An Examination of the Use of the Tenses in

Conditional Sentences in Hebrew.

BY REV.

H. FERGUSON.

A conditional sentence may be defined as a compound sentence in which the second clause is so limited by the first as to be necessarily dependent upon it, while it, in its turn, is equally necessary as explaining and completing the sense of the first clause. The First Clause or Protasis may express

Either a pure condition, i. e., "if I come;"

or a temporal limitation, i. e., "when I come;"
or a causal limitation,

or a concession,

i. e., "since I am coming;"
i. e., "though I come."

This statement, though true in any language, is most evidently so in Hebrew: as the language uses the same particles indifferently to express any of these relations; accordingly, in this paper, temporal, causal and concessive clauses will be considered simply as forms of conditions.

My intention in this paper is to give, first, a statement of the different expedients made use of by the Hebrew to express a condition and conclusion, without regard to the class of the condition; and, secondly, to consider what rules may be gathered for the use of the tenses or other verbal forms in expressing the various classes of conditions.

VARIOUS METHODS USED.

The Methods used in the Hebrew writings that have come down to us, to express a Condition and its Conclusion, are as follows:

I.

Without any introductory particle, either (1) by simple juxtaposition of the clauses, or (2) after a relative or interrogative expression.

II.

With the Condition introduced by Waw.

III.

With Condition introduced by a Conditional Particle:

(a) by and its compounds,

(c) by 's,

(b) by,

(d) and its compounds.

A few words as to the results obtained may, perhaps, properly be inserted here, although in anticipation of the examination.

We shall find that, taking all these methods together, the tense which is used most frequently in the first clause of a Conditional Sentence is the Imperfect.

Next to it in frequency is the simple Perfect.

In Conditional Sentences, as in all others, when the verb in either clause is the substantive verb, or may be readily supplied from the context, it is very frequently omitted or its place is supplied by or

In asseverations, which in Hebrew are usually expressed by a defective form of the Conditional Sentence (i. e., with second clause omitted by aposiopesis) the Imperfect is most commonly used. Out of seventyseven instances noted, there are fifty-nine cases of the Imperfect to eleven of the Perfect, and seven in which the verb is not expressed.

Next in frequency to the Perfect and Imperfect is the use of a Voluntative form, either one of the modal forms of the Imperfect or the Imperative, usually, though not always, without an introductory Particle. A quite common use is that of the Modified Perfect (Perfect with Waw conversive) introducing the condition.

The Participle is also frequently found in the first clause, usually after a conditional participle.

Much less frequent is the use of the Infinitive, either with an introductory Particle or with a Preposition.

An almost anomalous use is also found, a very few times, of the Modified Imperfect introducing a condition.

To analyze results still further, we shall find that in Class I. (without any Introductory Particle whatever) the Perfect is the most common form; next to it the Voluntative forms; then the Imperfect; much more rarely the Participle and the Infinitive.

In Class II. (with), which may indeed be considered to differ but little in theory from Class I., but which is put as a separate class for convenience of examination, the Modified Perfect is the most common form. The simple Perfect would stand next to it, and next to that the simple Imperfect. Rarer forms are the Modified Perfect, Voluntative, and Participle.

In Class III. (with an introductory Particle) the Imperfect is by far the most common form in use in the first clause. Next in frequency is the Perfect. (As has been mentioned above, the substantive verb is very frequently omitted, or its place supplied by or. This is especially the case in this class.)

NOTE.-As in some of the instances cited below, the logical Protasis may seem to be, according to grammatical form, the conclusion instead of the condition, it is well to note that this, if it ever occurs, is due to the peculiar genius of the Hebrew language and its great capacity for inversion. Still, for grammatical purposes, the clause which limits and conditions the other clause, whether put first or last, must be considered as the Protasis of the conditional sentence, as it presented itself to the Hebrew mind.

CLASS I. Sentences without any Introductory Particle. (1) Simple juxtaposition of the clauses. We may have

1. The Perfect in the Protasis followed in the Apodosis by: a. The Perfect;

e. g., Prov. xviii. 22: N NED

he finds good."

b. By the Imperfect;

He finds a wife,

Had the prophet

said some great thing unto thee, wouldst thou not have done it?'.

c. By a Voluntative (Jussive or Imperative);

e. g., Prov. xxv. 16:

"If thou hast found

་་

If (or when) pride com

e. Or the verb in the Apodosis may be understood and not expressed;

e. g., Lev. xv. 3: S

Whether his flesh run with his issue, or whether his flesh be stopped with his issue, it is his uncleanness."

2. The Imperfect in the Protasis, followed by:

est forth thy wrath, it consumed them like stubble."

ישבעון תיב :28 .See also Ps. civ ילקטון תִּפְתַּח

When thou givest them they gather it, when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good." So vv. 29 and 30.

b. By the Perfect with Waw;

e. g., E.x. xxxiii. 5:a

"If I should come in thy

midst but for one moment I should consume thee." Also, I

3. Voluntative in Protasis, followed by:

a. An Imperfect;

e. g., Ps. cxxxix. 9, 10: . . DIENT Conn "If I take (Let me take) the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me."-cf. Gen. xlii. 37. b. By a Perfect;

"If I declare

them (Let me declare them and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."

Isa xxvi. 10:..

יהן

Let favour be shown to

the wicked, though favour be shown to the wicked) he will not learn righteousness."

c. Or by another Voluntative;

e. g., Psalm. Ixviii. 2: ..

and let his enemies be scattered."
shall be scattered.” 2 Kings v. 13:

be clean."

4. Participle in Protasis followed in the Apodosis by:

a. The Imperfect:

e. g., 2 Kings vii. 2 (also 19):

"Behold, if the Lord opens windows in heaven, shall this thing

be?"

"He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he who honoureth Him pitieth the needy." So also xvii. 5, xix. 17. c. The Imperfect with Waw Conv.;

הָאֲחַר מַפִּיל הַיּוֹרָה :5 .t. g, 2 Kings vi

one was felling wood, it happened," &c.

5. Infinitive with Preposition in the Protasis, followed by:

a. The Imperfect;

And when

hear me, when I cry unto Him."

(2) Instead of the simple juxtaposition of the clauses, we may have in the Protasis, a Relative, Indefinite, or Interrogative expression, which indicates its conditional character.

Thus we may have after such expressions as, ngy man, 19, my, sucha, wop (but with far less variability than under (1) since we find only three tense forms in the Protasis, and those with less variation in the Apodosis).

1. A Perfect in the first clause followed in the Apodosis by:

"For, behold they have gone away from destruction! Mizraim shall gather them. Noph shall bury them."

the days that he liveth he shall be lent unto the Lord." Or instead of the Perfect in the first clause, we may have:

"Behold, he is hid in some pit or in some other place, and it will come to pass," &c. Here the verb might in form be Niphal Perfect, but from the use of the

it a Participle.

CLASS II. Condition introduced by Waw.

it is best to consider

Besides continuing conditions already introduced in some other manner, Waw is used independently with almost the force of a conditional particle, and may introduce sentences having in the Protasis, 1. the Perfect, 2. the Modified Imperfect, 3. the Simple Imperfect, 4. the Modified Perfect, 5. the Voluntative; thus giving much greater variety in Protasis than in Class I., but with less corresponding variation in the Apodosis.

1. With Perfect in the Protasis, followed by:

a. Another Perfect;

e. g., Ex. xvi. 22: Opal when on "And when the sun waxed hot, it melted."

This is a very unusual construction, but Gen. xxxiii. 13, xlii. 38,