Middle and Passive Voice: Semantic Distinctions of the Niphal in Biblical Hebrew

Abstract

AbstractScholars struggle to delineate the differences between the middle and passive voice. This is particularly apparent in scholarship on the Niphal (Biblical Hebrew). Using recent linguistic research (Ágel 2017; 2007), this article attempts to assist Hebraists and exegetes by distinguishing the passive and middle Niphal. Applying the concept of linguistic perspective, the categories of endoactive and exoactive predicates are illustrated on mlṭ and nṣl. In sum, this article demonstrates that linguistic perspective is able to clarify semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic complexities of the Niphal.