THIRD PART

SYNTAX1

CHAPTER I

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

I. Syntax of the Verb.

A. USE OF THE TENSES AND MOODS.2

§ 106.Use of the Perfect.

a

The perfect serves to express actions, events, or states, which the speaker wishes to represent from the point of view of completion, whether they belong to a determinate past time, or extend into the present, or. while still future, are pictured as in their completed state.

The definition formorly given here ( ' the perfect serves to express completed actions ' ) applies, strictly speaking, only to some of the varieties of the perfect discussed under b–p: hence the above modification based on the arguments of Knudtzon (for the title see note 2, and cf. further § 107 a).

More particularly the uses of the perfect may be distinguished as follows: —

b

1. To represent actions, events, or states, which, after a shorter or longer duration, were terminated in the past, and hence are finally concluded, viz.:

(a) Corresponding to the perfect proper in Latin and the English perfect definite, in assertions, negations, confirmations, interrogations, &c., e.g. Gn 18:15 then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not ( aol yTiq.x;ñc' ) . . . . . .; and he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh ( T.q.x'c' ); Gn 3:11 ^l. dyGIhi ymi who told thee. . . . ? Cf. 3:13, 14, 17, 22. Also pointing to some undefined time in the past, e.g. Is 66:8 taozB' [m;v'-ym†i who hath (ever yet) heard such a thing ?

c

Rem. In opposition to this express use of the perfect to emphasize the completion of an event, the imperfect is not infrequently used to emphasize that which is still future, e.g. Jos 1:5 as I was ( ytiyyIh' ) with Moses, so will I be ( hy<h.a†, ) with thee; Jos 1:17 Ex 10:14, Dt 32:21, 1 K 2:38, Is 46:4, 11, Jo 2:2 Ec 1:9.

d

(b) As a simple tempus historicum (corresponding to the Greek aorist) in narrating past events, e.g. Gn 4:4 and Abel, he also brought ( aybihe ), &c.; Gn 7:19 the waters did prevail ( Wrb.G)' ), &c.; Jb I1 there was a man ( hy"h' vyai ) in the land of Uz, &c.; even in relating repeated actions, 1 S 18:30.

e

Rem. As the above examples indicate, the perfect of narration occurs especially at the head of an entire narrative (Jb 1:1; cf. Dn 2:1) or an independent sentence (e.g. Gn 7:11, 13), but in co-ordinate sentences, as a rule, only when the verb is separated from the copulative w by one or more words (cf. above Gn 4:4 and 7:19). In other cases, the narrative is continued in the imperfect consecutive, according to § 111 a. The direct connexion of the narrative perfect with w copulative (not to be confounded with the perfect consecutive proper, § 112) agrees rather with Aramaic syntax (cf. Kautzsch, Gramm. des Biblisch-Aram., § 71, 1 b). On the examples (which are in many respects doubtful) in the earlier texts, see § 112 pp–uu.

f

(c) To represent actions, &c., which were already completed in the past, at the time when other actions or conditions took place (pluperfect),3 e.g. 1 S 28:3 now Samuel was (long since) dead4and Saul had put away ( rysihe ) those that had familiar spiritsout of the land. Both these statements, being as it were in parentheses, merely assign a reason for the narrative beginning at verse 6. Cf. 1 S 9:15, 25:21, 2 S 18:18.—Gn 20:18 (for the Lord had fast closed up, &c.); 27:30, 31:19, 34 Dt 2:10; and in a negative statement, Gn 2:5 for the Lord God had not (up to that time) caused it to rain, &c. This is especially frequent, from the nature of the case, in relative, causal, and temporal clauses, when the main clause contains a tense referring to the past, e.g. Gn 2:2 and he restedfrom all his work which he had made ( hf'[' ); Gn 7:9, 19:27, &c.; 29:10 now when Jacob had seen Rachel ( ha'r' rv,a]K†; ) …, Jacob went near, &c.; so also in clauses which express the completion or incompleteness of one action, &c., on the occurrence of another, as in Gn 24:15, 27:30, &c.; cf. § 164 b, with the note, and c.

g

2. To represent actions, events, or states, which, although completed in the past, nevertheless extend their influence into the present (in English generally rendered by the present):

