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VERSE: Gn46-08a

========================= Gn46-08a =============================

SUCCINCT SUMMARY:
-----------------
One of Rashi's 10 major goals is the explanation of GRAMMAR
the same way modern textbooks explain GRAMMAR. There are three
major GRAMMAR submethods:

(a) The goal of the ROOT submethod is to explain all
conjugations and meanings of Biblical roots.
Biblical roots are conjugated with letter prefixes and suffixes
to indicate (i) tense (ii) person (iii) gender (iv) plurality
(v) mode (vi) object (to whom the activity is done) and (vii)
mood. Each of these conjugations has a specific meaning.
Furthermore, these conjugations take on different forms for
roots with weak letters.

(b) The SENTENCE submethod deals with grammatical attributes
of sentences such as (i) word arrangement (Verb Subject vs
Subject Verb) (ii) sentence type  (interrogative, command)
(iii) compound sentences (iv) apposition and (v)
paragraph / sentence development.

(c) The MISCELLANEOUS grammatical methods deal with
(i) agreement (in gender and plurality), (ii) the construct
(iii) pronoun reference (iv) ellipsis (v) noun-verb transforms
(e.g. to dust) (vi) special word usage(e.g. how to use
numbers) (vii) suffix-prefixes (e.g. terminal HEY means
towards).

EXAMPLE 1
---------
Consider the verse Gn46-08a

There are three ways to indicate this thought


METHOD (A)
-----------
Use of a Gerund adjectival phrase:
----------------------------------------------
These are the name of the Jews  COMING TO EGYPT
with Jacob.
----------------------------------------------


METHOD (B)
-----------
Use of a Subordinate sentence in the past tense
-------------------------------------------------
These are the name of the Jews  WHO CAME TO
EGYPT with Jacob.
-------------------------------------------------

METHOD (C)
-----------
Use of the Perfect Past
---------------------------------
These are the name of the Jews
WHO HAD COME TO EGYPT
with Jacob.

I will not go into the technical details of these three
grammatical approachs. Rather I will rely on the fact
that people speaking English will recognize these as
three distinct ways to say the same thought.

We can now explain Rashi's comment on this verse.

First note that the Hebrew word used in the verse is
HBAIM Hey Beth Aleph Yud Mem
This is the conjugation for the PRESENT TENSE
in the active MODE

Since Gn46-08a uses this conjugation (rather than
the past  conjugation ) therefore we infer that
the present  conjugation can also  be
used to connote the adjectival gerund phrase
or the past perfect. In other words Rashi infers
from this verse that the
- present  conjugation
can  have multiple meanings-
-actual present,
-past perfect, or
-gerund adjective.

It is noteworthy that all English translations I have seen
totally ignore the actual Hebrew text: They translate the
verse using method (B) which uses the past conjugation
which is not in the verse! The preferable method is to translate
using method (A) or (C).


LIST703j below contains several verses where
the present conjugation is interpreted either
as a participle or past prefect.
================================================================
ITEM                     DETAIL
======================== =======================================
RASHI RULE CLASS:        GRAMMAR
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS      ROOT CONJUGATION
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #9
SEE BELOW                LIST703j
List of verse where the  PRESENT conjugation=Adjectival Gerund
================================================================

========================= LIST703j ==============================
List of verse where the  PRESENT conjugation=Adjectival Gerund
=================================================================
VERSE    VERSE TEXT: TRANSLATION OF PRESENT CONJUGATION AS GERUND
======== ========================================================
Gn46-08a These are the name of the Jews COMING TO EGYPT with Jacb
Ex01-01  These are the name of the Jews COMING TO EGYPT
Ex14-28  The water buried the Egyptian army COMING AFTER THEM
Nu31-14  Elazar spoke to the solders GOING TO WAR
Jo02-03  King Jericho said oust those COMING to you who came
=================================================================
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 28 Number 12


#*#*#*#  (C) 2000-2005, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#