75
5.2.1.1 Identification
Proper identification is essential to the description of any linguistic entity. In traditional grammatical terms, this is the function of parsing a particular form in the
language. All the grammatical details are a necessary part of the full identification of a linguistic entity. Identification involves cataloguing the contrastive features of the
various grammatical forms of biblical Hebrew, such as the verb stems or binyanim. The
identification of forms provides a taxonomy of all the forms used in the Hebrew Bible and is an
important foundation for other types of analysis.
5.2.1.2 Variation
This aspect of analysis considers the possible ways in which a given linguistic entity may vary slightly from case to case without ceasing to be itself. For example, the
influence of the will bring about slight changes in certain forms—typically called
pausal forms—but these minor variations do not make the linguistic entity in question become something else. For example,
and are not separate verbs, but a variation of one
form caused by the environment of the accent. is found twice in Psa 33:9 and Ezek 16:19
and 5 once in Lam 3:37.
The constant change which all languages undergo is one of the main factors involved in the three main types of variation observed in the world’s languages:
Figure 3: Variations of
VARIATION
: normal:
5 pausal:
5
IDENTIFICATION
:
Pc-vqw3msXa of
Figure 2: Identification of
76 historical, geographical, and sociological. In the analysis of biblical Hebrew, it is always
advisable to evaluate whether variations encountered in the text might be the result of these influences, but the nature of the transmission of the biblical text makes it very
difficult to make conclusive statements.
5.2.1.3 Distribution
Also fundamental to the full analysis of any linguistic entity is an awareness of its distribution throughout the text. An item may have a very limited distribution—perhaps
occurring in only certain clausal or textual environments—or there may appear to be a very wide distribution; all of these factors are significant in the full analysis of a
linguistic item. In the study of biblical Hebrew, the distribution of linguistic items has typically
been overlooked with the focus rather on the item’s frequency of occurrence. For example, knowing only that
occurs 141 times Mitchel 1984, 10 is not nearly as significant as also knowing its distribution in different contexts. An important aspect of
the distribution of an item like is how it patterns with other components in the systems
of temporal reference in the text. In the study of , distribution involves not merely
where it occurs in the text, but which type of occurrence of occurs in a given
location, whether there is any discernible pattern of occurrence, or whether there is any departure from the typical pattern of occurrence, etc.
Identifying the number of occurrences is only the first step in describing the distribution of an item like
. As a first glance at the pattern of ’s usage, it is
instructive to consider the difference in frequency by book. If it is assumed that
77 typically occurs in narrative, this assumption appears to be confirmed by, for example,
the extremes of 130 occurrences in Genesis compared with 0 occurrences in Proverbs. The relatively high frequency in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel might seem a little more
surprising, requiring further examination of the occurrences in these books since the preliminary chart above does not distinguish between the various types of uses of
.
5555 total
5555 total
Genesis 123
7 130 Nahum
Exodus 41
3 44 Habakkuk
1 1
Leviticus 1
1 Zephaniah Numbers
16 5
21 Haggai 2
2 Deuteronomy
7 7 Zechariah
9 9
Joshua 62
62 Malachi Judges
48 5
53 Psalms 5
1 6
1 Samuel 55
12 67 Job
10 1
11 2 Samuel
39 17
56 Proverbs 1 Kings
77 4
81 Ruth 5
2 7
2 Kings 55
2 57 Song of Songs
Isaiah 11
6 17 Ecclesiastes
Jeremiah 43
3 46 Lamentations
1 1
Ezekiel 64
7 71 Esther
6 1
7 Hosea
1 1 Daniel
5 5
Joel 0 Ezra
1 1
Amos 0 Nehemiah
14 2
16 Obadiah
0 1 Chronicles 27
5 32
Jonah 5
5 2 Chronicles 46
1 47
Micah
totals 779
85 864
Figure 4: Frequency of Occurrence of and
5 .
Analyzing the distribution of linguistic items has implications for the process of learning a language like biblical Hebrew. One of the typical methods for learning
vocabulary is according to frequency of occurrence. The advantage of this approach is that it allows the beginning student to learn the words which he or she will likely
encounter in a wide variety of biblical passages. The student soon comes to a point, however, where a contextual approach would be more beneficial. For example, the verb
6 to become unclean occurs 162 times in the Hebrew Bible and will be learned by
78 most students in standard Hebrew courses Van Pelt and Pratico 2003, 105. The use of
this verb, however, is very contextual. The following chart shows the occurrences by book:
Occurrences of 6 by book:
Genesis, 3; Leviticus, 71; Numbers, 21; Deuteronomy, 2; 2 Kings, 4; Psalms, 2; Isaiah, 1; Jeremiah, 4; Ezekiel, 28; Hosea, 3; Micah, 1;
Haggai, 1; 2 Chronicles, 1
Figure 5: Occurrences of 6 by book
When the student reads the Hebrew Bible, most of Genesis and all of Exodus will be read without any occurrences of this word, whereas in Leviticus it is understandably
frequent. A contextual approach to vocabulary learning would at least alert the student to these parameters of usage.
One of the unfortunate side-effects of learning biblical Hebrew vocabulary only by frequency of occurrence is that it tends to foster the perception that frequency equals
importance. This “Frequency Fallacy” operates on the assumption that mere repetition is significant. The recommendation to “note any words that are repeated or that emerge as
motifs in a section or paragraph” Fee 2002, 80 reinforces the notion that repetition is important. Repetition should not be ignored, but should be analyzed with a more
nuanced, contextual approach. Schertz and Yoder comment that “even if a phrase or clause is repeated exactly, it may have a different nuance in a different context” Schertz
and Yoder 2001, 49. This requires careful analysis of each occurrence of a word or phrase before making exegetical decisions and conclusions.
Another aspect of the Frequency Fallacy is that significance is sometimes found in the very infrequent, but strategically used word or concept or even in what is not
overtly stated. Giving a New Testament example, Stuart states that
79 [a]n excellent reminder of this is Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in
Luke 10. He tells the parable in order to demonstrate what it means to love neighbor as self, yet the parable does not contain the word ‘love’ or
‘neighbor’ or ‘self’—even though it contains powerfully the concept of loving neighbor as self. Stuart 2001, 21
By implication, then, the repetition of words and phrases is only one feature to consider in the whole analysis of the text. Full distributional analysis considers this
figure and ground nature of the use of linguistic items.
5.2.1.4 Summary
Kategori