An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

4.
׃וֹמּ ִע ֵמ
ןקֵ ז ָ םהָ רָ ְבאַ ְ
5. וּדבְ כּ ֽ ָ לאֵ רָ ְשִׂי יני ֵ ֵעוְ ןקֶ ֹזּ֫ מִ
1 Sam 20:7
ו Abraham had become old.
Gen 24:1
Israel’s eyes became heavy because of old age.
Gen 48:10
6. חֹכּ ַ ןיאֵ ו ְ ב ֵער־ם ָ ַגּ He got hungry and had no strength.
7. . . . וּר ְכֽ ז ָ אֹ לוְ הוהי־תאֶ 8.
׃יתִּ ְעדָי ָ֫ אֹ ל י ִכֹנ אָ ְ
Isa 44:12
They did not remember…YHWH.
Judg 8:34
ו I was not aware (of it).
Gen 28:16
c In a present-time frame, stative situations may be similar to those encountered in
dynamic situations. The situation, for example, may be gnomic (## 9–10; # 10 is also
ingressive).
9. ער֑ ָ ֵמ רסָ ו ְ אר֫ ֵ ָי ם ָכח ָ The wise man fears (YHWH) and shuns evil.
10.
Prov 14:16
וּבע֑ ֵ֫
רָ ו ְ וּשׁר ָ םירי ִ פִ ְכּ The lions grow weak and hungry.
Ps 34:11
In the adjectival present perfective, the use of the verb form directs attention to
the subject’s involvement more than would a comparable construction with an
adjective (27.1c).
11.
תיפָ ִ יּ־ה ַמ How lovely you are!
12.
ןט֑ ָ ק ָ םינִ קֻ ז ְ ד ֶל֫ ֶי ְ
Cant 7:7
ו The son born to him in his old age is young.
Gen 44:20
Stative verbs denoting an effected state in the perfective may be ingressive in past
time (# 4) or may signify a present state that implicitly came about through an earlier
situation (## 13–15). In this use it approximates the perfect state, which refers to the
preceding situation as bringing about the effected state. We can argue indirectly that
stative verbs in the suffix conjugation may signify a present (effected) state by noting
the historical connection in many languages between the perfective tense and the
passive voice, and between the passive voice and stative forms. Comrie has shown
that the perfect state and passive voice frequently go together because both refer to
such an effected state. He also[Page 493] notes that “the older forms of the passive in