The Verbal System in the Hebrew Text of Ben Sira (STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS)

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the verbal system in the extant Hebrew witnesses of Ben Sira. It is an important contribution both to Ben Sira studies and to the debate about the tenses in Classical Hebrew. THE VERBAL SYSTEM IN THE HEBREW TEXT OF BEN SIRA TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Abbreviations and sigla PART ONE THE WISDOM OF BEN SIRA AND ITS LANGUAGE Chapter 1: Preliminaries Chapter 2: The book of Ben Sira and its textual transmission Chapter 3: Orthography of the Hebrew manuscripts Chapter 4: Studies on Ben Sira's language: a historical survey PART TWO MORPHOSYNTAX OF THE TENSES Chapter 5: The perfect alone Chapter 6: Preliminary considerations concerning the morphology of the imperfect Chapter 7: The imperfect alone Chapter 8: The consecutive perfect Chapter 9: The consecutive imperfect Chapter 10: The copulative perfect Chapter 11: The copulative imperfect Chapter 12: The volitives Chapter 13: The participle Chapter 14: The construct infinitive Chapter 15: The absolute infinitive PART THREE THE USE OF THE TENSES IN VARIOUS KINDS OF CLAUSES Chapter 16: Interrogative and exclamatory clauses Chapter 17: Preliminary remarks on subordinate clauses Chapter 18: Substantival clauses Chapter 19: Relative clauses Chapter 20: Temporal clauses Chapter 21: Conditional clauses Chapter 22: Final and consecutive clauses Chapter 23: Causal and explicative clauses Chapter 24: Comparative clauses PART FOUR CONCLUSIONS Conclusions Bibliography Index of passages Index of authors STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS Ch. 1. Preliminaries -- Ch. 2. Book Of Ben Sira And Its Textual Transmission -- Ch. 3. Orthography Of The Hebrew Manuscripts -- Ch. 4. Studies On Ben Sira's Language: A Historical Survey -- Ch. 5. Perfect Alone -- Ch. 6. Preliminary Considerations Concerning The Morphology Of The Imperfect -- Ch. 7. Imperfect Alone -- Ch. 8. Consecutive Perfect -- Ch. 9. Consecutive Imperfect -- Ch. 10. Copulative Perfect -- Ch. 11. Copulative Imperfect -- Ch. 12. Volitives -- Ch. 13. Participle -- Ch. 14. Construct Infinitive -- Ch. 15. Absolute Infinitive -- Ch. 16. Interrogative And Exclamatory Clauses -- Ch. 17. Preliminary Remarks On Subordinate Clauses -- Ch. 18. Substantival Clauses -- Ch. 19. Relative Clauses -- Ch. 20. Temporal Clauses -- Ch. 21. Conditional Clauses -- Ch. 22. Final And Consecutive Clauses -- Ch. 23. Causal And Explicative Clauses -- Ch. 24. Comparative Clauses. By W. Th. Van Peursen. The Present Study Is A Revised Version Of My Phd Dissertation--p. [xv]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [411]-438) And Indexes. This volume is a revised and enlarged version of the author's Ph.D. dissertation (1999). It gives a comprehensive analysis of the morphosyntax and syntax of the tenses in the Hebrew text of Ben Sira. Due attention is paid to the heterogeneous character of the textual evidence (three manuscripts from the Desert of Judah and six mediaeval manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza), which complicates any linguistic study of Ben Sira. A descriptive analysis is complemented by a comparison with other contemporaneous, earlier, and later forms of Hebrew. It is argued that the Hebrew of Ben Sira is a literary language in its own right, rather than an imitation of Biblical Hebrew or a predecessor of Mishnaic Hebrew.