An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

15b.
15c.
׃יתִ ָלּ ִמ ףֹטּתּ ִ וֹמי ֵל֫ ָע ְ
Judg 5:4
ו On them my words dropped (Qal intransitive).
Job 29:22
ה ֶלּא֫ ֵ ָל וּפטַּי־אֹ ִ֫
ל They will not drop (Hiphil) (words) about these things.
Mic 2:6
e Qal statives can also yield putative-delocutive Hiphils. 14 Just as the Piel can denote
that an object is subjectively regarded or declared by the speaker(s) as having attained
a[Page 439] certain state (the so-called “estimative-declarative Piel,” 24.2), so also
the Hiphil can denote the causing of an event in which a person or object is esteemed
or declared through a judicial sentence or some other kind of recognition to be in a
state. 15 The Piel delocutive use pertains to the making of a state, while the Hiphil
delocutive pertains to the causing of an event.
16. םיהלֹ ִ א ֱ ן ֻעי ִשׁ רַי ְ ר ֶשׁ א ֲ he whom God declares (lit., causes to be declared) in
the wrong
Exod 22:8
To illustrate the difference between the delocutive-factitive Piel and the
delocutive-causative Hiphil, contrast these clauses.
17a. ׃ ָךּקֶ֫ דְּ ַצ יתִּ ְצ ַפ֫ ח־י ָ ִכּ ר ֵבּדּ ַ Speak, for I want to declare you righteous (Piel) (lit., to
make you declared righteous).
17b. קי ִ
דּ ְצא־ם ַ א ִ י ִלּ ה ָלי ִל֫ חָ
ם ֶכתְ א ֶ
Job 33:32
Far be it from me—I will never declare you righteous
(Hiphil) (lit., cause you to be declared righteous).
Job 27:5
In some cases the delocutive causative is hard to distinguish from a simple
causative.
18a. תתֵ ל ָ ע ָשׁ ר ָ עי ַ ִשׁ רְ הַ ְל
קידִּ ְצהַ ְלוּ וֹ ֑שׁאֹ ר ְבּ וֹכּרְ
דַּ
וֹל תתֶ ל ָ֫
קידִּ ַצ
׃וֹתקָ דְ ִצ ְכּ
to condemn the wicked by bringing down on his head
what he deserves and to acquit the righteous by
rewarding him according to his righteousness
1 Kgs 8:32
14 The delocutive Hiphils are based on locutions such as ‘He is just’; see D. R. Hillers,
“Delocutive Verbs in Biblical Hebrew,” Journal of Biblical Literature 86 (1967) 320–
24. As noted in connection with Piels (24.2f), delocutives have an intermediate
character; a Hiphil delocutive is in part causative and in part denominative. See also
W. T. Claassen, “The Declarative-Estimative Hiph˓il,” Journal of Northwest Semitic
Languages 2 (1972) 5–16.
15 For further uses, see qll in 2 Sam 19:44 (referring to esteem in the mind of the
speaker) and Isa 8:23 (with kbd Hiphil) and 23:9 (both referring to esteem in the mind
of others).