Introduction and General

Abstract

Introduction and General Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, Andrew W. Litke, Andrew D. Gross, Randy C. Payne, Isaac Kalimi, Brent A. Strawn, Joseph E. Jensen, and Richard A. Taylor 931. [Aspect, Communicative Appeal, and Temporal Meaning in BH Verbal Forms] Ulf Bergström, Aspect, Communicative Appeal, and Temporal Meaning in Biblical Hebrew Verbal Forms (Linguistic Studies 16; University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2022). Pp. xiv + 215. $94.95. ISBN 978-1-64602-140-6. The back cover of B.'s volume presents this account of B.'s monograph: This book provides a new explanation of what has long been a challenge for scholars of Biblical Hebrew (BH): how to understand the expression of verbal tense and aspect. Working from a representative text corpus, combined with database queries of specific usages and surveys of examples discussed in the scholarly literature, B. gives a comprehensive overview of the semantic meanings of the verbal forms, along with a significant sample of the variation of pragmatically inferred tense, aspect, or modality (TAM) meanings. B. applies diachronic typology and a redefined concept of aspect to demonstrate that BH verbal forms have basic aspectual and derived temporal meanings and that communicative appeal, the action-triggering function of language, affects verbal semantics and promotes the diversification of tense meanings. B.'s overarching explanation of the semantic development of the BH verbal system is an important contribution to the study of the evolution of the verbal system and the meanings of individual verbs in the Hebrew Bible. … [adapted] B.'s monograph consists of a total of six chapters titled respectively: (1) Introduction; (2) Comments on the State of Research; (3) A Theory of Aspect and Tense; (4) Progressive and Resultative Verbs in Biblical Hebrew; (5) Communicative Appeal and the Semantics of the Biblical Hebrew Verb; and (6) Conclusion. [End Page 325] At the conclusion of his introduction, B. offers this "summary" of the aim and main contribution of his project: The aim of the present study is to provide a semantic description of the BH verbal forms that explains their temporal meanings. Section 1.1 gives a background to the problem by exemplifying the abundance of diverging suggestions about what grammatical terms to use for a specific form. As a major factor in the controversy, I point to the lack of a common theoretical basis, especially regarding the central notion of aspect. An important contribution toward a solution is, I argue, provided by the socalled grammaticalization approach, according to which it is possible to classify BH verbal forms into cross-linguistic verbal types and reconstruct how their various meanings have developed along two main diachronic pathways in accordance with universal principles. The two specific pathways that I find relevant for BH run from progressive to future and from resultative to past; that is, from what I call "aspectual" to temporal meanings. Qotel and yiqtol-L belong to the progressive pathway, whereas qatal and yiqtol-S belong to the resultative. … [p. 21, adapted—C.T.B.] 932. [The Aramaic Book of Ahiqar] Seth A. Bledsoe, The Wisdom of the Aramaic Book of Ahiqar. Unravelleing a Discourse of Uncertainty and Distress (JSJSup 199; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2021). Pp. x + 455. $166. ISBN 978-90-04-47312-6. B.'s book offers fresh readings of the Aramaic Book of Ahiqar, an often under-appreciated ancient wisdom text. In undertaking a comprehensive literary analysis, incorporating both the drama and the sayings together, B. shows that Ahiqar's didactic impulse is founded on a sense of uncertainty about life, offering advice for those in times of distress, much like the titular character himself. While Ahiqar shares many features with biblical instructional literature like Proverbs, the ambiguous cosmic and social order imagined in the text resonates more strongly with the likes of Qoheleth or Job. B. also takes seriously the book's Elephantine context, suggesting that the social and political ethic evinced by the work would have resonated strongly with the Judean community in Achaemenid Egypt. B.'s work unfolds starting with an introduction that is followed by a series of seven chapters, titled respectively, (1) Locating Ahiqar: Materiality, Language, and Intertextuality; (2) Unravelling Ahiqar: Narratology and Discourse in the Story...