(a) Expressing facts which were accomplished long before, or conditions and attributes which were acquired long before, but of which the effects still remain in the present (present perfect), e.g. y Ps 10:11 wyn"P' ryTis.hi he hath hidden his face (and still keep it hidden); y Ps 143:6 yTif.r;ñPe I have spread forth my hands (and still keep it them spread forth). This applies particularly to a large number of perfects (almost exclusively of intransitive5 verbs, denoting affections or states of the mind) which in English can be rendered only by the present, or, in the case mentioned above under f, by the imperfect.6 Thus, yTi[.d;ñy" I know (prop. I have perceived, have experienced) Jb 9:2, 10:13, YTi[.d;ñy" aol I know not Gn 4:9, &c.; on the other hand, e.g. in Gn 28:16, Nu 22:34, the context requires I knew not; Wnr>k;ñz" we remember Nu 11:5; hn"a]m†e she refuseth Jb 6:7; #l;[' it exulteth; yTix.m;ñf' I rejoice 1 S 2:1; fQeBi he requireth: Is 1:12 ytiyWIòqi I wait Gn 49:18, y Ps 130:5 (parallel with yTil.x†'ñAh ); yTic.p;ñx' I delight y Ps 40:9 (mostly negative, Is 1:11 &c.); yTib.h;ña' I love Gn 27:4; ytianEòf' I hatey Ps 31:7; yTis.a;ñm' I despise Am 5:21; ynIWbñ[]T†i they abhor me Jb 30:10; yTix.j;ñB' I trust y Ps 25:2; ytiysiñx' I put my trust y Ps 31:2; yTiq.d;ñc' I am righteous Jb 34:5; yTid>q;ñP' I have decided to requite 1 S 15:2.—We may further include a number of verbs which express bodily characteristics or states, such as T'l.d;ñG" thou art great y Ps 104:1; yTin>joñq' I am little Gn 32:11; Whb.G)' they are high Is 55:9; Wqx]r†' they stand aloof Jb 30:10; Wbjoñ they are goodly Nu 24:5; Wwan" they are beautiful Is 52:7; yTin>q;ñz" I am old Gn 18:13; yTi[.g:òy" I am weary y Ps 6:7; yTi[.b;ñf' I am full Is 1:11, &c.

h

Rem. To the same category probably belong also the perfects after yt;m'-d[; Ex 10:3 how long hast thou already been refusing (and refusest still …? which really amounts to how long wilt thou refuse ?), y Ps 80:5, Pr 1:22 (co-ordinate with the imperf.), and after hn"a'ñ-d[; Ex 16:28, Hb 1:2.

i

(b) In direct narration to express actions which, although really only in process of accomplishment, are nevertheless meant to be represented as already accomplished in the conception of the speaker, e.g. ytimoñrIh] I lift up (my hand in ratifying an oath) Gn 14:22; yTi[.B;ñv.nI I swear Jer 22:5; ytidoñ[ih†; I testify Dt 8:19; yTic.[;ñy" I counsel 2 S 17:11 (but in a different context in ver. 15, I have counselled); yTir>m;ña' (prop. I say) I decide (I consider as hereby settled) 2 S 19:30; I declare Jb 9:22, 32:10.

k

(c) To express facts which have formerly taken place, and are still of constant recurrence, and hence are matters of common experience (the Greek gnomic aorist), e.g. y Ps 9:11 for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken ( T'b.z:ñ['-aol ) them that seek thee. Cf. ver. 13, also y Ps 10:3, 119:40 and Gn 49:11 ( sBeKi ).

l

Rem. In almost all the cases discussed in No. 2 (included under the English present) the imperfect can be used instead of the perfect, wherever the action or state in question is regarded, not as already completed, but as still continuing or just taking place (see § 107 a). Thus, yTil.koñy" aol I am not able y Ps 40:13 and lk;Wa aol Gn 31:35 have practically the same meaning. Hence also it very frequently happens that the imperfect corresponds to such perfects in poetic or prophetic parallelism, e.g. Is 5:12, y Ps 2:1 f, Pr 1:22, Jb 3:17.

m

3. To express future actions, when the speaker intends by an express assurance to represent them as finished, or as equivalent to accomplished facts:

(a) In contracts or other express stipulations (again corresponding to the English present, and therefore closely related to the instances noted under i), e.g. Gn 23:11 the field I give ( yTit;ñn" ) thee; cf. ver. 13 and 48:22, 2 S 14:21, 24:23, Jer 40:4; in a threat, 1 S 2:16, 2 S 5:6 (unless, with Wellhausen, ^ruñysiy> is to be read).—Especially in promises made by God, Gn 1:29, 15:18, 17:20, Ju 1:2.

n

(b) To express facts which are undoubtedly imminent, and, therefore, in the imagination of the speaker, already accomplished (perfectum confidentiae), e.g. Nu 17:27 Wnd>b†'ña' WnL'ñKu Wnd>b;ña' Wn[.w:òG" !he behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Gn 30:13, 1 S 6:5 ( ytiymeñd>nI I am undone7), Pr 4:2. Even in interrogative sentences, Gn 18:12, Nu 17:28, 23:10, Ju 9:9, 11, Zc 4:10 (?), Pr 22:20.8 This use of the perfect occurs most frequently in prophetic language (perfectum propheticum). The prophet so transports himself in imagination into the future that he describes the future event as if it had been already seen or heard by him, e.g. Is 5:13 therefore my people are gone into captivity ( hl'G" ); 9:1 ff., 10:28, 11:9 (after yKi, as frequently elsewhere); 19:7, Jb 5:20, 2 Ch 20:37. Not infrequently the imperfect interchanges with such perfects either in the parallel member or further on in the narrative.

