Eskhult, Studies in Verbal Aspect and Narrative Technique in Talstra, “A Hierarchy of Clauses in Biblical Hebrew Narrative”

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3.4.7 Eskhult, Studies in Verbal Aspect and Narrative Technique in

Biblical Hebrew Prose , 1990 Eskhult’s study of narrative explores textlinguistic functions, implementing an aspectual model of the Hebrew verb. This is exemplified in the following statement regarding : In the prefixed form hyh may assume an ingressive-punctual sense, as for instance in Gn 39:2…. In the first clause, thus, is ingressive- punctual: ‘became’; but in the second clause merely corresponds to + ‘and was’. See Joüon, Grammaire, §111 i. Eskhult 1990, 27 This statement may reflect a heightened awareness of context and its effect on linguistic elements like , but is aspect inherent in the verb form or is it the effect of context? More precise criteria are needed to work toward an answer to this crucial question. Eskhult also discusses the use of and its impact on clause syntax: The use of introductory ‘and it came about’ is an often employed device in classical Hebrew narration to prevent another clause constituent than the verb from occupying initial position. In this way a two-clause sentence arises: + adverbial element, followed by a connective clause introduced by wayyiq ol. Eskhult 1990, 30 This comment reflects awareness of the clause-initial position having a special role in biblical Hebrew. The function attributed to —that of preventing some non- verbal constituent from occupying the initial position—is peculiar. This statement makes it sound like the only reason is used is to keep a non-verbal element out. This comment clearly underscores the need for more clearly defining the syntactic role of in the clause. 43

3.4.8 Talstra, “A Hierarchy of Clauses in Biblical Hebrew Narrative”

Talstra’s textlinguistic perspective is clearly seen in the following comment that “[o]nly patterns of clause type sequences in actual texts determine their full grammatical function” Talstra 1997a, 127. Also, in Talstra’s workshop article in Narrative Syntax, he makes the following statement with specific reference to : Verse 16 starts with + time reference, marking a new paragraph, but before the narrative continues with acts and dialogues, another introduces a subparagraph, marked at the beginning and at the end by a + nominal clause or participle clause. This indicates that a picture is being introduced rather than a narrative. Talstra 1997b, 129 In Part 1 of Talstra’s review of Schneider’s grammar, other comments regarding the function of are made: “wyhy characterizes the following text as a story, or emphasizes the main points of a story.” Also, “wyhy is not only used to mark the main segments of a narrative Schneider, p. 265, but also to distinguish the main story from the embedded stories” Talstra 1978, 173. It is evident that is assigned a special role in narrative: the introduction of paragraphs and sub-paragraphs. Talstra also claims that plays a significant role in indicating the relative importance or salience of certain parts of the narrative. These claims need further verification, which is one of the goals of the analysis presented in subsequent chapters of the present study. 44

3.4.9 Winther-Nielsen, A Functional Discourse Grammar of Joshua. A