An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

of relationships between the denominative verbal meaning and the noun in question
on the whole have only an indirect relationship to the function of the Piel stem as
such.” 42 Jenni’s thesis is supported by the fact that the Piel stem is not the only stem
in which denominatives are formed. One finds denominatives in the Qal (e.g., ךְרבּ
Qal ‘to kneel’ from םִי ַכּ֫ רְ ִבּ ‘knee,’ רמח Qal ‘to pitch’ from ר ָמ ח ֵ ‘asphalt,’רבשׁ
Qal ‘to purchase (grain)’ from ר ֶב ֶשׁ ֫ ‘grain’); in the Niphal (e.g., זחא Niphal ‘to be
settled (in a possession)’ from הזָּ חֻ א ֲ ‘possession,’ עבשׁ Niphal ‘to swear’ from
עבַ ֶשׁ ֫ ‘seven’); and in the Hiphil (e.g., ןמי Hiphil ‘to turn oneself to the right’ from
ןימָ ִ י ‘right hand,’ ןזא Hiphil ‘to hear’ from ןזֶ ֹא ֫ ‘ear’). 43
c It is the Piel that is used in connection with many denominative verbs. Certainly the
Piel stem, which expresses the effecting of an adjectival state, is most suited for
making adjectives into verbs. Jenni defends his overall thesis by juxtaposing
denominative verbs that occur in both Qal and Piel stems over against each other; the
meaning gleaned from these juxtapositions he plausibly extends to those Piel
denominatives that lack a Qal counterpart.
d It is necessary to reckon with the fact that in some instances where denominatives
occur in more than one stem the differences among them may no longer be apparent;
the denominatives in one stem or the other may, in contrast, have been formed over an
extended period of time during which the relevant root showed a variety of meanings.
This is the case, for example with אטח Qal ‘to miss the mark; to sin,’ Hiphil ‘to
cause to sin,’ and Piel ‘to recognize something as missed’ (estimative, Gen 31:39), ‘to
purify from sin’ (privative), and ‘to present as a sin-offering’ (productive). The root
םצע offers yet another example of denominatives with varying meanings related to
variety in the base words: םצע has an adjectival meaning ‘strong’ (cf. םוּצ ָע
‘mighty’) and becomes in the Qal ‘to be strong, mighty,’ and a nominal meaning
‘bone’ (cf. ם ֶצ ֶע) ֫ that becomes in Piel ‘to gnaw bones’ (privative).
e The denominative Piel may be analyzed into several basic types. It may be
resultative with the notion of either producing the mass designated by the noun or the
taking away of it. The former we call “the productive Piel” and the latter “the
privative Piel.” Many denominative Piels connote the notion of producing something
(cf. English ‘to wall [in]’). Concerning this use Jenni explains: “This productivity, as
one could call it,[Page 412] designates the producing of the thing from the
designation of which the verbs are derived, not as an actual event but as a resultative,
from the outcome of it.” 44 This small group of verbs includes the following.
1. רֹכבּ ְ firstborn
ר ֵכּבְ ַ י It will bear early fruit.
42 Jenni, Pi˓el, 265.
43 See both Jenni, Pi˓el, 265, and the discussion of other denominative verbs here.
44 Jenni, Pi˓el, 270.