o

(c) To express actions or facts, which are meant to be indicated as existing in the future in a completed state (futurum exactum), e.g. Is 4:4 #x;r' ~ai when he has washed away = when he shall have washed away (an imperfect follows in the co-ordinate sentence; cf. the conditional sentences in § 107 x); Is 6:11 (after ~ai rv,a] d[;, as in Gn 28:15, Nu 32:17; also 2 S 17:13 after rv,a] d[;, Gn 24:19 after ~ai d[; and elsewhere frequently after temporal conjunctions); Mi 5:2 ( hd'l+'y" ); Gn 43:14 ynIa]w); yTil.k†'v' yTil.koñv' rv,a]K†; and Iif I am bereaved (orbus fuero), I am bereaved, an expression of despairing resignation. Cf. Pr 23:15, Est 4:16.

p

4. To express actions and facts, whose accomplishment in the past is to be represented, not as actual, but only as possible (generally corresponding to the Latin imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive), e.g. Gn 31:42 except the God of my father … had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty ( ynIT+'x.L;vi ); Gn 43:10, Ex 9:15 ( yTix.l;ñv' I had almost put forth, &c.); Nu 22:33, Ju 13:23, 14:18, 1 S 13:13 ( !ykihe ); 2 K 13:19; so frequently after j[;m.Ki easily, almost, Gn 26:10, Is 1:9 (where j[;m.Ki is probably to be connected with the word after it) y Ps 73:2, 94:17, 119:87, Pr 5:14. Cf. also Jb 3:13, 23:10 ( ynIn:òx'B. ), Ru 1:12 (if I should think, &c.; cf. 2 K 7:4); in the apodosis of a conditional sentence, 1 S 25:34.—So also to express an unfulfilled desire, Nu 14:2 Wnt.m;ñ Wl would that we had died! ( Wl with the imperfect would mean would that we might die!), 1 S 14:30. Finally, also in a question indicating astonishment, Gn 21:7 lLemi ymi who would have said … ? quis dixerit ? y Ps 73:11.


Footnotes:

1[1] Recent works on Hebrew syntax are: A. B. Davidson, Introductory Heb. Gram., vol. ii, Heb. Syntax, Edinburgh, 1894; Ed. König. Hist.-compar. Syntax der hebr. Sprache, Lpz. 1897 (see above, § 3 f). Important contributions to Hebrew syntax are also contained in H. Reckendorf's work Die syntakt. Verhältnisse des Arab., 2 pts., Leiden, 1895, 1898, of which, we have already made use in § 97 a. Cf. also the same author's very instructive discussions Ueber syntakt, Forschung, Munich, 1899.

2[2] Cf. the sketch of the tenses and moods used in Hebrew in § 40; and on the general characteristics of the perfect and imperfect see the note on § 47 a; also Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew (Oxford, 1874; 3rd ed. 1892); Bennett, ' Notes on the Use of the Hebrew Tenses' (Hebraica, 1886, vols. ii, iii). A partial modification of the accepted definition of the Semitic perfect and imperfect was proposed by J. A. Knudtzon, Om det saakaldte Perfektum og Imperfektum i Hebraisk, Kristiania, 1890; of which a summary entitled ' Vom sogenannten Perf. und Imperf. im Hebr.' appeared in the Transactions of the Oriental Congress at Stockholm, section seÃmitique b, p. 73 ff. (Leiden, 1893). Cf. also Knudtzon's articles, 'Zur assyrischen und allgemein semitischen Grammatik' in the Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, especially vi. 422 ff. and vii. 33 ff.

3[1] Cf. P. Haupt in the Notes on Esther, 92.

4[2] Incorrectly, e.g. in the Vulgate, Samuel autem mortuus est … et Saul abstulit magos, &c.

5[1] With regard to the great but very natural preponderance of intransitive verbs (expressing an existing state), cf. the lists in Knudtzon (see above, p. 309, note 2), pp. 117 and 122 in the Danish text.

6[2] Cf. novi, odi, memini; oi=da( me,mnhmai( e;oika( de,dorka( ke,kraga; in the New Testament, h;lpika( hvga,phka.

7[1] Cf. the similar use of o;lwla (die,fqoraj, Il. 15. 128) and perii! On the kindred use of the perfect in conditional sentences, cf. below, p.

8[2] In Gn 40:14 a perf. confidentiae (after ~ai yKi; but cf. § 163 d) appears to be used in the expression of an earnest desire that something may happen (but have me in thy remembrance, &c.). Neither this passage, however, nor the use of the perfect in Arabic to express a wish or imprecation, justifies us in assuming the existence of a precative perfect in Hebrew. In Jb 21:16, 22:18, also, translate the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Cf. Driver, Tenses3, p. 25 f. In Is 43:9 either WcB.q.nI is imperative (see § 51 o) or we must read Wcb.Q†'yI, corresponding to Wps.a)"yE which follows.