Episode Initiator? The Cognitive Dimension
442 content of the temporal expressions is provided by the expressions themselves: after these
things, three days later, at the end of ten days, etc. signals the way in which the
temporal expression is intended to connect to its context. Temporal expressions without are still involved in the temporal organization of the narrative, but the discourse-
pragmatic connection differs.
10.5.1.2 Episode Initiator?
The term episode refers to a unit within a narrative, and the question regarding is whether it plays some role in episodic structure. The analysis of
’s role in episodic structure is complex, to say the least. Gen 25:19 begins the
; +5 the generations of Isaac, going through 35:29. There are twenty-five occurrences of
in this section of Genesis that provide a good case study for considering episode structure.
However, only the first few occurrences will be discussed here. The
; +5 beginning in 25:19 is introductory to the whole Isaac narrative, then the occurrence of the verbal
in 25:20, expressing Isaac’s age is at the beginning of this part of the narrative. It should be noted that the occurrence of an item at the start
of a narrative is not necessarily to be equated with that item having the function of initiating that narrative.
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of
Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan- aram, the sister of Laban the
Aramean, to be his wife. Pc-vqw3msXa np ncmsc-abp ncfs
Pp-vqcX3ms Po-np ncfs-np Pa-np Pp np ncfsc np Pa-np PpX3ms Pp-
ncfs
3 ;5
8 - ;
3 + H
Gen 25:20
443
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man
of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
Pc-vqw3mp Pa-ncmp Pc- vqw3msXa np ncms vqPms ncms
ncms ncms Pc-np ncms ams vqPms ncmp
C F
; F
8 ; 5
Gen 25:27
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous
famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went
to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
Pc-vqw3msXa ncms Pp+Pa-ncbs Pp-Pp-ncms Pa-ncms Pa-ams Pr
vqp3ms Pp-ncmpc np Pc- vqw3msXa np Pp-np ncms-np npXd
+ , 0
4 8
G 5 4
4 3
Gen 26:1
These three examples are the type of occurrence that seem to fit the profile of initiating an episode. The clauses where Isaac is introduced, Esau is a hunter when the
boys grow up, and a famine comes, seem to indicate transition points in the narrative. Upon closer examination, however, it seems that 25:24 is a significant moment in the
text—when Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau, but there is no . Also, it should
be noted that in 25:27, the occurrence of is not in a temporal expression: when the
boys grew up, but rather is in the clause that describes Esau as a hunter. At first glance, these cases might appear to be instances of
indicating episodic transitions, but upon further examination, the common feature of these examples is that they have a
DEICTIC
function within the narrative. It is also crucial to acknowledge that each of these examples are typical uses of
: Gen 25:20: Expressions of Age, discussed in 8.2.1.6.1
Gen 25:27: The
EQUATIVE
Use of , discussed in 8.2.1
444 Gen 26:1: The
EXISTENTIAL
Use of , discussed in 8.2.2
The textlinguistic significance of these examples cannot be automatically assumed without taking into consideration the fact that
is typically the default verb for these expressions. This does not preclude some type of discourse-pragmatic role, but
rather is a plea for careful consideration of the syntactic and textual context. One of the
DEICTIC
functions of occurrences of this type is that they provide
SETTING
for the narrative in which they occur. Some statements of setting may only be one clause and in
other places there may be extensive stage-setting information for the narrative. The occurrence in 26:8 is yet another example of the need to consider the context.
There is a famine and Isaac and Rebekah are in Gerar, as the L
ORD
instructed them.
When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the
Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold,
Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.
Pc-vqw3msXa Pp vqp3cp-PpX3ms Pd Pa-ncmp Pc-vhw3msXa np ncms
np Pp Pa-ncbs Pc-vqw3msXa Pc-Pi np vpPms Pp np ncfscX3ms
; +, 5
4 4
9 8 ;5
Gen 26:8
If does perform some type of episode initiating function, then it seems that
the episodic level indicated by the occurrence in Gen 26:8 is different from the previous ones considered in the
; +5. Isaac and Rebekah are still in Gerar and the temporal expression indicates the passage of days when the king sees Isaac and Rebekah
together. Rather than including levels of sub-episodes, it is preferable to also see this occurrence as
DEICTIC
or as providing stage-setting information for the narrative. A very important point here is that also performs stage-setting functions in narrative, which is
445 the motivation for the mention of the interplay of
and in narrative as an important area for further research.
Hatav makes the observation that the non-verbal occurrences of function as a
“segmentational particle, marking mainly temporal segmentation” Hatav 1997, 70, but one of the liabilities of a statement like this is that it can easily give the impression that a
narrative can be temporally divided into segments or episodes based solely on the occurrences of
. It is especially difficult to argue for the segmentational function in 27:30, where there are two occurrences in consecutive clauses:
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had
just left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in
from his hunting. Pc-vqw3msXa Pp-Pr vpp3ms np
Pp-vpc Po-np Pc-vqw3msXa Pd vqa vqp3ms np Pp-Pp ncbpc np
ncmscX3ms Pc-np ncmscX3ms vqp3ms Pp-ncmscX3ms
4 ,
4 8 ; J
F
Gen 27:30
The use of in temporal expressions is undeniable, but the segmentation
function is much more complex than just the appearance of in a clause. Since the
main categories of are verbal and temporal, it is only logical for it to occur with
temporal expressions. The question of function, however, involves how the occurrences at one level affect the text as a whole.
Gen 22:1 begins with one of the occurrences of ,
, discussed in 9.3.1.1.3. One of the challenges in an example like this is that the use of
here is inextricably linked to the use of the expression ,
. Many contextual elements contribute to the closure of the preceding episode and the initiation
446 of the subsequent one. Gen 21:34 prepares the reader for a transition, leading into Gen
22:1:
And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines a long time.
5 C
8
Gen 21:34
As mentioned above, Gen 22:1 starts with a temporal expression with . The
next occurrence of a temporal expression is in Gen 22:4:
On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place
from a distance.
K - +
8 + 3
Gen 22:4
This expression is different in that there is no before
+ . This is a good example of the use of a pre-nuclear temporal expression without
. The function of the temporal expression itself remains essentially the same in that it establishes the temporal
reference within which the following event takes place. The absence of , however,
changes the relationship or connection of the temporal expression to the surrounding context. The temporal
- + still signals a temporal transition in the narrative, but without
there is not the same
DEICTIC
function of establishing this as a new point of reference on the temporal axis. Any attempts to determine the episodic structure of the
narrative must consider these factors. It is not possible at this point to claim that the temporal expressions with
indicate major episode breaks. Further research and careful attention to the full array of narrative strategies and features are needed.
Because of these functions, translation must account for in some functionally
appropriate way. Translation strategies and decisions must take the contextual factors into
447 consideration so that the
DEICTIC
and
ORIENTATION
functions are represented in the new version.