b8\u05e0\u05b9\u05db\u05b4\u05a7\u05d9 \u05de\u05b0\u05e6\u05b7\u05d5\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8\u059b \u05d4\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u0596\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05dc\u05b0\u05d1\u05b8\u05d1\u05b6\u05bd\u05da\u05b8\u05c3<\/span><\/p>\n

    So, basically, all of the verbs in red are not precisely future tense, but should be viewed as imperatives. In other words, Moses\u2019s speech to the Israelites is intended to be obeyed.  These are things that the Israelites must<\/em> do; they are not merely things that they are going to do.<\/p>\n

    But, since the most common clause in BH is the null-subject clause, we need some examples with subjects!  Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05e9\u05b8\u05c1\u05de\u05b7\u05e8\u05a9 \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05d5\u05b8\u05a8\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05d4\u05b6\u059c\u05d9\u05da\u05b8 \u05dc\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u0597 \u05d0\u05b6\u05bd\u05ea\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u0599<\/span><\/p>\n

    (So) YHWH your God shall keep the covenant for himself (Deut 7:12) (cause-effect)<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05d6\u05b7\u05a5\u05d1 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d0\u05b8\u05d1\u05b4\u0596\u05d9\u05d5 \u05d5\u05b8\u05de\u05b5\u05bd\u05ea\u05c3<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cIf he leaves his father, then he [his father] will die (conditional) (Gen 22:44).<\/p>\n

    The most prominent indicator of irreal mood is verb-subject inversion. The irreal perfect is akin to the subjunctive mood, which is present in many other languages.  Thus, the types of imperfects that constitute irreal mood are the so-called volitionals: third-, second-, and first-person jussives. Second-person jussives indicate \u201csoft\u201d commands and are usually indicated by the presence of the particle \u05d0\u05b7\u05dc<\/span>:<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b9\u05bc\u0597\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b7\u05a4\u05d7 \u05d9\u05b8\u05bd\u05d3\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u0599 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05e0\u05b7\u05bc\u0594\u05e2\u05b7\u05e8 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05a5\u05e2\u05b7\u05e9\u05c2 \u05dc\u0596\u05d5\u05b9 \u05de\u05b0\u05d0\u0591\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4<\/span><\/p>\n

    He [the messenger of YHWH] said, \u201cDo not stretch out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him\u201d (Gen 22:12).<\/p>\n

    All of the examples above illustrate irreal mood. But, as we\u2019ve seen in the Irreal Imperfect, since the majority of Hebrew sentences do not include a clear subject, we do not see triggered inversion.  If we were to include the subjects in these clauses, according to this theory, we could reconstruct a hypothetical sentence like this:<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b9\u05bc\u0597\u05d0\u05de\u05b6\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b7\u05a4\u05d7 (\u05d0\u05b8\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4)<\/span> \u05d9\u05b8\u05bd\u05d3\u05b0\u05da\u05b8\u0599 \u05d0\u05b6\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05b7\u05e0\u05b7\u05bc\u0594\u05e2\u05b7\u05e8 \u05d5\u05b0\u05d0\u05b7\u05dc\u05be\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05a5\u05e2\u05b7\u05e9\u05c2 (\u05d0\u05b8\u05ea\u05bc\u05b8\u05d4) \u05dc\u0596\u05d5\u05b9 \u05de\u05b0\u05d0\u0591\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4<\/span><\/p>\n

    Admittedly, clauses “not” affected by elements that trigger inverted word order are very rare, which leads most grammarians today (and, really, since Hebrew grammar was first studied hundreds of years ago) to assume verb-subject word order. However, one classic example of a clause existing in VS word order that is not <\/em>affected by triggered inversion is in Genesis 4:1<\/p>\n

    \u05d5\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05a3\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u0594\u05dd \u05d9\u05b8\u05d3\u05b7\u0596\u05e2 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05d7\u05b7\u05d5\u05b8\u05bc\u05a3\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05bc\u0591\u05d5\u05b9 \u05d5\u05b7\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u0599\u05d4\u05b7\u05e8\u0599 \u05d5\u05b7\u05ea\u05b5\u05bc\u05a3\u05dc\u05b6\u05d3 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05e7\u05b7\u0594\u05d9\u05b4\u05df<\/span><\/p>\n

    While some grammarians have argued that what I consider to be standard word order is inverted because of emphasis or framing (topic),  I don’t buy either these.  As to the first, who else is around in the story?  What reason does the author have to emphasize that THE MAN knew his wife?  At least if we only go by what is recounted in the story, who else is around? As to the second, this doesn’t look like topic inversion (framing) to me. It seems to simply continue the narrative where it left off at the end of Genesis 3.<\/p>\n

    This is a lot to digest.  Thanks for reading!  Feel free to contact me<\/a><\/strong> if you have any questions, or if you just feel like arguing. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    REAL\/IRREAL MOOD AND WORD ORDER In the last postI introduced the concept of real and irreal mood in Biblical Hebrew.  In  this post, we’ll take a look at real and irreal phrases and clauses in the Bible. Recall that certain grammatical words at the beginning clauses indicate irreal mood.  These include: The negatives \u05d0\u05b7\u05dc and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,52,51,36,56,35,34,57,55,53,39,54],"class_list":["post-862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-categories","tag-hebrew","tag-inversion","tag-irreal","tag-irreal-imperfect","tag-irreal-mood","tag-irreal-perfect","tag-mood","tag-real-and-irreal-mood","tag-real-mood","tag-trigger-inversion","tag-uncategorized","tag-weqatal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1184,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions\/1184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehebrewcafe.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}