The Place of the Hutqaṭṭēl within the D-Stem Group and Its Implications in Deuteronomy 24:4

THE PLACE OF THE HUTQArrEL WITHIN THE D-STEM GROUP AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN DEUTERONOMY 24:4 John H. Walton Moody Bible Institute 1. THE D STEM IN CLASSICAL HEBREW Throughout the history of the study of the primary stems of classical Hebrew, the most semantically elusive has been the D stem, the qJttel form (Goshen-Gottstein 1985:278-283). Its complexity has been extended to the related stems of the D group, the quttal and hJtqattel. as well as to a number of rarely attested stems and variations. Though the traditional profile of the D as possessing an intensifying function is promoted in such widely used beginning grammars as Weingreen,1 and is reflected in GKC (1910:§52f.). recent grammatical study has increasingly and convincingly moved in other directions. The modem reevaluation of the stem began with Albrecht Goetze (1942) and was furthered by the more detailed work of Ernst Jenni (1968).2 The history has been recounted recently in Waltke and O'Connor's Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (1990:396-400). In the revised view of the D stem offered by these studies. the function is viewed as being factitive when the G stem is intransitive. When the G stem is transitive, the D has a resultative function (Waltke and O'Connor 1990:§24.1.h).3 This differs from the causative function found in the H stem in that it expresses the bringing about of a state, while the H stem expresses the causing of an action. This analysis of the D stem will be accepted as accurate in the following attempt to build a profile of the D group that will delineate the functions of its primary members. The ultimate goal of this study is the understanding of the function of the hutqattel stem within the D group. B. Waltke and M. O'Connor (1990:§21.2.2) have suggested that a profile of the Hebrew verbal system can be devised by identifying the voice of 1 Weingn:cn himself has revised his view of the D (1980:21-29). 2 See also Ryder (1974). 3 This view is nOl universally accepted. Recently F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman questioned the adequacy of the "resultative" designation in their commentary on Amos (1989:250-252). Hebrew Studies 32 (1991) 8 Walton: The hutqattll the subject and undersubject of each of the stems. This approach offers a clear distinction, for instance, between the D stem which features an active voice for the subject and a passive voice for the undersubject, and the H stem which features an active voice for both subject and undersubject. "Undersubject" is used to refer to the subject being acted upon by the main verb, or the secondary subject. In the H stem, the undersubject could be referred to as the agent, while in the D stem, the undersubject would be the patient. Examples: Stalive Verb: pm G: "to be strong" (e.g., 1 Kgs 2:2) D: "to help (someone) to be strong" (e.g., 1 Sam 23:16; 2 Sam 11:25) H: "to cause (someone) to act in a strong way" (e.g., Isa. 41:13; 2 Sam 11:25) Fielllive Verb: ':m G: "to receive or obtain property" D: "to see to it that property is received" (distribute, designate) H: "to cause someone to obtain property" In the latter case the G is used to communicate Israel's inheriting the land (Jos 14:1); the D is used to address the distributing or designating action by Joshua or Moses on behalf of Israel (Jos 13:32); and the H is used to express action by God on behalf of Israel (e.g., Deut 19:3). In a vast majority of cases in which the G, D, and H are all well attested, the G is stative. With regard to the specific study of the D group, then, Waltke and O'Connor's hypothesis suggests that the qJttll is characterized by an active subject and a passive undersubject. The activity of the subject can either actually bring the state into being or simply be an estimation or declaration that the state exists (1990:§24.2f-g). The next member...