§ 48. Shortening and Lengthening of the Imperfect and Imperative. The Jussive and Cohortative.
1. Certain modifications which take place in the form of the imperfect, and express invariably, or nearly so, a distinct shade of meaning, serve to some extent as a compensation for the want of special forms for the Tempora relativa and for certain moods of the verb.
2. Along with the usual form of the imperfect, there exists also a lengthened form of it (the cohortative), and a shortened form (the jussive).1 The former occurs (with few exceptions) only in the 1st person, while the latter is mostly found in the 2nd and 3rd persons, and less frequently in the 1st person. The laws of the tone, however, and of the formation of syllables in Hebrew, not infrequently precluded the indication of the jussive by an actual shortening of the form; consequently it often—and, in the imperfect forms with afformatives, always—coincides with the ordinary imperfect (indicative) form.
In classical Arabic the difference is almost always evident. That language distinguishes, besides the indicative yaçqtuçluç, (a) a subjunctive, yaçqtuçlaç (b) a jussive, yaçqtuçl; (c) a double 'energetic' mood of the impf., yaçqtuçlaçnnaç and yaçqtuçlaçn, in pause yaçqtuçlaÒ, the last form thus corresponding to the Hebrew cohortative.
3. The characteristic of the cohortative form is an aÒ (h¤') affixed to the 1st pers. sing. or plur., e. g. hl'j.q.a, from ljoq.a,.2 It occurs in almost all conjugations and classes of the strong and weak verb (except of course in the passives), and this final h¤' has the tone wherever the afformatives W and y¤i would have it. As before these endings, so also before the h¤' cohortative, the movable vowel of the last syllable of the verbal form becomes SèewaÖ, e. g. in Qal hr'ñm.v.a, I will observe, in PiÇel hq'ñT.n:n> let us break asunder, y Ps 2:3; on hj'q\v.a, Is 18:4 QereÖ (cf. also 27:4, Ezr 8:25, &c.), see § 10 h; with the KethiÖbh of these passages, compare the analogous cases wjwpvy, &c., § 47 g.—On the other hand, an unchangeable vowel in the final syllable is retained as tone-vowel before the h¤', as (e. g.) in Hiph. hr'yKiñz>a; I will praise. In pause (as before uÖ and iÖ), the vowel which became, SèewaÖ is restored as tone-vowel; thus for the cohortative hr'ñm.v.a, the pausal form is hr'm+ov.a, y Ps 59:10; cf. Gn 18:21, Is 41:26.
The change of h¤' into the obtuse h¤, seems to occur in 1 S 28:15, unless, with Nestle, we are to assume a conflate reading, ar'q.a,l)" and hr,q.a,w)"; and with the 3rd pers. y Ps 20:4, in a syllable sharpened by a following Dagesë forte conjunct.; cf. similar cases of the change of h¤¤' into the obtuse h¤, in l and in §§ 73 d, 80 i, 90 i. In y Ps 20:4, however, h'n<òV.d;y>—with suffix—is probably intended. An h¤' cohort. is also found with the 3rd pers. in Is 5:19 (twice); Ez 23:20, and again in verse 16 according to the QereÖ, but in both these cases without any effect on the meaning. Probably another instance occurs in Jb 11:17, although there hp'[uñT' might also, with QimhÌi, be regarded as 2nd masc. For the doubly irregular form ht'aAbñT' Dt 33:16 (explained by Olshausen and König as a scribal error, due to a confusion with tawbt in verse 14), read hn"aAbñT'. For ^t.a†'AbT. Jb 22:21 the noun ^t.a†'WbT. thine increase, might be meant, but the Masora has evidently intended an imperfect with the ending ath, instead of h¤', before the suffix, on the analogy of the 3rd sing. fem. perfect, see § 59 a; on ytabtw, 1 S 25:34, see § 76 h.
The cohortative expresses the direction of the will to an action and thus denotes especially self-encouragement (in the 1st plur. an exhortation to others at the same time), a resolution or a wish, as an optative, &c., see § 108.
4. The general characteristic of the jussive form of the imperfect is rapidity of pronunciation, combined with a tendency to retract the tone from the final syllable, in order by that means to express the urgency of the command in the very first syllable. This tendency has, in certain forms, even caused a material shortening of the termination of the word, so that the expression of the command appears to be concentrated on a single syllable. In other cases, however, the jussive is simply marked by a shortening of the vowel of the second syllable, without its losing the tone, and very frequently (see above, b) the nature of the form does not admit of any alteration. It is not impossible, however, that even in such cases the jussive in the living language was distinguished from the indicative by a change in the place of the tone.
In the strong verb the jussive differs in form from the indicative only in HiphÇiÖl (juss. ljeq.y:, ind. lyjiq.y:), and similarly in the weak verb, wherever the imperfect indicative has iÖ in the second syllable, e. g. from bv;y" impf. Hiph. byviAy, juss. bveAy; from tWmà tymiy" and tmey"; also in Qal of the verbs W¾¾[ and y¾¾[, as tmoy", ind. tWmy" È lgEy" ind. lygIy"; in all conjugations of verbs h¾¾l, so that the rejection (apocope) of the ending h¤, in Qal and Hiph. gives rise to monosyllabic forms, with or without a helping vowel under the second radical, e. g. Qal ind. hl,g>yI, juss. lg<yIò; Hiph. ind. hl,g>y:, juss. lg<y<ò; and in the Pi‘eÒl wc;y> from the indic. hW<c;y>; (called apocopated imperfects). But almost all3 the plural forms of the jussive coincide with those of the indicative, except that the jussive excludes the fuller ending !W. Neither do the forms of the 2nd sing. fem., as yliyjiñq.T;à ytiWmñT'à ylig>Ti, &c., admit of any change in the jussive, nor any forms, whether singular or plural, to which suffixes are attached, e. g. ynITeñymiT. as ind. Jer 38:15, as jussive Jer 41:8.
The meaning of the jussive is similar to that of the cohortative, except that in the jussive the command or wish is limited almost exclusively to the 2nd or 3rd pers. On special uses of the jussive, e. g. in hypothetical sentences (even in the 1st pers.), see § 109 h.
5. The imperative, in accordance with its other points of connexion with the imperfect in form and meaning, admits of a similar lengthening (by h¤', Arab. imper. energicus, with the ending -açnnaç or -açn, in pause -aÒ) and shortening. Thus in Qal of the strong verb, the lengthened form of rmov. guard is hr'm.v'4 (sëoçmeraÖ, cf. ylij.qi qiçtÌeliÖ, § 46 d); bzO[]à hb'z>[' Jer 49:11; bk;v.à hb'k.vi lie down; [m;v.à h['m.vi hear, in lesser pause h['m'ñv. Dn 9:19; in NiphÇal h['b.V†'hi Gn 21:23. Cf., however, also hr'k.mi sell, Gn 25:31, notwithstanding the impf. rKom.yI È hk'r>[, Jb 33:5 (cf. Wkr>[i Jer 46:3), but impf. %rI[]y); È hp's.a†, collect, Nu 11:16 (for äsai cf. § 63 l and the plural Wps.ai), but 2nd masc. @soa/ È hr'C.nI y Ps 41:3. Barth (see above, § 47 i note) finds in these forms a trace of old imperfects in i, cf. § 63 n. On the other hand, hb'r>q' y Ps 69:19 (also Imperat. br;q. Lv 9:7, &c, ), but impf. br;q.yI. Without h, we have the form ^l. go, Nu 23:13, Ju 19:13, 2 Ch 25:17. The form ljoq. in pause becomes hl'joñq., the form lj;q. becomes hl'j'ñq., e. g. hv'r'ñy> Dt 33:23. But also without the pause we find hk'Alm.ñ Ju 9:8 Keth. and hp'Arc. y Ps 26:2 Keth., on which see § 46 e. On the other hand hz"g"òr>à hj'voñP.à hr'o[ñà hr'Agòx]) Is 32:11 are to be explained as aramaizing forms of the 2nd plur. fem.; also for Wdr>xi v. 11 read hd'r'ñx], and for ~ydIp.s)o v. 12 read hd'poñs..
The shortened imperative is found only in verbs h¾¾l, e. g. in PiÇeÒl lG: from hLeG:. The shade of meaning conveyed by the imperatives with h¤' is not always so perceptible as in the cohortative forms of the imperfect, but the longer form is frequently emphatic, e. g. ~Wq rise up, hm'Wqñ up ! !Te give, hn"Te give up !
Rem. The form h[,D> for h['D>, best attested in Pr 24:14 (where it is taken by the Masora as imperat., not as infin., h['D;) is evidently due to the influence of the h which follows it in close connexion (so Strack, on the analogy of Jb 3:12); for other example of this change of a to Seghol, see above, under d, § 73 d, and § 80 i. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether hB,r; Ju 9:29 (from hb'r') is intended for hB'r;, and not rather for the common form of the imperative PiÇeÒl hBer;. In favour of the former explanation it may be urged that the imperative ha'ceò (from ac'y") follows immediately after; in favour of the latter, that the ending h¤'e, with imperatives of verbs h¾¾l, is not found elsewhere, and also that here no guttural follows (as in Pr 24:14).
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